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What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Jack Backhouse brings you the low down on the new TaylorMade Stealth UDI Driving Iron
The TaylorMade Stealth UDI is one of 2 driving irons in TaylorMade’s lineup for 2023. The UDI is more compact, has a centre of gravity that’s closer to the face and is more pleasing to the eye for good players. So, how does it perform? Find out in our TaylorMade Stealth UDI driving iron review.
Driving irons don’t get much better than the TaylorMade Stealth UDI; it’s literally called the Ultimate Driving Iron. It is compactly shaped to suit a good ball striker’s eye and packs a punch to send the ball cannoning down the fairway.
Like all of the clubs TaylorMade produce, this driving iron is packed full of technology like SpeedFoam Air, forged hollow body construction and thru-slot speed pocket to make this powerful and forgiving to help you get round the bouncy courses in summer efficiently.
PROS
CONS
For a driving iron, this club must be the best looking on the market. It doesn’t have loads of offset, the profile is short from heel to toe, and you can not see a huge chunk of the club behind the face. The TaylorMade Stealth UDI was certainly designed with a good player in mind.
With a head this small, you know that the centre of gravity is going to be fairly high and close to the clubface compared to bigger driving irons or hybrids, which means you can expect penetrating ball flights and plenty of run when the ball hits the ground.
I’ve never hit a TaylorMade driving iron before 2023. I’m not quite sure why because they’ve looked excellent for a number of years. The GAPR first caught my eye in 2018 on the range at The Open at Carnoustie, but I was never able to get my hands on one to give it a hit.
I was first introduced to the Stealth UDI and Stealth DHY at TaylorMade’s exclusive fitting centre in Carlsbad, California, where one of their fitters handed me one to try after fitting me into a new set of irons. It didn’t take me more than three shots to know that I needed to get my hands on one when back home.
What I first loved about the Stealth UDI is how compact it is. A lot of driving irons that I’ve tested this year are oversized irons with a lot of offset that doesn’t suit my eye. The UDI is a tour-inspired shape and traditional look behind the ball that doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to hook it left.
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It only takes a couple of shots to get a feel for how hot the face is on this club. The TaylorMade Stealth UDI is built with an ultra-thin forged 4140 face and Inverted Cone Technology, similar to the drivers, to create a flexible face to give great ball speed across the whole face.
Another big contributor to the ball speed is TaylorMade’s Thru-Slot Speed pocket which increases face flexibility while preserving ball speed on low face strikes to ensure that all shots from all over the face maintain a consistently high speed and, therefore, distance.
The Stealth UDI was my first experience with TaylorMade’s Newly engineered SpeedFoam Air. It is 69% less dense than its predecessor, so the weight saved has been redistributed in the head design to further optimize the weight for better launch conditions.
This club is the ideal long iron replacement club if you have players’ irons and like to play with a low chasing ball flight. With the CoG positioned for a penetrating flight and a large sweet spot for maximum forgiveness, it’s a real weapon to carry around in your bag.
I’ve only had the club in my possession for a few days and I’ve already practiced with it, tested it on the launch monitor and hit shots on the course with it. An average 210 carry and 227 yard total is really solid for me and just gives me another 10-15 yards on my 4 iron.
Off of the tee, I’ve had great success drilling it down the fairways and with the coursed being so brown and firm at the moment, I see a lot more run and total distance out in the real world.
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I do struggle to hit this high with it not being the same shaft I was fit into in California, so I don’t often hit it at greens with my 2nd shot as, at the moment, I’m not sure I could stop it. This, of course, might also be down to me being a low ball hitter any way, and this is designed to stay low.
Some players may find the DHY version of the Stealth driving iron a better option as it is slightly bigger, more forgiving and higher launching, which may provide more optimal launch conditions for mid to slow swing speeds.
I absolutely could put this in the bag for the rest of the summer months in 2023. Courses are brown and fast and playing really short, with a huge premium on accuracy for low scores. The TaylorMade Stealth UDI gives me the confidence that I’m going to hit the ball on my target line over and over again, and you can’t find anything better than that.
Available: Now
RRP: £219 – currently reduced to £149 at Hotgolf (below).
Right-handed lofts: 17°, 19°
Featured shafts: 8 shafts available, seniors to x flex
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