TaylorMade SIM fairway woods and hybrid review

Right, we’ve seen what the drivers have to offer, so do the new TaylorMade SIM fairway woods and hybrids match up?

Watch the review below where I’m joined by Andrew Wright to give them the full NCG treatment…

Let us know what you think in the comments below or you can tweet me.

For information on the TaylorMade SIM fairway woods, head to the next page…

TaylorMade SIM fairway woods and hybrids: The technology

The reshaping story continues from the drivers into the rest of the SIM metalwood range. There is also a visual tie across the range with the same chalk white paint and chromium carbon crown seen in the SIM driver. 

An old technology that has been brought back is the iconic V Steel sole, reinvented for the new SIM fairway metals and SIM hybrid. The sole is designed to improve turf interaction and playability from various lies.

A more rounded leading edge improves the club’s initial contact with the turf, while the V Steel sole further raises heel and toe sections of the sole away from the ground and improves versatility. This means a smaller proportion of the club comes in contact with the turf, reducing ground friction to increase clubhead and ballspeed.

Both the fairways and hybrid feature Twist Face, to counteract gear effect on the most common mis-hits on the clubface, the high-toe and low-heel.

Speed pockets on the base of the club increase ball speed across the face and also provide greater forgiveness on low-face impacts.

Like SIM drivers, the fairway woods feature progressive head sizes for greater forgiveness for golfers who need it. The SIM fairway has a 180cc titanium head combined with lightweight carbon construction, a zatech titanium face and a heavy 80g steel sole weight.

The steel sole weight is positioned strategically to create an extremely low centre of gravity for high launch, ball speed and forgiveness of low-face hits. The new zatech titanium face uses the rare and ultra-strong material for a high level of ductility.

SIM Max is a 185cc steel fairway wood made with a C300 face material. It also includes the V Steel technology. It is designed for higher launch and peak trajectories for long distance and improved playability. The SIM Max D is an oversized 190cc clubhead optimised for forgiveness and designed to be draw bias.

The SIM hybrids feature the technology from the fairway wood range including the V steel technology for the first time in a rescue club. This delivers improved turf interaction and reduce friction from a variety of lies. A reshaped toe, leading edge and an adjusted face angle all help to further improve playability and strike.

Find out how I got on with the new TaylorMade SIM fairway woods on the next page…

TaylorMade SIM fairway woods and hybrids: The results

Across this range the whole design from colour scheme down to shaping really suits my eye. You can see the SIM Max does sit slightly more closed than the SIM model so personally the SIM suited my eye better.

The hardest thing about fairway woods is hitting them off the deck on the fairway. We can all tee it up and hit them easily off the tee, but when we have to deal with undulating lies and hitting it off the fairway getting the correct launch can be extremely difficult.

Across all models the woods were exceptionally easy to launch, as expected the SIM Max flew higher than the regular model. It is important to note the SIM has an adjustable hosel so you can adjust loft where necessary however the SIM Max has a fixed hosel so can’t be adjusted.

I hit a lot of fairway woods into the green on long par 4s and par 5s so having something with that extra land angle to get the ball landing softly on the green was great.

Delving into the numbers I actually found both fairway wood models travelled very similar distances with 207 yards carry in the SIM and 208 yards in the SIM Max. Notably the SIM Max was more forgiving my lateral miss went down from 15 yards to 5 yards when moving from the SIM to the SIM Max.

Moving onto the hybrid, visually I loved the look of this club. Although visuals aren’t everything it gives you confidence to put a good swing on the ball.

It definitely sits less shut than last years M6 model this is a really big improvement in my view as I always felt the M6 has a slight left bias that effected my dispersion. This put me off the M6 even though the ball speeds and numbers I was getting with it were really impressive.

I tested this out in the 19° head and was getting 193 yards of carry but what’s more impressive is that my lateral miss was only 0.4 yards to the right. I think this shows an improvement in forgiveness from last years model as my shots were starting more online and I wasn’t getting that over draw I saw often with the M6.

TaylorMade SIM fairway woods and hybrid: NCG verdict

It’s no secret I loved the look and performance of the SIM Max hybrid but I was also really impressed with the fairway woods in this range. The new shaping and sole design for better turf interaction really worked for me in testing improving the consistency and ease of launch compared to last year’s models.

Details

Available: February 7, 2020 (pre-order from January 10)

RRP: £369 (SIM); £269 (SIM Max and SIM Max D); £229 (SIM Max Rescue)

Stock shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana FW Limited 75 (SIM); Fujikura Ventus Blue FW 5 and Ventus Blue FW 6 (SIM and SIM Max)

Lofts: 14°, 15° (SIM); 18°, 21° & 24° (SIM, SIM Max and SIM Max D)

Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip

More information: TaylorMade website

Thanks to Alwoodley Golf Club, in Leeds, where this video was filmed. Learn more about the first course designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie here