Getting a damaged club replaced

Has anyone had the experience of a club suffering a flaw being replaced (I don't mean a temper induced shaft bend) - I noticed on Friday (luckily I was already out the comp and just playing a bounce round) that a crack has appeared on the face of my TM R7 superquad driver. Not sure when it happened but can only assume it was during the round on Thurs and I was smacking it pretty well that day, indeed I drove 2 par 4s that day.

Anyway, what I wanted to know was....do TM have any history of providing a new replacement when a club breaks under natural use??

Someone at our place had an r9 in the club shop for sale second hand, someone took it out and the shaft snapped (not through a fit of pique either). The owner sent it back to tm and they replaced the shaft for an r11 one gratis.

Although on the flip side my mate had an r9 supertri and the adjustable hosel thing went and he was told he couldn't have a replacement as they said he'd broken it heavy handedly.

Guess it's down to age, whether it is normal wear and tear or whether whoever looks at the club at tm thinks it's been used to hit a 606v2er who has been wumming over the head.

If it's goosed anyway, send it back and see what they say. My guess as it's tm and many models ago they'll say it's tough. But they might replace it. Other option is a replacement head on e-bay?

Jas, I had a set of ping replaced three times with a recurring fault. They are usually pretty good. Remember you are the one with the rights. If the club isn't fit for purpose you're due a replacement.

r7...

It's got to be 5 years old. Good luck with getting TM to do anything for you.

Does the crack actually effect your shots?

Of course it does Mac, it affects the integrity of the head and distribution of energy.

this would provide me with a great excuse to buy something brand new and shinny without any feeling of guilt!

Hend - yup, me too.

currently toying with the idea of RBZ tour version. its only 199 euro at the moment. am just worried that the shaft it comes with might be a bit pony.

also- im left handed so dont really have the option to try before i buy without paying 100 quid to a fitter

Get the shaft from your r7 in it then.

I'm hiring RBZ in a couple of weeks in Spain, if I get on well with them I'm thinking of expanding the shiny shiny range in my bag.

Looking at the shaft options on a couple of interwang sites, they don't seem too bad (but obviously I can't say what is or isn't a good shaft for anyone!!). I borrowed an R9 superdeep with an RIP stiff shaft (I think 65g) and that was pretty good (for me) and I think they are among the stock options with no additional charge.

I've got an RBZ Driver and the 3 Wood and the 3 wood is unbelievable. I simply don't need a driver anymore so thinking of getting another wedge or a rbz rescue to plug a gap

Had the same thing happen to my R7 Quad and contacted TM to see what was what.... and they said I would need to produce the original receipt.

Which would have been pretty tricky as I can't remember where I bought it from anyway.

End of....

Have seen the comments on the 3 wood SR, it sounds brilliant.

Is it better (for you) than the same driver on both distance and dispersion and are they the same model/shafts/set-up etc? (is the 3 longer and tighter?)

Or does the improved 3 wood just fit your course management at your track(s) better? (does it put you at optimum positions where the driver would go further but ultimately be detrimental?)

I guess the driver should be made to go further (and probably wider) all other things being equal, but it may be that the 3 wood is simply better at leaving you exactly where you want to be thus freeing up another option further down the set

RC, for me, and I believe I have been extremely fortunate that it fits me like a glove. Straight, long and about 95% reliable.
I'm not kidding when I say I'm hitting it 280-290 consistently, whereas my driver is far less reliable but about as long when struck well.

Having said that though, you could buy one and not get on with it at all.

True, so true. Think a fitting for my woods would reap benefits for that very reason, just a bit stuck over here to do it.

Seems obvious for you to bin the big dog and get a gap plugged lower down.

Or get 2 the same with different set-ups like Phil and his driver(s)!!!

Ironically though RC, I've been fitted for every club in my bag except for the new three wood.

Thought i'd test the stiff one, but it was horrible, so thought I might as well try the regular and it was a sensation.

Now a bit sceptical about fitting as guaranteed they would have fitted me to a stiff shaft without even considering the regular. I reckon next year could get me down to scratch it's made that much of a difference to my overall game.

Even off the deck it is unbelievable.

SR do you remember what shaft is on it?
im very sceptical of quality of the shaft given that its only 200 euro for the tour version.
apparently this one has "RBZ Superfast Matrix Ozik XCON 6 graphite shaft"
ive heard a couple of times that the standard shaft lenght on the the RBZ is longer than typical, and this is the reason for the added length (and dispersion obviously)

Hendo, I've got a Matrix Ozik XCOn 5 Regular shaft in the 3 Wood and a Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki S in the driver (which came at considerable cost as a non stock option)

I'd say my 3 wood is about half an inch longer than a standard three wood, but the dispersion is incredible. I've split so many tight fairways with it (ooeer missus)
I have never ever hit a club so long that is so accurate, only thing is that it's given me a new problem of being closer to the green that usual, so I've got to practice shorter approaches.

i guess the Matrixy thingy isnt too bad then. im 5ft 9 so not sure if i could manage a longer club without effecting lie angle negatively.
could you "cut down" the shaft you buy as standard like you could with irons or with it not really work with a graphite shaft?

Hendo, you could. I've done it on clubs. Just use a plumbers pipe cutter. Do you care though if it was a garden cane if it worked for you?

garden cane maybe... but i dunno if i would use bubbas pink thing.. even if i got an extra 100 yards out of it!

Ha ha - one in the face for club fitting then!

The fitting mafia will be out for you now. Regular, stock shaft? How very dare you? We demand upsell immediately. Have you tried the new "xyz gap plugging" club?Only £249 for the 2013 model. Please give us your money, please.

Interesting (maybe) article on the Sand Trap re. RBZ shaft flexes:

http://thesandtrap.com/a/rocketballz-shaft-flex-a-case-study

Good quality control TaylorMade....I don't think.

I used to have a couple of TM Rescue Woods, both marked as regular. My teacher tested them and they cam out as women's flex. It did explain why they worked well when I slowed everything right down (probably not always a bad thing) but fitting your swing to a club is not really the right way.

He said that TM are well known in the industry for having flexes that weren't exactly as described on the tin.

I suppose testing the actual clubs is the way to do it and see what the real flex is and go for that. The worry with just testing the club is that if that day you are timing it really well a more flexible shaft could look great but on the other days it could be horrible.

Update...arrived back home yesterday after my trip, after a quick bit of unpacking I headed up to my 2nd club and showed the Pro the offending driver.

Yep it's a stress fracture, if the club was 2 years old then TM would replace it immediately. He even said they wouldn't even be rigid about 2 years give or take a couple of months but yeah, between 4 & 5 years old...No chance.

So I have a driver fitting booked for Friday morning. Now this is the good bit....I mentioned that I'm playing today (incidentally with D4S at Broadstone). So he says...you can't play with that....here take the R11s demo and let me know how you get on with it, it'll be good feedback when we do the fitting Friday. Given what I remember from your 3 wood fitting, it's current set up should suit you.

Ok he knows I'm going to buy a new driver anyway but in terms of providing a good service I think that's superb and why I don't mind putting most of my golf purchasing in his direction.

Sounds a decent enough Pro. Interesting re. TM's >2 years = no replacement. Wonder what the other OEMs are like?
I have a Geek DCT that's my current driver of choice and it has a lifetime guarantee against failure.