Yorkie07

I really like the GT3. Went for a fitting and ended up with the 3 at 10 degrees. Had it out on the range for the first time yesterday and just felt like it had effortless distance. I'm coming from the old TS2 at 8.5 so definitely some upgrades in tech over the years but my misses that used to spin off the side of the earth aren't nearly as bad. When my swing gets off, I have a habit of low heel strikes and with the GT3 the ball is still playable and fairly long. 

Congrats to the testers. In the market for a new bag so will be watching this one. 

Congrats to the testers. In the market for a new bag so will be watching this one. 

Sure did!  It has to be the best deal out there!   1/4 pound hot dog and soda (with refill) for $1.50.  After 5 1/2 hours in the car, it was a great treat!

I got in about an hour on the driving range yesterday, the last 20+ minutes or so of which I finally felt warmed up enough to feel I could swing the driver relatively well after sitting in a bad chair at a training center all day.
The stats aren't bad either, considering I'm nursing a sprained wrist I got officiating a travel hockey game about two weeks ago...all thanks to a less-than-skilled 14-year-old hockey player trying to find a puck in my feet as he skated at full speed counting the number of snowflakes on the ice instead of looking where he was going.
 
The spin rates are weird, but then again, my SC300 launch monitor has always struggled to gauge spin with range balls.  I like the fact that even with a sore wrist and range balls and not really feeling 100% I was still getting basically the same numbers I was with a ProV1X Left Dash in my fitting and even better, the only balls that went left of the "fairway" target line were ones I started up the middle and intentionally tried to put draw spin on.  However, when I set up normally, I found I never in danger of going left, even when I really went after the ball like shot #9 (note:  these are in reverse order of being  hit...#23 was the 1st shot hit, and #1 was the last).
 
The first actual round with the GT2 will be Sunday around noon, but we'll have spent a decent chunk of Saturday in the car driving to watch our son officiate a hockey game.  At 19, he's still one of the youngest full-time officials in the national development program, and he's in year 2 on his pathway to being a pro hockey official.  It's going well for him and he's progressing towards his goal of being an NHL linesman.  However, he moves to Minnesota next weekend to work out of that region for the year, so we're trying to see him as much as possible.  That means my back and legs are going to be sore Sunday, so I'm sure I won't be quite as good as I could be.  If I drive the whole way there and back Saturday, I am betting my wrist is pretty sore Sunday, too.

It is without a doubt the nicest looking and sounding driver I've ever owned.  I can't wait until I have an actual 11 gram weigh to put in the back instead of tungsten tape to really see what I can do with this thing.

Sorry for semi-hijacking the official review thread, guys.  I'll go away once you all get your gear and can start putting up your data.  I didn't think it made any sense to throw up an unofficial thread of my own though.

Congratulations to the testers. Currently looking into new putters so super interested in this one. 

I went into the PGA Tour Superstore through which I placed my custom order this afternoon before I went to meet my son to play and talked to their operations manager.  He called me a little later and gave me the bad news...it was going to be 4-6 MORE weeks before Titleist had enough of the Graphite Design Tour AD-VF 6S shafts in stock to get to my order in the queue...He agreed to process a cancelation of the special order despite it being outside of the normal 24-hour window, and ensured me I would get my refund.  He even suggested that if there was too much of a delay to let my credit card fight about it since they had failed to deliver and I'd been accruing interest for 4 weeks already.
 
So, after my round, my son and I dropped by the store and guess what we found on the rack?  Yeah, they had BOTH an 8° GT2 head in stock AND the aforementioned Graphite Design Tour AD-VF 6S shaft.  Now, even though it's child's play at this point for me to pop a grip off and shorten the shaft 1/2" to get to my specs, I'll have to wait a couple of days and hope the Amazon option I found is a match for the GT2 weight placement at the rear of the driver.  If not, I will have to track down my fitter at PGASS and take him up on his offer to swap out my standard 9 gram weight for the store's +2 gram (11 gram total) weight so I actually got the driver for which I was fitted.  In the interim, I'm using <gasp> a couple of grams of tungsten tape to get the weight right and hopefully recreate the bombing runs I was generating in my fitting.  I put the tungsten tape down in the negative space behind the standard weight, so it's hard to see if you don't know it's there.

For those that haven't had the chance to see this combination in person, maybe now you understand why I've been DYING inside the past month waiting to put my hands on this thing...enjoy my pictures.

Guessing thats a shaft availability issue - a friend got his new driver in about 3 weeks, but went with a stock shaft option.  Also, could be because your club head is backwards 😉

#LEFTYGANG FOR LIFE!!!

No head to head data yet - that will be after the 6th when my tournament season is about wrapped up. So in the mean time you get a crap ton of photos. 
GT2 for the Titleist and the older models or competitors are the Callaway Paradym TD and Cobra F7 3 and 7 woods. 
 

Einstein’s theory of golf relativity defines the perfect number of clubs as the current number of clubs + 1.  It’s a well known fact that having 14 or less clubs causing a massive increase in hooking or slicing the ball leading to doom and despair. I enclose an accurate and scientifically vetted depiction that Einstein intended to be published. 

GolfSpy_ KFT's Introduction

Greetings fellow MGS Crew! For those who don't know me, my name is Jason Noble and I am one of the moderators of our fantastic forum. I am in my first year as a forum mod, and have been a member since joining back in 2018; however, it wasn't until the 2022 season that I started to really get engaged here. It has been one of the best decisions I have made as I have made some very valued online friendships. My golf game has improved, too, but that is second to the joy and fun this forum brings me.

I am married to a woman who is well out of my league, and we will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary this September. We have two boys, ages 7 and 4, who keep us on our toes all the time and are constantly chasing around to various activities. Both enjoy coming out on the golf course with me, and my oldest son competed in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition for the first time this year. He finished 8th overall in the 7-9 year old division in our local qualifier and totaled the 4th most points putting. Both he and his younger brother have been big into baseball this year as well. I stepped back into the coaching ring with my oldest son's 7/8 year old baseball team this summer, which was a hoot. 

As mentioned earlier, my golf game has seen significant improvement since becoming a regular member of the forum. I've been a member at my home course the past two seasons which has also helped, and we bought a home on the course in December 2023. I currently sit at a 15.4 handicap, putting me squarely in the mid-handicap range. I started out last year as a 30.3, so improvement was fast last year but has slowed this year, which I expected. 

But enough about me, let's get into what you're really here for. I have the fortunate opportunity to test the Titleist GT line with a group of fantastic testers, and it'll be competing for spots in my bag against a Cobra Darkspeed X driver and two Cobra Aerojet Max fairways. The Darkspeed X has been very good to me this year as a new addition, kicking out a TSi3 earlier this year. It is equipped with a Ventus TR Blue 6X shaft, which I was not fit for. My current Arccos smart distance is 268 yards. On my best strikes, I can get the ball out into the 290s and recently crossed the 300 yard barrier. On poor strikes, it still performs well and has kept me in play the majority of the time. Below is some Arccos data for the DS X. I should note that the smart distance is 5 yards longer than my previous TSi3.

My AJ Max fairway woods both have stock Diamana Kai'Li White 60S shafts in them. These were fit during a fitting for my Cobra challenge test last year. I have LOVED these clubs. Below is smart distance for each.

I have been striking woods particularly well for me this year, so it is going to be very interesting to see if the GT line can move these clubs out of my bag. The hype around them has been as high as I can remember for a new release.
Testing Parameters & Expectations
Titleist is quite literally claiming "Generational Technology" with the GT line. With words like that, high expectations follow. Here's what I'll be looking for when testing the GT line against my current gamers:
1. Will distance loss be improved on non-centered strikes?
I tend to miss slightly high toe or low heel. GT claims so far are that misses are less punishing in terms of spin and therefore, distance. the DS X and AJ Max woods do a pretty good job at this.  2. Will I gain MORE ball speed and distance on well struck shots?
With where my game and swing is currently at, I feel like I am nearly maxed out in terms of ball speed and distance. If the GTs are faster AND longer, it's going to be instant plug and play. 3. Can the GT driver be more forgiving than my DS X?
I saw noticeable forgiveness improvement on mishits with the Darkspeed X coming from the TSi3. Balls that would have been off the planet with TSi are simply just in the rough but in play with DS X. However, that is not to say that shots don't get away from me with DS X, as I have seen some bad hooks recently. If GT is even better, I would be floored. The majority of my testing will be done on the course as well as on the driving range. I have a Garmin R10 I should be able to borrow from a friend to collect data, and I plan on one or two Trackman sessions to get a more accurate comparison as well.
I am very excited to see what this line of clubs can do for my game. I have been a huge fan of Titleist since putting a TSi3 in my bag in 2021, so I am eager to see if they can earn a spot back in!
Titleist GT Driver & Fairway Wood Fitting

I completed my GT fitting on Monday, August 26th at TPC Wisconsin in Madison, WI. It was, to date, the hottest day of the year this summer - real temp. of 94 and a heat index well over 100. I arrived at TPC about 30 minutes early as I had never been there and wasn't sure where to go. I headed inside to where the player's lounge is and was met by their director of operations, who graciously gave me a ride to the driving range as it was a walk from the lounge. He then left a cart there for me so that I could drive back. 

I went out onto the range, which was mat only, and was slightly disappointed with that. Not a huge deal as I was hitting woods, but they had a grass area that was just begging to be hit off of. I later found out it had just been seeded in May, and not even members had used it yet. After getting loose, I met my fitter, Bill Byrne, and we got to work getting some baseline numbers with my Darkspeed X. I have been struggling with this club lately, but managed to get what have been better strikes for me as of late. I found out that it was spinning WAY too much, some into the low 3000s, and the best strike with it is pictured below. It is also on the lower side for peak height, so he wanted to try and bring that up.

First combination up for GT was the GT2 with stock Tensei 1k Black. Fantastic looking club at address and a MASSIVE improvement over the last "2" series driver from Titleist I tried at a fitting, which was the TSi2. However, it immediately was too spinny, and Bill quickly moved me into the GT3. Stayed with the Tensei 1k black, but again it was spinning too much. What amazed me was it was at this point that he said, "you've got 280 total in there, and we're gonna find it today." This was after watching me hit some decent but not great shots.

The next shaft that was plugged into the head was the HZRDUS Black. I have never been a fan of HZRDUS shafts, but it actually performed pretty well. However, it was STILL spinning higher than he liked. He seemed a bit surprised as well, but I've always been on the higher side of spin with driver. We moved into the Tour AD-VF next, and this brought spin down to where he liked it. The only problem was that it was bringing into play the pull hook miss I've been seeing with my DS X as of late. This shaft also felt like I had to really work hard to get it to kick, something I don't enjoy. We then moved into the Tour AD-XC, and this is where things started to click. It brought my peak height up to 90 - 100 feet, which I really enjoyed watching. I was thinking we had maybe landed on a winner, but when I would miss a little, it was prone to fading and going too far left. Bill didn't love that at the higher flight as it is more time in the air for it to get too far away from me. Other numbers were looking good, though! It was at this point that we took a break as it was crazy hot and I needed some rest. 

Once we got back into it, he handed me a GT4 just for the heck of it. It lasted about 5 swings and I gave it back  but was still fun to try it. 
The next combination for GT3 was with the HZRDUS RDX Blue. This is a shaft that I tried in my former TSi3 and absolutely hated it. My despise for it was confirmed when I hit three snappy hooks in a row and he got that thing gone! We tried the AD-VF again with a different setting, and then the Tensei 1k black again in a different setting, but neither performed well. As I was walking back with it to swap out for a different setup, I saw my next combo waiting for me. It was the GT3 paired with a Tour AD-UB. Bill explained as we took another short break that with the way the UB is set up, he thought it would work well with how I release the club on my downswing. I tend to release early, and this shaft can help me take advantage of that. I was skeptical as this is a shaft I'd NEVER assume would work for me...

And then I hit it. My jaw about hit the ground as I watched a piercing, tight draw rocket off the face of the club. I turned around and said to him, "It's over! We're done!" I hit two more balls, and the flight was ABSOLUTELY IDENTICAL each time. A couple other fitters who had finished up for the day were looking on at this point, and I boldly made the claim "Alright, last one here. I'm gonna start it up the left side and bring it back right to the middle." Bill LOVED this confidence, and right on cue, GT3 delivered. The results, posted below from my best shot with GT3, speak for themselves.

He then threw the AD-UB in a 15* and 18* GT2. I hit three shots with each, and it produced a dead straight flight. I have been seeing over draws with my Aerojet Max fairways, and it has been making trusting the swing a challenge. I didn't hit them yesterday as we were running short on time and I was gassed, but I didn't need to. If I don't gain a single yard over those clubs, I feel strongly dispersion will be better. 

I was so zoned into those clubs at the end, that I forgot to ask Bill what we ended up in with adjustments to the SureFIT hosel and weight track. I was focused on just making a good swing, and didn't really want to know as I didn't want to compensate anything. In the photo you can see the weight in H1, but he was tinkering with different weights the whole time, so it may be different than stock. Once my order is submitted and in my Team Titleist account, I'll be sure to share those specs.

(my fitter, Bill Byrne, helping me with some photos for the forum)
When it was all said and done, it was HANDS DOWN the best fitting experience I've ever had. We got good numbers with the Tour AD-XC and Bill could have stopped there, but he genuinely wanted to get more out of the club for me. The other thing that I thought was absolutely fantastic about Bill was that he could tell when I was struggling with my swing, and would start talking to me about something completely unrelated to golf. It was like he could see me about to derail, and then pulled me back in. I can't speak well enough about how great he was. If you're in the WI/MN/IL/IA area and want to get fit with Titliest, he is the man you want to go see.
Now the wait begins for the clubs to arrive!
Stay tuned for more updates!
 
 
 
 

Congrats. Have fun with this one. 

Congrats. Have fun with this one. 

Made the step from "thinking about" to "order confirmed" ...

Like New (Callaway Pre-Owned) 60° (stock photo above) to be buddies with the 54° I really like. 
And in good 'ho fashion had a coupon code for an extra discount and somehow had over $50 in Rewards on their site, so after tax and shipping total was about $56.

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it. 

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it. 

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it. 

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it. 

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it. 

I may have traded in a few items and got to pick up a new toy today..... 

GT3 11*

Glad the Black worked out for you!
I just added a new driver. Sub 70 849D. The shaft is the Ventus velocore+ Blue 5R. What an amazing shaft for me! Couldn’t be happier with it. Really liking the Ventus line….

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it. 

Ventus Velocore Back 6s Driver shaft (OG version). 
I swing the Titleist TS2 with the Evenflow T1100 shaft. Went for a fitting to hopefully get fit for the new GT driver. On this day, I just could not find the center of the face. Everything was in on the heel. 
Towards the end we decided an upgrade wasn't the move until I fixed my swing. He didn't have a follow-up appointment, so asked if I wanted to try a few premium shafts. Knew from the minute I felt it the Ventus Black was for me. That was the new +, but they had a used Black on sale. I still hit the occasional high fade but it is significantly dialed down. Now just hitting a baby fade right down the middle. Love it.