TaylorMade RSi2, 10 Handicapper review – follow-up

It has been a month or so since my TaylorMade RSi2 irons review, so I figured I would give a quick update on how the clubs are performing.

I am still very impressed with the set overall. They are about 1 club longer than my old TaylorMade Burner 1.0 irons from 2009, but the feel is big difference to me so far. TaylorMade has done a fantastic job matching these, very different clubs one to another, irons into a very unified set of irons. What do I mean? Well, for example, the 4 and 5 irons, have tungsten inserts in the toe and a very thin hot faces, yet the 5 iron has incredibly soft, predictable feel chipping on the edge of the green. I really did not expect that. Staying with the 4 and 5 iron, they are extremely good driving irons off the tee, and for me the 4 iron is more accurate than my 3 hybrid, and almost as long. Again, I was not expecting that. The 5 iron is a flipping beast, and I have absolutely fallen in love with that club! I look forward to pulling it out of the bag, especially off the tee. At La Contenta last week on the 4th hole playing 185 yards, I pulled my 5 iron and hit a dart 190 yards right over the pin for a birdie.  The club is butter soft, but you get plenty of feedback on off center strikes. Very easy for me to produce a baby draw with it, and it is just as good off the turf. With the 4 iron, I have seen flashes of brilliance with the club off the tee, and I seem to be able to get a consistent 200+ yards out of it. That is huge for me with an iron that I feel more confident with than my hybrid, pretty cool.

Where it all comes together for me is how much these irons have changed my game in such a short amount of time. As an example, the other day on a narrow 355 yard hole, I pulled my 4 iron from the tee, and went 4 iron 8 iron, for par.  I have always played that hole Driver PW or AW depending on my drive, and because it was so narrow, would sometimes catch a tree limb or end up with a bad angle for a second shot. Game strategy changer!

As I said in my former review, the 8 thru PW have forged faces and the AW wedge is fully forged. Having game improvement irons in the past, I was not ready for how great forged feels. Sure, I have heard that from scratch players, but until you experience it for yourself, you won’t really believe it. Where I notice it the most is in the approach shots with the 9 and PW. I still have length, but they really feel like my Cleveland wedges with a rocket engine strapped on. Where the real difference between the RSi2 irons and game improvements out there is feel around the green. With my Burners, I very rarely pulled a PW or 9 iron to chip, sure when I needed a low roller from the edge, I would use the 8 iron with mixed results. With the RSi2’s the forged clubs are all fantastic around the edge of the green, and they feel like a wedge. For example, again at La Contenta, I nearly eagled a par 5 chipping from 45 feet with my PW. The ball comes off the face soft and very controllable. I seem to be able to add extra distance to chips in a much more predictable way, without my former tendency to fire one too hard, or leave it real short out of fear. All of that adds up to confidence!

Since I wrote my first article TaylorMade has come out with a new 2016 version of the RSi line of irons called PSi. Not in stores as of this writing, but that means you will probably be able to get some outstanding deals of the RSi2 irons, just in time for Christmas!