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When Tiger blew up the internet at the end of last year by competing with son Charlie at the PNC Championship and finishing 2nd. The internet was also a buzz by the driver with the mysterious red face that Woods was playing, particularly when Woods, clearly still struggling with his leg injury, was ripping drives past playing partner Justin Thomas at 300 yrds+! 

In 2022, TaylorMade Golf releases this mysterious new driver, and it has a name: Stealth. TaylorMade has always pushed the envelope for new club design and this year it comes in the shape of an all-new carbon fiber face. TaylorMade claim that with the Stealth range (Stealth, Stealth Plus and Stealth HD) they deliver a better energy transfer and increased ball speed. Putting the regular Stealth model in the bag, I headed over to the course to put it through its paces, here is what I found.

Look and Feel

With a departure from the regular titanium finishes of silver and black, the face of the Stealth driver is red. The 60 layer carbon face looks amazing. When at address the face behind the ball is not distracting, in fact, I really liked the black and red combo. The large crown has a matte finish, giving it an ultra-premium feel, and the size and shape of the head are reminiscent of the SIM series, but with a slightly more compact feel.

I was not disappointed with the strike and the sound generated by the new carbon face. And like you would expect from all models from TaylorMade- the stealth feels and sounds powerful and satisfying. The tone is slightly higher than the SIM and SIM2 models, and there is very positive feedback on all strikes wherever they are struck on the face.

Technology

TaylorMade says this technology was 20 years in the making and proudly herald us into ‘The carbon wood age’. What we are talking about is the 60 layers of carbon sheets that are strategically arranged to optimize energy transfer, combined with the already existing Twistface technology.

This breakthrough design of a lightweight carbon face in Stealth has created a whole new starting line, a new era of drivers, with the new lightweight carbon face offering a more efficient impact and faster ball speed.

TaylorMade engineers took advantage of the lightweight carbon material by creating a 26g face, which is 40 percent lighter than a titanium face of equivalent size. Because of that weight savings, the face size of Stealth is 11 percent larger than SIM2 and SIM2 Max drivers and nearly 20 percent larger than the 2020 SIM driver.

TaylorMade’s 20-year journey to change the face of golf was made possible by an innovative nanotexture cover that sits on top of the 60 layers of carbon. The nanotexture cover is made from a thin polyurethane layer that creates a strong and flexible striking surface which serves to optimize distance based on improving launch conditions in both dry and wet conditions.

This technology creates the face texture needed to produce the ideal amount of friction between the face and the ball at impact to reduce spin at impact in dry conditions. The nanotexture face also features full-face scorelines designed to provide improved spin performance in wet conditions.

Performance

When compared to my current SIM Max driver there was a noted improvement in club head speed, also a reduction in spin which led to better ball flight, resulting in much straighter shots. For me, this meant more fairways hit and considerable improvement in distance. How much more I hear you ask? On average for a full round using the standard Stealth, the data indicated my driving distance increased by 18.2 yards on average, and fairways hit was 8 of 12, giving me an increased accuracy of 20% for my home course. Also worthy of note was the consistent ball flight, even on a blustery day.

Would I recommend it? Yes! I really think TaylorMade is onto something with the carbon face, and I think it is only a matter of time before the other makers follow suit- but why wait for them when you can have the technology now?! 

Details

The driver comes in 4 different variations, with each its own unique appeal. The Stealth as reviewed here, the Stealth Plus; offering an adjustable weight for draw or fade and the Stealth HD or ‘High Draw’ model; for lower handicapped players, and of course the ladies version.

There are various options available for shaft, please check the TaylorMade homepage for details.

Fitting is also available in English at the TaylorMade Ginza flagship store
* Reservation is required

Cost: The Stealth regular driver I played was ¥79,000 plus tax (with a TENSEI RED TM50 shaft) available on the Taylormade website

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