PLAYING WITH … TAYLORMADE GAPR HI

Cost: $369. Tested by: Jimmy Emanuel, Golf Australia Writer (GA Handicap 9.4)

Despite being the biggest model of the GAPR range, the HI is by no means an oversized hybrid, says Jimmy Emanuel.

MODEL PLAYED: GAPR HI 4 with 22° loft, fitted with KBS Hybrid 70 R shaft. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Despite being the biggest model of the GAPR range, the HI is by no means an oversized hybrid. The peanut shape offers an extremely playable and compact look at address that appears similar in profile to the popular Adams hybrids of years gone by.

The feel off the face is similarly un-hybrid like – TaylorMade’s ‘SpeedFoam’ delivering a solid and powerful sound that I really enjoyed. HOW IT PERFORMED: Although the appearance is less like the more forgiving hybrids that have become more and more like small fairway woods in recent years, the ball flight performance of the HI is just that: launching high and with a nice soft draw almost automatically each time.

This high ball flight was increased on my own hybrid of a similar loft, and was outstanding when approaching greens with long second shots. However, the higher flight did make the HI a little one dimensional for me, with a low shot difficult to hit consistently from the tee or into the wind.

Whereas flighting the ball down was difficult, working shots left and right was able to be achieved without too much swing manipulation when required. But with the HI designed to be the easiest to hit of the GAPR range and other options available for those who like to work the ball more, the extremely consistent ball flight the HI offers has obviously been one of the main focuses in the design process.

As expected, the HI was an improvement on the solid performance of the MID from the rough and offered more forgiveness again in terms of distance loss on mis-hits. Although tending to go further off line on a mis-hit than the driving irons of the GAPR family, big fades and draws were very rare during my time testing the HI and were the result of seriously bad swings.

The unique “dropped crown” of the GAPR HI took a little time to get used to, particularly when hitting shots side by side with my own hybrid for comparison. But as time went on the alignment benefits impressed me, with the crown, alignment aid and white bottom groove on the face framing the ball extremely well.

The GAPR HI is certainly not just another hybrid. As TaylorMade has made clear, the model harks back to the days of the company’s original Rescue models and offers a more classic performance that is well suited as a gap filler rather than another fairway wood. The high launching flight makes it an extremely consistent option for players who like forgiveness, but the compact look and solid feel will appeal to players who perhaps have struggled to get along with hybrids in the past and might have expected to prefer one of the other GAPR models.