REVIEW: Does the TaylorMade Kalea Premier range deliver?

Kalea Premier from TaylorMade promises to deliver the best performance, as well as the most elegant designs on the market.

But does it deliver? To find out, we took one of our readers, Isabel Payne, to the 2023 Ryder Cup venue, Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, and gave her the chance to put the clubs into play. 

Here’s what she had to say…

Q. After seeing the clubs for the first time, what were you expecting from the Kalea Premier range?

A. I was very impressed with the product presentation.

To be honest, I was expecting a boring technical talk from a sales team, but having Michelle Penney, the Principal Engineer of Product Development who was also very passionate about the product going through all the technology of the clubs, was amazing.

Having their panel of female golfers to talk about their experiences in the industry showed it was an important launch. I thought they would be pretty forgiving, easy-to-use clubs from the description of their technology.

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Q. What were your first impressions of the Kalea clubs? Was there anything that stood out to you in particular?

A. I was impressed by how many clubs there were. I’ve been playing golf for 12 years but there were clubs that I have never hit before in the bag.

With the range of woods and hybrids, it seemed like a set you could customise to your game well and showed they had thought about the set of clubs being suitable for both high and low handicappers.

The face of the woods stood out to me the most as I had never seen any with such a lofted club face. They were easy to hit from the start and seemed less daunting.

Q. How do the clubs compare to what you currently game?

A. I use TaylorMade clubs already. However, I have been using men’s clubs and some with a men’s senior flex which tends to be a lot heavier and less forgiving.

My bag is usually pretty iron-centric with the basic set-up of nine-iron to five-iron then a 5-wood, 3-wood and driver. So, it was interesting to have the option of so many hybrid clubs instead.

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Q. Do you find it’s frustrating when women’s clubs are just a remake of men’s clubs or lacking technology?

A. In the presentation, Michelle said the typical practice for women’s club design is “shrink it and pink it” which I think summed it up perfectly as it has been my standard experience in buying clubs growing up.

I am definitely used to using shrunk-down versions of men’s clubs and, while they are good clubs, there are times when I can tell they aren’t suited for me as I have to try to hit it a lot harder and faster, especially to get long iron shots in the air.

Having a properly suited set of women’s clubs designed for my game allowed me to swing it naturally and still have the same results.

Q. How important is the option to be custom fit for clubs to you? Have you been custom fit for clubs before?

A. I have been custom fit before and it definitely made a difference to my game.

It made me confident that my clubs were right for me. I think it’s a good thing as it makes the clubs available to be used by a wider range of golfers.

With the Kalea Premier range I tested, it would be great to get a custom fitting session, to try out different shafts and get the best out of my swing.

Q. The Kalea clubs are packed with technology, could you feel that helping you out on the course?

A. Even my bad shots didn’t get into as much danger as my regular set would, they were very forgiving.

They were very easy to hit from the start, I didn’t feel like I had to hit my very best shot every time to get a good result.

I could definitely see a difference with the height of my longer shots with the fairway woods and driver, the launch was good to see.

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Q. Was there any club in particular you enjoyed the most?

A. I loved the 5-wood. It was such an easy club to hit and just had a straight high launch on it every time, it was very forgiving too. Even the bad shots I hit with it stayed pretty straight and usually went a decent distance.

I also thought the putter was an interesting design. It had the usual features of a mallet putter but the head was smaller and lighter than usual.

The alignment features on it were helpful. Although, it would be good to try it out again on easier greens than Marco Simone, to see how it compared to my own putter.

Q. Would you consider getting a set of them in the future?

A. I would certainly consider putting them in play, especially the fairway woods. The only part that I would change would be the wedges. I wish there had been more of an option in terms of the wedges, especially as they are bridging the gap with custom fitting to make them suitable for lower handicappers.

The sand wedge and pitching wedge definitely make a good set for higher handicappers but I wouldn’t choose to use these over my usual wedges, which are TaylorMade but made for men.

The Hi-Toe 3 wedges  were recently launched, so I think if the option was there to put them in with the rest of the set, I would definitely consider putting them in play. If not the full set, I would definitely game the fairway woods.

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Want to learn more about the TaylorMade Kalea Premier range? Check out the full set here.