Equipment
Spotted: Titleist 917 Drivers
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
Titleist 917D3
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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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
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Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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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.
kolfpro
Aug 6, 2016 at 3:20 am
Now that was sharp … ouch!
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.
Golfmaddness
Jun 24, 2016 at 6:34 pm
I was waiting for the new titleist guess I’ll go buy the M2 now
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.
setter02
Jun 22, 2016 at 10:26 am
Look how shallow and ugly those things look. From ‘classic pear’ to elongated ewww.
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.
LJB
Jun 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm
I think I will kept my current 975D.
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-
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
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.
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
Mat
Jun 21, 2016 at 8:52 am
No disrespect, but I think we hit peak-driver with the G30/FlyZ+.
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.
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!’
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.
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.
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.
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.
Erock
Jun 20, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Interesting color choice. Looks very similar to the gloss gray on the G15, G20, K15 Pings.
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.
Adam
Jun 20, 2016 at 11:00 am
isn’t that just a recolored version of the C16 or whatever they called it?
Ti
Jun 20, 2016 at 11:11 am
Yes but the C16 had the more expensive special Titanium face, this one is the normal grade Ti
Brian
Jun 20, 2016 at 2:04 pm
@Ti
That’s the dumbest think I’ve read today.
Colin
Jun 20, 2016 at 3:27 pm
Says the guy that can’t even spell thing correctly
It
Jun 20, 2016 at 3:44 pm
http://www.titleist.com/golf-clubs/drivers/c16
Ti is right. SP Ti is expensive. They’re not putting that on the retail version. Brian is the dumbest
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/
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.
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.
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
Jwowzer
Jun 20, 2016 at 7:48 am
Let me know if you need anyone to test these!