By ED TRAVIS
TaylorMade is stressing the new Qi35 drivers are an efficient combination of a distance producing design, low center of gravity and high MOI forgiveness.
Fast Facts
TaylorMade Qi35 Driver
Game-improvement category
Multi-material construction
Carbon Twist Face
Carbon fiber crown
Sole slot behind face
Adjustable hosel
Two interchangeable sole weights (3g, 13g)
Stock shafts: Fujikura Ventus Blue, Mitsubishi Diamana T+
Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip
$600
TaylorMade Qi35 Max
Super game-improvement category
Multi-material construction
Carbon Twist Face
Carbon fiber crown
Sole slot behind face
Adjustable hosel
Rear skirt weight (34g)2-3g, 13g)
Stock shafts: Fujikura Airspeeder, Mitsubishi Diamana T+
Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip
$600
TaylorMade Qi35 LS
Better player category
Multi-material construction
Carbon Twist Face
Carbon fiber crown
Sole slot behind face
Adjustable hosel
Thee interchangeable sole weights (2-3g, 13g)
Stock shafts: Mitsubishi, Kai’Li Blue CB, Mitsubishi, Kai’Li White
Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip
$650
WYNTK
As TaylorMade and other manufacturers have explained many times a driver that has high forgiveness and that has a low spin higher launch to produce more carry distance generally require designs that work in opposition to each other. Until now so many compromises had to be made that often a club company wound up with a product that didn’t fulfil either goal all that well.
In other words, a game-improvement driver suitable, i.e., forgiving for weekend golfers, wouldn’t necessarily produce the most yardage and conversely longer hitting drivers were really only suitable for professionals and elite amateurs who tended to impact the ball near the center of the face every time.
TaylorMade’s research led them to being able to adjust the placement of the clubhead center of gravity lower in the head—lower and more forward for more distance but positioned so that along with the other design features it gives the ease of hitting that all players want.
Brian Bazzel, TaylorMade’s vice president of Product Creation, noted in the press release introducing the new driver family, “At TaylorMade, we have been pushing the envelope of forgiveness, and in Qi35, we have taken it to yet another level. The true breakthrough is delivering this new level of forgiveness with even more distance and enhanced launch conditions. Combining that with groundbreaking fitting technology in Qi35 SelectFit heads will allow the golfer to see maximum performance gains with Qi35 drivers.”
SelectFit mentioned by Bazzel is an interesting way to make the process of fitting a driver to a players’ swing by the addition of markers on the Qi35 face for really accurate information from a fitter’s launch monitor.
“We engineer our products to the highest level, but we know we can unlock even more performance when we optimize the technology properly. Qi35 SelectFit driver heads can allow a fitter to identify the most optimal head model with the correct loft, weight configuration and shaft,” according to Matt Simone Director of Custom Product Creation.
Also of interest is pricing of the Qi35 is the same as for last year’s Qi10 except the LS model is $20 more than the comparable 2024 driver.
