TaylorMade Qi35 Tour, Qi35, Qi35 Max fairway woods

Gear: TaylorMade Qi35 Tour, Qi35, Qi35 Max fairway woods

Price: $449 with Mitsubishi Kai'Li Blue shaft and Golf Pride Z Grip (Tour), $349 with Fujikura Ventus Blue shaft (Qi35) and Mitsubishi Vanquish shaft (Qi35 Lite)

Specs: Titanium head with carbon fiber crown, adjustable hosel and moveable sole weight (Tour). Stainless steel body and face with carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel.

Available: Jan. 30

Who they're for: Golfers who want a low-spinning, adjustable fairway wood (Qi35 Tour) or players who want a versatile fairway wood that combines more distance with enhanced stability (Qi35, Qi35 Max).

What you should know: TaylorMade decided to make all of its 3-woods and 5-woods in the Qi35 family with adjustable hosels for better fitting and gapping, then updated the carbon fiber crowns and developed a new sliding weight in the titanium Tour model for increased personalization.

The deep dive: Golfers such as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have no trouble hitting fairway woods off the turf and getting the ball high into the air. For them, 3-woods are alternatives to a driver on the tee box, and 5-woods or 7-woods are clubs that allow them to attack the longest par-5s. You probably use your 3-wood or 5-wood off the tee when you face a tight shot, but recreational golfers also often need fairway woods to reach long par 4s, get out of the rough and advance the ball as far as possible. In other words, different golfers need fairway woods to do different things.

With the release of the Qi35 fairway woods, TaylorMade is presenting three clubs that do different jobs and emphasize different aspects of performance, even though they share some technologies and design features.

The Qi35 Tour, Qi35 and Qi35 Max are each designed with a chromium carbon fiber crown that helps reduce weight on the top of the head and lower the center of gravity, which encourages a higher ball flight. It is the same carbon fiber used in the new Qi35 drivers.

TaylorMade also added an adjustable hosel to the 3-wood and 5-wood in all Qi35 fairway woods, a benefit that some 3-woods and 5-woods in previous generations of TaylorMade fairway woods lacked. Now, players and fitters can increase or decrease the loft by up to 2 degrees to help golfers hit shots to specific distances more easily, which should help with gapping.

Every Qi35 fairway wood was designed with a Speed Pocket slot in the sole behind the leading edge. It is covered by a polymer to keep water and debris out of the head, and the slot allows the lower portion of the hitting area to flex more efficiently on low-struck shots, a common mis-hit with fairway woods.

There are, however, significant differences between the Qi35 Tour, Qi35 and Qi35 Max fairway woods.

Qi35 Tour: (3-wood/15 degrees, 5-wood/18 degrees, 7-wood/21 degrees)The Qi35 Tour fairway woods, the smallest of the Qi35 offerings, have two distinctive features that help boost performance. First, they feature a titanium face and body design paired with a carbon fiber crown. Titanium, being lighter and stronger than steel, can be made thinner in the chassis and hitting area, which is why it has been popular in drivers for decades.

Using titanium and creating a significant amount of discretionary weight allowed designers to add a new asymmetrical, 40-gram sliding weight to the back of the head. TaylorMade’s Tour fairway woods have featured sliding weights in the past, but this one tapers on one side, so there is a heavier side and a lighter side. Now, in addition to moving the weight forward and back in its track, golfers and fitters can unscrew the bolt, flip the weight and position mass in different ways to fine-tune the spin rate and launch angle.

With the heavier side of the weight all the way back in the head, the moment of inertia increases, spin rates and the launch angle increase, and golfers should expect a tighter dispersion pattern. With the heavy side of the weight forward in the track, the spin rate and launch angle should go down and ball speed should increase.

Compared to last season’s Qi10 Tour, TaylorMade claims the Qi35 Tour produces about 200 rpm less spin and approximately six yards more distance. In testing, TaylorMade also noticed that golfers aimed the Qi35 Tour (and the other Qi35 fairway woods) more accurately and more squarely at their target than the Qi10, which led to straighter shots flying less to the right.

Qi35: (3-wood/15 degrees, 3HL/16.5 degrees, 5-wood/18 degrees, 7-wood/21 degrees)The Qi35 fairway woods are designed with a stainless steel chassis and face, along with a chromium carbon fiber crown. The 3-wood, 3HL and 5-wood feature adjustable hosels.

TaylorMade designers lifted the crown height slightly and lowered the face height after studies showed that when recreational players were asked to hit fairway wood shots with a higher-crowned club, they hit down on the ball more, which is ideal.

At the same time, TaylorMade removed some weight in the hosel of the Qi35 fairway woods and, along with reduced weight in the chromium carbon fiber crown, dropped the center of gravity to encourage a higher ball flight.

Golfers will notice a circular weight positioned forward in the sole of the Qi35 fairway woods. While it is not designed to be adjusted by players, fitters can remove it using a special torque wrench and add other weights to change the overall swing weight of the club based on its length and the golfer’s needs.

Qi35 Max: (3-wood/15.5 degrees, 5-wood/18.5 degrees, 7-wood/21.5 degrees, 9-wood/24.5 degrees)This club is the largest of the Qi35 fairway woods and was designed to be the most forgiving. From a construction standpoint, it is similar to the standard Qi35, with a chromium carbon fiber crown and a stainless steel chassis and face. However, the swing weight adjustment screw in the front of the sole in the standard Qi35 fairway wood is in the back of the Qi35 Max.

The Qi35 Max is larger from front to back, which allowed designers to shift the center of gravity farther back while boosting stability on off-center hits.

The 3-wood and 5-wood feature adjustable hosels, while the 7-wood and 9-wood have bonded, non-adjustable hosels.

For golfers who struggle to generate clubhead speed and carry distance, TaylorMade offers a Qi35 Max Lite that comes standard with a lighter Mitsubishi Vanquish shaft and Golf Pride Z Grip.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: TaylorMade releases the Qi35 Tour, Qi35, Qi35 Max fairway woods