50 Words or Less

The TaylorMade Stealth fairway wood continues a long line of successes.  Distance, ball speed, and forgiveness all in spades mean that this should be a club on everyone’s trial list.  

Introduction

The Stealth drivers (reviews HERE) have so far gotten most of the attention and the buzz in the golf world.  Rightfully so, utilizing a fully carbon face to great effect.  But, at the same time, TaylorMade has come out with a pair of fairway woods that utilize the more tried and true metal faces.  Doing so highlights the fact that steel still does have a place in golf clubs.  

Looks

The Stealth Fairway Wood seems to have gotten its inspiration from the iconic B-2 Stealth Bomber aircraft.  It features a blacked-out look from address, matte black on the crown, and a glossy black top line where the past SIM and SIM2 models had featured a white one.  The only color on the top are small silver details: the TaylorMade “T” logo and a thin line that is technically on the club face but visible from address.  Both are meant to aid in alignment.  The Stealth fairway wood is also noticeably larger than the “Plus” model – 190cc versus 175cc. 

Flipping the club over, its signature gothic looks remain, with black being the predominant color.  However, it is accented by diagonal red lines.  It has unmistaken modernity especially with the choice of text style, with the word “Stealth” emblazoned on the club. 

Sound & Feel

Sound and feel are incredibly similar between the Stealth and the Stealth Plus models.  Fundamentally, the feel is very similar to the steel-faced woods that TaylorMade has been producing for years.  If you have enjoyed the sound and feel of TaylorMade fairway woods in the past, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t like Stealth.

On mishits, the sound and feel were better with the standard Stealth.  The Plus model had noticeably higher-pitched sounds off of thin shots. 

Performance

Compared to the Stealth Plus [review HERE], the Stealth fairway wood was noticeably easier to hit.  There were fewer mishits, and the misses I had were much straighter.  The larger clubhead definitely lent me extra confidence when setting up to the ball. 

While stats like ball speed and smash factor were down, launch, height, and spin were all dramatically up.  What that translated to was more misses that ended up in the fairway, just short of where I intended.  Those were manageable misses, versus the low-runner misses of Stealth Plus that were extremely low launch with dangerously low spin (1700 rpm range) that may have rolled out to full distance on Trackman, but in real life, were low stingers that may not have gotten near full distance, especially in wet conditions. 

What this meant is that each Stealth model fills a different niche.  The standard Stealth is a great wood to hold greens and split fairways.  It makes sense that this is the model that is available not only in a 3 wood, but also in a high lofted 3 wood, 5 wood, 7 wood, and even a 9 wood.  

Conclusion

TaylorMade marketing says that carbon woods are the way of the future, yet the Stealth, a steel-faced fairway wood, has proven it deserves to still exist.  It is a solid all-around performer that’s forgiving and easy to hit.  If this does happen to be TaylorMade’s last fairway wood before switching to a carbon face, this was a great club to end on.

Visit TaylorMade Golf HERE

TaylorMade Stealth Fairway Wood Price & Specs

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Drew Koch

Drew is an entertainment journalist that has covered everything from golf, TV/film, art, and food for years. He’ll be looking to bring you the latest stories from the PGA Tour and the greatest equipment on offer. A single-digit handicap, he’s been playing competitive golf since childhood, and recorded three holes-in-one by the time he was 13. Based in Chicagoland, he’s always down for a round and a hot dog at the halfway house so be sure to follow him on instagram @drewjkoch, so feel free to say hi.

Latest posts by Drew Koch (see all)

• Cobra Aerojet LS Driver Review - June 7, 2023
• The 2023 PGA Championship Recap - May 22, 2023
• JumboMax MX Zen Lite Grips Review - May 17, 2023