The Loop

TaylorMade adds driving range to Times Square

March 11, 2014

NEW YORK -- Approximately 330,000 people wander through New York's Times Square each day. On Tuesday, TaylorMade hoped to make most of them golfers.

The company, which created a snowy white-out on a Manhattan street in 2011 for the launch of its first white driver the R11, constructed a driving range at the famed "Crossroads of the World" between 42nd and 43rd Streets to highlight a promotion for its SpeedBlade irons.

The "Speed Pocket World Challenge" also took place in three other cities (London, Toronto and San Francisco), with prospective customers getting the opportunity to demo the SpeedBlade 6-iron compared to other irons. A leader board captured golfers' stats and compared them to the results from events in the three other cities. A local winner will be named in each city, as well as an overall "Speed Pocket World Champion," who will receive a trip to the company's Kingdom clubfitting facility. (At noon Tuesday, the leader had picked up 38 yards over his previous irons.)

"It was really fun to try out the new clubs in a setting like this," said Jonathan Balangon of New York. "They usually only do this kind of thing at private country clubs."

Introduced last fall, the SpeedBlade irons are the company's second iteration of irons with a slot in the sole. The slot, called the "speed pocket," is designed to allow the club's thin face to flex at impact to create more ballspeed and a higher launch angle.

Top-rated teacher Hank Haney and Golf Channel personality Charlie Rymer also were part of the program. The good news is that after a rough weather start to the golf season the forecast for midday in Times Square of 50 degrees held true.