Retro Golf Club Review: TaylorMade R500

Ah, if there has ever been a Golf Equipment Company that has always kept on the bleeding edge of design and technology it has been TaylorMade. Since 1994 TaylorMade Golf has produced the most equipment than any other major OEM and its loyal customer base will be more than happy to trade that 6 month old $400 driver for another each and every time! Why? Well, some people have too much money, but the real reason is that for some golfers, only the best will do and as far as drivers are concerned, I do not believe that anyone has made more great drivers than TaylorMade Golf.

The R500 Series came in the early 2000's and was designed to replace the aging R300 Series. Larger heads, more custom options and overall better performance is what was promised by TaylorMade and that is exactly what they delivered!

The R510 was made at 330cc designed for the better player with a stronger swing, or for those who liked the smaller, classic look with a boring trajectory. The R540 was just a hair larger at 350cc, but was designed to be a little more forgiving and easier to get airborne. Then there was the big kahuna, the R580 at a then massive 400cc! This beast was designed to do only one thing: hit it long!

These clubs, while all great in their own right started to get a lot of attention from not only TaylorMade staff players, but of those under contract with other equipment companies. To this day several players not with TaylorMade use one of their drivers and this is a estimate to just how good their driver technology really is. They have now won many, many golf tournaments worldwide, several majors and are still in play today! Some on the Champions Tour still use the old R510 every week and have even won with it! Now thats saying something!

I always liked the R510 model myself. It looked great, a nice clean crown without the alignment/stabilizing/TaylorMade gimmick bars on the crown. It hit like a rocket and was easily workable. The larger models hit it a little higher and maybe a little farther, but they were not as easy to maneuver when the shot called for it. TaylorMade had, and actually still has a great product line in the R500 series. You can still find some new floating around at your local retail stores or on line. It is a club that changed the way TaylorMade looked in a world of Big Bertha drivers, and has continued its driver dominance to this day.

This is a great step up from those of you still using a steel headed driver and not wanting to spend an arm and a leg for the latest and can be found for about the same price as a cheaper knockoff at a local big box store.