TaylorMade's r7 Mini driver blends nostalgic looks and modern features

AI-assisted summary
• With a 305cc head and adjustable weights, it provides a balance of distance, forgiveness, and control.
• The smaller head size compared to a driver allows for better control and workability, while still providing more distance than a 3-wood.

Gear: TaylorMade r7 Quad Mini Driver

Price: $479.99 with Fujikura Speeder MD shaft and Golf Pride Z-Grip

Specs: 305cc head, carbon fiber crown, four adjustable weights; available in 11.5 (RH and LH) and 13.5-degree (RH only) versions.

Available: April 15 (Pre-Sale), May 1 (in stores)

Who it’s for: Golfers looking for a compact, versatile option off the tee that can deliver more distance and forgiveness than a traditional 3-wood.

What you should know: The r7 Quad Mini Driver revives the iconic r7 name and style while packing modern materials and adjustability into a head that’s about 20 percent smaller than a standard driver.

The Deep Dive: If you were playing in the early 2000s, chances are you remember the TaylorMade r7. Before carbon fiber faces and crowns and in the earliest days of solid-core balls, the black and yellow r7 Quad was the first driver from TaylorMade to feature movable weights. It’s technology that is taken for granted now, but at the time, it was a massive move forward, making the r7 Quad a critical piece of golf equipment history.

Fast-forward 21 years from the 2004 launch of that club and today TaylorMade is bringing back the soul of the r7 in the form of a mini driver built for today’s game.

The r7 Quad Mini driver, with its 305cc volume and finished length of 43.75 inches, bridges the gap between driver and 3-wood. Available in 11.5 and 13.5-degree versions, it is designed to provide more distance and stability than a traditional 3-wood off the tee, and because the r7 Quad Mini is larger than a 3-wood, it should be more forgiving off the tee as well. However, it is smaller than a traditional 460cc driver, and shorter, with slightly more loft, so golfers will not hit the r7 Mini driver as far as their driver, but the added loft should increase spin and allow accomplished players to control tee shots more easily.

In the address position, golfers will see the r7 Mini driver has a carbon fiber crown that reduces weight on the top of the head, but it is covered by a matte black finish that helps to reduce glare and reduce visual distractions.

On the bottom of the club, golfers will see four ports that are designed to hold a pair of 13-gram weights and another pair of 4-gram weights. Moving the heavier weights forward lowers spin and promotes a flatter trajectory while shifting the heavy weights to the rear shifts the center of gravity (CG) location away from the face, encouraging a higher launch, more stability and increased spin. Mixing the weights can also create a slight or significant draw or fade bias.

TaylorMade has also added two driver technologies to the r7 Quad Mini to help golfers hit straighter shots and make the club perform better on shots hit off the turf.

The titanium face of the r7 Mini driver has been designed with Twist Face, which means the upper toe and lower heel areas curve more to enhance the gear effect and help mis-hit shots in those areas spin back toward the middle of the fairway.

Similarly, there is a large Speed Pocket slot in the sole of the r7 Mini that allows the lower portion of the hitting area to flex more efficiently on low-struck or thin shots, which with the r7 Mini’s deep face, could easily happen.

So while TaylorMade has designed the r7 Mini driver to be able to handle shots off the fairway, it is designed to perform best off the tee for fast-swinging golfers who want an alternative to their driver.