Do you want your new clubs single-use or multi-purpose?
For example, are you partial to a driver or fairway metal that’s big and forgiving or one that allows you to tweak an array of settings? Do you want irons designed to launch it high and far, or do you want a compact head that lets you control trajectory? Even in wedges, you can choose between larger heads with wider soles and limited lofts or models that offer multiple lofts, sole designs and bounce configurations. Knowing what you want from your wedges, irons and metals is the first step towards knowing what kinds of clubs should be in your bag. Here are eight you should try…
Mizuno T7
Infusing forged carbon steel with ultra-strong boron makes the grooves more precise and durable. The grooves, soles and shapes change as the loft changes.
Mizuno JPX-900
There are just three lofts, but you don’t need more. Plus, you get a large, forgiving size and sole, a milled face, loft-specific grooves and a soft stainless steel for better feel.
Cleveland RTX-3 Blade
AÂ revamped hosel shifts weight towards the toe. That moves the sweet spot in line with the centre of gravity for better consistency across its 18 lofts and three sole grinds.
Cleveland RTX-3 CB
There’s only one sole grind and fewer lofts (16) than the RTX-3 Blade, but it adds forgiveness with a larger size and a vibration-damping insert in the back cavity.
Titleist 917 Fairways
We all love customisation and the new Titleist 917 Fairways provide more distance and forgiveness with the most precise customisation available to dedicated golfers of all skill levels.
Titleist 917F2 and 917F3 models, like their 917 driver counterparts, are designed using new patented Active Recoil Channel 2.0 and SureFit CG technology to produce an uncompromising combination of distance, forgiveness and trajectory control with tour-preferred looks, sound and feel.
Titleist 917 fairways deliver increased ball speed for more distance with superior forgiveness, industry-leading adjustability with optimised trajectory control, and tour-inspired sound and feel through a range of features including Active Recoil Channel (ARC) 2.0, which actively flexes and recoils at impact to launch the ball off the face with higher speed for more distance. The improved sole channel design, featuring a unique elastomer insert with a hollow core, produces greater face flexibility for a more consistent deflection that increases speed across the face. Titleist also uses a variable thickness face insert, tuned with ARC 2.0 to deliver greater off-centre ball speed for more overall distance across the face. The high-speed, forged insert is thinner around the perimeter, increasing flexibility for more distance on off-centre hits.
A precise, high-MOI design, with a low centre of gravity location, delivers stability and forgiveness by preserving 
off-centre ball speed for more distance, more often, while Titleist’s industry-leading SureFit Hosel and new SureFit CG weight system deliver the ultimate in precision fitting for every player.
Incredibly, for the club golfer, the 917’s adjustable technologies offer the same type of customisation available on the Titleist Tour Van. A Titleist-authorised fitter will utilise SureFit Hosel and SureFit CG, coupled with interchangeable shafts, to determine a player’s optimal setup so they are playing a 917 fairway that is fit precisely to their swing.
So what are the main differences between the two available models? The 917F2 model provides all-around playability with forgiveness and more distance in a larger profile fairway. 917F2 offers more spin and higher launch versus 917F3 for a higher trajectory. (Available in 13.5º, 15º, 16.5º, 18º and 21º lofts.)
Meanwhile, the 917F3 model provides versatility with shot control and more distance in a compact profile fairway. 917F3 offers less spin versus 917F2 for a more boring trajectory. (Available in 13.5 and 15º lofts.)
Titleist 917 fairways are available now through Titleist-authorised golf shops with a suggested retail price (SRP) of $439 in Australia and $499 in New Zealand.
Go to www.titleist.com.au/917 for more
TaylorMade M2 Irons
As clubhead dimensions continue to get thinner across the face and topline, the challenge to design an iron with best-in-class sound and feel becomes more and more difficult. But TaylorMade engineers have utilised technologies first developed in RocketBladez irons (Speed Pocket), the Face Slots introduced in the RSi irons and an ultra-low centre of gravity (last year’s M2), effectively combining them in one product to produce a remarkably long and forgiving iron while maintaining playability.
The key to unlocking performance in the new M2 irons is a combination of low CG and maximum COR. For example, even while adding Face Slots (which slightly raise CG), engineers have been able to lower CG and improve consistency by way of several significant changes, including a 33 per cent thinner overall topline, 7 per cent shallower blade height and a 20 per cent deeper Speed Pocket with 33 per cent thinner front wall for even more flexibility.
Engineers also developed a new thinner, wider six-sided fluted hosel that saves 5 grams (compared to 3 in the original M2 iron), allowing for the repositioning of 2 grams of discretionary weight lower in the clubhead. The new hosel bend slot also allows for a 30 per cent improvement in bending.
The new M2 irons were designed employing TaylorMade’s new ‘Geocoustic’ engineering techniques; acoustics tuned through geometry – better feel through geometry, better sound through 3-D damping and an optimised rib structure to create ideal frequencies for pleasing sound and feel. This is accomplished through the incorporation of lightweight ABS and carbon fibre to increase rigidity and improve sound absorption of the badge.
Available at retail on January 27, M2 irons will be offered in 4-iron through LW. Players will have a choice of the REAX HL 88 by FST steel shafts (S,R) or the M2 REAX graphite shafts (75-45g / S,R,A,L) in addition to numerous additional custom shaft options.
TaylorMade M1 Irons
Complementing the M2 irons are the all-new M1 irons, an entirely new line that completes the company’s M family of product. The intention while designing the M1 irons was to bring as much of the speed, forgiveness and playability of the M2 but deliver it to the player who prefers a slightly more compact look along with additional control and workability.
This was achieved by using many of the same technologies as M2 while adding a tungsten weighting system to 
allow for more freedom to create the shapes needed without sacrificing low-CG, COR or MOI.
As with any centre of gravity optimisation equation, discretionary mass is the currency which engineers necessitate. Through the incorporation of Tungsten, TaylorMade was able to locate the COG less than 1mm from centre face along the heel-toe axis as well as drop the vertical position of the COG in the 3 through 7-irons. The company has also redesigned its fluted hosel, which is now a 180° design that has successfully accomplished weight savings without compromising the look preferred by better players at address.
Incorporated into TaylorMade’s M1 irons are the company’s proprietary Face Slots, which are designed to increase flexibility at the boundary of the clubface to improve consistency of ballspeed on off-center impacts. They also boast more refined Speed Pocket Technology, a slot in the sole that is intended to increase face flexibility and protect ballspeed on impacts below face centre while increasing launch angle and ball speed
Similar to the new M2 irons, the M1 irons also implement TaylorMade’s Geocoustic engineering; the company’s fin badge is a feature that works in conjunction with Face Slots to dampen unwanted low-frequency, long duration sounds. The sound of the M1 is optimised using thin yet stiff head geometry combined with strategically placed reinforcements in the topline.
For more information, go to taylormadegolf.com.au
