WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: TaylorMade’s popular P·790 players distance iron, which features a hollow construction, tungsten weighting and a springy L-shaped face insert, now comes in an all-black PVD-coated version.
THE DEEP DIVE: TaylorMade’s original P·790 irons were an unqualified success by selling more than a million sticks, and its second generation continued that popularity, consistently ranking in sales as one of the top-selling $US1,5000-plus-per-set irons tracked by Golf Datatech. It’s done so by remaining that rare iron that appeals to players whose handicaps range from the low single digits to the high teens, mixing the faux muscleback looks that appeal to a better player while injecting (literally) the horsepower of a hollow construction, thin face and multiple materials that gives average golfers results they’d expect from a bulkier game improvement iron.
Now the second-generation P·790 will add an all-black finish to its family, what Matt Bovee, TaylorMade’s director of product creation for irons calls, “elegant aggression.”
The all-black coating comes through a physical vapour deposition process where solid metal is vapourised and then applied to the entire exterior of the iron in the finishing process. TaylorMade has produced similar black PVD versions of its popular irons for years, dating back to its Burner 2.0 irons, the rac TP MB Smoke and a black version of the first P·790. The latest version offers the most complete coating and includes the Dynamic Gold 105 Black shafts standard, as well.
“The bold aesthetic blends perfectly with the powerful performance, delivering a daring look and irons that are made to take on daring shots,” Bovee said.
The new P·790 Black irons carry all the technology of the standard chrome model. That includes the hollow construction, which is injected with a urethane-foam filling that provides a soft feel but still allows the new 7-percent thinner, L-shaped face insert made of forged 4140 steel to flex for more ball speed and higher launch. The guts also include a bar of heavy tungsten (15 percent heavier than the on the original model) slung low towards the sole to further boost launch and lower spin to power more distance. The face features the circular variable thickness shaping, known as inverted cone technology, that changes with each loft to better optimise distance and dispersion.
The sole again features the cut-through slot that allows the face to flex even more, especially on impacts below the mid-line.
The P·790 Black irons are offered in 3-iron through pitching wedge. Stay tuned for Australian pricing and availability.
