Taylormade - do you check the specs on custom irons

[buckethat72]

I recently enjoyed an excellent irons fitting process at Taylormade Performance Lab in Melbourne, and was convinced to go with a new set of 23 P7MC irons.

 

Spec - standard length, 2UP, Nippon Modus Tour 120T stiff shafts.

 

They arrived within a week which was great, but I decided to get the specs checked by local reputable club builder.  The results were so bad I wanted to post here to see if people have had similar experiences and what you think I should do.  For now TM has offered to take them back and rectify them, but I think maybe they need to start a fresh build as Im not comfortable in case they start pouring lead down the shafts or something (I'm no expert).

 

 

Grips not properly fitted on 4, 5, 7, 9, P (hanging 1cm off the end).

 

Cheers

Chris

 

 

[nitram]

I'd send 'em back and give them a chance to make it right. If they mess up again, get your refund and blister them on social media.

[MiloMalt]

I'm also in Melbourne and just got some new clubs I wanna get the specs checked. Are you able to DM me what club builder you went to to have your specs checked?

[AmateurAmateur]

They wouldn’t pour lead down the shaft, would likely just pull them apart and completely rebuild them. 
I’d send them back and as mentioned above give them a chance to rectify before blasting them on social media. A shame that it often comes to going that far before companies decide to face accountability.

[AmateurAmateur]

Taking a closer look at some of those specs, it’s very likely that the difference is simply either the machines being measured on, or the person measuring the specs and how they attach the club in the machine. 
swing weight being that far off is inexcusable though, that’s definitely incompetence.  

[TKOpenguin]

All of the OEMs build to tolerances. The downside is that their tolerances tend to be quite loose. It’s the entire reason high end fitting businesses can exist. They just don’t get them right majority of the time. 
 

1-1.5 isn’t that far off what I would expect from them to be honest. 

[Golfrnut]

Grip installs can hurt the scale number, but most of them are swing weighting before gripping so although your builders scale is off now, they are likely not that terrible spec'd out TBH.  Can only assume that by saying they are off by a CM, it's assumed by pushing on the side of the grip end and feeling the give in them.  Them merely correcting the grips if that's the case stands a good chance of correcting a good bit of that.

[AzRoger]

Were the club length measurements also off? You mention the grips hanging 1cm off the end, that's not a small amount and will affect swingweight. Did those clubs measure 1cm long or standard length? If they measured standard length with the grips installed the way they were the only way to correct it is to reshaft, I wouldn't accept extensions.

Edited February 23, 2024 by AzRoger

[Phabs]

Exactly the reason I build all my own stuff.  Cheaper and I know it’s right … and if it’s not I’d rather it be my fault. 

[ChipNRun]

Sorry you didn't get better service!

 

A golf pro at one of the better public courses in the St. Louis area is a respected club fitter. He warns about even top OEMs not building clubs to spec. When he fits a golfer for a set - especially irons - he has the factory send the finished build to his shop. Then, he checks loft and lie and other factors.

 

Even for top OEMs, he usually finds a couple of clubs that are enough out-of-spec that he tweaks them before handing over to golfer.

[Jeff58]

Have them checked by another local reputable club builder. The likelihood that every club  is off in every category by nearly identical offsets is extremely unlikely at best.

Edited February 23, 2024 by Jeff58

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

My experience has been that if you want better quality control, and to get what you actually pay for,  you order Mizuno.  You order TM or Callaway direct from them, you just have to accept that things are going to be wrong

[Phabs]

3 hours ago, Golfinfloridaafter40 said:

My experience has been that if you want better quality control, and to get what you actually pay for,  you order Mizuno.  You order TM or Callaway direct from them, you just have to accept that things are going to be wrong

Mizuno has had PLENTY of similar issues.  

[shellbmb]

Like others have said, start with fixing the grips.  

 

If you do order OEM, I always ask for "grip in box" that way it's easier to make some adjustments.  

[buckethat72]

20 hours ago, AzRoger said:

Were the club length measurements also off? You mention the grips hanging 1cm off the end, that's not a small amount and will affect swingweight. Did those clubs measure 1cm long or standard length? If they measured standard length with the grips installed the way they were the only way to correct it is to reshaft, I wouldn't accept extensions.

Standard length and they were pretty close there which is odd because they did it by having most of grips hanging off the end

[buckethat72]

Thanks for all the replies. I’m looking forward to seeing what they produce next go around and will let you know. 
 

the cynical side of me thinks wow these guys are in the club making business we definitely get treated a lot differently to the pros and we are the ones paying for our clubs!

[jeffrey r]

23 hours ago, Phabs said:

Mizuno has had PLENTY of similar issues.  

 

Yeah, I got a set of 923 Hot Metals with MMT 105 last year. After waiting months for the order, I could tell pretty quickly from turf interaction and ball-flight that the lie angles were off. Didn’t really feel like dealing with it by that point, and put them to the side.  

 

And funny enough related to the point of this thread, my P790 irons with MMT 105 ordered direct from TM (US) were swing-weighted right on point, and lie angles seemed on point “out of the box”. So, YMMV, and any OEM custom orders are a bit of a crapshoot these days IMHO.

[buckethat72]

A final update on this - TaylorMade said they rebuilt the irons completely.  I trusted and just played them but they were going nowhere near the expected distances.  I got them checked again and lofts were between 1.5 and 3 degrees weak through the set (and these were already on classic irons with traditional lofts).  I didn't bother going back and just paid a reputable club fitter / builder to bend them to spec.  Im never buying clubs ex factory again I just dont trust them. I like these TM irons but it's also the last time I buy any of their products.

[soufrog]

swingweight being off is that part that is terrible, the lofts and lies are gonna always probably vary from one machine to a next, or how the person puts them in. 

[gdb99]

A friend of mine had a complete bag fitting, all TaylorMade.

 

He ordered a set of the MC's also. 1/2" over, a couple degrees up.

 

They came in 1" over and lofts and lies were all over the place.

 

The shop he ordered them from ordered another set for him +1" with grips loose in the box, and they will cut and bend at their shop.

[Rbenson19]

read below……explains situation better 

I just ordered custom p-790 and I’m with you!!!!!!!   Help……I’m in a pickle too and would love advice…….was gonna blast them on this review but I know they’ll have it out for me if I did that……so, waiting like a good boy for arrival and then sending them back……I expressed doubt in there repair/rebuild process because the guy I spoke with said they’ll probably just cut em down…..

 

Review I never left 
 

 

 

Pretty livid!

I ordered p-790  2025 4-pw custom.  I adjusted the length by +.5”.  After reading more reviews it seem’d clear that TM wasn’t the best at adjusting the DG.  So, I diligently call Monday morning and considering I had just put the order in on the weekend (on which they are closed) was confident Taylormade would contact there building department in time before built.  I was told there was no way of knowing if they will get the request in time.  So, over the next 24 hrs I call several more times to see if I could push the note through…….after my last call the gentleman who was on the phone said “let me walk over and see if they got the note and adjusted to your request”.  Well, I was informed that the clubs were already built.  So, I immediately let him know I will be calling upon arrival of the irons to send them back to adjust/repair the irons back to standard length specs, which I know includes a complete overhaul on each iron heads weight to match standard length DG2 and DG3.  I also told the rep I find it hard to believe that your departments, which are under 1 roof in Carlsbad CA couldn’t get to my request in time especially since he “walked over to that department” and there were a string of emails regarding my request.  Another  ad sign was when I did tell them my request it seemed preordained the order move quicker.  But……the worst part was that when I told him I will be immediately sending them back he told me they will most likely just cut .5” off the shafts and that was it when I know each clubhead needs to be redone in terms of there weighting system.    Fyi, for every .5” added the DG changes roughly 3 points. When I told him exactly what I just wrote about each clubhead needing to be adjusted he said “that they’ll probably just cut them down”.  To which I responded, no I’d like them completely redone.  How will I know they were actually done right?  By trusting the process?

Also, I’m a good customer, spent thousands this year on woods and now irons…..you would think they would take care of good customers by rewarding them w/ good customer service……

We’ll see