Titleist GT Drivers and Fairway Woods FIRST LOOK - A Titleist GT2, GT3, and GT4 Fitting Review

Coming into my Titleist GT driver and fairway woods fitting I was probably more excited than any previous Titleist fitting I've had.  I told you all about all the new tech in the GT line of drivers and woods just over a week ago.  And the chance to finally hit these and see if they lived up to the hype had my adrenaline spiking.  Or so I thought.

The GT lineup actually overdelivered on the hype and my adrenaline continued to rise throughout my fitting.  And I'm not merely talking about liking one model more than the other.  All three GT driver models and both GT fairway wood models legitimately improved ball speed, distance, forgiveness, control, and playability.  There's also a more satisfying and livelier feel at impact with all GT drivers and fairway woods.

I walked into the Windmill Lakes Pro Shop to find my fitter Justin Long.  He's fit me now for years and I trust him as much as I can trust any fitter.  He's not only excellent at his job, he's also a genuine pleasure to hang out with.  If you need to get fit trust me, see Justin and it will be one of the best fitting experiences you ever have.  He's a pro's pro in every possible way and I'd literally take a long road trip if I had to just to be fit by him.

 

As I made my way to the range I noticed the new GT drivers and woods in a corner of the pro shop and the chance to be up and close for the first time led me to them like a child to the Pied Piper.

I won't go into a lot of detail just yet, but it became immediately apparent all models now have a traditional look to them now.  The black finish is a richer black finish, and I think the face on all have more contrast to help alignment even more.  But the traditional looks of all?  It's almost like getting the same cuts of filet mignon but each is cooked differently.

 

This Titleist fitting review will cover what I experienced hitting the new GT drivers and woods.  I'll touch on some of the new tech story as that's important in distinguishing these new GT clubs from the previous TSR generation of woods.  And as importantly help explain or illustrate the differences between the models and the different performance I had with all.  And my adrenaline got crazier with the very first swing of the day I took.

GT2 Driver Fitting - Epic Awesomeness

I started my fitting with the new GT2 driver.  And after my very first swing I thought, "WOW, this is going to be the driver for me."  Everything about it was so pleasing.  The sound, the feel, the ball flight.  I immediately told Justin GT2 feels more solid than the TSR2 and he said that was part of Titleist's intent.  Actually to make the GT2, GT3, and GT4 all more solid feeling and sounding.

Justin and I talked a little but about my coverage of the US Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills a few weeks ago and he told me the number of kids in this age group Titleist has picked up is crazy.  At Oakland Hills more than 55-percent of the competitors were playing Titleist drivers.

• Some General Impressions Common to All Models

GT2 is designed to be Titleist's most forgiving model in the GT family.  It's a high launch, low spin machine.  A high spin player would normally have gone into a Titleist 3 or 4 model in the past but spin is so low now with GT2 they can truly also consider this model.

But with that said I'm going to let the cat out of the bag right now regarding all three GT driver models and even both GT fairway models (even though it took me the entire fitting to figure this out).  All GT models are closer together in terms of performance (and looks, feel, and sound) than they ever have been before.  Hence my filet mignon same cut different cook analogy above.

• GT2 Spin, Feel, and Sound

The GT2 is more low spin than TSR2.  And the looks of the GT2 (as you've seen) is much more traditional looking than the TSR2.  Any players who passed over the TSR2 because of looks will be pulled back in by the GT2 appearance.  The biggest shape difference distinguishing it from the GT3 and GT4 is the longer profile front to back and a marginally shallower face.

The GT2 feels and sounds more solid, stronger than the previous gen TSR2 as well.  And part of this comes from the new Titleist designed polymer crown (common to all models).  This allowed Titleist to put more mass in different areas of all GT models and also to make them all more forgiving than their corresponding TSR counterparts.

If I had come in for a GT2 driver fitting only I'd have been thrilled.  My smash factor was decent (and consistent) at 1.46.  And while flight was slightly higher than GT3 and GT4 it was also flatter or more penetrating than TSR2.  

• Forgiveness and Dispersion

Dispersion with GT2 was excellent with most shots down the center line, and misses equally left and right both very playable.  Only two shots strayed about 15 yards left or right and the remaining misses were all within a 10 yard left to 5 yard right of the center line area.

Increased Distance and Tighter Dispersion Across All GT Models

And this is a good time to talk about all GT drivers forgiveness and increased distances compared to TSR.  Because it's real and it's significant with the GT, not only on misses but also on pure center hit shots.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Distance gains on the center of the face.  I'll get to that in a moment.  First, let's first talk of GT forgiveness on misses (and I experienced this with the GT2, GT3, and GT4 drivers).

• Tighter Dispersion and Greater Distance Retention on Misses

Misses maybe a full ball up, down, left, and right all experienced gains in distance compared to TSR as well as tighter downrange dispersion.  With all models, GT2, GT3, and GT4 I had tighter overall shot patterns than with TSR.  And that is both in terms of distance retained forward and back as well as directionally left and right.

 

The biggest reason for more distance retention and tighter dispersion on misses had to do with spin being tighter.  Your spin range on misses is smaller and more consistent with GT compared to TSR.  Spin on mishits generally can go up too high or get down loo low.  And you're just not seeing the wide spin variance on mishits with GT.

• Split Mass Construction and Enhanced Speed Ring

I don't usually talk much of new tech when I'm writing a fitting article and instead always just want to share with you what clubs did, how they performed comparatively, things like that.

But the distance and directional forgiveness I experienced with all three GT models really requires I at least touch on a few new GT tech features.

The first is a split mass construction.  Titleist basically moved discretionary weight both forward toward the face and backward towards the rear giving each of the GT drivers greater speeds with more optimal CG locations as well as greater MOI with more balance and stability in the design.

Titleist also uses a new enhanced Speed Ring that increases the stability of the perimeter of the face.  And this allows the face itself then to to be thinner to maximize ball speeds all over the face.  Sounds simple enough but seeing is believing.

• Center Strike Distance Gains

Distance gains off the center of the face.  I still can't believe it but hit the GT and you'll see for yourself.  Let me start by saying there's going to be an ideal general combination of speed, launch angle, and spin rate unique to each GT2, GT3, and GT4 driver that you'll discover when you hit them all.  I believe however that if one combination was ideal for you in the past (say between TSR2, TSR3, and TSR4) that will remain the case with the GT line.  It did for me.

Where I saw gains on center strikes it was primarily because shots were coming of with basically the same ball speed, but with higher launch and less spin.  And that's how I was picking up distance on center hits.  I fit into one GT driver profile better than the other two, but there was no denying Titleist did something to all GT models that is going to give us all more distance even on perfect strikes.  I should also add here my observation that all three GT models had flatter flights than TSR.

GT3 Driver Fitting - Happy Hour on a Stick

When Titleist first introduced their TS drivers the TS3 performed best of all models for me.  Then later the TSi3 and TSR3 outperformed TSi2 and TSR2 as well.  And this pattern continued for me with the GT drivers as GT3 bumped the GT2 to second place.

• GT3 Ball Speed, Smash Factor, and Trajectory

With GT3 I saw better overall ball speed of almost 3 mph (with literally identical swing speeds between the two).  Smash factor with GT3 was 1.48 and an even better consistency than GT2 at just 0.02 variance.  And trajectory was slightly higher and also more consistent than with GT2.  I was loving everything about GT3.

And this is a good point to mention why fittings are important if you don't already know what model you would best fit into.  GT2 is promoted as the higher launching model of the two but that was not the case for me.  GT2 is also promoted as the more forgiving head and again I had better forgiveness with GT3 versus GT2.

This gets back to what I was saying earlier about a particular head model being best for your ideal combination of speed, trajectory, and spin.  GT3 has a slightly taller face than GT2 and is also slightly more compact looking.  But clearly the way GT3 is designed just fits my swing better than GT2.

• GT3 Dispersion

GT3 drives weren't just longer in an absolute sense, they were also more consistent in shortest to longest downrange dispersion compared to GT2.  More of my misses were right with GT3 compared to GT2 but still playable.  Where GT2 dispersion was 10 yards left and 5 yards right, GT3 dispersion was dead center to 5 yards right.  It took the left miss completely out of my drives.  And low misses delivered fantastic results.

• GT3 Sound and Feel

I believe the GT line is the first non-full titanium driver Titleist has ever made.  The carbon composite top is one they designed themselves to allow for more discretionary weight to be moved around.  But even with the new crown GT3 still undeniably sounds and feels like a Titleist driver.

In fact, I'd say the GT line of drivers sound and feel more like the TSR drivers than they don't.  The changes are subtle without losing what we've come to expect from Titleist.  GT2, GT3, and GT4 still all sound and feel like titanium drivers with two main differences compared to previous Titleist drivers.

First, each GT model feels more solid but sounds quieter.  It's still a titanium feel and sound, but now GT has a stronger thwack feel and a crisper sound at impact.  And second as mentioned above, all three GT models sound and feel more similar among themselves than any previous Titleist driver launch.  If sound and feel is big to you moving from GT2 to GT3 to GT4 won't be any issue at all.  Kudos to Titleist to giving all models this shared more uniform sound and feel.

GT4 Driver Fitting - Becoming Rocketman

All the comparative results I'm sharing comparing the GT drivers are holding shaft constant by the way.  I'll get into the shaft options for all below.  But once Justin and I knew the best shaft for me, all the testing was done with all the heads using the same shaft (Graphite Design AD DI 6S).

At first blush I loved the smaller 430 cc head of the GT4.  Trackman went BEEP.  I smashed it.  Trackman went BEEP again and I smashed it again.  BEEP BEEP BEEP - Smash Smash Smash.  As was the case in the previous TSR generation, the 4 model was best for me.  And GT4 raised the bar on Titleist driver performance for me as well.

GT4 Ball Speed and Smash Factor

GT4 gave me my best ball speed and smash factor.  Ball speed was 3.5 mph faster than GT3.  And my GT4 smash factor was 1.49 with the best variance of only 0.01.  GT4 was just repeatably so good all over the face.

We tested the heavy and light weights in the front and back ports of GT4 and settled on the heavy weight in front.  That's going to reduce spin more, while the heavy weight in the back will add more stability, forgiveness, and higher launch (call it a GT3.5 in this setting).  I mentioned earlier how Titleist promotes the GT2 as the most forgiving driver in this new lineup.  And that's primarily due to the shape, weighting in particular areas of the head, and launch.  But GT4 forgiveness has also improved compared to TSR4.

The new Seamless Thermoform Crown allows Titleist to put even more weight towards the face and in the back.  So this GT4 is more stable than the TSR4 while still being a low (even lower) spinning head.

• GT4 Dispersion and Face Forgiveness

GT4 obviously gave me my best absolute and average distances.  And dispersion was also the tightest of all three models.  Downrange and left-to-right dispersion was as consistent as I could ever want or expect from a driver.  But interestingly GT4 took away the right miss completely with shots staying center to 10 yards left.

My swing speed with GT4 was the highest of all models and it felt like I was putting the same swing on it as I did with the other models.  Titleist also improved aerodynamics with all GT models but I'm not sure why my swing speed would be better with GT4 compared to GT3 and GT2 (other than it just suits my eye and frees me up more).

Trajectory was slightly lower with GT4 than GT3.  And Justin took me back to the GT2 at the end of our fitting to make sure I wasn't hitting GT4 better just because I was warmed up by then.  That wasn't the case.  GT4 peaked all the right numbers for me.

And the tight dispersion with GT4 shows that Titleist really has made all these drivers forgiving.  It's about getting into the right model for your swing, and then your misses with that particular GT driver are going to be incredibly playable and consistent.  You're getting the same face with GT2, GT3, and GT4.  No hot or dead spots on the face so we can hit longer drives repeatably and more consistently no matter where impact is on the face.

GT Fairway Woods Fitting - Baller Alert

When the driver portion of my fitting was finished Justin said he'd put me in the GT4, GT3, then GT2 in that order.  I loved all models to be honest, but GT4 was the total driver package for me.  Now it was time to dial in the new GT fairway woods.

I should probably turn this article into two separate articles (one for drivers and another for fairway woods), but I'll have a lot more to say on both the GT driver and woods in my on course reviews.  I will say now however that both GT2 and GT3 fairway woods launch easier than the TSR fairway woods and mishit performance (like with the drivers) deliver better and more consistent results. 

One of the issues for many players hitting fairway woods is not being able to achieve launch high enough to maximize carry and hold greens.  It's a reason why higher lofted fairway woods have become more popular.  And with the new GT line of woods you can both advance the ball further with Titleist's best fairway ball speeds and launch shots easier to hit your targets and hold greens.

Let me say right off the bat I wound up with a GT2 15 degree 3-wood and a GT3 18-degree 5 wood.  And I'll tell you why below.  One of you asked me on social media about the different GT lofts available this year and in the GT3 we have three lofts (15, 16.5, and 18).  The 13.5 was removed this year.  In the GT2 the 13+ and 14.5+ were also removed, leaving the 13.5, 15, 16.5, 18, and 21 as the available options.

• GT2 and GT3 Fairway Woods Similarities and Differences

The biggest visual difference to me between the GT2 and GT3 fairway woods is a taller face on the GT3 while the GT2 is slightly deeper than GT3 but not by much.  And the GT3 face is also taller than the TSR3 face from the previous generation.  The shallower face of the GT2 might at first glance make you think it's the better option for players who sweep the ball.  But I'm telling you if you sweep or hit down on the ball both models are going to get the ball up on the air with crisp contact.

And one of the reasons why is the newly designed sole.  I'm jumping ahead of myself here a bit, but after hitting both the GT2 and GT3 fairway woods one thing that stood out immediately was hot similar the soles felt in terms of smoothness through the turf.

The new GT soles are flatter making them more resistant to bouncing the head into impact.  And because they're flatter soled the also sit closer to the ground and even make toe and heel mishits better by the mere fact your low impacts are higher on the face with GT compared to TSR.

Just like with the GT drivers the GT fairway woods feature new Seamless Thermoform crowns which allows more weight to be moved forward and backward affecting launch and spin (I'll talk more of this below).  And the GT fairways also feature a new Forged L Cup face that allowed Titleist to go even thinner with the steel for better ball speeds over more of the face (particularly low on the face where many of us miss).

GT2 Fairway Wood Fitting - Cleared for Liftoff

The GT2 fairway wood is hands-down the easiest to launch Titleist fairway wood I've ever used.  And it's clearly a higher launching, lower spinning fairway compared to the TSR2 fairway woods.

I was hitting the GT2 (15 degree) fairway wood some 20 feet higher in the air compared to the GT3 (15 degree) fairway wood without any ballooning whatsoever.  Smash factors with both GT2 and GT3 15 degree fairway woods were pretty much identical.

 

With the GT2 15 degree (compared to the GT3) my dynamic launch maximized both distance and peak height to make it the clear winner in this loft.  GT2 ball speeds were higher by almost 3 mph and dispersion consistently ranged 10 yards left or right of center with most shots straight down the line. 

The only question that remained was if I'd also go GT2 in my 18 degree or if the GT3 would outperform GT2 in a higher loft.

GT3 Fairway Wood Fitting - Watch Me Dance

Now when I said earlier the GT2 fairway wood was easier to launch than GT3 I really meant it's "slightly" easier to launch than GT3 (yeah I was saving that nugget for this section).  GT2 was certainly higher launching in the 15 degree wood than the GT3 for me.  And makes sense as the GT2 has Titleist's lowest CG ever in a fairway wood.  But that's not to say GT3 wasn't still easy to launch in its own right.

 

It became a new ball game with the GT fairway woods in the 18 degree loft and GT3 wound up being the better wood for me.  For whatever reason consistency of spin rate, ball speed, launch angle, almost every statistic was better with the GT3 in the 18 degree wood.  Something I would not have expected based on what GT2 and GT3 did for me in the 15 degree wood.

What sold me most on GT3 in the 18 degree wood however was dispersion.  Less than 5 yards left or right of center every shot.  GT3 was just a freaking missile holding its line.  And that also made me think it would also serve as a great option off the tee when it didn't seem prudent to go driver.

Being a higher lofted wood I didn't need the higher launch of the GT2 fairway wood in the 18 degree, and ball speed consistency with GT3 in the 18 degree was twice as good as ball speed consistency with GT2 in the 18 degree.

So my new Titleist GT driver and fairway woods set up was complete.  I ultimately wound up with the GT4 9 degree driver with a Tour AD DI shaft, and the GT2 15 degree and GT3 18 degree fairway woods both also with AD DI shafts (just heavier).

And speaking of shafts Titleist went all out in offering some fantastic shafts that will fit just about every spin and launch swing profile out there.  New for the GT drivers and woods are Project X Denali Red, Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue, and Project X HZRDUS Black 5th Gen shafts along with the Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black.  And premium shafts for the drivers and woods include the new Graphite Design Tour AD VF, as well as the AD DI and AD UB.

I'll have a lot more for you on the GT4 driver and GT2 15 degree and GT3 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 GT drivers and woods.  Both the drivers and woods will be available at retail on Augusts 23rd.

 

Conclusion

Titleist designed each of the GT drivers and woods with different performance needs for different target players.  But I'm telling you the entire line of GT performance couldn't be more similar in terms of adding distance, increasing consistency, and delivering more forgiveness. 

And in that sense the GT2 GT3 and GT4 drivers along with the GT2 and GT3 fairway woods are all peas in the same pod of awesome.  Every club in the new GT lineup however is its own main event.  And with some of the best looking designs Titleist has ever created, it's like they were thinking, "People will stare at GT.  We might as well make it worth their while."