TaylorMade’s new Qi35 driver line utilizes a ton of carbon fiber to bring golfers longer and straighter drives. New weighting helps make the Qi35 drivers longer and straighter with better consistency.

• Read our Qi35 launch piece here. 

I was lucky enough to get fit for the Qi35 at TaylorMade’s Kingdom last year and since then have been hitting the drivers indoors at the range.

Here is my experience with all the Qi35, Qi35 LS, and Qi35 Max.

For the full review check out the Club Junkie podcast on all podcast platforms, on YouTube, and be sure to follow on Instagram.

Qi35

I was a big fan of the Qi10 core model last year but did find that in some windier conditions the spin would cause some distance loss or added curvature to my shots. The new Qi35 “core” seems to be lower spin for me and more consistent with that spin number. I liked the new look of the Qi35 as it has a little larger footprint that was used to move more weight to the perimeter for added forgiveness. The Qi35 was very stable on mishits and offered very good results on shots hit out on the toe and heel. A new weight up front allows players who need lower spin to swap the heavy weight upfront to reduce some spin as well. Feel off the face is nice, I have been a fan of the carbon, and feels like it is a little softer than Qi10. Sound also seems to be a little muted compared to the Qi10 with a slightly lower-pitched sound at impact. I felt the ball speed numbers were great on center shots and held onto a good amount of speed when I hit it on the heel or toe. Spin did seem a little lower than Qi10 as I didn’t see as big of a spike when hitting it lower on the face and balls that carried further on those low misses. Launch was pretty effortless and while the launch number doesn’t seem high, I tend to hit a little more of a low draw shot shape. To me, the Qi35 is a great blend of forgiveness and distance that will probably fit a wider range of players this year.

Qi35 LS

Keeping the traditional TaylorMade shape, the low spin model is back but more adjustable and playable this year. For me, the Qi10 LS was just too low spin and I struggled to keep spin in the low 2,000 area. With the added moveable weights this year you can add some spin and forgiveness with the heavy weight in the back or push that heavy weight forward for a spin-killing setup. I tried the driver with the heavy weight up in the toe, which the folks at TaylorMade nicknamed “beast mode” setting! I noticed the spin come down to those low 2,000 numbers, even dipping below on a toe draw for my swing. But with the weight back I was able to hit some of my best shots from the three drivers and when I did connect on the low heel the spin number stayed down resulting in a more powerful shot that carried further. Solid strikes were easy to get in the air and even though the launch number was the lowest, you can easily get this in the air. The biggest surprise was how straight the ball went on non-perfect shots. Usually a lower-spinning, tour-style driver will go pretty far right or left but the Qi35 kept the ball in bounds on all but the worst swings. I saw my best ball speed numbers with the LS and I also found that I made center contact more consistently with it. This is the head I got fit into when I visited TaylorMade and I continue to hit solid shots with it here at home.

Qi35 Max

Last year’s Qi10 Max was a pretty big hit, and it seems like 10K drivers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon! TaylorMade updated the Qi35 Max with more carbon fiber and a lower CG location for increased distance on mishits. Some 10K drivers suffer from some excess spin and TaylorMade also dove into that and made the spin a little lower and more consistent compared to the Qi10 Max. Like last year, I found the Qi35 Max to be very straight; draws and fades just had very little curve to them. If your goal is to hit it straighter, the 10K Qi35 might be the answer. Now the head does launch and spin the most out of the group, so it might take a little testing to make sure you get the right loft and shaft to fit your swing dynamics. The spin was much more controlled compared to the Qi10 as I could play the 10.5 degree head with the launch and spin being lower and last year I had to use a 9.0 degree to get similar spin, but I never really got the launch dialed in. I feel like the Max, much like the standard Qi35, will fit a wider range of players this year.

For the full review check out the Club Junkie podcast on all podcast platforms, on YouTube, and be sure to follow on Instagram.