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Calling all Team TaylorMade! Today we lift the lid on our latest signings which are some of the youngest and hottest prospects on the Challenge Tour.
Angel Ayora, Martin Couvra, Mark Power und Max Steinlechner haben ein Durchschnittsalter von 22 Jahren und gehören bereits jetzt zu den talentiertesten Athleten, die im TaylorMade-Team auf der DP World Tour und der Challenge Tour unterwegs sind.
Angel, who won the first stage of Qualifying School at Donnington Grove Golf Club at the end of September, 2023, joins Team TaylorMade after he secured his Challenge Tour card for 2024. At just 19-years-old from Spain, Angel played both the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and ISPS Handa Australian Open at the beginning of the 2023/2024 DP World Tour season making the cut on both occasions finishing 33rd and tied-21st respectively.
Angel is one the quicker players so getting him dialled in was very important. Tour Representative, Sam Day, started with a heavier driver shaft which offered him more control with little to no trade off in club speed. Because of the better strikes and more connected feel with the driver, he was able to gain ball speed and play something that is designed to be more stable. His miss is to the right so going down in head loft and using the FCT sleeve to change loft and face angle helped fix this problem (9,0 head set two clicks higher playing at 10,5 – the more loft added to a driver will close the face angle and therefore less likely to miss right).
During golf ball testing, the soon to be released 2024 TP5x was testing 3mph quicker with the driver, and when it came to irons Sam actually moved his iron lofts a full 1 degree weaker to help him get better spin rates and land angles into the greens. Angel constantly works with his coach to increase his peak height, and with the new ball and iron lofts he gained 20 feet with his longer irons helping that stopping distance coming into greens.
Angel Ayora Expected WITB
Former French Number One Amateur, Martin Couvra, joins Team TaylorMade after becoming only the seventh player in history to win on the Challenge Tour as an amateur. Following his victory at the Challenge de España in September, 2023, Martin made the decision to turn professional. Martin finished the 2023 season ranked 46th on the Road to Mallorca rankings, solidifying a full Challenge Tour card for 2024 for the 21-year-old.
Martin likes to see a fade with the driver so he likes to see the ball starting left and falling to the right. Tour Representative, Mark Thistleton, work with Martin a lot around face angle and they found that the more Mark opened the face, the more fade Martin produced, reacting to what he sees at address. Couvra settled on a 10,5 head set a little lower playing at 10 degrees with a little open face angle that gives him the look of a fade club at address.
Mark then worked on wedge options to better fill his distances after spotting that Martin previously carried a 52 & 58 degree Hi Toe wedge and left himself a 20 metre gap between PW & 52. Martin ended up in the new MG4 50 & 54 wedges to have his approach play dialled in ahead of the season. They both spent a lot of the session working with the new TP5 ball which Martin loved right away. Martin is not one of the longer hitters out there and found speed especially in the top end of the bag with the new ball which he was sold on right away.
Martin Couvra Expected WITB
Two-time Walker Cup star and Wake Forest University graduate, Mark Power (23), has put his trust in TaylorMade equipment as he starts the next phase of his career. Prior to heading to the US College system in 2019, Mark was a three-time winner of the Irish Boys Order of Merit (2016, 2017,2018) and two-time winner of the Irish Open Boys Championship (2016, 2017). Mark graduated in 2023 before making his professional debut on the DP World Tour at the Horizon Irish Open last year, finishing tied-33rd. He also made the cut at the ISPS Handa Australian Open this season on the DP World Tour and will ply his main trade on the Challenge Tour this year.
Mark likes to play with a draw and with the new LS driver he was able to match the correct amount of launch and spin to make his go to shot a lot easier and perform better. His drop off in spin with his previous gamer was penalising his miss shot and therefore performance off the tee.
Again, during ball testing, Mark gained 2mph ball speed switching into the 2024 TP5x golf ball from the 2021 TP5 and this was a massive step forward for him. Tour Representative, Sam Day, took a look at the wedge and putter performance with the new ball to make sure the feel and sound married up with performance, which it did. The soft feel and low spin numbers he gained at the top end of the bag made this a clear winner.
Mark Power Expected WITB
North Carolina State University scholar, Max Steinlechner (24), from Austria, completes the roster for 2024. A former Austrian Number One Amateur, Max had a stellar amateur career before heading off to play for the Wolfpack. He won the Austrian International Amateur Championship as a 17-year-old with a score of 11-under par, and won the Austrian Boys Strokeplay Championship for three consecutive years between 2015-2017. Max played the majority of his golf on the Challenge Tour in 2023, where he will look to build on a strong foundation moving into 2024.
Max is very much a feel player and likes to focus on feel when testing clubs almost as much as performance. He does not change equipment easily or without validation, but he very quickly fell in love with the Qi10 driver. Tour Representative, Mark Thistleton, tested a couple of new shaft options, settling on the new Graphite Design VF in a 60 TX, tipped 1,25” which is a little more than standard. Max has lots of speed and an extremely good ball striker, he offers precise feedback and any small changes Mark made to his equipment were seen instantly in the resulting ball flight.
During pre-season was Max’s first testing session with a TaylorMade Golf Ball. This made up a huge part of the testing procedure, testing all the range of TaylorMade golf balls, diligently looking at the numbers and giving his precise feedback on sound and feel. Mark and Max soon came to the conclusion that the soon to be released 2024 TP5x ball was the perfect fit for his game. It was able to control his spin in the long game and offered great feedback and feel through the rest of the bag.
Maximilian Steinlechner Expected WITB
“The golfing world all sees the success stories at the top with the likes of Rory, Tommy and Nelly when they win golf tournaments. But what they don’t see is how much work goes on behind the scenes in Team TaylorMade to find and develop the next generation of top class players. We believe this crop of talented young players from across Europe all have what it takes to compete and succeed on a world stage in the very near future. Each has their own successes as an amateur to be proud of, but more than that, we see a maturity and an attitude in these guys that stands them apart from their peers and because of this they are a great fit for the TaylorMade family. We are excited to continue this journey with them and look forward to seeing the individual success stories from each of them over the coming months and years.” - Mark Thistleton, Tour Representative, TaylorMade Golf