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Thursday, August 1, 2024
Titleist Introduces All-New GT Driver Line
Titleist, the most played driver on the PGA TOUR for five years and counting, introduces threeall-new GT driver models, the most advanced and best-performing drivers to ever bear the Titleist script.GT2, GT3 and GT4 driversare engineered to deliver total driver performance without sacrifice. In addition to exceptional looks, feel and sound, the new line is faster, longer, straighter and more forgiving across the face than any Titleist driver to precede it.
“The GT line represents a monumental leap forward for Titleist driver design and engineering,” said Stephanie Luttrell, Director, Titleist Metalwood Product Development. “The breakthroughs we made in material, construction, shaping and design weren’t possible in prior generations. All the advancements found in GT are working in concert to create the highest-performing driver we have ever made.”
The new GT line consists of three models. GT2 is designed for speed and forgiveness across the face with a higher-MOI setup. GT3 is designed for fine-tuned speed and control, maximizing distance and optimizing flight. GT4 is a low-spin, 430cc driver designed to eliminate excessive spin and deliver a fast, penetrating trajectory.
Each driver in the GT line features an all-new Seamless Thermoform Crown comprised of a new Proprietary Matrix Polymer. This unique, ultra-light material allowed Titleist engineers to place discretionary mass in the optimal locations for each model, providing exceptional speed and stability with GT’s Split Mass Construction. GT maintains the classic Titleist driver look at address with a clean transition between the crown and the club’s titanium body, and the acoustic properties of the Proprietary Matrix Polymer preserve a player-preferred sound and feel. Refined aerodynamics increase clubhead speed, and a new Speed Ring and VFT face design contribute to faster ball speed on on- and off-center strikes. The sum of these advancements creates an exceptionally fast driver that offers extremely consistent spin and launch conditions across the face.
“When we release a new product, it has to outperform the previous line,” said Josh Talge, Vice President, Titleist Golf Club Marketing. “For GT, it needed to be faster than TSR. It needed to be longer and straighter, and it had to sound better, look better and feel better. GT delivers across the board without compromise.”
GT drivers are available for fittings today and in golf shops worldwide beginning August 23rd.
GT TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
“When we set out to build a better performing driver in GT, it was important for us to take a step back and consider all performance attributes,” said Luttrell. “Our design philosophy has always been about balanced performance. We’re never looking to execute just one parameter to the maximum level. We are looking to improve upon all performance attributes to optimize and deliver total driving performance.”
Seamless Thermoform Crown
Each model in the GT lineup features an ultra-lightweight crown made from a new Proprietary Matrix Polymer. The material, never used previously in golf clubhead design, afforded Titleist engineers unprecedented design solutions regarding internal weight positioning, unlocking gains across multiple categories of driver performance. The crown is wrapped to the sole using an advanced thermoforming process, resulting in a clean look with no visible seam or transition between material.
“One of our first goals with GT was to make it faster than TSR,” said Chuck Golden, SVP, Titleist Club Research & Development. “And the only way to achieve our design goals was to break out of an all-titanium construction.”
“The density of this crown is approximately three times lighter than where we were in an all-titanium construction,” said Luttrell. “By wrapping the crown down to the sole, we optimize the mass distribution throughout the head, allowing us significant advantages in designing to our center of gravity and inertia goals.”
In moving to a multi-material construction, one of the top priorities from Titleist’s R&D team was to preserve the classic sound of Titleist metals. The unique acoustic properties of the Proprietary Matrix Polymer allowed Titleist engineers to fine-tune tremendous sound and feel while still maximizing the weight-saving gains from GT’s new construction.
Split Mass Construction
The weight savings that resulted from GT’s Seamless Thermoform Crown gave Titleist engineers the ability to re-position discretionary weight in optimal positions within the clubhead. Mass was strategically pushed both towards the front of the club, unlocking greater speed through CG placement, and towards the rear, offering stable, high-MOI performance. CG placements across the three models vary, giving players the opportunity to find the right combination of speed, launch angle and spin for their games with three unique setups.
“The discretionary mass we gained from the Thermoform Crown allowed us to move the centers of gravity exactly where we wanted them,” said Luttrell. "How did we distribute the mass savings? We split the mass, isolating it incredibly low and forward, and taking the remainder of the mass and pushing it to the back of the head. We were able to get incredible speed along with stability from that balanced mass position.”
Improved Aerodynamics
Improvements to internal construction and weight distribution have allowed greater optimization of aerodynamics across the three models, a breakthrough that was previously impossible to execute due to design constraints. The GT drivers feature refined profiles that help reduce drag and increase clubhead speed.
“In our aerodynamic research and engineering, we study head shaping, particularly crown and sole curvature, to optimize air flow connection, reducing turbulence and drag,” said Luttrell. “The result is a significant gain in clubhead speed."
Enhanced Speed Ring with VFT
GT’s exceptionally fast face has two key technologies behind it. An upgraded titanium Speed Ring reinforces and stabilizes the perimeter of the clubface, which produces maximum ball speed for on-center strikes, while Variable Face Thickness (VFT) works to preserve consistently fast ball speeds on off-center strikes, eliminating excessive distance drop-off.
“The Speed Ring maximizes COR [coefficient of restitution] on the center and as a result maximizes ball speed,” said Lutrell. “But Speed Ring naturally constrains the face perimeter, which could result in lower performance off center. That’s where VFT comes into play. VFT effectively allows us to discretely thin the face, expanding the sweet spot size and maximizing speed on mishits.”
Tour-Inspired Face Graphics
GT models feature new face graphics, which are designed to frame the ball squarely at address. This change, driven by specific Tour player prototyping and feedback, helps golfers align the golf ball with the center of the club with more confidence.
TITLEIST GT DRIVER MODELS
GT2: Speed and forgiveness across the face
The GT2 driver is designed for golfers who would benefit from a fast and forgiving driver on both on- and off-center strikes. Players who struggle to find a consistent impact point on the clubface will see exceptionally fast ball speeds across the face from GT2’s upgraded Speed Ring and Variable Face Technology along with maximum stability from GT2’s higher MOI design.
GT2’s shaping has been refined for a confidence-inspiring look and upgraded for maximum aerodynamic performance. The clubhead is longer front-to-back and its clubface is marginally shallower. Compared to previous generation ‘2’ models, GT2 features a more traditional pear shape, bringing its profile closer to that of GT3. An interchangeable weight in the rear position allows for control over headweight and swingweight to produce personalized performance and feel.
Like all GT models, GT2 benefits from the all-new Seamless Thermoform crown and Split Mass Construction, which work in concert with the model’s other improvements to deliver total driver performance.
GT3 delivers extremely fast ball speed along with maximum adjustability for players seeking to optimize distance and control ball flight. With a new Adjustable CG Track, now positioned closer to the face compared to TSR3, fitters and golfers can select between five CG locations (H2, H1, N, T1, T2), lining up the CG setting to their strike location tendencies. An optimal CG location will extract more speed and greater consistency in ball flight. These benefits are magnified even more in GT3 due to the new, more forward location of the track.
Like GT2, GT3’s clubhead is 460cc, though its shape appears more compact and pear-shaped, and its clubface sits taller. Compared to TSR3, GT3’s shape is more aerodynamic, translating to faster clubhead speeds for the golfer.
At the center of all GT3’s advancements are its new Seamless Thermoform Crown and Split Mass Construction, which allow for faster ball speeds and more stability.
GT4 is designed for players looking to eliminate sub-optimal spin rates – usually over 3,000 RPMs – to create a more penetrating and efficient ball flight. GT4’s dual-spin control settings allow golfers to choose between more aggressive spin reduction or a more balanced and stable setting with more moderate spin reduction. This is accomplished by flipping a heavier (11 gram) and lighter (3 gram) weight between two positions. GT4 also has a smaller profile than the GT2 and GT3 models at 430cc.
GT4’s performance improvements begin with its Seamless Thermoform Crown and Split Mass Construction, as Titleist engineers pushed its internal mass distribution farther apart, maintaining back-weighted stability while driving CG forward for greater spin reduction.
GT4 Details and Specs:
Mid launch, lowest spin
Head: 430cc
Lofts: 8.0, 9.0, 10.0 (RH/LH)
Standard Length: 45.5”
Standard Lie: 58.5”
Featured Grip: Titleist Universal 360 Grip
Weight Options: 11 Gram (FWD) / 3 Gram (AFT)
SureFit Hosel: Compatible with TSR, TSi, TS
GT DRIVERS ON TOUR
The next generation of the PGA TOUR’s most played driver made its debut in June at the Memorial Tournament, with 13 players immediately putting new GT driver models in play in the limited-field event. A week later at the U.S. Open, 19 players had a GT driver in the bag, with some of the world’s best – including the 2021 FedExCup (GT2) and 2013 Masters champions (GT2) – making the switch the week of a major.
After making the move to his new GT2 driver at the Travelers Championship, Brian Harman finished the week second in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, gaining more than five shots on the field (+5.086) while recording his two best driving rounds and fastest clubhead speed of the season.
Thirty-one more players added a GT driver to the bag the following week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
By the Genesis Scottish Open in July, more than 100 players had already played a GT driver on the PGA TOUR, including Max Homa (GT3), Tom Kim (GT3), Cameron Young (GT2), Justin Thomas (GT2), Byeong-Hun An (GT4), J.T. Poston (GT3), Will Zalatoris (GT2), Tom Hoge (GT3) and the 2024 WM Phoenix Open champion (GT3). Billy Horschel and the 2013 U.S. Open champion finished runner-up at the Open Championship both gaming GT3 drivers.
The rapid adoption of the new GT2, GT3 and GT4 drivers extended to the DP World Tour (28 immediate moves to GT in its first week), LPGA (12), Korn Ferry Tour (25) and across the worldwide professional tours.
The list of players making the move to GT on the LPGA includes Jin Hee Im (GT3), Albane Valenzuela (GT3), Emily K. Pedersen (GT3), Frida Kinhult (GT3) – and the World No. 3 (as of July 29), who switched to GT2 from a competitive model.
• WILL ZALATORIS: “Immediately I’m picking up a mile and a half of ball speed. That equates to about another six-ish, seven yards of carry. The feel is amazing. That’s probably the biggest thing that I’ve really picked up. And the first time I hit it, it was just this euphoric, really solid, really fast off the face. I always love kind of the dampened sound.”
• BILLY HORSCHEL: “It feels more solid to me. I know where the ball is better…Even the ones I missed, the dispersion is still tight. We haven’t lost anything. It’s faster, spin rate is more consistent.”
• MAX HOMA: “I’ve got the GT3, and I was beyond stoked to get this because J.J. [Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s Senior Director of Club Promotions] told me it was basically built for everything I like in a driver. The big benefit to me is that this driver likes to go higher with a little less spin. I struggle when I try to get height. I need to feel like I’m swinging and hitting a lower drive. [With GT] you can kind of play for a low one and it’s going to launch up in the air with very little spin.”
• CAMERON YOUNG: “There's something rewarding about the sound it makes when you hit one in the middle. It just feels like it's coming off really fast, which is a really rewarding kind of feeling.”
“It's easy to look at [GT’s construction] and kind of see all the cool materials and stuff they use, and then when J.J. hands you a driver, you’ve still got to hit it. And the fact that it looks so much like what we're used to and a shape that I think everybody likes, it's nice to know that underneath you've got some help, but at the same time it's the same thing you're used to. And the things that you like have stayed consistent.”
FEATURED SHAFTS
NEW Project X Denali Red
Launch: Mid/High
Flex: 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0
Weight: 40g – 60g
Torque: 4.0 – 6.2
NEW Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue
Launch: Mid
Flex: R2, R, S, X, TX
Weight: 55g – 75g
Torque: 3.9 – 5.3
NEW Project X HZRDUS Black 5th Gen
Launch: Low/Mid
Flex: 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, TX
Weight: 60g – 80g
Torque: 2.8 – 3.5
Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black
Launch: Low
Flex: S, X, TX
Weight: 65g – 75g
Torque: 2.8 – 3.6
PREMIUM SHAFTS
NEW Graphite Design Tour AD-VF
Launch: Ranges
Flex: R2, R1, SR, S, X, TX
Weight: 5 – 8
Torque: 2.8 – 4.3
Graphite Design Tour AD-DI
Launch: Ranges
Flex: R2, R1, SR, S, X
Weight: 5 – 8
Torque: 2.9 – 4.7
Graphite Design Tour AD-UB
Launch: Ranges
Flex: R2, R1, SR, S, X, TX
Weight: 5 – 8
Torque: 2.8 – 4.4
AVAILABILITY
GT drivers are available in golf shops worldwide beginning Friday, August 23rd.
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