Are Taylormade R7 Irons Still Good? Are They Forgiving For High Handicappers

Are Taylormade R7 Irons Still Good? Are They Forgiving For High Handicappers

The game of golf is constantly evolving and the new brands are bring out new clubs every year with impressive new claims about their distance, accuracy and forgiveness.

Golf irons are more like Formula 1 cars these days with all the cutting edge technology that is crammed into them but the truth is that a lot of the older irons are still offering quality performance that can give them a run for their money.

Case in point is the R7’s from Taylormade which have been around since 2009 but are still very popular to buy on the used club market and can be purchased for a fraction of the price. They look the part but also deliver distance, forgiveness, easy launch and workability with a thin top line looking great at address and a thick sole with deep cavity to deliver long, high launch and consistent shots.

Having played this irons recently at a track man studio, I can atest to how nice tehy feel when struck flush, long launching they are and their consistency/forgiveness is also on point. These are going to be great for high to mid handicappers.

Are The Taylormade R7’s Still Good?

It’s true that the irons your’e using are going to have a major impact on your game, but that is more true of the iron category than the iron type.

The R7’s can still more than hold their own against the newest clubs. They maybe slightly shorter and slightly less forgiving than some of the massive, oversized game improvement irons that are on the market today but they are still super competitive in terms of easy they are to get in the air, the workabilitly, forgivness and consistency are still right up their at the top of the market.

If you repackaged the R7’s in 2022 covering, I’m pretty sure it would be very hard to tell that they were irons from over a decade ago.

If your definition of good includes the price, then the R7’s are definitely still good, you can pick up a full set second hand for about $150 to $200.

Are The Taylormade R7’s Forgiving For High Handicappers

The R7’s are deep cavity back irons that have a low COG for easy launching shots, they are also packing the Inverted cone technology that is still used in nearly all Taylormade irons to this day and expands the sweet spot to cover the face of the club.

The R7’s also have dampening web to soak up harsh vibrations on off center hits adding to the forgivness and feel overall.

There is a moderate level of offset which will help you to keep the ball straight, specially if you tend to slice the ball a bit more and from my experience, these irons were easy and high launching and consistently straight with a lovely feel when your pure them.

There are far bigger game improvement irons on the market these days but they lack the control, workability and moderately thin top line.

These are a great set of clubs for high to mid handicappers who have some level of consistency with their irons. Even a pure beginner should get a good experience from these clubs.

Taylormade R7’s Vs The Taylormade R11’s

On my recent trip to the Trackman studio, the two sets that were available were the R7’s and the R11’s.

The R7’s have the deep cavity back and bigger heads making them easy to hit consistency and incredibly easy to get a decent launch.

The R11’s were noticeably smaller in the blade, with less offset and a much thinner sole. They require a more consistent strike and aren’t as forgiving but they were more workable and felt great when hit pure, just prepare for much less performance on mishits with the R11’s.

I would recommend the R7’s to high and mid handicappers and the R11’s to Mid to Low Handicappers who can strike the ball consistently well.

Taylormade R7 First Impressions

The first thing to notice about the Taylormade R7’s is the very deep cavity back that delivers launch, distance and forgiveness.

The next thing to notice is the relatively thin top line and the rather chunky soles while the clubs aren’t as big as some of the super game improvement irons we see today.

Taylormade R7’s Irons Selling Points

• Deep Cavity Back Design
• High Launch
• Web Dampening Aluminium Cover For A Sweeter Feel
• Exceptional Feel When Hit Flush
• Large Sweet Spot With Inverted Cone Technology
• Distance And Workability
• Available For Next To Nothing Second Hand
• Launch Control Technology
• Excellent For High To Mid Handicappers
• Undercut To Slice Through The Turf Easily

Taylormade R7 Key Technology

While the Taylormade R7’s are hitting the pinnacle of the tech crammed into the Taylormade irons of today, they are still an excellent club to yield.

Ultra Deep Cavity Back: The cavity back is extremely deep in the irons for a high launch and forgiveness. Not quite at the levels of the Cap Back designs we see today but not a million miles off in terms of performance.

Inverted Cone Technology: The Inverted cone technology is still seen in the Taylormade irons of today. It enhances the COR of the clubs, expanding the sweet spot, leading to solid strikes almost anywhere on the face.

Dampening Web: An aluminium covering the dampens vibrations on mishits and that adds to the impressive feel off these extremely solid and stable irons.

Trajectory Launch Control: All clubs need a little TLC and the Trajectory launch control of the R7’s leads to high launching strikes with maximum distance.

Taylormade R7 Lofts And Lies

R7	Loft	Lie
3 Iron	21°	59°
4 Iron	24°	60°
5 Iron	27°	60.5°
6 Iron	31°	61°
7 Iron	35°	61.5°
8 Iron	39°	62°
9 Iron	43°	62.5°
Pitching Wedge	47°	63°
Gap Wedge	51°	63°
Sand Wedge	55°	63°

Who Should Buy The Taylormade R7 Irons

The R7’s are great for high to mid handicappers because of the superior forgivness and distance coupled with ample workability for those on the mid handicap side of the scale.

If you are looking for a beginner or improver set of irons on a budget, you can pick these old gems up for less than $200 for the entire set.

Distance: 94/100

Forgiveness: 94/100

Wokabilty: 93/100

Overall Performance: 95/100

Value: 99/100

Overall Score: 96/100