Titleist C16 Driver Preview

[denverd1]

Good review

sent from my Samsoon S5 from the bottom of a mud hole

 

[McLovin]

very nice review ironcondor.

i know titleist gets the blood pumping for a lot of people, but i'm not one of them. and when they pull something like this, i'm even less interested.

 

[JRod]

very nice review ironcondor.

i know titleist gets the blood pumping for a lot of people, but i'm not one of them. and when they pull something like this, i'm even less interested.

Just curious.

What do you mean by "pull something like this?"

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[kevin81002]

I went to the range at Eagle Glen after work yesterday, and Titleist had a small tent & gear setup. I asked the rep about the C16 (because I wanted to see it in person...) and he said, "Well, it's by appointment only. But what the heck, I'll take it you're making an appointment for right now, and I'll go get it. It's in the truck."

When seeing the pictures of this driver, I liked the sole design. I was "meh" about the face and crown. However, as with most things, pictures don't do it justice. It's a beautifully crafted driver. I still think the face design is too busy (keep in mind, I'm used to my 915...). The crown was more impressive in person; that said, it could've done without some of the gimmicky looking paint trim on the edges that - in my opinion - make it look like a mass market driver. The silverish color was okay, but watch that glare!! Holy sunlight batman. That was the biggest downside of this driver to me (other than the price, which I'm leaving out of this).

The rep asked if I wanted to hit it. Heck yes I did! The C16 I hit was set to A1 (standard lie/loft), 10.5*, Kuro Kage LE Tini 50 (55g stiff), with the surefit grip.

So I gave a good dozen or so swings with it.

This thing is a rocket. The ball just absolutely launches off the face - or feels like it does anyway - and it just feels amazing. Honestly, the difference to me between the C16 and 915 was like hitting a cast vs. forged irons. There's just that extra, rather tough-to-articulate "feeling" that just begs you to hit it again and again. The 915 is no slouch in this, but the difference in feel when compared to the C16 was very apparent to me.

I think much of that feel may also be attributable to the shaft. The shaft is a gorgeous piece of art, with a shadow chrome type finish (no glare on this one) - and, it fit me well given that I play a lighter shaft in my 915 as well (M+ Diamana). The shaft felt a tad softer in the tip compared to mine, but felt smoother. It reminded me of a lighter version of a Kusala Blue.

The sound was incredible. It's not as loud or as sharp as the 915 is. It has a similar tone, but more muffled. Not "ting-y" at all.

The ball flight was piercing, no ballooning, and pretty much dead straight on most of my swings. I was having a blast with this thing, so me being more relaxed probably helped in this area.

There was no trackman or anything, but as for performance compared to my 915? It's very similar. Carry on the C16 was about the same, maybe 5-10 yards farther, but it's hard to tell at that distance at the range.

Face forgiveness was similar, although I'd probably give the nod to the C16 in this area. I had a few mishits, and the ball would more or less track straight and give a decent amount of carry for what was otherwise a poorly struck shot. The 915 is stellar in this area as well, however for me it tends to have more sidespin on mishits than the C16 did. Perhaps this is a function of the cg differences.

In short?

Pros: super hot face, sounds amazing, the feel is the best I've ever hit. Sole looks great, seems to have a high build quality and attention to detail. The shaft is awesome.
Cons: I know I said I wouldn't bring it up, but $$$$$. It's not worth what it is. Performance was similar to the 915...although granted that was only with a dozen swings and not really optimizing the fitting. I'm not entirely convinced it could outperform my 915 by a meaningful amount. The crown graphics steal from the otherwise classy appearance. The color of the crown looks great, but has a ton of glare.

I'll be keeping my 915. I'm glad to have had the chance to spend some time with what will otherwise be a rare driver, and I was very thankful to the rep for the opportunity.

P.S. The rep said a guy earlier had bought TWO of them. TWO! lol, unbelievable.

Nice write up! Yeah it'd have to pretty much be a point and shoot bomber for me to spend even close to that.

Man I need to pay a little more attention to local demo days. I didn't even see the Eagle Glen thing.

 

[McLovin]

Just curious.

What do you mean by "pull something like this?"

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

put out an $1,100 driver that IMHO cannot begin to justify its price. I'm with fupresti, it seems like they just wanted to see if they could do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JRod]

put out an $1,100 driver that IMHO cannot begin to justify its price. I'm with fupresti, it seems like they just wanted to see if they could do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OK fair enough.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[emart2173]

put out an $1,100 driver that IMHO cannot begin to justify its price. I'm with fupresti, it seems like they just wanted to see if they could do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can see people being put off by the price but it's only a few hundred more than a XXIO, PXG and some Japanese models. They chose to open up the budget for R&D to put out something regardless of cost and make it a limited release. It's not like this is their standard offering.

we heard it straight from Mike Vrska that they did the same thing with a fw and because of price point chose not to release it.

 

[McLovin]

I can see people being put off by the price but it's only a few hundred more than a XXIO, PXG and some Japanese models. They chose to open up the budget for R&D to put out something regardless of cost and make it a limited release. It's not like this is their standard offering.

we heard it straight from Mike Vrska that they did the same thing with a fw and because of price point chose not to release it.

a few hundred more is a 40% increase. that's stupid. but hey as mentioned above people are going to buy it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CAA_Beat]

we heard it straight from Mike Vrska that they did the same thing with a fw and because of price point chose not to release it.

That part is such a valid point. And Titleist knows because of it's name and reputation they will sell the number they put out there to keep it from being a financial loss and also build some buzz. Wilson and Vrska were had enough awareness to know they probably couldn't with the Wilson Staff brand.

 

[emart2173]

a few hundred more is a 40% increase. that's stupid. but hey as mentioned above people are going to buy it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't disagree the price is crazy and there will be people who buy it but that doesn't mean there is anything stupid about it.

I think consumers have been spoiled by the $299-399 price point and had issue when TMAg and other started offering driverless in the $400+ price range and even in the $500 range we see now before any shaft upgrade. At some point $500 is provably going to be the norm and while we see and hear of the collaboration with outside entities like Boeing the price point of the latest releases IMO indicates that we are only getting incremental type upgrades in tech.

 

[McLovin]

I don't disagree the price is crazy and there will be people who buy it but that doesn't mean there is anything stupid about it.

I think consumers have been spoiled by the $299-399 price point and had issue when TMAg and other started offering driverless in the $400+ price range and even in the $500 range we see now before any shaft upgrade. At some point $500 is provably going to be the norm and while we see and hear of the collaboration with outside entities like Boeing the price point of the latest releases IMO indicates that we are only getting incremental type upgrades in tech.

I'm not saying buying it is stupid. I'm saying a 40% increase over the current highend drivers you mentioned is stupid.

and relative to inflation the current cost of a driver isn't that bad. but this is absurd.

then again I have no problem with shafts costing what they do, and the occasional limited edition model coming north of $500. maybe deep down this is my distaste for titleist showing up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ironcondor]

Man I need to pay a little more attention to local demo days. I didn't even see the Eagle Glen thing.

Ha, I didn't either! I just happened to bust out of work a little earlier than usual, and luckily for me, had the sticks in the car. Combine a somewhat tamer-than-usual drive back home through the 91 fwy gauntlet, and I decided last minute to go to the range. I just got lucky; I hadn't seen anything advertised about it otherwise.

 

[kevin81002]

Ha, I didn't either! I just happened to bust out of work a little earlier than usual, and luckily for me, had the sticks in the car. Combine a somewhat tamer-than-usual drive back home through the 91 fwy gauntlet, and I decided last minute to go to the range. I just got lucky; I hadn't seen anything advertised about it otherwise.

Lucky! I wouldn't buy one, but I still wanna mash it! Take one over the water on 18.