With a brand-new P7 90, TaylorMade has updated the quintessential player’s interval cast-iron. Improvement include a new SpeedFoam Air filling and refined cosmetics. Retail price is $1,399 for a seven-piece set.
Man, it sure is tough out there for a musician and, by musician, I intend golfers. Tee days are in short supply. New gear is even tougher to come by, specially if it’s custom. Pick any manufacturer and they’ve probably got chiefs. Sure, they probably don’t have shafts and they definitely don’t have much in accordance with the rules of grips but two out of three ain’t bad, right?
Right?
Industry-wide, backorders, lags and outright unavailability are par for the course these days. In the best of scenarios golfers get fitted, ordering, cross their thumbs and wait … and then wait some more.
Some of that’s on you. You should have known better than to order MCC Plus4s. Back of the line. No soup for you!
Manufacturers face a slightly different challenge. What do you sell when you don’t actually have anything to sell?
If you’re TaylorMade, you offer up something that doesn’t … or at least didn’t exist before today.
Back in my tech days, we called that vaporware.
P790 Irons- From Vaporware to Reality
After TaylorMade ran all the way out of the 2019 iteration of P790, it stirred the unusual decision to offer up the 2021 simulation pre-embargo and with no details. Datum are restricted to a blacked-out image and a spec sheet. That’s it.
Specifics be damned. For golfers compelled to roll the dice on the new P790, all that was needed was a credit card and a whole lot of sect in TaylorMade. The reality of its consideration of this matter is you really didn’t know what you were buying.
Trust TaylorMade.
I think I spoke something like that on a hat once. Regardless, it was the only choice.
Look, you’ll never hear me show you should buy off-the-rack, let alone near literally blind. I wince at the suggestion that any article of golf equipment is better for everyone but if you’re going to gamble on anything in the cast-iron category–particularly in the player’s distance category–I suppose the TaylorMade P790 offers decent odds.
TaylorMade P790 Irons- Giving the Standard
Now entering its third generation, the P790 is the talisman for the player’s distance category. Even in a time when the category wasn’t clearly defined, the original( 2017) P790 and its SpeedFoam administered hole established the standard. From there, TaylorMade has done nothing but build. In fact, it constructed an entire P-Series franchise around P790.
So what’s behind the success of the P790?
TaylorMade would no doubt point to its SpeedFoam-driven performance. For sure, some of TaylorMade’s competitors are dubious about the purported advantages( one industry insider refers to it as “Sound Foam”) but the tale resonated with buyers which I suppose is the ultimate benchmark. So, yeah, performance plays a role for sure but I belief just as much, if not more, of the credit for P790’s success should go to TaylorMade’s increasingly clean seem and the general versatility of the irons.
A Different Kind of Utility Iron
Aesthetics are subjective and we’ll come back to them but it’s TaylorMade’s fitting data that I find more compelling. The sweet place for the P790 iron sales is right about where you probably expect. It’s exceedingly popular with high single-digit to low-grade double-digit handicappers but the span of golfers being fitted into P790 in measurable numbers moves from +4 to 25.
That’s a inferno of a range. I suppose that constructs P790 an entirely different kind of utility iron.
Still, I wouldn’t hint you order anything without ascertaining it( and ideally getting fitted for it) but at least we are able to fill in some details for you before the line gets too long.
TaylorMade P790 Irons- What’s New
By no small-scale measurement, what TaylorMade faces in trying to evolve the P790 isn’t much different than what Titleist faced when trying to establish a better T100. Golfers adored what they already have. Fitters love it even more and, so innovations and enhancements aside , not bolt up a good thing is at least half the battle.
While the outside of the P790 iron discloses a cosmetic evolution that’s almost certainly for the better, the most significant changes can be found on the inside.
Hollow Versus Filled
As I’ve mentioned before, there are two dominating ideologies when it comes to how to design a hollow-body iron. Titleist, PING and Mizuno believe there’s no better filler than breath. The controversy is that anything behind the face slackens the face and, with everyone trying to generate more speed, that approach doesn’t establish much sense.
The other perspective is evident in designs from PXG, TaylorMade and, to an extent, Callaway. Their position is that foams, assorted polymer goos and microspheres can be used to improve sound and feel while contributing to a face that’s thinner than would be possible without the filling.
The bottom line is that there’s more than one way to create speed in an iron so there’s probably not one perfect answer here but I’d wager the effectiveness of any substance( or absence of substance) is tied to other design considerations. What’s clear to me is that either approach can work.
SpeedFoam Air
With that said, I did chuckle when I learned that TaylorMade’s brand-new filler material for the P790 iron is called SpeedFoam Air. Best of both worlds, perhaps?
The chips that are important about SpeedFoam Air are that it’s lighter and softer than the previous SpeedFoam. Likewise, SpeedFoam Air is red. The original SpeedFoam was orange so there’s that.
By the numbers, SpeedFoam Air is 69 -percent less dense than the original SpeedFoam.
The idea here is that you can retain feel( the foam plays an important role in feel ), save a bit of load and presumably let the face flex a little bit more for more speed.
The weight savings aren’t limited to what SpeedFoam Air allowed for. Using what it calls thin wall building, TaylorMade shaved the upper back component of the iron to one millimeter( down from 1.6 ), free-spoken up 15 grams of mass( in addition to the 3.5 -4. 5 grams saved by SpeedFoam Air ).
I’ll give you one guess what TaylorMade did with all that extra weight.
( Please don’t say tungsten …)
Tungsten Weighting( sorry)
Here’s the bargain. I’m guessing you care only slightly less about tungsten than I do. which is to say hardly at all, but this tungsten bit is important for clarifying where the requisite concert gains come from.
Inside the 2021 P790 Iron is upwards of 31 grams of tungsten. That’s up from 13.5 grams in the previous model. And while that doesn’t set TaylorMade anywhere close to being able to claim the No. 1 application of tungsten in golf, on percentage, it’s a massive jumping from the prior generation.
The tungsten weight is placed low-grade and slightly toe-ward. The positioning servers two intents. The first is the fact that it drives weight down for higher launch( and lower rotate) compared to the 2019 framework. It also pushes the center of gravity towards the toe where it works in conjunction with other aspects of the P7 90 intend( like TaylorMade’s inverted cone engineering and the 1.5 mm( at its thinnest) 4140 forged L-face) to increase the size of the sweet spot.
Intelligent Sweet Spot Design
You’ve heard similar tales. Golfers’ miss motifs systematically has indicated that misses are generally either high-pitched toe or low-pitched heel. With that in intellect, the goal of TaylorMade’s Intelligent Sweet Spot design wasn’t simply to construct the sweet smudge bigger but likewise to extend it in guidances that would help the golfer. You would likely benefit from a bit more quickened preservation in the high toe field, high-pitched heel … not so much.
TaylorMade’s claim is that it has increased the size of the sweet smudge by 30 percentage. For citation, TaylorMade defines the sweet spot as the part of the face with a COR of. 800 or higher.
Unchanged are topline and sole thickness along with the offset. The remembering is that the existing values work just fine and if you’re looking for something different than what you get with P790, TaylorMade has several other P-Series gives that might appeal to you.
The ’2 1 TaylorMade P790 iron performance summing-up reads like this: More speed, more consistent accelerated, higher launch, a little lower rotate and ultimately more distance.
Refined Aesthetics
The final piece of the 2021 P790 story is refined cosmetics. While the ’1 7 and ’1 9 iterations gazed fairly similar, the ’2 1 framework is an as-significant-as-it-can-be departure from the previous generations. The anticipating inside TaylorMade was that the person who bought’ 17 s probably didn’t buy’ 19 s but going on five years later, he might be ready to re-up with some’ 21 s.
With that in mind, TaylorMade wants to convey the message that this isn’t a third P790, it’s an all-new P790( even if the recipe for the secret sauce hasn’t changed dramatically ). TaylorMade’s Matt Bovee described in the aesthetic, which includes a new pearlescent chrome finish as “minimalistic, yet contemporary, ” going so far as to say that the P-Series is the best-looking cast-iron family in the market.
One could make a reasonable argument for Mizuno or Titleist, I suppose, but there aren’t many who would reasonably dispute that TaylorMade absolutely belongs in that conversation which, if nothing else, presents just how far the company has come from the RSi periods. Best? Maybe. Do they look drooly-mouth yummy? Absolutely.
Hands-On With the TaylorMade P790
I had the chance to try the brand-new P790 at a recent TaylorMade event. It’s not an iron I’ve spent any real period with previously but I certainly didn’t find any struggle to reached them on the scope( the course is always a different story) and the feel is excellent. Not pure forging excellent but more than satisfying.
Nitpicking a bit, the topline is a bit blunt for my tastes but it’s one of those things that I could easily get over if the performance proves to be there.
One media member in attendance raved about the 8-iron while another played the brand-new P790 for the duration of the three-day event before ultimately deciding he wasn’t committing them back. We’ll see if that establishes it into one of those TaylorMade “straight in the bag” commercials with four PGA TOUR Pros and a rando media guy. He was due for the purposes of an upgrade anyway.
P790 Iron Specifications
As noted, the core specifications for the P790 haven’t modified. We’re still topping out at a 45 -degree pitching wedge and keeping the 4-iron above 20 degrees( 21 ). I’m all for a player’s interval iron that doesn’t cheat too far to the distance side. Ultimately, I considered that renders golfers more flexibility at both ends of the bag.
With that said, there is a developing realization that, as with drivers, there’s no single iron loft specification that’s right for everyone. To that demise, TaylorMade’s fitting carts will include different P790 loft alternatives to help fitters dial in the appropriate loft advance for a imparted golfer.
When you’re custom fitted for P790, lofts are merely as jacked as you need them to be.
For those who prefer to play combo fixeds, TaylorMade’s P-Series combo guidebook can help you choose the appropriate lofts( and gaps) no matter how you choose to blend your set.
TaylorMade P790 Stock Alternative
TaylorMade is taking a sensible approaching to its inventory shafts. This time around it has chosen a DG 105( stiff) and DG 95( regular) as the stock rods. They’re lighter than past inventory provides. The guessing is that the stock off-the-rack buyer tends to be a more aspirational musician … a person more likely to reach outside of his skillset. That’s a nice mode of saying a person who isn’t as good as he thinks he is. For that person, it builds appreciation to leveraging a rod that’s going to help him get the ball in the air and get more out of the P790.
For the guys who are going to get fitted, the stock shaft isn’t of much repercussion anyway. With TaylorMade’s Any Shaft, Any Head program you can put whatever rod you crave in the P790( presupposing TaylorMade has it in inventorying ).
The stock graphite option is the Mitsubishi MMT in A( 55 ), R( 65 ), and S( 75) flexes. Again, the idea is to help the target demographic get the ball in the air and enjoy the game a bit more.
The stock grip is a Golf Pride Z-Grip (+ 2 ).
The TaylorMade P790 iron is available in 3-PW, GW. Retail price for a seven-piece set is $1,299( or $185 per cast-iron ).
TaylorMade P790 UDI
I love it when a narrative is easy to tell so I’m going to love our brief little chit-chat about the TaylorMade P790 UDI.
The technology of the P790 UDI is identical to the irons. SpeedFoam Air, Intelligent Sweet Spot Design, Pearlescent chrome finish … you called it, the UDI has it.
Buyer beware, nonetheless. The UDI may not have exactly the same broad reach as its namesake iron. With its low-grade/ mid flight, low-spin characteristics, Bovee says the target audience for the P790 UDI is the better player( 5 handicap and below) with a high sway speed.
If that’s not you, you’ll probably be better off with the SIM UDI, SIM UHI or one of TaylorMade’s Rescue provides. It’s a safe bet that some of you are going to ignore the advice and make a bad decision but, whatever, I’ve done my part.
TaylorMade P790 UDI Specs
The TaylorMade P7 90 UDI is available in a 2U( 17 degrees) for right-handed golfers merely. The inventory shaft is a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 90 S or 100 X.
The stock grip is a Golf Pride Z-Grip (+ 2 ).
Retail price is $249.
TaylorMade P790 Irons and P7 90 UDI can be used for preorder now. Full availability begins September 3rd.
For more information, visit TaylorMadeGolf.com.
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