Put another over the net at range today. Man I love this GT3. Tweaked adapter a little today seems to have done away with the high right ball. High right was still going 250ish. Stronger flight should roll out to maybe 270 or more.
Titleist GT Drivers – GT2, GT3 and GT4
eric61
2024 Titleist Experience
I got on Trackman today at the Golf Galaxy in Downer's Grove, Illinois, to gather some data on how my GT3 is performing, and put some numbers behind the big improvements I've been seeing on the course.
First I pulled up a Trackman report from February of this year with the driver I was fitted for and played all of last year, for comparison.
Last year's fitted driver -- Ping G430 LST 9° with Ventus TR Blue 6X playing 45.25"
Club speed: 101.6
Ball speed: 149.2
Smash factor: 1.47
Carry distance: 235.3
Total distance: 262.0
Spin rate: 2671
Launch angle: 11.1
Peak height: 75
Attack angle: 2.1
Club path: 0.8 out-to-in
Face to path: 1.6 closed
Now, here are today's numbers with my new driver:
New Titleist fitted driver -- GT3 10° at 10.75° with Ventus Red 6X playing 45.5"
Club speed: 102.0
Ball speed: 150.8
Smash factor: 1.48
Carry distance: 247.1
Total distance: 271.6
Spin rate: 2581
Launch angle: 12.6
Peak height: 84
Attack angle: 1.1 up
Club path: 0.5 in-to-out
Face to path: 0.2 closed
I've gained nearly 12 yards of carry distance with slightly higher launch and slightly lower spin.
But that's not the whole story.
On the course, I'm seeing even more out of this driver. Best vs. best, the difference is more significant than 12 yards of carry distance. I've always been uncomfortable hitting driver indoors into a screen. I swing a driver harder outside than I do indoors. In my outdoor Titleist fitting, when we looked at the numbers, I was swinging the driver 103.7 vs. an average of 102 today, for example.
What's much more important, though, is consistency. Since getting back from Hidden Creek and getting some practice time in with the GT3, I've been hitting driver much more consistently on the course than I ever have before. I attribute part of that to the set-up help that Stephanie Luttrell gave me during the Titleist Experience. I also attribute it to being fitted into the Ventus Red, which suits my current swing really well -- Stephanie described shafts as timing mechanisms, and I'm a believer. My previous shaft was fitted as well, but I've made some changes and this is just a better match for how I'm swinging now.
But I was also looking through that data for more indicators. Here's the big one: The angle of attack is down, and the club path has moved from a little out-to-in to a little in-to-out. That's thanks to the higher loft and slightly taller face on this GT3. I've always had a tendency to let my ball position drift too far forward with driver. That lets me hit way, way up on it, sure -- but it also makes it virtually impossible for the club head to still be moving in-to-out, and makes it very hard for me to keep the club face from shutting. So I'd start seeing low, pull hooks -- and then I'd fight that by holding the face off and slicing it. It was just a recipe for a two-way miss, blow-up holes, high scores.
What the GT3 with 10.75° of loft has allowed me to do is move the ball back in my stance -- just inside my front heel. It's much more comfortable for me. And the slightly taller club face allows me to position the ball there without feeling like I'm going to slide the driver under it if I don't tee it super low. At set-up, I check to make sure my grip isn't too strong. My swing thought is, don't rush the transition ... then smash.
I've had a few on the course get to 290 yards total distance, which is a bit better than what those Trackman numbers show.
So, these Trackman numbers are only part of the story. But they're an important part. Against my previous, fitted driver, my Titleist GT3 is giving me faster club and ball speed, less spin, higher launch, a higher ball flight, more carry and more total distance. No wonder this thing has been so fun to hit.
First I pulled up a Trackman report from February of this year with the driver I was fitted for and played all of last year, for comparison.
Last year's fitted driver -- Ping G430 LST 9° with Ventus TR Blue 6X playing 45.25"
Club speed: 101.6
Ball speed: 149.2
Smash factor: 1.47
Carry distance: 235.3
Total distance: 262.0
Spin rate: 2671
Launch angle: 11.1
Peak height: 75
Attack angle: 2.1
Club path: 0.8 out-to-in
Face to path: 1.6 closed
Now, here are today's numbers with my new driver:
New Titleist fitted driver -- GT3 10° at 10.75° with Ventus Red 6X playing 45.5"
Club speed: 102.0
Ball speed: 150.8
Smash factor: 1.48
Carry distance: 247.1
Total distance: 271.6
Spin rate: 2581
Launch angle: 12.6
Peak height: 84
Attack angle: 1.1 up
Club path: 0.5 in-to-out
Face to path: 0.2 closed
I've gained nearly 12 yards of carry distance with slightly higher launch and slightly lower spin.
But that's not the whole story.
On the course, I'm seeing even more out of this driver. Best vs. best, the difference is more significant than 12 yards of carry distance. I've always been uncomfortable hitting driver indoors into a screen. I swing a driver harder outside than I do indoors. In my outdoor Titleist fitting, when we looked at the numbers, I was swinging the driver 103.7 vs. an average of 102 today, for example.
What's much more important, though, is consistency. Since getting back from Hidden Creek and getting some practice time in with the GT3, I've been hitting driver much more consistently on the course than I ever have before. I attribute part of that to the set-up help that Stephanie Luttrell gave me during the Titleist Experience. I also attribute it to being fitted into the Ventus Red, which suits my current swing really well -- Stephanie described shafts as timing mechanisms, and I'm a believer. My previous shaft was fitted as well, but I've made some changes and this is just a better match for how I'm swinging now.
But I was also looking through that data for more indicators. Here's the big one: The angle of attack is down, and the club path has moved from a little out-to-in to a little in-to-out. That's thanks to the higher loft and slightly taller face on this GT3. I've always had a tendency to let my ball position drift too far forward with driver. That lets me hit way, way up on it, sure -- but it also makes it virtually impossible for the club head to still be moving in-to-out, and makes it very hard for me to keep the club face from shutting. So I'd start seeing low, pull hooks -- and then I'd fight that by holding the face off and slicing it. It was just a recipe for a two-way miss, blow-up holes, high scores.
What the GT3 with 10.75° of loft has allowed me to do is move the ball back in my stance -- just inside my front heel. It's much more comfortable for me. And the slightly taller club face allows me to position the ball there without feeling like I'm going to slide the driver under it if I don't tee it super low. At set-up, I check to make sure my grip isn't too strong. My swing thought is, don't rush the transition ... then smash.
I've had a few on the course get to 290 yards total distance, which is a bit better than what those Trackman numbers show.
So, these Trackman numbers are only part of the story. But they're an important part. Against my previous, fitted driver, my Titleist GT3 is giving me faster club and ball speed, less spin, higher launch, a higher ball flight, more carry and more total distance. No wonder this thing has been so fun to hit.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2021
- Messages
- 12,774
- Reaction score
- 34,273
- Location
- Great White North
- Handicap
- 8.3 GC
I was feeling loose this evening.
View attachment 9298223
I could only wish. SwingCaddie for the win.
All joking about my swinging like Bryson’s older brother aside, I think that I have settled into the setup that is going to work the best for me out on the course. The GT2 10*, in the A1 adapter setting with the TPT shaft is feeling pretty automatic to me, but still giving me good speed and a really nice launch window. I am looking forward to my round tomorrow, now that I am starting to feel a high level of confidence with it.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2021
- Messages
- 12,774
- Reaction score
- 34,273
- Location
- Great White North
- Handicap
- 8.3 GC
Rode the struggle bus a little bit with my driver swing today, but managed to bail myself out with some good short game and approach play. Definitely saw a few spin up like crazy into strong headwinds, but there wasn’t much I could do to battle that - the course was much tighter off the tee than my home course, and I had about 3 recovery situations off the tee. The holes where the wind was calm, I was seeing a high, controlled cut, and was able to use that to my advantage on a couple of dogleg rights and had very short approaches in. Driver will be a big focus of the off-season work, and I’m grateful for the forgiveness the 2 offers me while I tighten up the last couple of things I struggle with. I love the shape of this driver, and I’m definitely a gloss crown convert after the last few years of having Titleist in the bag.
As we all know, there are launch monitor drivers and drivers for playing real golf. On very best drives, I have hit a driver or two that deliver more yards. Nothing I have hit this year has given me greater consistency than the GT2. In my round yesterday, I saw driver after drive in the middle of the fairway and almost all of them were in the 270 to 280 range, which is a very good average for me.
eric61
2024 Titleist Experience
I like the way @Tenputt put that -- launch monitor winners vs. "drivers for playing real golf."
I was looking at my Trackman data set that I'd posted about a few posts back again this morning, and noticed something that I think helps explain the consistency I'm seeing on course.
The highest-spin shot I had with my GT3 spun at 3017 RPMs -- it dropped 3.1 yards from my average carry. And the lowest-spin was at 2054 RPMs; it dropped 0.3 yards from my average carry.
Those strikes were noticeably bad. The high-spin one was low heel; the low-spin one was high toe. As long as I'm not, like, literally nearly missing the entire club face, I'm finding it almost impossible for me to get the spin out of the 2000s.
The vast majority of my drives were spinning in the 2500 range. I was missing just a little bit heel-side, but I have the weight in the H2 setting, so that spot seemed to be performing like you'd expect the center of the club face to perform. And while the heel misses not spinning up dramatically has been great, what's been most impressive to me is that the toe misses maintain enough spin to actually stay in the air and in play for me, rather than duck-hooking out of bounds.
One of the things the Titleist crew was telling the THP group about at our 2024 Titleist Experience first-night dinner was the spin consistency in the GT lineup. We heard the Cam Young anecdote that Stephanie Luttrell also shared with @Canadan on a recent podcast -- how his low tee, heel cut safety shot was carrying basically as far as his normal drives. My Trackman numbers and on-course experience does seem to back up those claims about spin consistency so far. For Cam Young that means one thing, but for me it just means keeping poor strikes in play and in the air long enough to give me a chance at a reasonable approach shot. It's been really impressive.
I was looking at my Trackman data set that I'd posted about a few posts back again this morning, and noticed something that I think helps explain the consistency I'm seeing on course.
The highest-spin shot I had with my GT3 spun at 3017 RPMs -- it dropped 3.1 yards from my average carry. And the lowest-spin was at 2054 RPMs; it dropped 0.3 yards from my average carry.
Those strikes were noticeably bad. The high-spin one was low heel; the low-spin one was high toe. As long as I'm not, like, literally nearly missing the entire club face, I'm finding it almost impossible for me to get the spin out of the 2000s.
The vast majority of my drives were spinning in the 2500 range. I was missing just a little bit heel-side, but I have the weight in the H2 setting, so that spot seemed to be performing like you'd expect the center of the club face to perform. And while the heel misses not spinning up dramatically has been great, what's been most impressive to me is that the toe misses maintain enough spin to actually stay in the air and in play for me, rather than duck-hooking out of bounds.
One of the things the Titleist crew was telling the THP group about at our 2024 Titleist Experience first-night dinner was the spin consistency in the GT lineup. We heard the Cam Young anecdote that Stephanie Luttrell also shared with @Canadan on a recent podcast -- how his low tee, heel cut safety shot was carrying basically as far as his normal drives. My Trackman numbers and on-course experience does seem to back up those claims about spin consistency so far. For Cam Young that means one thing, but for me it just means keeping poor strikes in play and in the air long enough to give me a chance at a reasonable approach shot. It's been really impressive.
When #1 is playing 354 and you cold start with the GT3 to a 35 yard pitch.
Correction. 27 yards.
VF Shaft is a monster in this thing.
VF Shaft is a monster in this thing.
I've hit some monsters today, but I stand by my initial reaction. And everything I've seen since for me and others in fittings. If you're a draw player this can be a tough head. It turns over easier than some of its peers.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2021
- Messages
- 12,774
- Reaction score
- 34,273
- Location
- Great White North
- Handicap
- 8.3 GC
Brought a much better swing with me today, and played in much less windy conditions. The course I played today has trouble kind of….all over the place, and for the most part was able to stay out of it and on terra firma. I really like how this driver sounds, and the tech story is a big part of that, and a pretty incredible piece of the puzzle here. The TSR was easy distance for me, and the GT is proving to be no slouch in that department either when I put a good move on the ball. I averaged just over 270 off the tee today, and that’s a huge boost to my potential when it comes to having less to worry about on approach - since the Titleist experience I’ve put up 4 rounds good enough to be in my 8 of 20.
Love the results you are getting. I’ve posted 5 rounds since returning home. 3 of the 5 are in my top 8. The 2 rounds that are not had nothing to do with the new top of my bag. The worst round was due to the fact that I somehow couldn’t hit a wedge anywhere on the planet. During that round I had several wedge shots of less than a 100 yards. Chunked 70% of those and bladed the remaining 30%.
Never in my wildest dreams would I thought I would have to worry about hitting driver on our range. Gotta love the distance from my GT3. Guys I play with regularly have taken notice. There is a bit of a buzz in the group about the new GT line.
Next scheduled rounds this week are Tuesday Wednesday and Friday. Fridays round will be a road trip by a group I play with. It will be on a course I’ve never played. Going to a new course once caused some anxiety. With the confidence instilled by the GT3 I’m looking forward to this one.
Second this.
Do you notice much difference in delivery when you move the weighting?
Personally not much. Rotation slows a tad with it in the toe but my strike tends to chase the weight so I have to be cognizant of that. You can definitely affect shot shape and some deliveries though by moving it.
Wet conditions are still showing longer distance and better flight with the GT3. I have had some of my best driving days lately and with focus on swing path, have hit more fairways, stayed in play more, and feel more confident off the tee. This past weekend I was able to hit the 50 fairway mark, and the majority of missed fairways were an aim point mistake. 3 lost balls over 2 rounds and none were off the driver. I am beginning to think about where I want to hit my approach which is an odd feeling, and this is the first time in a very long while where I am gaining strokes off the tee!
I like the weighting of the GT3 and find it easy to close the face to stay square (or close to it) at impact. Shots are connecting closer to the center than a month prior.
I like the weighting of the GT3 and find it easy to close the face to stay square (or close to it) at impact. Shots are connecting closer to the center than a month prior.
Made a shaft change to hopefully prevent the pullies, but the rain has cancelled my last 3 planned rounds. Did get 1 range session in last week that looked promising
What's the new timing mechanism you're putting in?
Swapped out shafts from the TSR. Just a regular flex Tensei blue instead of stiff at regular length instead of cut short. Swing speed is a bit slower now that its cooling down. maybe its something i swap around during the season
Happy Birthday!