Taylormade R9 3 Wood Review 2023

“If you’re in the market for game improvement clubs, you can’t do much better than Taylormade.”

Taylormade has invested heavily in the game improvement club space and have been doing so for decades. Case in point: the Taylormade R9 fairway woods. The Taylormade R9 woods came out in 2009 and when they were released, they were considered groundbreaking because of the Flight Control Technology (FCT).

While FCT is a thing of the past now in 2023, when the Taylormade R9 hit the market, it turned a lot of heads and instantly became one of the most versatile woods on the market. And we would expect nothing less from Taylormade. As accurately as we can remember, Taylormade was one of the first major golf club manufacturing companies to adopt adjustability technology.

And while a lot has changed since 2009, the Taylormade R9 fairway wood still may be a great addition to your bag. Today we will be taking a look at the Taylormade R9 3-wood specifically because this is a club we feel should be in the bags of most serious golfers. Let’s see what the Taylormade R9 still has to offer.

Key Features

Inverted Cone Technology

The forgiveness features start with inverted cone technology. The face has been milled in such a way as to extend the sweet spot out near the toe area. By making the face more reactive in this common mis-hits sector, Taylormade ensured that high handicappers would feel comfortable and confident with the Taylormade R9 3-wood.

Flight Control Technology

This is probably the most important feature on the Taylormade R9 fairway wood. The FCT system allows you to tweak the loft, lie and face angle. There are 8 different positions to choose from. When we tested the Taylormade R9, we were very pleased at how we were able to open or close the face up behind the ball with the FCT system. It can help compensate for a lot of different shot biases and most importantly, keep your ball on the fairway.

Beveled Sole

Far too many golf club manufacturers overlook the fact that many golfers are actually playing their woods off the deck. The Taylormade R9 3-wood features a beveled leading edge and a round sole profile. This helps smooth out turf interaction. During our testing, we noticed that we were getting clean contact with the ball – even from the semi-rough – off the deck more often than not.

Is it Good for High Handicappers?

“One thing that we really liked about the Taylormade R9 for high handicappers is that it has a very familiar and assuring look at address.”

What we mean is that it looks like a driver. In fact, it’s almost as big as a driver. The Taylormade R9’s head is oversized and has a substantial footprint you can’t help but notice behind the ball. Of course, that means you have a large sweet spot to work with.

But even when you mis-hit really close to the heel, your ball will fly straighter than normal. In fact, the only kinds of shots we were sending into the woods were hosel rockets. The Taylormade R9 is especially forgiving on high-toe misses. On these kinds of shots, our balls were picking up very minimal side spin so they were staying straighter than they should have.

Perhaps most important though is the fact that the Taylormade R9 is easy to use off the deck or off the tee. The D4 swing weight will give you good club head speed even if you’re a slow swing speed player. Most of our testers reported that they became very comfortable with the Taylormade R9 after just a few swings. And if all that weren’t enough, the adjustable face angles will help you correct your big miss.

Available Shafts

• TM Fujikura Motore 70
• Grafalloy Prototype Comp NT 65
• TM Reax 50
• Mitsubishi Tensei CK 70 Blue

Is the Taylormade R9 3 Wood Worth it?

“The Taylormade R9 is absolutely worth it if you tend to mis-hit to the left or right.”

The FCT system goes a long way towards shaping your shot favorably. And while every golfer should learn how to square the face at impact, you know how the saying goes, “fake it ‘til you make it.” The Taylormade R9 3-wood will  certainly help you fake it until you sharpen your skills. It’s a worthwhile GI fairway wood for 18+ handicappers.