The Qi35 range has been one of the most consistent performers across all of our testing in 2025. We liked the drivers, we liked the fairway woods. Now it’s time for the TaylorMade Qi35 Hybrid.
This club is designed to bridge the top end of the bag between long irons and fairway woods. As someone who struggles with low launch and spin with my long irons, I’ve been on the lookout for something to make life easier.
TaylorMade prefer to call the hybrid a ‘rescue’. Can the Qi35 rescue me at the top end of the bag?
Who Is It Aimed At?
You won’t see many Tour Pros using hybrids these days. This is especially due to the improvement in utility irons and the rebirth of high lofted fairway woods. However lots of golfers can still benefit from using hybrids.
They’re great for anyone who struggles to get their long irons into the air, and wants to gain a bit of consistency at the top end of the bag.
The Qi35 offers a nice combination of distance and forgiveness, without feeling too bulky. It does tend to have a bit of draw bias though. Bear that in mind if it’s something you don’t like seeing.
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The Tech
The big new story with the Qi35 range, particularly the drivers, in 2025 is the introduction of CG projection. This is designed to offer the best combination of versatility, consistency and adjustability.
Whilst this technology is most effective in the drivers, the Qi35 hybrids do use ‘optimised CG locations’ to promote high launch.
The hybrids have a multi material construction, combining aluminium, steel and a new chromium carbon.
You get plenty of TaylorMade’s existing technologies too, including the Twist Face and Thru-Slot Speed Pocket.
There’s a new loft sleeve this time around. This allows for 3 degrees of adjustability to help dial in the right distance or flight.
TaylorMade’s new TSS weighting system is also included. This aligns weight centrally with the CG and allows swing weights to be dialled in.
There are three different models in the range: Qi35, Qi35 Max, and Qi35 Max Lite.
The Qi35 is offered in four different lofts, from 17 up to 25 degrees.
TaylorMade Qi35 Hybrid Review
Looks and Feel
This year’s Qi35 range sees the introduction of a grey carbon colourway. I’ve been using the Qi35 Driver since the start of the year, so this was a pretty familiar look down by the ball.
The grey colourway has really grown on me this year. The matte finish also makes life much easier when playing in the sun.
The hybrid features a two-tone finish on the crown, with a small grey topline which did help me to focus on aligning the face. I tested the 22 degree model so you can see plenty of loft at address. this gives you the feeling that you’re going to get the ball up in the air easily.
On the sole, the design is not the most eye-catching but it’s smart and uncluttered. The Thru-Slot Speed Pocket behind the face gives you a reminder that there’s a bit of extra help inside the head.
You get solid feedback when you strike it which I quite like from a hybrid. You want it to feel easy to hit and so a bit of a ping off the face is nice. It doesn’t need to be as soft as a long iron in my opinion.
It’s a nice shape at address – not too small that it doesn’t give you confidence, but not too bulky or offset which makes me worry that I’m going to lose it to the left.
When you don’t catch it out of the middle you’ll still be able to tell, but it’s nowhere near as punishing as a long iron.
Having said that, it did sound great. There’s a nice crack when struck well. This really gives you the feeling that you’ve caught it out of the screws.
Performance
I tested the Qi35 Hybrid in the 22 degree head, which is essentially a 4 iron replacement.
As a result I was looking for this club really to fit a gap in my bag, rather than really blowing me away with distance or ball speed.
Testing on the GC Quad I saw an average carry of 193 yards. I was also seeing a higher spin rate and peak height than I’d usually achieve with my own 4 iron, and it felt easier to achieve too.
Whilst it’s not about distance, I was also able to gain another 5-10 yards of carry if necessary which could be a useful tool for attacking long par 4 or par 5s.
The big bonus with a hybrid compared to my 4 iron was the forgiveness. Even on mis-hits I was only losing about 10 yards of carry, which is much less than I’d see if I mis-struck a long iron.
Out on the course, I found this hybrid was just so easy to hit. It launched and flew high out of pretty much every lie. I think it would be really useful when hitting into par 5s or long par 3s, as it should be able to stop on the green too.
I did see quite a consistent draw bias, and it felt like it was more difficult to fade the ball than draw it. This might not be an issue for lots of people, but if you don’t like to see the ball going left (as a right-hander) then it’s something that you should definitely take into account.
One criticism was that the ball flight did seem quite one dimensional. It flew high and straight, but I found it trickier to hit the ball lower when playing into the wind which is one drawback.
TaylorMade Qi35 Hybrid Verdict
If you’re looking for something different at the top end of the bag, this could be a great option. Hybrids may not be in fashion on the PGA Tour at the moment, but they can definitely help lots of amateur golfers.
I really enjoyed testing the Qi35 – it looked great and offered a nice blend of forgiveness with relatively compact looks.
An RRP of £269 actually makes this cheaper than the Callaway Elyte Hybrid and the Ping G440 Hybrid, so in that market it’s not bad value for money either.
Would I Use It?
I would, because it performed better than my own 4 iron on test. However I do wish it had a slightly more neutral ball flight, as I’d prefer the option to shape it both ways rather than worrying too much about losing it left.
