Equipment

Spotted: Titleist 917 Drivers

Published

8 years ago

Jun 20, 2016

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

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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.

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48 Comments

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.

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kolfpro

Aug 6, 2016 at 3:20 am

Now that was sharp … ouch!

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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!

Reply Report comment
- Jon
  
  Aug 7, 2016 at 10:26 am
  
  It really has the shape of the 913 and colour of 905s. Really good looking!
  
  Reply Report comment
- KK
  
  Aug 25, 2016 at 8:43 pm
  
  For all the negative comments about the negative comments, shut up. Problem solved.
  
  Reply Report comment
Golfmaddness

Jun 24, 2016 at 6:34 pm

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

Reply Report comment
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.

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setter02

Jun 22, 2016 at 10:26 am

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

Reply Report comment
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.

Reply Report comment
- 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.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - 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.
    
    Reply Report comment
LJB

Jun 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm

I think I will kept my current 975D.

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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-

Reply Report comment
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!

Reply Report comment
- 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
  
  Reply Report comment
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.

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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

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Mat

Jun 21, 2016 at 8:52 am

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

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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.

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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.

Reply Report comment
- 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!’
  
  Reply Report comment
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.

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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.

Reply Report comment
- 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.
  
  Reply Report comment
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.

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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.

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Erock

Jun 20, 2016 at 12:50 pm

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

Reply Report comment
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.

Reply Report comment
- 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.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - mP
    
    Jun 22, 2016 at 2:48 am
    
    He was using a persimmon driver at 43 inches.
    
    Reply Report comment
Adam

Jun 20, 2016 at 11:00 am

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

Reply Report comment
- 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
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Brian
    
    Jun 20, 2016 at 2:04 pm
    
    @Ti
    That’s the dumbest think I’ve read today.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Colin
      
      Jun 20, 2016 at 3:27 pm
      
      Says the guy that can’t even spell thing correctly
      
      Reply Report comment
    - 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
      
      Reply Report comment
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/

Reply Report comment
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.

Reply Report comment
Ian

Jun 20, 2016 at 8:56 am

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

Reply Report comment
- 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
  
  Reply Report comment
  - 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?
    
    Reply Report comment
- 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.
  
  Reply Report comment
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

Reply Report comment
Jwowzer

Jun 20, 2016 at 7:48 am

Let me know if you need anyone to test these!

Reply Report comment

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Equipment

A shocking Backstryke putter appearance + 7 interesting gear photos from the Zurich Classic

Published

2 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Andrew Tursky

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Although the vibes in Nawlins are a bit lighter-fare than the recent back-to-back competitions the Masters and the RBC Heritage signature event), the gear news was no less serious this week.

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See Rory McIlroy’s full 2024 WITB from the Zurich here

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Unless Tommy Gainey is in the field, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Odyssey’s Backstryke technology make an appearance on the PGA Tour.

But then, when you least expect it, Russ Cochran shows up.

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Drew Brees with a Super Bowl winning Scotty Cameron putter

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Brees’ bag included a TaylorMade Stealth2 Plus driver, a BRNR Mini 13.5-degree, a Stealth 5-wood, a mixed set of P-790 and P-760 irons, Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a custom Scotty Cameron “New Orleans Saints” putter, which Scotty made for Brees following his Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in 2010.

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It should also be noted that Brees has his Venmo QR code as a bag tag.

If you’re gambling with Brees on the course, just know that not having cash won’t work as an excuse.

Brilliant.

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