Titleist TSR Driver and Fairway Wood FIRST LOOK - A Titleist Fitting Review

I had just finished my fitting for the new Titleist TSR drivers and fairway woods at Windmill Lakes Golf Club and couldn't stop smiling walking back to my car.  When I got in my car I just sat there for awhile, still smiling.  Even thinking to myself "wow, just freaking wow."

Yes, I was extremely impressed with each new TSR driver and fairway wood model I hit.  The enhancements and new technology was real, and performance gains backed up by the numbers.  But even beyond that I was truly amazed the driver and woods I hit best were not what I expected.  And if not for my fitter Justin Long, I might not have even tried one of the drivers.

This Titleist TSR fitting review is going to cover what I experienced hitting the new drivers and woods.  I'll touch on some of the new tech story as that's important in distinguishing these new clubs from the previous TSi generation of woods.  And maybe more importantly in helping explain the differences between the models and the different performance I had with all.  Suffice to say it was a wild day at Windmill Lakes, and the new TSR drivers and woods are destined for stardom.

I started my fitting with the new TSR2 driver.  This is designed to be Titleist's most forgiving model in the TSR family.  The first thing I noticed before even hitting it was a cleaned up look compared to the TSi2 driver.  TSR2 is more classic shaped, still on the rounder side but less elongated in the back.

The TSR2 feels and sounds more solid, stronger than the previous gen TSi2.  So much so I almost thought I was hitting the TSR3.  It gives you a sensation of more power at impact as well.

I tested the TSR2, TSR3, and TSR4 with a few different shafts, and I'll get into what seven shafts are available this year towards the end of this review.  But my fitter Justin quickly dialed me into two shafts based on my swing, and it it didn't take long after that to see what shaft was best in all models (driver and woods in fact).

So back to the TSR2.  Happy to report it's as forgiving as advertised, and all across the face.  My smash factor was 1.47 and dispersion fairly good, with about one-third of my shots playable left, one third of my shots down the center, and another third of my shots playable right.  Not comparing TSR2 to the TSi2 directly I can't say to what extent, but I'm very sure ball speeds improved and certainly distance gains were had.  In the coming weeks it wouldn't surprise me at all to see those coming from TSi2 to experience significant distance gains with TSR2.  It's just a longer driver than the previous gen.  If my fitting had stopped here I'd have happily gone with the TSR2.

Two of the new key technologies in all the TSR drivers involve improved aerodynamic shaping and new face material and construction.  The aerodynamics aspect isn't really visible at address when you compare last gen to the new models.  And I'm simplifying this but Titleist basically redesigned the back end of the drivers with a subtle but more vertical shaping to reduce drag.

Drag is a common issue for high MOI heads because of their larger size.  And Titleist is is making the TSR2 head more efficient by producing less drag (like a smaller head) but still retaining all the forgiveness of that bigger head.  And that means extra ball speed, more distance, and no sacrifice in dispersion or stability for anyone who tends to miss all around the face.  TSR2 is one hell of a driver, bottom line.

Speaking of the face, Titleist is also using new aerospace grade materials with the TSR drivers that are five-to-seven percent stronger and 25-percent more flexible than the industry standard.  And this is really what every company out there is trying to do with drivers these days.  Deliver more energy into the ball for longer distance, but without any hot or dead spots on the face so we can hit those longer drives repeatably and also more consistently no matter where impact is on the face.

So next up was the TSR3.  And you guys already know how much I loved the TSi3.   The smaller, traditional pear-shape appearance is back.  And honestly I saw less difference in shape between TSR3 and TSi3 than I did between TSR2 and TSi2.  I was very comfortable right from the start.

My first swing with the TSR3 the ball just exploded off the face.  A toe shot that leaked a little right.  It was my worst swing with this model and I turned back to Justin and told him "I'd take that shot every damn time."  Ball speeds were up from TSR2, I had a slightly higher more efficient launch with TSR3, and the speeds just kept increasing and dispersion just kept improving.  When all was said and done TSR3 ball speed on average was 3.3 mph higher for me than TSR2, and dispersion was literally twice as tight.  Just freaking unbelievable.

Full disclosure I expected to hit TSR3 better than TSR2 because I hit TSi3 better than TSi2.  But I wasn't expecting this kind of distance advantage and especially the dispersion advantage over the TSR2's more forgiving design.

Titleist of course designs each of the TSR drivers with different performance needs for different target players.  The TSR2 is a bigger head and has one permanent weight in the back for help with stability and launch (and that's based on the length of the club).  Whereas the TSR3 is a more classic shape, engineered for playability with a movable weight track in the back to put CG exactly where you need it.  I'm not a pure sweet spot ball striker, so you'd think TSR2 would be better suited for me.  But sometimes you really don't know what's going to be best until you get fit.  And TSR3 was the clear winner for me.

That brought us to the TSR4 driver.  It's the smallest driver of the three models at 430cc.  And a more compact shape always suits my eyes best (with irons as well).  Problem is as we all know smaller clubs usually means least forgiveness.  And the last gen TSi4 wasn't forgiving enough for me to prefer it over either the TSi2 or TSi3.  I didn't expect TSR4 would be much different.  But my fitter Justin encouraged me to try it.  And I can tell you TSR4 is an entirely different beast.

Eight of the 10 longest drives I hit with any model came from the TSR4.  And my top five longest drives were also all from the TSR4.  Dispersion was tighter than TSR2, and I had a larger cluster of center shots with TSR4 than TSR3.  Two outliers prevented TSR4 from winning tightest dispersion.  But when you throw those two outliers out (which were still very playable and better than my worst with TSR2), TSR4 dispersion was insanely good.

And though I averaged the same swing speed with TSR3 and TSR4, TSR4 produced an additional 3.2 mph ball speed (that's 6.5 mph more than TSR2), and a consistency of ball speed, launch, and spin that made this driver the clear winner.  It felt every bit as solid and powerful as TSR3, but more distance and more forgiveness to boot made TSR4 the total driver package.

TSR4 is different than TSi4 in a few ways.  TSR4 now has two removable weights (a lighter weight and a heavier weight) on the sole.  One towards the front (like with the TSi4) which is good for the player who needs less spin.  But TSR4 also has a weight towards the back which makes it more forgiving.

So if you have someone who's hitting the ball too high, you can put the heavier weight up front and the lighter weight in the back.  Or if you have someone (like me) who says hey I like the way this looks but I'm not sure I can launch it high enough, you take the light weight and move it up front and put the heavier weight in the back.

And both the lighter and heavier weights themselves can be lighter or heavier (I wouldn't have known this without my fitting), which is going to bring even more players into this model and benefit someone who's a high swing speed 120 mph hitter just as much as it does someone who's slower at say something like 90 mph.  In different ways for all kinds of players TSR4 in my opinion is night and day better than TSi4.

TSR4 also has a face design and construction that's more similar to the TSR2 than TSR3 which produces consistent ball speed, distance, and forgiveness no matter the hitting area.  Essentially TSR4 is giving you a bigger central sweet spot, much bigger really than you'd expect to see in a 430cc driver.

And I have to say a word or two about my fitter Justin.  He's a pro's pro.  Has seen probably every conceivable kind of swing.  Certainly knows Titleist equipment inside and out and as well as anyone.  If I don't come to this Titleist fitting there's a zero chance I choose the TSR4 driver over the others (as well as the particular fairway woods).  I'd literally drive hours to get fit with this guy.

We chatted a lot, laughed about a bunch of things, it's very relaxing with Justin.  At the same time I see he's locked in to my swing, beyond even what Trackman is showing.  He's analyzing, thinking of tweaks, making changes, and handing me different combinations until we got to that holy grail in driver (and later fairway woods as well).  I still can't get over the fact TSR4 was so good for me.

And then it happened again during my fairway woods fitting.  As between the TSR2 and TSR3 I was certain the former would be best for me as the TS2 and TSi2 took home that distinction in previous generations (I did not test the TSR2+).  So of course it was the TSR3 fairways that were superior.  So much in fact so I had to get both the 15 and 18 degree TSR3.

I really should turn this article into two parts (one for drivers and another for fairway woods), but I'll have a lot more to say on both in my on course reviews.  I will say now however the TSR3 fairway woods launch easier than the TSi3 fairway woods.  That was one of the issues for me with the previous gen, not getting enough launch to hold greens on long approaches.  Advancing the ball was never an issue.  Now TSR3 has given be more of both.

Once again I had 6+ mph higher ball speed with TSR3 over TSR2, but it wasn't just a rocket launcher.  TSR3 woods have a deeper and slightly lower CG  than the previous generation TSi3, and with the right shaft I was getting a dynamic launch that maximized both distance and peak height.  Dispersion was similar between TSR2 and TSR3 (I had more left bias with TSR2 and more center/right bias with TSR3, which is preferred).  Consistency of spin rate, ball speed, launch angle, almost every statistic was better for me with the TSR3.  Again, something I would not have expected without being fit.

The TSR3 fairway woods now feature a 5-position Adjustable CG Track Weighting System (as opposed to 3-position in the previous gen) to further fine tune performance.  The TSR2 has also positioned CG lower (in fact it's the lowest CG in any Titleist fairway wood today).  And like with the TSR2 driver, the feel is stronger and livelier at impact.

Ultimately I wound up with the TSR4 10 degree driver with a Tour AD DI shaft, and the TSR3 15 degree and 18 degree fairway woods, also with AD DI shafts (just heavier).  And speaking of shafts, you have great stock options of HZRDUS Red CB (which replaces Kura Kage), Tensei AV Blue, HZRDUS Black 4G, and Tensei 1K Black (which replaces the Tensei White).  The three premium shafts include Tour AD DI and AD IZ, and XC has been replaced with AD UB.

HZRDUS Red CB is a mid-to-high launch/mid-spin lightweight shaft with an active tip section featuring counter-balance technology.  Tensei AV Blue with Xlink Tech is a mid-launch/mid-spin shaft featuring Xlink Resin for increased bond strength, enhanced feel and durability.  HZRDUS Black 4G is for players seeking spin reduction, with low/mid launch and low/mid spin.  And Tensei 1K BLACK is a low-launch/low-spin shaft, built with 1K Carbon Fiber Weave technology to enhance feel and stability.

With the premium Shafts Tour AD UB is for the player with mid-to-high swing speed looking for mid-launch with low/mid spin.  Tour AD DI for the player with mid-to-high swing speed looking for mid/high launch with low/mid spin.  And Tour AD IZ is for the player with mid-to-high swing speed looking to have high launch with low spin.

I'll have a lot more for you on the TSR4 driver and TSR3 15 degree and 18 degree fairway woods in the coming weeks as I get these out on the course.  In the meantime you can check out www.titleist.com to read more about technology overviews for all the new TSR drivers and woods.  Drivers will be available in retail stores September 23rd, and fairway woods a week later.  All are available to pre-order beginning today.

I can't help but believe Titleist was hell bent to put everything they know about driver and wood design into this TSR line.  In one way or another every new TSR driver and wood has legitimately improved in ball speed and distance, forgiveness, control, and playability, and has a more satisfying, livelier feel at impact.

To call TSR a worthy successor to TSi would be true.  But it would also be an enormous understatement.  TSR is Titleist saying we're All-In and putting the industry on notice.