TaylorMade has released three new sets of forged irons. Each is supposed to incorporate various design features to improve performance.
From their looks alone ... wow. The TCB (Tour Preferred Cavityback) looks like the one for me. Maybe TM will send me a set to try ...
The full press release is below
CARLSBAD, Calif. (December 2, 2010) — TaylorMade Golf has re-imagined and redefined the forged iron with the introduction of three new and distinctly different models: TPMB (Tour Preferred® Muscleback), TPMC (Tour Preferred Muscle Cavity) and TPCB (Tour Preferred Cavityback).
The sophisticated design of each of the three new models incorporates specific features and technologies developed to promote improved superior performance. Created with major input from tour pros, each new iron is an exquisitely designed instrument that blends classic forged iron features with modern performance elements. The TPMB and TPMC are both created using a state-of-the-art shaping process and modern, 6-step forging procedure that results in pure feel. The TPCB employs a multi-material construction comprised of a forged face and cast body.
“Forged irons are typically devoid of performance technologies,” said Bret Wahl, senior director of iron, wedge and putter development. “Their compact and solid construction, with thin sole, thin topline, high CG location and little to no offset, forces a very specific type of impact parameters to hit a good shot, with virtually no margin for error. The reward for that sacrifice is unparalleled feel and workability. We took a long, close look into the makeup of forged irons to determine if we could advance the performance with the use of technology, and we found that we could.”
TPMB: Innovation in a Forged Muscleback
The Tour Preferred MB is a finely wrought muscleback blade expressly designed for the purist. With clear lines, a compact player’s shape and minimal offset, the TPMB delivers the pure feel, feedback and workability coveted by blade fans.
“This is the iron that many of our Tour Staff pros been waiting for,” said Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade’s vice president of tour operations. “The lines are clear and clean from every angle, and the pure feel of the ball on the forged face at impact is as good as it gets.”
The exclusive, 6-step forging process employed produces a more precisely shaped and finished head that looks and performs like a work of art. A thin topline, thin sole, straight leading edge, minimal offset and tapered hosel work in conjunction to promote the kind of pure face-to-ball connection sought after by skilled players.
In addition, the TPMB incorporates TaylorMade’s innovative new precision-weighting port in the back of the clubhead to solve an age-old problem. In the past, clubmakers have installed cartridges of varying weight in the hosel to assure that each iron in the set is of uniform swingweight. Doing so, however, affects the location of the CG in terms of its position between the toe and heel. The TPMB’s precision-weighting port guarantees precise swingweights while ensuring optimal and consistent CG location in every clubhead.
“The precision-weighting port proves that it is, in fact, possible to innovate and improve the performance of a true, forged blade,” said Brian Bazzel, manager of iron and wedge creation.
The TPMB also incorporates an advanced, USGA-conforming groove design to promote more spin and control from the rough, a crucial advancement in making it the ultimate player’s performance iron. The standard shaft and grip properties were chosen with input from TaylorMade Tour Staff professionals, and include True Temper Dynamic Gold shaft —the most widely played on tour—and Tour Velvet grips, a combination deemed optimal for promoting consistent and responsive performance.
TPMC: The Ideal Forged Players Cavityback
TPMC irons are designed with a clean, classic and maneuverable player’s shape that offers the optimum blend of feel, workability, and forgiveness. By incorporating a compact, shallow cavity, the irons deliver the feel and workability of a forging plus a degree of added stability.
“We worked obsessively with our Tour Staff to shape the TPMC irons into something that looks perfect to the better player’s eye, while at the same time incorporating feel, workability and stability,” said Bazzel.
The end result is a sexy, workable player’s shape with a thin topline, straighter leading edge and less-cambered sole. Like the TPMB, the creation of the TPMC starts with an exclusive 6-step forging process, which produces a more precisely shaped and finished head that looks and performs beautifully. The sole is moderate to narrow in thickness and less cambered, preventing deep digging. The leading edge features minimal heel-to-toe radius with the ideal amount of camber to cut cleanly and precisely into the turf with little to no resistance.
Additionally, the advanced groove design promotes more spin and control from the rough.
TaylorMade’s precision-weighting port is incorporated into the TPMC, guaranteeing precise swingweights while ensuring optimal and consistent CG location in every clubhead to promote optimized ball flight in the long-, middle- and short-irons.
Equipped with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts and Tour Velvet grips.
TPCB
The Tour Preferred CB is a multi-material forged cavityback that’s beautiful, powerful and playable. Designed with a two-piece head, the TPCB’s advanced construction melds a forged face with a cast body that incorporates an undercut cavity to deliver the pure feel of a forged iron and the forgiveness of a deep cavityback.
“Uniting a forged face with a cast cavity allows us to deliver the best of both worlds: the soft feel of a forging with the stability and forgiveness of a deep undercut cavity,” said Wahl.
The TPCB boasts the highest MOI of the three new irons. That, combined with its Inverted Cone Technology (the only iron of the three with ICT), which promotes faster ball speed on off-center hits, helps make the TPCB extremely forgiving for consistent distance from shot to shot.
The TPCB also features a precision-weighting port that guarantees consistent swingweight throughout the set while ensuring optimal CG location in every clubhead to promote optimal ball flight every iron.
Additionally, the TPCB features the same new, advanced groove design to promote more spin and control from the rough.
The TPCB irons is the only model of the three being offered in both steel and graphite shafts. The steel is a new, 110-gram, mid-flight True Temper Dynamic Golf XP, which is lighter and promotes higher flight compared to the standard Dynamic Gold steel shaft. The graphite shaft options, developed by Fujikura, are offered in 90-gram stiff flex and 80-gram regular flex. Tour Velvet grips are also standard.
Set Makeup, Pricing and Availability
All three of the new TP forged irons are offered in three shaft flexes – X, S, R. The TPMB and TPMC are available in the 2-iron through pitching wedge in steel shafts only. The TPCB, offered in both steel and graphite shafts, will be available in 3-iron through attack wedge. The standard TP set includes eight irons—custom sets will allow combination of any eight irons offered in each models—at a street price of $899. The street price for the TPCB irons with graphite shaft is $1099. The TPMB, TPMC and TPCB irons become available at retail starting in March 2011.
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