R15 Forgiving or not ?

[braincramp52]

Somewhere here someone wrote that the TM R15 was not one of Taylormades more forgiving drivers. I'd like to hear from people that have hit the R15 ( on a golf course) and hear what you have experienced. I had always understood they were a pretty forgiving club.

[wreckinmachine]

I would not categorize the R15 as a forgiving driver. I like mine quite a bit, but I do see decent distance loss on mishits compared to other drivers I have used. When I am swinging well, it is a great driver.

In my opinion, it is a bit fade bias as well. This can be helped by increasing the loft a click or two. I have the 430cc head, and I split the two bottom weights all the way to the edges. I feel like the driver is more stable and forgiving at this setting.

[cane700]

If you spread the weights out or behind your miss area its forgiving

[willie991]

Struggled with driver for some time. Was alternating between an 815 Alpha and a 913D3. Got a deal on amn R15 TP about 6 weeks ago. I haven't driven the ball this well for a long time. My swing gets a little over the top so have to guard against a fade to slice. The R15 is one of the first drivers I've used that seems to want to hit nice draws. I can still hit a fade when called for, but the way I have this set up it is prone to draw. I have the draw weight clear to that side. The fade weight is centered in the club face. I got the 12 degree and have just left the loft as is.

 

Understand, I am almost 70 years old. No young flat-belly here. Took a pretty good pot of quarters away from the regular group in this morning's round, much attributed to my driving the ball. Played with the "youngsters" a couple weeks ago on the weekend and slid in a nice 78 which showed that group the old guys can still play this game.

 

I would certainly recommend the R15 based on my experience. Everyone's swing is different so don't spend your life savings based on this old man's review!!! :>)

[cgasucks]

Keep this in mind..the R15, and Aeroburner were made in the "Loft Up" era that TM did for a few years starting with the SLDR with the COG being closer to the face rather than the tried and true back and low...you will get maximum distance because of the optimized roll but forgiveness is scarified...which is why the SLDR is known to be on the unforgiving side..so it is safe to say that the R15 is not as forgiving as it looks...

 

TM is getting back to their old ways in putting the COG back and low with their M2 (which I think has done fabulously well with universal praise) but for those who still like to have a COG closer to the face, there's always the M1.

[Mathwiz]

I play a 12 deg R15 with the weights set up exactly as willie has his and it has been a very solid performer for me. I can't count the times that I have had the guys say "nice drive" when the feedback clearly let me know I missed the center of the club face. So, in my opinion it is above average in the forgiveness department.

 

I have played a lot of drivers.

[KemperPro]

It's not terribly unforgiving, certainly more so than SLDR. That said, when compared to M1 and M2, it lags behind in the forgiveness department.

[rebdog30]

The R15 is plenty forgiving and long. I did not like the shaft in mine which was the speeder 661.

[SwooshLT]

Just hit all 14 fwys......nuff said

[golfjester]

Just hit all 14 fwys......nuff said

 

I have used a persimmon driver and hit all 14 fairways before on a good swing day...just sayin...

[gnew23]

I love my R15. I have the 460 TP 9.5 (turned up to 10*) Black, and I find it very forgiving. I love the feel of this driver. My miss on the face is low on the toe, and I still get very good distance. I bought mine used off of Taylormade Preowned, and switch out the speeder 661shaft for the shaft I had in my previous SLDR. I love the R15, and find it comparable in distance to the SLDR and more forgiving. I have my weights set in the max distance (center).

[Wartburger]

Tinkered with all the settings on mine and I wouldn't call it forgiving. Yes, you can spread out the weights but I lost distance on the good hits when doing so. My misses with this club were further off course than any driver I've owned. If your swing is groves though, you could certainly hit some bombs. I got tired of guessing where it was going and got fit in the M2. Misses stay in play instead of OB.

[pgetzen]

I had the R15 for about 9 months. I would agree that when you hit it well, it's a very long driver, maybe the longest I have owned. But I would not categorize it as a super forgiving club. I went back to my Bio Cell Plus and am hitting more fairways.

[ethanshapiro]

I have it and love it. I find that it is unforgiving but not unfair in terms of its playability. Split the weights, find a shaft, it'll be the best club in your bag. But, you need to consciously shape a shot every time as opposed to just stepping up and swinging like with a g30 or the like.

[Mad_Lobber]

No complaints with mine.

[cliffhanger]

I thought it was... overall my second favourite driver in the last 4-5 years.

[SwooshLT]

Just hit all 14 fwys......nuff said

 

I have used a persimmon driver and hit all 14 fairways before on a good swing day...just sayin...

 

 

Key to your statement .....good swing day.....it wasn't for me as I only hit 10 greens

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I have the R15 430 and it's OK but I wish I had kept both my R9 SuperTri and my R11s.

[bobbyking88]

I have a R15 430 stock stiff fujikura shaft, bought it last year up until literally 1 week ago I had a really bad fade. Switched up my stance and now I'm crushing the ball with a baby draw lets just hope it stays that way

[bobbyking88]

But very forgiving and I can imagine a 460 head being more forgiving as well

[crich88848]

I played a 12.5 430cc version for the better part of last year. While I would not say it is the most forgiving driver, I don't think it is the worst either.

With the weights spread out to the extreme toe and heel of the club, it was more than forgiving enough for me. Still got good distance on mishits.

[braincramp52]

Thanks for all the replies. I had the SLDR 430 and it might have been the worst driver I've had so I have been a little hesitant to get the R15. What I do like about it is the fact I play all my drivers at 44" and I can buy weights to adjust the swing weight. I might have to give it a go. My driver accuracy has always been pretty good so I don't think I'm too worried about hitting it.

[Sir edward of putternut]

I purchased one last week off the bst

First day, I hated it. I still game the tm r580 xd tp and chose that old dog to the ping g30 ls tec which I sold, and the I 25, which I sold.

I was hitting the xd 250 yds and straight as an arrow with the blue Graffaloy shaft, the second day, with a black rogue shaft, I was hitting ib the 260s, though I had one miss at 210, and one miss at 233. I keep the weights centered. I almost traded it away, but man am I glad I didnt, it's gonna finally get that stinky old fugly r580 headcover out of my bag.....for now

[MyShortGameSucks]

I played an R15 460 / 661 TS Evo combo last year and thought it was very forgiving. Had the weights about 1" apart. The M1 460 is a little more forgiving but not drastically so. The R15 was defiantly more forgiving than SLDRs I have hit. The only thing I did not like about my R15 was that it appeared closed looking more than drivers I have had in the past.

[TheInfidel]

I recently changed to one after picking up an R15 Black for $120. This is actually my first TM driver after being in Titleists for 10+ years.

 

I've had some great results with this driver when hit out of the centre, off centre not so much. It's not awful with toe hits but anything from the heel quarter is dead, I mean dead. I worked this out half way through a 200 ball intro basket at the range.

 

I played a 910D2 for 4 years or so, it wasn't as long as this but did offer a little more forgiveness on off centre hits. I may still return to it but for now when I'm swinging well I'll take the 15-20 yd gain from the R15.

 

I played with a friend from work last week and he'd just picked up a G30 SF Tec ex demo on a deal. Compared to the R15 and the 910 this thing is a cheat stick. I hit two out of the toe that went 260 right half. It's a pretty good stick.

 

All in all I think the R15 offers great adjustability and unrivalled distance for that era of driver, but don't expect miracles if you're missing the central area of the face. If you've got any doubts about this then hit 5 balls out of the heel intentionally and see where they go, you won't be overly impressed.

[TheInfidel]

Just hit all 14 fwys......nuff said

 

I have used a persimmon driver and hit all 14 fairways before on a good swing day...just sayin...

 

Does the ladies tee count as a fairway, I hit 5 of those on Sunday!

[justincredible04]

Compared to the sldr light years ahead of forgiveness. I struggled with the driver for years. The R15 has been in the bag the longest and I've tried them all

[tommaso05]

I got fitted for and ordered my R15 TP driver right when they released in 2015, so I've been playing it since March of 2015. I love it. I admit it isn't as forgiving as something like a Ping G30, but it's not all that far off. It also goes further than most. I lose the most distance on heel-shots, but toe shots aren't very far off from dead-center hits (I mean a little bit to the toe/heel. Anything way out isn't going very far, just like any other driver). Shots a little higher on the face tend to be better than lower. When I went into the fitting I was worried that it was going to be similar to the SLDR and be an unforgiving beast, but I was really surprised that it blended in a good amount of forgiveness.

 

I had mine setup in my fitting to a more fade-bias setting, but recently decided to push the sliding weights all the way out to increase the forgiveness (struggled with my swing earlier this season). This helped, and me starting to swing better helped, so I might start to inch in the weights a little bit to get a little bit more weight behind the sweet spot.

[bobcat]

If you are looking for a TM driver with both distance AND TRUE FORGIVENESS, try the 2015 SLDR-C Driver! It was actually announced by TM AFTER the R15 and AeroBurner last year, but BEFORE the M-Family heads! NO NEED TO 'LOFT UP' with this redesigned, lower profile, SLDR-C clubhead. in fact, I suggest you try the 9.5* loft first!

 

The SLDR-C (Classic) bonded hosel Driver is as good as it gets with a premium shaft!.. :yes:

 

(I have a Miyazaki Kusala Black 61s in mine!)

 

 

 

 

 

[815Golfer]

I've been playing a 10.5 deg R15 since last summer and find it reasonably forgiving and very long. At first I didn't care for the white but it has grown on me. I've hit the M1 a few times and wasn't that impressed with it over the R15, but I didn't really have it dialed in either.

 

I have the weights on my R15 set 1 notch over neutral and 2 notches over draw.