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Spotted: Titleist 917 Drivers

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Titleist is unveiling its new 917 drivers to PGA Tour players this week at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club, where we expect several golfers to put the new drivers in play.

Titleist 917D2

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Titleist 917D3

c0de077ffe78ca3086e62e24fcbda11a

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As in previous launches, Titleist is testing two new models with Tour players: the 917D2 and the 917D3. Like Titleist’s 915 drivers, 917 models have an Active Recoil Channel, a slot behind the driver face that boosts ball speed and lowers spin. What’s new is adjustable weight technology, which is labeled “SureFit CG” on the photos.

SureFit CG debuted on Titleist’s $1000 Titleist’s C17 Concept Driver, and offered golfers three adjustable weight settings (neutral, draw and fade) through the use of two differently weighted bars that were positioned on the rear portion of the driver head. Because only 1,500 of the drivers were made, however, C17 models were not made available to Tour players. That makes the 917 drivers the first drivers with adjustable weights Titleist has released on the PGA Tour.

As with previous launches, expect the 917 drivers to be released to the general public in the fall. In related news, Acushnet, the parent brand of Titleist, announced that it has filed with the SEC for a proposed IPO.

Related: See more photos, and what GolfWRX Members are saying about the 917 driver in our forum. 

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48 Comments

48 Comments

  1. Warren Schroer

    Aug 21, 2016 at 11:38 am

    If the 917 is longer but sounds and feels like the 913 series- than I will give it a try. The 915 just never sounded right to me- more like a TM sound and rarely felt solid like the 913.

  2. kolfpro

    Aug 6, 2016 at 3:20 am

    Now that was sharp … ouch!

  3. Willard L. Abernathy

    Jun 28, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    For all the negative comments, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it, problem solved! For those of us who love Titleist, I personally think it looks great and can’t wait to hit it. I currently game the 913 and have tested it against the Ping G30 and G and Taylor Made SLDR, R15 and M1/M2. Great drivers but, love my Titleist the most!

    • Jon

      Aug 7, 2016 at 10:26 am

      It really has the shape of the 913 and colour of 905s. Really good looking!

    • KK

      Aug 25, 2016 at 8:43 pm

      For all the negative comments about the negative comments, shut up. Problem solved.

  4. Golfmaddness

    Jun 24, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    I was waiting for the new titleist guess I’ll go buy the M2 now

  5. KK

    Jun 24, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    The weight adjustment seems really contrived and unsightly. Just do a diagonal slider and call it a day. Or at least a weight bar that doesn’t stick out so much.

  6. setter02

    Jun 22, 2016 at 10:26 am

    Look how shallow and ugly those things look. From ‘classic pear’ to elongated ewww.

  7. moses

    Jun 22, 2016 at 2:39 am

    Weights remind me of the R7 drivers. Titleist has caught up to TM from 10 yrs ago.

    • SNBD

      Jun 29, 2016 at 4:12 am

      The R7 had 2 movable weights on the heel and toe that adjusted ball flight to either a draw or fade bias, those weights had absolutely nothing to do with CG. This driver uses an adjustable hosel to affect fade and draw and this new surefit weight to adjust CG. Nice attempt at a dig against Titleist, but your comment is so inaccurate, its laughable.

      • Dave

        Aug 30, 2016 at 1:17 pm

        The weights do have an affect on draw and fade. Each club comes with a neutral weight and a second weight that depending on which way it is inserted affects fade and draw. There are also more weights available for purchase. Standard is 12G. The others are 8, 10,14 and 16.

  8. LJB

    Jun 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    I think I will kept my current 975D.

  9. Warren Schroer

    Jun 21, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    Looks bad- I have never liked my 915D2, try as I have- so I’m still hitting my 913D2 right down the middle every time and it keeps up with the others just fine. Long if needed, and straight when you have to have it. I’m convinced that there is not much left that will affect my game at this point- does someone have a better shaft that the Tour AD? I think not-

  10. Eric

    Jun 21, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    I can’t wait till all the Titleist homer/Nike haters get a load of this! I feel like after the recoil channel in the 915, and the weight pod in the 917, we can safely assume cavity back technology will be there in the 919!

    • Rob

      Jun 22, 2016 at 4:41 pm

      Yeah because Cavity Back Technology is still in Nike Drivers…

      I don’t see much of a cavity back in their drivers. Ever since they started with it, each season it gets filled in more and more…but yeah Just Do It

  11. Jim

    Jun 21, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Guess club manufacturers are like our favorite sports team. I love titelist clubs, and hit them better than all others. New clubs every 2 years makes more sense to me than every 6 months as others seem to spit them out, but there again I’m a Titelist guy. We all love golf and our team, so hit what you like and have fun.

  12. chad

    Jun 21, 2016 at 10:52 am

    love the grey. I’m sure this color will be a big hit with old school titleist fans

  13. Mat

    Jun 21, 2016 at 8:52 am

    No disrespect, but I think we hit peak-driver with the G30/FlyZ+.

  14. Large smizzle

    Jun 21, 2016 at 4:08 am

    I’ve tried loads of titleist equipment over the years, and I can’t get any of it to work for me. It makes me feel inadequate. Like I’m not good enough to play with the pros choice.

  15. john

    Jun 20, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    LOL nawww titleist…. i thought things like slots and movable weights were just gimmicks that don’t work and that’s why titleist don’t have them? sounds to me like titleist thinks they’re far more important than they actually are – you don’t see callaway or tm paying the pgatour to list every player who plays a titleist ball on their leaderboard do you.

    • Power fade

      Jun 20, 2016 at 8:03 pm

      Correct. This not only looks gimmicky, but could be mistaken for Admiral Ackbar. “It’s a trap!’

  16. kn

    Jun 20, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    Price? $500? $600? Priced just right for all those “new” golfers who are going to keep the game alive.

  17. Tom Duckworth

    Jun 20, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    Titleist knows how to make great equipment they hardly ever put out bad stuff this should be a good driver. I don’t know how many pros would want moveable weights. Should be interesting to see how many move to this one right away. Other than the weight I don’t see a real difference between it and the 915. Is there anything new about the face?
    I have had a 983 a 909 and a 910 D3 and they were all great drivers. That being said I have a SLDR right now that works fine.

    • john

      Jun 21, 2016 at 2:21 am

      somehow their ball reputation unfairly gets put onto their clubs. their clubs seem like they were designed on toilet tissue in lunch breaks inbetween design next years prov1 cardboard box – they use other brands as their “inspiration” and produce such greats as the speedslot copy and my favourite the scotty cameron odyssey #7.

  18. golfraven

    Jun 20, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    Strangely the D2 looks more round shape and appears smaller then the D3. Not sure about the weights though, whole design looks more like a TM R7 driver. I am sure it performs and looks the part so may move other one they drop the price on those on ebay after a year.

  19. Brian

    Jun 20, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    I’m sure this will be another in a long series of over-priced Titleist clubs… Oh, movable weight tech? Welcome to 2006…but I’m sure we’ll get a $500 price tag because it’s Titleist.

  20. Erock

    Jun 20, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    Interesting color choice. Looks very similar to the gloss gray on the G15, G20, K15 Pings.

  21. Jim

    Jun 20, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    I got c16 and added 20-30 yards once dialed in. Ordered a 2nd one! Had I know a cheaper version was coming I might have waited but the club is awesome! It’s first time a club actually lived up to the hype.

    • Chuck

      Jun 20, 2016 at 7:04 pm

      So Jim, I am presuming that you are not joking. If you are, shame on me.

      What is it about new Titleist technology that is giving you that distance boost? What in your opinion (or to the best of your technical knowledge) makes the new Titleist design so good?

      Not that it would determine what I do, but what can you tell us about the process of “dialing in” your C16? Did you switch shafts? Change hosel settings? Did you play with another Titleist before the C16?

      I honestly don’t get the theory behind Titleist’s new weight thing, versus simple interchangeable weight screws as seen in so many other drivers. I’ve actually begun to wonder whether interchangeable weights is a patented design feature that is off limits to Titleist. Hard to imagine that, but it is all so odd to me.

      • mP

        Jun 22, 2016 at 2:48 am

        He was using a persimmon driver at 43 inches.

  22. Adam

    Jun 20, 2016 at 11:00 am

    isn’t that just a recolored version of the C16 or whatever they called it?

  23. rymail00

    Jun 20, 2016 at 10:12 am

    It was released today so I’m sure Greg will post some pics. If your on Titleist’s mailing list they sent out a pic this morning.

    http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1351002-titleist-917-prototype-released-on-tour-today/

  24. Joshuaplaysgolf

    Jun 20, 2016 at 10:04 am

    So…they added an adjustable weight, these will probably start around $450-$500 without upgraded shaft. For a weight. Can we all admit this is getting out of hand? You absolutely don’t have to buy a new club just because it comes out, but if all you came up with in your 2 year product cycle was a moveable weight, you should probably make that a 4 year product cycle.

  25. Ian

    Jun 20, 2016 at 8:56 am

    Hmmm. Looks similar to this guy’s design. http://izulugolf.com/powertube-driver/

    • Jb

      Jun 20, 2016 at 9:23 am

      Yeah. That’s all Titleist can do now, these days, to steal ideas. They always have. Like the Pro-V, also stolen, from Japanese balls

      • Colin

        Jun 20, 2016 at 3:30 pm

        Yea no one else in the golf industry ever borrows ideas from any other club company. Every club that comes out is totally unique to that company. Keep hating. Maybe this is just smart business, isnt this what every industry does?

    • john

      Jun 21, 2016 at 2:22 am

      i love jumping on the titleist hate wagon, but this looks absolutely nothing like that… lol, but now that you’ve brought that to their attention they’ll be sure to sue him for copyright anyway.

  26. Christosterone

    Jun 20, 2016 at 8:49 am

    Already did….very similar feel to Nike vapor flex…same tech but with a perpendicular aaa battery thingy..

    Awesome club…like the vapor is was a bit spinny for me but he only had a few shafts and about 4 guys behind me when he took it out of his titleist bag…
    I was more interested in the ’boutique’ c16 head…wow it was awesome..

    I am historically not a titleist driver fan but will absolutely give the sure fit another try when I have more time to put less spinny shafts in it…but who knows when the titleist rep will be at PGA superstore again…

    -Chris

  27. Jwowzer

    Jun 20, 2016 at 7:48 am

    Let me know if you need anyone to test these!

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Equipment

Spotted: Tony Finau’s driver shaft change at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

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Tony Finau has always been known as one of the longest players on the PGA Tour, but he has recently been working on adding a little more distance. Last year, Finau averaged 118.3 mph club head speed and 178.08 mph ball speed, all while playing a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX driver shaft. This year, he has increased his club head speed to 123.93 mph and his ball speed to 183.32 mph.

However, Finau’s overall distance has decreased by two yards in that time. From a fitting perspective, something was amiss. We asked Tony about the shaft change at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open.

“[I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin. My driver’s been a little high spin for me over the last month or so, and so I just figured it was time to probably check out the equipment,” Finau said. “And it definitely showed me that I was using a shaft that’s maybe a little too tip-stiff for me, the way I load the club now. [I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin.”

Finau switched from the Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX into the Diamana GT 70 TX. The newer Diamana GT has a slightly different profile than the D+ Limited with the stiffest handle section in the Diamana lineup. The mid sections between the two are similar stiffness but the tip is just slightly stiffer in the Diamana GT. Both shafts are within one gram of each other in the 70 TX. The torque rating on the GT is 0.1 higher than the D+Limited’s 2.7 measurement.

Mitsubishi lists the Diamana GT as a shaft between the mid-launching Diamana TB and the new low-launch Diamana WB shafts. For most players, it would be considered a mid/low launch and low-spin shaft option. Mitsubishi’s Xlink Tech Resin System makes sure the maximum carbon fiber content is there for smooth feel without reducing the strength of the shaft. MR70 carbon fiber is used for reinforcing the shaft and boron is used in the tip for its high strength and compression properties.

Finau is still using his trusty Ping G430 LST driver in 9 degrees and has the adjustable hosel set to -1 degree of loft (standard lie angle). Finau’s long-time favorite Lamkin UTX Green grip is installed. He definitely has a few extra wraps of tape under that grip as you can see the bulge down where the grip meets the shaft.

One final note: Per Ping’s PGA Tour rep Kenton Oates, Finau’s driver is also adjusted to play with an additional degree of loft to help dial in his desired launch.

We’ll see how he fares with the new setup this week in Houston!

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Whats in the Bag

Zac Blair WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade M5 Rocket 3 (14 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 757 Evolution V1 X

Utility: Titleist U510 (3)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Blue 85 X

Irons: Ping i210 (4-6), Miura MB-001 (7-9)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 58-08M @57, 60 @61), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (52-M)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 105 X

Putter: Scotty Cameron prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

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Whats in the Bag

Martin Trainer WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Wilson Staff Staff Model (6.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kai’li Blue 70 TX

3-wood: Wilson Staff WLabs Prototype (13 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 80 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Staff Model (2, 4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Wilson Staff Staff Model (52, 56, 60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: Bobby Grace Greg Chalmers Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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