When a Hole in Your Head is a Good Thing

By Sonja Steptoe

At first, TaylorMade's r7 Quad driver looks, well, screwy. The season's most buzzed about golf club has four holes in its head and four weighted cartridges that are screwed into them with a special wrench--the first mass-market club with such features. It allows golfers to set tee-shot trajectory and direction to their liking at the start of a round, without breaking the rules. TaylorMade is betting that the Quad's $600 price won't scare off serious swingers, who seem to have an insatiable appetite for whizbang clubs like the Big Bertha, the last one to revolutionize golf. The Quad debuts June 15, but is already hot on the PGA Tour. Says TaylorMade's Sean Toulon: "We've empowered golfers to change their equipment to fit their swing and improve performance--a significant development." At least until the next high-tech gizmo comes along. --By Sonja Steptoe