Titleist (http://www.titleist.com)

The #1 club on tour. Period. More PGA players choose Titleist drivers than any other brand. More PGA players choose Titleist irons than any other brand. And more PGA players choose Titleist balls than any other brand. So does Titleist really make the best equipment in all of golf, or do they simply spend more sponsorship dollars than any other manufacturer? I suspect it’s more the latter, which isn’t to suggest that Titleist doesn’t make a great product, only that Titleist large footprint on tour doesn’t mean that their products are that much better than anything the other big names are putting on the market.

What it does mean is that in many cases Titleist products are geared toward the professional (not me, probably not you). In years past, their woods have been less forgiving; as have their irons. Still, golf is as much a game of feel as it is anything else. If a club feels right to you, it probably is. Besides, it does look like Titleist is taking steps to make their lineup a little more duffer friendly. What I do love about Titleist are the simple, traditional designs (no flashy colors, clean lines, etc.), and the fact that the number of new products they introduce each year is very reasonable.

Also, Titleist has a fairly lengthy and strongly worded legal page on their site, so in the interest of keeping it real or something, pretty much assume that every bit of product information contained within this post is the legal, copyrighted and/or trade marked property of Acushnet Company (the parent company of Titleist, Pinnacle, FootJoy, and several other less-well-know golf entities).
Drivers

Is it hip to be square? Like TaylorMade, Titleist doesn’t seem to think so. Unlike TaylorMade, which is sticking to more conventionally shaped heads for their woods, Titleist is introducing an almost triangle shaped head in their new 907 series driver. Unfortunately, not a lot of information is available about the new drivers. Search for 907 on the Titleist website and you’ll come up empty. What I can tell you is that the 460cc 907 will be available in two models (I’m guessing one more consumer friendly, and the other a lower launch, boring trajectory tour spec model). Basically it should mirror what the did with 2005’s 905 T/S series drivers. Again, since details are limited, I can only speculate that the new drivers feature increased forgiveness and higher MOI. Titleist always offers a variety of shaft options. What I do know is that the pro model (907 D2) will be more traditional in shape while the model for the weekender (907 D1) will have a more prominent triangular shape.

My local proshop had a few prototypes of the new driver sitting in a bag. I didn’t hit one, but the look is definitely dramatic. I didn’t find it as in your face as the SUMO Squared, but that may have more to do with Titleist design than anything else. I don’t have any immediate plans to demo the new Titleist, but that could change as I get closer to purchasing a new driver.

Update: In the 24 hours between when I started writing this, and posting time, Titleist updated their website with the new driver info. There still aren’t a lot of details, but you can expect to see the clubs for sale in April.

Fairway Woods

New for 07 is the 906F2 Fairway Woods. The 906 features multi-material construction (two kinds of steel), and what Titleist is calling a multi-relief sole. The Multi-Relief sole is designed to minimize turf resistance, resulting a forward impact, which in turn results in better directional control, and overall ball flight. Early reviews are that the club is long, plays exceptionally well from tight fairways, and is more forgiving than previous Titleist clubs. Still, According to the brief review in Golf Digest’s 2007 Hotlist, only stronger players need apply.

The 906 is available in lofts of 13 degrees (3-wood), 15 degrees (5-wood), and 18 degrees (7-wood). A variety of shaft options are available. The MSRP is a comparatively reasonable $200 for steel, and $250 for graphite.

Share This Post