Can the new Titleist GT range displace my Ping G430 driver and fairway?
Firstly, I must thank Adam Legg and Auctherlonies for inviting me to the GT release VIP event at the Fairmont, St Andrews.
Having recently attended a similar event with Callaway, it was interesting to see the different approaches taken by both companies. Today, Titleist sent their fitting experts from Footjoy for shoes, gloves socks (Blair Taylor and David Guthrie), balls (Andrew Butter) and clubs (Roddy Spence), effectively showcasing their entire product line. Michael Baxter, the main Titleist rep was there too, along with Adam Legg from Auchterlonies, who is now a Titleist ambassador and was also conducting fittings.
I've not worn Footjoy shoes or gloves for some time so it was interesting to spend time with Blair discussing their options (including a sneak preview of new premium shoes for next season). I've got awkwardly wide feet so I was keen to do a fitting but, unfortunately, the high-tech shoe fitting machine didn't work well in the sun. I plan to do a full shoe fitting in the Auchterlonies store later. When discussing gloves I also mentioned to Blair that I found Footjoy options a bit long in the finger despite being a good fit over the palm. He recommended what he felt was the best size he had available and asked me to try it during my fitting.
Titleist have made several design changes with the GT line, most specifically introducing a new material into the head and claiming a "transformative shift in performance". I don't intend to go into any of the technical stuff in this blog but instead direct you to the Titleist website here if you want to read up on it. There are lots of YouTube videos available too.
General comment on fittings
While I don't have a problem being fitted for clubs inside, I prefer to do it outside and off grass. This allows you to experience the club's interaction with the turf and see the actual ball flight (can the computer really model wind impact?). We were given a great area of the range to work from with plenty of good turf available. Certainly better than the area we had on the Callaway day. However, like with Callaway, the main thing I would change would be to use real balls rather than range balls. Given I was also doing a ball fitting today, it would have been great to do that first and then have the chance to hit a few of the chosen balls at the end of the club fitting. At least then you could see if the performance was any different. When you're being fitted for a driver with a RRP of £579, sacrificing a couple of balls to the range seems a small price for Titleist to pay. Using real balls is one of the main benefits of fitting indoors.
So why was I here and how did I get on?
The data above is from the 87 rounds I have logged in the Tangent app and shows my Strokes Gained Driving relative to a scratch player. For information, I am a 55-year-old golfer with a WHS index of 4.1 and a driver swing speed in the 95-100mph range. I live in St Andrews, playing links golf on the town courses and heathland/parkland golf at The Duke's Course, just outside town. I've always considered myself to be good with my driver. I'm not the longest, but I'm pretty straight and a reliable fairway/first-cut finder. That's backed up by the tracking data above and, I hope, would be confirmed by regular playing partners.
My current driver is the Ping G430 LST fitted with a stiff Kaili White shaft. It's a 10.5° head and set at 9.5° which makes it sit a little open, which I like the look of. I've been using this driver for around 18 months and it's been a great club that's surprisingly forgiving and consistent for a low-spin head. However, I've always had a niggling suspicion that even on my best shots, I've not been getting the most out of it, hitting it high and with less run than my playing partners. But, given how consistent I've been with it, I've not worried too much. Therefore today's challenge was to see if the GT drivers could deliver the same consistency, but help me get a little more distance.
I also wanted to take another look at my fairway wood. While moving to the G430 Max has been a big improvement over the G425 LST, I've found that I hit it lower than ideal and have a nasty habit of hooking it too, especially when I "go after it". My main gripe is that I think it looks a touch closed and if I increase the loft then I worry that it will just accentuate that further.
So how did the fitting go?
Roddy asked me lots of questions about my current driver, what my good and bad shots were and what concerns I might have. We then got some baseline data from it. The Trackman data confirmed what I've been seeing on the course. I'm efficient, fairly accurate and have decent dispersion, but I hit it high and it spins a bit too much. Remove the low spinning pull and the average was over 3000rpm. If I'm consistently hitting the fairway then that's not too much of a concern, but a bit more run for a club or so less into the green with my second shot would help my approach shot performance too.
We then moved to the GT line of drivers. Comparing the two models side by side, I'm naturally more drawn towards the shape of the GT3. It's just a touch more compact and more appealing to my eye. But Roddy wanted to start with the GT2, and what a start it was. A bit like Ethan Katzberg winning the Olympic hammer-throwing gold medal with his first throw, it was almost "one and done" with the GT2!
The 9° head with the Tensei Blue shaft performed well from the first hit. My strike was efficient, launch angle was good and, importantly, the land angle and spin were both better. From, roughly the same swing speed and ball speed, we achieved both longer carry and total distances. Not stopping there, we moved on to try the GT3. It has a subtle but obvious difference in shape, sound and feel producing more of a dull "thwack". It's not better or worse than the GT2, but it is noticeable. I liked it! Despite preferring the shape of the GT3 and having so many more adjustment options with it, we struggled to get it to match the performance of the GT2. I just didn't hit it as well as the GT2. Trying different shaft combinations with the GT3, the HZRDUS Black felt too heavy but we saw good results with the new Project X Denali Red (YouTube link). Using that in the GT2 produced slightly better consistency of strike relative to the Tensei. There wasn't a massive amount in it but I hit fewer poor shots with the Denali.
With the benefit of seeing the results from adjusting the GT3 we also moved the GT2 setting to C-1 which is -0.75° loft and a flat lie angle. This produced a more consistent strike and the desired flight. Roddy also tried some different head weight options, but we saw no real benefit from going heavier or lighter so stuck with the standard setting.
The picture doesn't tell the whole story. I'd hit a lot of balls by now, was starting to get a bit tired and club speed was dropping off, but the GT2 still produced good numbers. The most impressive aspect was its consistency and dispersion, which is surprisingly where it most outperformed my current driver.
Driver conclusion
This was an interesting session. My best shots with the Ping were every bit as good as my best shots with the GT2. The difference was that I hit my best shots more frequently with the GT2 and saw less punishment from my poor ones. I didn't see the same low pull that I can get from the Ping. The Ping can't be considered a bad fit though and the Tangent data above demonstrates that it's not hurting my performance, but it can be improved. Roddy is there to fit the GT drivers and not to optimise my Ping though.
The closest I can get to the GT2 settings is -1° and flat, but at 9.5° that's still a significant difference in loft against the GT2 at 8.25°. It can also go to -1.5° / 9°, but not in a flat setting. Perhaps the 9° Ping head would be a closer match but then I'm probably just as well switching to the GT2!
Given how closely the Tensei Blue and Denali Red performed (Roddy "Which colour do you prefer?") and that the Tensei Blue was a stock offering in the previous TSR range, it would be interesting to see how the outgoing TSR2 would perform in the same C-1 setting. Can I get similar results for £200 less? The GT2 was good but it wasn't a runaway winner. I'm left with things to mull over and talk to Adam about.
Moving on to the fairway
This might sound obvious, but I want a fairway wood that I can hit from the fairway. I also want it to work off the tee, but I'm not looking for a driver alternative. I like the low-profile shape of Ping fairway woods and find it makes them easy to hit from grass. Moving from the G425LST head into the G430Max has generally been a good decision, but I launch it lower than I'd like and can hook it when I try to hit it hard. This was confirmed when hitting balls to get the baseline data for comparison.
Starting with the GT2 head, I just didn't like how it looked and struggled to hit it so we quickly moved into the smaller footprint GT3. This head also gave Roddy more adjustment options. It was immediately more appealing to my eye and produced significantly better results than the GT2. We used the same Denali Red shaft and a 15° head set at B-4, which is +1.5° and flat, with the CG setting at Toe 1. While the face is still deeper than I am used to with Ping, I found it easy to launch with a better, more consistent performance than my G430 Max. Swing speed, ball speed and spin were almost identical with both, but launch angle and flight were better with the GT3, resulting in a few extra yards of carry. I didn't hook it either, no matter how hard I swung!
Having established the performance of the GT3 we checked the gap with my first hybrid and confirmed that it was fine. We then double-checked the gap from my 3H to my 4H and again confirmed that this was optimal too. Just as well given the work we've put into that this year already!
Fairway conclusion
Again, like the driver, while I can try to replicate the GT3 setting with the Ping, the closest I can get is +1°/16° and flat but it still looks closed compared to the GT3. Can I get over that? Ideally, I need to get to the range and test it out in the new setting (driver too). The option of trying the equivalent TSR3 with a Tensei Blue is also interesting here, but Roddy implied that Titleist made changes to the GT fairway to make it easier to launch than the old TSR, so maybe it's not such a good idea! From looking at the Titleist website the new GT range now has a flatter sole, with a lower CG location that enhances launch conditions. My G430 Max was only recently purchased so I need to chat this over with Adam before doing anything further.
Ball fitting
I've done work on balls previously, so this was more of a checkup to ensure my current choice is still optimal. Despite producing quite high spin numbers with my driver, I'm relatively low-spin with my irons. When SGGT fitted my P770 irons one aim was to help generate more spin and stopping power but SGGT suggested I also use the ProV1x ball to get a little more help. Hitting some mid and short irons for Andrew today confirmed that this ball is still suitable, but to help improve length he suggested I try the "left dash" model. We hit a few on the range and saw a good flight window and modest improvement in carry, so they gave me some balls to take away and try over my next few rounds. If I start hitting it too low, I should switch back to the standard X ball.
Glove fitting
Having discussed glove size at the start of the fitting, it was obvious at the end of the session that the standard Footjoy sizes were not quite right for me and I would be better suited to a Kadet due to my chubby palms and short fingers! The good news is that Auchterlonies stock this size so I will pick one up the next time I'm in the store. They are supposedly more popular in America than they are in Europe. Trust me to have awkward hands as well as awkward feet!
Overall conclusion on the GT range and fitting day
This was an excellent experience and I want to thank Adam Legg, Auchterlonies and Titleist again for the opportunity to come along. We were helped by having glorious (if a bit windy) weather and access to the grass range at Fairmont. I'd forgotten how fantastic the views are from up there (ignore the cars).
The GT range of woods is as excellent as you would expect from Titleist and the fitting highlighted that my current driver and fairway can both be improved upon. I was very impressed with the performance of both the GT2 driver and GT3 fairway wood and Roddy did a great job of optimising the performance of both.
However, while the GT line performed well, it didn't blow my other clubs away and there's still the possibility of getting more out of them with some fitting tweaks. But that's for me to do rather than the Titleist guys. I've always loved the look and feel of Titleist clubs, and these new models don't disappoint. They've also got the performance to match the looks. But like all golf equipment now, that performance comes with a hefty price tag, and at a recommended retail price of £579 for the driver and £349 for the fairway, you need to be sure these are the right clubs for you before buying.
If you know the brand you want to buy, then days like today (and the previous Callaway day) are excellent opportunities to be fitted by a brand expert where you can access more shaft and head combinations than you would from a standard fitting cart. But if you are brand agnostic, working with an independent fitter like Adam will let you access a much wider range of equipment.
At the end of the session, I received a very generous goody bag to take away. It included the balls I was fitted for, a hat, a pair of socks, my glove and a smart GT key ring. As for the clubs, I've come away with plenty of food for thought, but no final decision. My first action will be to alter the settings of my current driver and fairway wood to see how that impacts their performance, then reassess.
However, I can confidently say that I was very impressed with the new GT line. Look, feel and performance are all excellent and these should definitely be on the "must try" list if you are looking for new woods.
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