Golf Gear Newswire : Taylormade R9 SuperTri Drivers Blend Weight Control and Flight Control

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- First came TaylorMade's R9 driver, which combined Flight Control Technology (FCT) and Movable Weight Technology (MWT) with three movable weights in a 420cc head. Next came the R9 460 driver with FCT alone, in a larger and more forgiving 460cc head.

"Those two drivers were created because TaylorMade didn't yet have the ability to combine both FCT and MWT in a 460cc head," said Todd Beach, TaylorMade's senior director of metalwood development. "A year later, we do."

TaylorMade is introducing the R9 SuperTri driver, which combines FCT and MWT with three movable weights in a 460cc head, marking the company's desired unification of its major driver technologies with maximum size to deliver enhanced distance and forgiveness.

The R9 SuperTri was made possible by two crucial developments by TaylorMade engineers that saved enough weight to allow FCT and MWT to coexist in a 460cc head, company officials explained. The first is better, more widespread use of TaylorMade's Ultra-Thin Wall technology throughout the clubhead. The second is a new, lighter FCT sleeve that does everything the former one did while weighing three grams less.

The impact of incorporating FCT and MWT into a 460cc head is enormous, TaylorMade said. The larger head is more forgiving, and its center of gravity (CG) is two millimeters farther back in the head than in the R9 driver, making it easier to launch the ball higher and with more spin. At the same time, the inclusion of MWT with three weights promotes a side-to-side trajectory change of up to 75 yards.

Inverted Cone Technology (ICT) is also a crucial piece of the R9 SuperTri's makeup. Though it's milled onto the back of the clubface where it's out of sight, ICT plays a critical role by dramatically increasing the area of the clubface that delivers fast ball speed, promoting more distance on off-center hits.

The R9 SuperTri's clubhead is sleeker than previous R9 driver heads, thanks to a reshaped crown that reduces wind resistance. Though the shape is more aerodynamic, the face is the deepest (62mm) TaylorMade has ever incorporated into a driver with MWT, and is deeper than most other competitive drivers currently on the market. The R9 SuperTri clubhead also boasts a new shape and black-on-black color scheme, including a black PVD clubface last seen in the r7 SuperQuad.

The R9 SuperTri is equipped with a Fujikura Motore 60-gram shaft, which is five grams lighter than the Motore 65 used in the R9 driver. In addition to being lighter, the Motore 60 makes it easier to launch the ball on a higher launch angle and at a higher spin rate, which helps many players achieve longer carry.

The R9 SuperTri includes three weights -- 16-gram, 1-gram, 1-gram -- and an FCT torque wrench. It's available in four lofts -- 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 degrees -- and five shaft flexes. The R9 SuperTri TP features the same head as the R9 SuperTri but with a choice of 10 premium shafts, including the Aldila Voodoo, Mitsubishi Fubuki and Matrix Ozik.

The R9 SuperTri carries a street price of $399. Choosing a custom TP shaft adds an additional $100 to the cost of the club.

- PGA.com

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Taylormade R9 SuperTri Drivers Blend Weight Control and Flight Control

2010-03-29

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