50 Words or Less
The TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue produces towering ball flight. Tremendous forgiveness – every shot gets up and flies fast. Moderate draw bias.
Introduction
Long par 3s are my least favorite type of hole. For most golfers, the distance alone can make them unplayable. If you can get your ball to the green, the club you needed to use probably flights the ball too low to keep it there.
If those problems sound familiar, you might want to check out the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue. With excellent distance and ample height to hold the green, this club could be a savior for your scorecard.
Looks
The most standout visual element on the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue is the chromium carbon fiber crown. It shares this – and the TaylorMade “T” alignment aid – with the other Qi35 woods, creating a cohesive look throughout the family. The Qi35 Max Rescue has a longer front to back measurement which places it in the super game improvement category, but the pear shape makes the added bulk look good.
In the bag, the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue takes its cues from the Qi35 Max fairway wood [review HERE] with a sole that’s almost entirely gloss black. Minimal branding allows the focus to fall to the weight near the center of the sole. The club is almost entirely devoid of color, save for two small triangles of mint green.
Comparing the Qi35 Rescue to the Qi35 Max Rescue, the two are remarkably close. The Qi35 Max model has a slightly shallower face and is fractionally longer from front to back. While an experienced golfer could certainly distinguish them when side by side, that might be a tall task if the clubs were on their own. By the numbers, this makes sense: the Qi35 Max is only 3cc larger than the standard model.
Sound & Feel
The two Qi35 Rescue clubs may look very similar, but they have very different impact sounds. Where the core Qi35 Rescue [review HERE] is very solid, quiet, and woodsy, the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue has a bigger sound. It’s not louder, but the sound is more expansive and hollow – think “pop” not “thud.” There’s also a small metalic note on really well struck shots. It’s not a bad sounding club by any means, though I do prefer the standard model.
Turning to feel, again the Qi35 Max Rescue suffers a little by comparison, at least for me. The standard Qi35 is extremely solid feeling; the Qi35 Max is less so. The Max sits in the middle of the feel spectrum, adding more speed to the impact sensation rather than feeling like you’re hitting the ball with a wooden bat.
Where the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue does exceed its brother is in feedback. With the Qi35 Max, you get good feedback through your hands and ears. The sound will distinguish pure strikes from misses, and your hands will let you know exactly where you struck the ball.
Performance
The new TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue doesn’t stray too far from the winning recipe of the Qi10 Max Rescue [review HERE]. The primary ingredient is forgiveness with healthy doses of distance and draw bias added in.
One of the most obvious differences between the Qi35 Max Rescue and the core Qi35 Rescue is the lack of adjustable hosel in the Max. The reason that TM left this off is to give their engineers more ability to make the Max forgiving. Weight is saved by using a traditional hosel, and it’s placed back and low to make the Qi35 Max Rescue one of the most consistent, easy to hit hybrids that you can buy.
This club expresses forgiveness in two key ways. First is the consistency of the ball speed and distance. Whether you strike the ball on center or off, it goes a long way. Testing on a launch monitor, I could see that the ball speed was robust across large numbers of shots – some good, some poor. The other key measure of consistency is launch angle. It doesn’t matter if you hit the ball flush or thin, the Qi35 Max Rescue puts it on a high trajectory.
Turning to direction, the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue promotes a draw. It’s not the strongest draw bias I’ve ever seen in a hybrid, but it is noticeable. As someone who can get hook-y, I had to work a little bit to hit a straight shot, but fade or slice players will appreciate the way that this club favors the left.
Finally, comparing the ball flight of the Qi35 Max Rescue to the standard model, the Max flies significantly higher. Part of this comes from the loft – the Max is 1 degree weaker at each club designation – but the CG also plays a role. In my testing, I saw the Qi35 Max launching 2-3 degrees higher than the standard Qi35. The Max also has higher spin which will help some golfers optimize their carry distance and hold the green on longer approach shots.
Conclusion
If you want to see the ball fly high, far, and right-to-left, the TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue is the hybrid for you. This club offers maximum forgiveness for long approaches, making those previously unplayable par 3s more manageable. As always, make sure to get fit for the right shaft and loft to get the most of out of it.
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TaylorMade Qi35 Max Rescue Price & Specs
