CLUB Testing: Titleist 909D3 10.5° w/ Aldila VooDoo (by Titleist design) GAMER: Callaway FT-5 (i-Mix) Tour Neutral 9.5° w/ Aldila VS Proto 80
Overview: Let start off by saying that this review comes out of pure curiosity. My gamer FT-5 is a cannon and has in no way dissatisfied me. But these new 909 drivers intrigued me so I decided to try one. I picked up a D3 because the lower spin advertisement attracted me. I was also antsy to try the new VooDoo shaft.
Background on Me: I'm 23, 1.2 handicap. Driver swing speed average around 106mph. Very accurate driver of the golf ball (average 80-85% fairways hit in regulation). Aggressive swinger but not out of my shoes.
Weather: I did this testing over a 3 day period - one small range session (25 balls) 18 holes each day (11 drives each round). I played one round of golf the second day. Weather for both days was partly cloudy with temperatures ranging from 50-63°.
Golf Ball: The range balls that I used sucked the high heavens . At no point did I use any golf ball on the course other than a Callaway Tour iX.
First Impressions: Reminded me a lot of the 905R but with obviously a much deeper face. This club looks much bigger 440cc so I can't imagine how big the D2 and COMP must look. In fact, one of the pictures below is a comparison with my gamer FT-5 which is 460cc. D3 looks bigger actually. 905S lovers might be dissatisfied with this. Other than that, a very clean looking club with very non-distracting graphics.
First Drives (Range): Ballflight was lower than my FT-5 but not by much. Could definitely notice the ball spinning less as many of these initial drives were borderline knuckleballs. But I hit the darn thing spot-on with no trace of movement. Straight bullets. Out of the 25 balls, I hit one out of the range (a flamboyantly large fade). Distance wise...not quite as far as my FT-5 but not too far behind. Tolerable, I guess.
Course Play: The one thing I love about my FT-5 is I can maneuver it however I deem necessary. For the life of me, I could not turn this D3 over one iota. Ballflight on the course appeared significantly lower than my FT-5 even with it being 1° more in loft. The only time I did get the ball to turn from left to right was with a knuckleball. I hit less fairways with the D3 because of my desperate attempts to get it hooking. I noticed the real difference in distance out here. My FT-5 averaged between 10-20 yards longer than the D3. High Launch/Low spin would characterize my FT-5 while mid Launch/low spin would characterize the D3.
Feeling: The D3 is a vast improvement over the 907 series. Club is much more solid and actually has a ping more than thud. The face seems hotter as well (virtually identical to the 905R) but just not as explosive as my FT-5.
VooDoo: Shaft is solid but definitely plays a tad weak to flex. I could feel this thing whipping on my backswing so I had to slow things down considerably to maintain control (probably could be a reason for the distance loss). The graphics on the shaft are appealing as it appears much darker in person than in the pictures I saw. Titleist states the shaft weighs 71g but it sure doesn't feel like it. It feels more like a 63g shaft. I could, however, be unfairly judging that as my FT-5 shaft is an 80g VS Proto. But it sure does feel light for 71g. I'd be more interested in trying a real VooDoo now that I have experienced the "fake" one.
Overall: This is a good stick. But it's not for me. Any club that I cannot draw consistently will never make it into my bag. That being said, this club wants...BEGS...to go straight. I really do think Titleist has a winner here and I think Titleist faithful will be thrilled with its performance. But again, the loss of distance without any gain of accuracy does not tickle my fancy. I'll be sticking with my FT-5 cannon (at least until I can get my hands on an iQ or FT-9)
I apologize about the quality of these pictures. That giant ball of gas hasn't appeared in a few days and I'm sick of waiting for it. Also, my photography skills couldn't pass 5th grade. Sorry.
Thanks for the review, what was the thought process in going with a 10.5° when you normally play a 9.5°?
Mike
I predicted that the D3 would spin much less than my FT-5 so I thought the added degree in loft would help equal them out. Also, I'm almost certain that despite my love for my FT-5, I would probably play a 10.5 if they made it in a Tour lefty.
Timely review, appreciate you adding. I hit one at Golfsmith today with the same set-up and loved the feel. I'm not replacing my MP-600 but like the traditional looking drivers like MP and 909. In terms of your critique, I did notice one thing that might explain. Did you notice that the clubhead is backwards? Just a thought. Thanks again and good luck.
thanks for the review;
well I am also curious about the new 909 (can´t wait the fitting)
however, maybe my FT5 Tour stays as I got used to it over the last 2 month and really love it.
I've bought, played and sold a D3 9.5 w/ stock X-Con 6 X-Stiff the past weekend. I've had every single Titleist driver since 975D and all I can say it's the worst Titty club I ever hit. To be fair, what really stinks it's the shaft. I honestly thought I would play an updated version of 905S (personally the best Titleist driver) but I was wrong. Feel is horrible, I had hard time to tell where the head was since the shaft is too light, and the couple good shots I hit, still was shorter than my 905R. The club is so bad I hard time to fade it!?!?! I've ordered it by mistake, didn't pay attention to the specs of shaft. Even the magnetic headcover stinks. I was so pissed that I didn't want to waste more time reshafting and trying other combinations. Sold Monday on Ebay and got a couple of good deals on "For Sale" section to make it up.
I've bought, played and sold a D3 9.5 w/ stock X-Con 6 X-Stiff the past weekend. I've had every single Titleist driver since 975D and all I can say it's the worst Titty club I ever hit. To be fair, what really stinks it's the shaft. I honestly thought I would play an updated version of 905S (personally the best Titleist driver) but I was wrong. Feel is horrible, I had hard time to tell where the head was since the shaft is too light, and the couple good shots I hit, still was shorter than my 905R. The club is so bad I hard time to fade it!?!?! I've ordered it by mistake, didn't pay attention to the specs of shaft. Even the magnetic headcover stinks. I was so pissed that I didn't want to waste more time reshafting and trying other combinations. Sold Monday on Ebay and got a couple of good deals on "For Sale" section to make it up.
The Titleist X-Con 6 is only a "stock" shaft for the DComp. There is a X-Con 6 upgrade shaft available also. So you had to special order your D3 with one of those shafts. Did you get fitted for the club you ordered ? Hard to blame Titleist for a clubhead / shaft combo that you picked out, didn't get fitted for, and didn't work out for you.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn’t start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
now that was just rude and uncalled for. If you have seen him play and have proof he is fibbing to us, then please detail. Otherwise, it makes you look less credible for trying to tear someone down as a liar. I have played with people that hit every fairway for 2 or 3 rounds before they miss one. That may lead the PGA tour, but the rest of their game is nowhere near tour quality. As he said, he is a 1.2 handicap. It usually means that his ball is in play after the first shot to get to be so dang low.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn't start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
now that was just rude and uncalled for. If you have seen him play and have proof he is fibbing to us, then please detail. Otherwise, it makes you look less credible for trying to tear someone down as a liar. I have played with people that hit every fairway for 2 or 3 rounds before they miss one. That may lead the PGA tour, but the rest of their game is nowhere near tour quality. As he said, he is a 1.2 handicap. It usually means that his ball is in play after the first shot to get to be so dang low.
Agreed, the pros are playing 7000+ yd courses with fairways that are 15 yards wide and mowed down to roll faster than most of the greens that we putt on. The guy is probably playing a 6400 yd public with generous fairways from a set of tees that suit his game and could very well be hitting 8 out of 10. Regardless, the cheap shot adds nothing to the discussion.
Timely review, appreciate you adding. I hit one at Golfsmith today with the same set-up and loved the feel. I'm not replacing my MP-600 but like the traditional looking drivers like MP and 909. In terms of your critique, I did notice one thing that might explain. Did you notice that the clubhead is backwards? Just a thought. Thanks again and good luck.
LOL, thanks for noticing. Being lefty has been a burden my whole life.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn’t start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
I believe him. Some guys are that good off the tee box. I have a friend I play with 1-2 times/month and I have LITERALLY never seen him miss a fairway. He hits the ball about 230yds off the tee w/ a fairly aggressive swing and he just plain hits everything STRAIGHT. He's about a 10 handicap mostly because of bad putting. I always tell him he hits 15 of 14 fairways per round...crazy
I've bought, played and sold a D3 9.5 w/ stock X-Con 6 X-Stiff the past weekend. I've had every single Titleist driver since 975D and all I can say it's the worst Titty club I ever hit. To be fair, what really stinks it's the shaft. I honestly thought I would play an updated version of 905S (personally the best Titleist driver) but I was wrong. Feel is horrible, I had hard time to tell where the head was since the shaft is too light, and the couple good shots I hit, still was shorter than my 905R. The club is so bad I hard time to fade it!?!?! I've ordered it by mistake, didn't pay attention to the specs of shaft. Even the magnetic headcover stinks. I was so pissed that I didn't want to waste more time reshafting and trying other combinations. Sold Monday on Ebay and got a couple of good deals on "For Sale" section to make it up.
D3 doesn't come stock with an Xcon-6.
Anyway, IMO this is the best Titleist driver to come out since the 975D. Very solid feeling and sounding. Titty claims it to be low launch and low spin but I wouldn't say it's low launch at all. Mine is shafted with a F7m2 and I launch it a little higher than I did my FT-5 with the same shaft and loft. It does seem to be a little on the low spin side. I was a little concerned that it would not be forgiving but that isn't the case. Not the most forgiving driver but definitely not unforgiving. (a whole bunch of double negatives there) I am thinking I found a keeper for a while. Really solid driver. If you've ever hit an Adams 4250 and liked it then you should like this one as well.
Just a thought to ponder as well regarding your comment "not being able to hook the ball"
With every degree of loft that you add to your driver there is a "potential" linear relation in "decreasing" side spin. If there is a physics major here to explain the math behind the science jump in, but generally more loft equals less side spin.
One other thing, "not" hooking the ball isn't such a bad thing is it?!?
thanks again for the review, nice to hear some honest feedback.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn’t start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
first... great review! very well critiqued.
Second. I hit more fairways than the pros. Actually most decent AMs do. We play on fairways that are 3 times wider and are half the speed so our ball stays in the fairway rather than rolling into the fringe. Also we're typically shorter and slower so control is easier to master and our courses are significantly easier. AND international stats show good Ams do hit more fairways... we have to make pars and birdies while the pros can bomb and gouge. Very different games.
Just a thought to ponder as well regarding your comment "not being able to hook the ball"
With every degree of loft that you add to your driver there is a "potential" linear relation in "decreasing" side spin. If there is a physics major here to explain the math behind the science jump in, but generally more loft equals less side spin.
One other thing, "not" hooking the ball isn't such a bad thing is it?!?
thanks again for the review, nice to hear some honest feedback.
jp
I never had a physics course, but when I listen to the guys on TV they always say, "He will probably hit a 3 wood on this dogleg to the left because it is easier to turn the ball over with a 3 wood than a driver." I think a 3 wood creates more spin than a driver and because of that you can get spin in a combination of laterally and vertically. Again, I am not great with physics . . . but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn’t start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
CallawayPlayer, on Nov 12 2008, 12:39 PM, said:
juststeve, on Nov 11 2008, 07:12 PM, said:
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn't start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
CallawayPlayer,
Thanks for the very thorough review. I appreciate it, as I am considering the D3, and I'm sure most others do as well. Do you have any idea what your launch conditions are with the FT5? Just wondering if you hit the FT5 longer because it spins more and gives you more carry. In my case, I'm looking for a driver with less spin, which is why the 907D2 didn't work well for me. I've always been a fan of Titleist products, but have gotten better results with drivers like the J33R, MP600 and even the Tour Burner TP, because they all spin less.
Apologize for the one dimwit. Just think how nice this board would be without posters like juststeve. Guess he didn't stop to consider that if you were one to inflate your fairways statistic, you probably would have also upped your SS from 106 to at least 120. Given the number of golfers here that average 310 off the tee, you'd think he'd keep busy calling all of them liars.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn't start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
Funny, I wasn't believing him either. I didn't understand how you can "only" hit 80% of fairways and still be a 1 handicap. At my course in the desert, you're either on the fairway or you have an unplayable lie, and you've lost 2 strokes.
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn't start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
Funny, I wasn't believing him either. I didn't understand how you can "only" hit 80% of fairways and still be a 1 handicap. At my course in the desert, you're either on the fairway or you have an unplayable lie, and you've lost 2 strokes.
Well that is your course in the desert and maybe he isn't playing in the desert. As someone else stated on here before, we play courses that have much wider fairways and longer grass. I have seen many players that hit the driver that well and didn't have a handicap that good. I guess if he would have said he hit 40% of the fairways you would have said that is too little to be a 1.2 handicap.
Thanks for the review man. I was very interested in the performance of this driver!
An interesting comparative review. Sounds like your FT5 is a club/shaft perfectly suited to you. And that the D3 isn't. I suspect this isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison however. (Actually, a comparison between the FT5 and D2 probably would have been more realistic).
You spoke a couple of times about knuckle balls, and the difficulty in hitting draws. This certainly makes sense ... the D3 is (I think) a niche club in the 909 line. It was designed to have very low spin. (I think Titleist made it with an eye to those freaks of nature with 115+ SS).
Funny thing is, a lot of Titty's pros ignored the 907 line (they tried the 907, but just quietly kept their old drivers in their bags). But apparently a lot of them like the 909 a lot better ... however, it turns out more of them are playing the D2 instead of the D3 (which was sort of designed for pros).
I tried the whole line (and in fact have bought the D2 and FWs). There were some elements of the D3 I liked (the 440cc was appealing). My ball flight was (usually) penetrating. However ... I also found it somewhat difficult to work, and found the distance I got with it to be on average around 10-12 yards shorter than I got with the D2 - probably for several reasons.
The weirdest thing, however, was that my numbers were way off, and non-sensical (one of my comparison sessions was on one of those Golfsmith launch monitors that delivers a lot of information). I have been playing golf for a long time, and have a pretty repeatable swing ... i.e., with most drivers I try on monitors, my launch angle, ball speed, clubhead speed, & etc. usually stay within a fairly small range. But with the D3, I was all over the board. It became very clear that I'd probably never be able to make that club work in any sort of consistant fashion. I'm not sure how to put this, but it was just too ... er, "moody" ...
After hitting the 909s, I pretty much concluded that very few people were probably going to like the D3. I think it probably is suited to a certain small number of golfers with very specific swing characteristics, and they'll probably find it to be the most perfect thing they've ever hit. But for the vast majority of even good mateurs (and apparently, the majority of Titleist pros), the D3 won't be the optimal club in the 909 line.
The D2, however, is a different story. I think it may be the best driver Titleist has released in several years.
i've played the ft-5 with a number of shafts on the optifit system, and recently, i've also had the pleasure of both the 909 d3 and d2. they all came with different shafts, but with my swing characteristic, the d3 is the winner for me. i hit all of these at the same range with the same new (crappy) srixon range balls. and ball after ball (must have hit about 30 per club), the d3 was consistently longer, landing at or past the 250m board from my bay. the d2 launched a little higher for me, and the ft-5 was in between both. i really dislike the sound and feel of the ft-5. feels fake. the 2 titleists on the hand, were fantastic and lively sounding.
i figure if i put the real lively and crisp feeling whiteboard in them, i'll have a crystal-clear / bright and brisk sounding / feeling gamer.
enuff the with the bashing..... a great review and i see guys hit more than 75% of the fwys all the time... just because u hit the fwy doesn't mean you hit the ball inside 10 ft every time... and make the put 50% of the time..
Think how much more credible your review would be if you didn’t start out claiming a fairway percentage that would lead the PGA tour.
You'd be surprised how many really good ball strikers and scorers there are that don't play on tour. What qualifies for tour is someone able to cope with tour conditions and still score. Although I don't keep my overall stats any longer, I play to a mid single digit on 6600-6800yd tracks and at times go 3 rounds before missing a fairway.
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. At no point did I use any golf ball on the course other than a Callaway Tour iX. 
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Posted 15 November 2008 - 04:23 PM
Posted 26 December 2008 - 12:00 PM
