Taylormade R11 Fairway Wood Review

Looks:
At first, seeing the white head of the Taylormade R11 Fairway Wood Review did take some time to get used to. I generally like more classic shapes and colors such as the TM V-Steel or the Titleist 904f/906f fairway woods. The finish of the head is a nice white matte finish that does reduce glare. If the finish was glossy, I definitely would have gone a different route. The black face contrasting with the white crown is pleasing and does help to align the club better and I think Taylormade did a great job with the color scheme. There are some markings around the edge of the crown that is a little distracting, but once you get used to it, it is a non factor at address. The paint scheme on the stock Blur shaft was nice and matched well with the overall scheme of things. The headcover was also nice, but I would have liked an all white or mostly white headcover to go with the white fairway head.

Standing at address over the club does inspire confidence as the white finish seems to make the head seem a little bit bigger. With all the FCT setting in neutral and the ASP plate being on neutral as well, the club sets up very square in my eye. Again, great looking down and seeing a square club at address. I can definitely see myself playing an R11 driver and even possibly an all white 5 wood or Rescue hybrid.
 
Feel and Sound:
Before playing the R11, I had a Nike Sq 2 and V-Steel 3 wood. Both, and I think most of you would agree, were great performers in the sound, look, feel, and performance categories. I would not hesitate to say that both are probably classics in the fairway woods department.




Right out of the box, I could tell that the R11 was head heavy. This initially was gonna be a problem for me as previous fairways I've played did not feel this heavy regardless of head/shaft combination. After taking a couple of practice swings outside the house, the club felt good and stable. Again, somewhat heavier than I'm used to but I could tell exactly where the head was on my back and down swing. I take the R11 to the range and hit around 30 balls with it. The head feels more muted than the V-steel that I was used to. It has a more silent/muted "thwack" sound when hit. Not necessarily a bad thing, but again, I was used to the sound of the V-Steel which I still think is one of the best, if not the best fairways ever produced. The ball did feel hot off the face but didnt have as much "feel" as the V-Steel or the Sq2. I was a little bit disappointed but after the range session, I got accustomed to the acoustics of the R11.