TaylorMade Stealth HD Women's Driver Review

TaylorMade Stealth HD Women's Driver Review

At first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking that there is very little to separate the ladies version of the new TaylorMade Stealth driver from the men's version. For starters, the head looks almost exactly the same. The only difference is the choice of shimmering grey rather than matte black finish. It’s an on-trend colour choice used in high-end sports cars, like the ones you see in a Bond film, every bit the ‘stealth’ namesake. It’s worlds apart from the pretty Kalea range that TaylorMade launched for ladies back in 2015 but still remains in the 2022 line-up undoubtedly due to its popularity and great looks. However, a few little details in the aesthetics soften the look, such as the pretty pearlescent white/grey shaft and complementing dove grey grip. It’s not the prettiest driver we’ve ever seen but does the performance make it a shoe in as one of the best golf drivers for women this year? In one word - yes!

We tested the TaylorMade Stealth HD Women's driver on a typically chilly February and this cracking club wowed us. We instantly fell in love with the fiery, fast propulsion off the face. Not only does it sound amazing, but it genuinely feels fast. And of course, that feeling equates to those few extra yards, which has the invaluable effect of shortening approach shots.

We set up the Foresight Sports GCQuad launch monitor on the range and on several tees during a round to see if the statistics backed up the performance. With our best effort ball speed peaking at a respectable 130mph, carry distance was just shy of 200 yards, which was more than respectable given the cold, soft conditions. 

So what exactly is the secret behind this distance-inducing driver? TaylorMade say that the fancy new 60X Carbon Twist face is at the heart of the performance. According to their tech-experts it has been 20 years in the making and is likely to replace titanium forever. The 60X refers to the 60 layers of carbon sheets that are carefully arranged for better energy transfer and faster ball speeds across a large area of the face. Most notably, switching from titanium to carbon makes the Stealth 44 per cent lighter and this weight saving allowed more weight to be added low and deep in the head (courtesy of a 10 gram weight), which will give you a helping hand to launch the ball up high, effortlessly.

As well as a pleasing distance gain, our tee shot dispersion figures were very, very consistent, with wayward mishits heavily reduced. We’d recommend a club fitting, as by taking the time to get a professional to help set the driver up you’ll be able to take advantage of the adjustability in the hosel (lower/higher settings). Changing the loft/lie can give the Stealth HD a slight draw or fade bias. Our preference was to leave the head set to neutral and shape shots with skill, but if you’re fighting a fade, or worse suffer from a nasty distance-robbing slice, moving the hosel orientation could be a real game-changer. 

The Stealth HD has a really deep club face profile that gives you a massive hitting area and we noticed that teeing the ball up a fraction higher helped us make the most of the huge sweet spot. The result was a lovely high ball flight and the feeling the face had heaps of room for impact error.

The engine of the driver is the shaft and the ladies Stealth HD is fitted with the high-quality Aldila Ascent. Weighing just 45 grams it’s the ideal shaft for the typical slower-mid swing speed lady player who wants to boost her club head speed. We tested the 10.5 degree version, which gave a slightly more penetrating ball flight than the alternative 12 degree option that is designed to produce a high ball flight if you have a slower swing speed. A great option if you struggle to get height on your drives. Of course, whatever head you choose there is adjustability in loft that you can tweak according to your tendency or the conditions.

There’s certainly little to pick fault with on the TaylorMade Stealth HD women's driver - the only hard pill to swallow will be the hefty price tag. But it’s the price you’ll pay for premium performance these days and it’s genuinely got the wow factor.

If you decide to buy from this range, take a look at our handpicked TaylorMade discount codes.