How the supercar maker designed golf clubs

McLaren Golf unveiled the work it’s been hinting at for the past two weeks: two different iron models, both built with MIM technology that deliver performance for both top players (Series-1) and players looking for help (Series-3). Many observers have asked why McLaren started a golf division in the first place, but the most important question for me is HOW build golf clubs from scratch?

McLaren Golf Team

Let’s make one thing clear: These clubs are not a collaboration or a brand offering with the McLaren badge. They are made from early designs by some of the brightest minds in the game, including JP Harrington, founder of JP Wedges and a former Titleist employee who is McLaren’s senior design manager for irons and wedges, and Ryan Badgero, a 12-year veteran of Cobra Golf who is McLaren’s director of engineering. They have also attached other operational staff to the brand, all of whom are veterans of the golf industry. McLaren has no interest in achieving success. They want to start there.

McLaren also has some big names in the game putting their money on the line with the venture. Justin Rose has worked with the team since the beginning. He is not only a McLaren Golf athlete, but also an investor in the business, as well as the chief player tester when developing the shape and performance of the Series-1. Michelle Wie West is also lending her name to the brand as she comes out of retirement this year to play several LPGA tournaments in McLaren Golf’s new gear.

Metal injection molding

With a team assembled like this, McLaren is off to a good start. They know what works, what doesn’t, and what to test before moving forward. And, yes, they did test. Everything. Forgings, castings and prints were all tested and experimented with until the team landed on Metal Injection Molding, a process that allows them to be very specific about the designs, including creating their own proprietary metal blend for the new irons.

When I asked the engineering team why they’re so committed to MIM technology, something that’s been around for a while, here’s what they said:

“With McLaren looking to enter the golf space, evaluating the most advanced iron manufacturing techniques was a high priority. MIM has its foundations in extremely precise aerospace and biomedical applications and had not been explored to its full capabilities in golf, so a deeper look into its potential would allow us to develop MIM very excitingly and allow us to showcase the machining Our proprietary McLaren metal blends to produce the feel and performance of a forged, while also allowing us to create complex, close-to-the-mesh parts that limit the amount of post-processing and result in an iron more consistent with our design goals.

MIM also allowed the McLaren team to achieve massive shapes and properties that they were unable to achieve with standard forging or casting. The biggest surprise for me in talking to the team was that they are using a MIM process for everything – even the tungsten weights that are placed inside, which are all designed and positioned specifically for the loft, for the model. Using an MIM process allows them to ensure their tolerances are incredibly tight, meaning there is less final work to be done. The heads have a “near mesh shape” when they come out of the MIM process. Less finishing work means a greater level of end-to-end consistency.

MIM is also a clean process. There are no giant forging presses, huge factory floors and dirty work spaces. Think if an Apple Store was making golf clubs: airy buildings with pleasant lighting and clean cars pumping irons. In the supercar market and on the Formula 1 circuit, McLaren is known for luxury, precision and best-in-class design. The McLaren Golf is expected to be no different. They will hold themselves to the same high standards as every other McLaren division.

The McLaren team went through over 100 prototypes before settling on what we now know to be the Series 1 player blade and Series 3 player remote offerings.

Where do you actually start?

Once the McLaren Golf team settled on a process, they got to work creating shapes and involving players like Rose and Wie West in their testing. Rose was a big part of this development. The Series-1 is essentially Rose’s “perfect” iron, and now we can all partake in it. I haven’t been able to hit them yet, but from the pictures and the little time I’ve spent with the irons, they sure are cool.

To start the design process of these new irons from scratch, the team gave the shape first. The way the club sits behind the ball is huge, and for players at the highest levels this look can be the difference between testing a product and sending it straight to a rep or designer. Both Serie-1 and Serie-3 have a nice presence behind the ball. The Series-1 is definitely a smaller package with a slimmer topline and a shorter blade length, but the Series-3 was surprising. The listed spec sheet for the Series-3 might cause some people to balk at the offset, but the way the design hides the offset is really nice. You obviously don’t feel as compensated for being there as there are.

After determining the overall shape and how the club will look behind the ball, they then dive into the sole, which from a performance standpoint can be the next change in a long list of items that can turn a player off. The way the club goes through the ground determines how a player will hit the ball. This strike determines the performance. Bad interaction with the terrain can stop progress instantly.

McLaren took an interesting approach here with the Series-3, with a wider and more forgiving sole design that has a unique sole cutout in the heel. This small cut helps to get the heel of the club through the ground more efficiently. The Series-1 has a slightly narrower sole, but nothing I would consider a knife with a good amount of pre-coated forefoot relief that helps the clubs get through the terrain quickly without digging in too harshly.

With dialed shape, it’s all about CG location and mass properties. It is essential to ensure that the CG of each iron, for the loft, falls into the correct reception and performance windows. This was one of the biggest areas where Rose influenced testing. Both Series-1 and Series-3 have mass property targets that are tight in tolerance.

Another way that MIM has helped create these parts is in the CG calibration weights that live inside the cavities of both irons. These calibration weights are not uniform across the group. They are different weights and slightly different shapes on each head to help create a perfectly uniform feel set while making it easier to launch lower-height clubs and control higher-height options. They are also used as a way to ensure that the head weight for each iron head is consistent. The weights will not be user-operable, meaning they are not intended to be a driving tool, but a final calibration for head weight and CG location that the McLaren factory will install properly before they are shipped to custom builders, or to the homes of new McLaren Golf players.

How do ‘McLaren’ have the bars?

For me, this is where some of the best back stories come out. Both irons have a mesh pattern on the outside of the iron that mimics a design feature on the rear of the McLaren W1 supercar. That mesh design is also structural; it’s not just there for decoration. It was designed to help them save weight that can then be moved lower and towards the perimeter to increase the MOI of both different models without losing integrity in strength, sound or feel off the face.

The 3-Series also features the carbon fiber rear fascia, which is perhaps the most obvious link to McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing. I love that they found a way to incorporate this bit of carbon fiber into the 3-Series, because it again nods to McLaren auto while also serving another function. This cap was designed to help improve the sound and feel, and by using carbon fiber they were able to find some unique properties. After hitting the Series-3 on the course, I have to say the sound and feel are fantastic for this iron classification.

The last little move is of course the numbering on the sole, going with a digital model that ties back to McLaren Racing. I love this too. It’s an easy way to differentiate the bars from others on the market, it ties back to the core McLaren brand that people are familiar with and, frankly, it’s just a cool idea. It’s new, it’s different, it’s fun. No harm in that.

McLaren has done a good thing here

I’m personally excited about what McLaren is doing. I think it’s a terrible thing for a giant heritage brand to take this kind of approach to golf. Yes, they are expensive. No, not everyone will be able to get them. However, this is the last thing that should be on our minds. McLaren isn’t aiming to unseat TaylorMade or Callaway. They are setting out to make sure they make it theirs market, theirs customer. That customer is on the more affluent side of the market, and that customer cares about the look, the precision, and the details that they may not see, but are excited to own. (And to brag to their friends!)

McLaren fans will buy the device either way. McLaren could easily have started their golf division as a label company, simply slapping their logo on something else so they could sell it to their fan base, but they’ve chosen to start from scratch, design their own product and spend time refining their craft and offerings so that those who want the badge of pride on the bag also have the performance envy to back it up. McLaren is not about the logo or the name; it’s about performance. The McLaren Golf now follows in these great footsteps. So far they are filling up nicely.

At the moment, the Series-3 is all we’ve been able to get our hands on, but the official launch of the Series 1 is coming soon. For more information on the new brand and iy equipment, as well as the chance to grab some McLaren Golf merchandise, visit mclarengolf.com.