The TaylorMade M1 fairway continues the trend created by the R15 fairway of an adjustable alternative to the current AeroBurner fairway and its likely successor.
The shape is broadly familiar, but what you notice right away is the new Carbon Composite crown behind the white titanium top line.
Like the M1 driver, TaylorMade has used the lighter material to save weight, which they have then relocated to the sole of the club.
It also has the benefit of giving the M1 fairway a great look at address and the white leading edge acts as a good alignment aid and I found I almost forgot about the dark part of the head being there.
In the R15 fairway the sole featured a single sliding 25 gram weight, but now the extra 5 grams enables TaylorMade to create space for two 15 gram tungsten nickel alloy weights.
With the M1 driver going from two weights to one in front track and the M1 fairway going the other direction, you could be forgiven for thinking that TaylorMade are getting mixed up, but actually there is a good reason for this.
With the single weight in the R15 fairway, it was a fairly blunt tool that would just change the left to right shape of the shot. Having two weights in the M1 enables them to not only affect shot shape more subtly, but it also increases the stability of the head by moving both weights to the opposite end of the front track, which they could not do before with one weight.
Splitting the weights increases the forgiveness of the M1 a little and you can really feel this at impact as off centre hits retain more ball speed than before.
The M1 also goes over the turf a lot smoother than before as the edges of the front track have been bevelled off and the weights set flush with the rest of the sole.
Unlike the R15, there are no hash marks on the slot of the M1 to aid positioning, which seems a little odd when you have two weights.
The sound and feel at impact is also very good thanks to the extra forgiveness and the benefits of the Carbon Composite material in the crown.
The flight from the M1 was a solid medium trajectory, which can be varied using the adjustable hosel by +/- 2 degrees in a standard or upright lie.
The M1 comes with the excellent Fujikura Pro 70 shaft in a 3, HL and 5 wood models that cover lofts from 15° to 19°.
The TaylorMade M1 is a very good fairway, but it still has the same issue as the R15 and that is why you would go for it over the cheaper, non-adjustable, Speed Pocketed TaylorMade fairway option that is currently the AeroBurner?
The M1 feels a touch heavier and even with the weights at both ends, is unlikely to be substantially more forgiving or create more ball speed with them both in the middle than the AeroBurner.
However, it does have the adjustability options and it also sounds and looks better, so if any of these things matter to you then the TaylorMade M1 fairway will be worth the extra investment.