What do Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Davis and Doug Ghim all have in common? All are PGA Tour players using a fairway wood originally designed for slow-swing-speed high-handicappers!
An interesting phenomenon has been happening on Tour this season, where Titleist’s GT1 fairway wood has crept into the bags of Titleist staff players and non-contract players alike. In fact, roughly 30 percent of Titleist fairway wood users on Tour are now playing the GT1 model.
In the past, the “1” profile in Titleist’s metalwood lineup has been reserved for slow swingers and high-handicappers, but more recently better players have been gravitating to the GT1, especially in the fairway woods (in a standard weight configuration), to take advantage of the high-launch and low-spin profile.
Now, the company is bringing a Tour-spec model of that profile to retail with the GT1 3Tour fairway wood.
While the standard GT1 fairway wood, the largest profile in the GT fairways family, is available with 15 degrees of stated loft, the GT1 3Tour offers a half-degree stronger loft at 14.5˚, allowing players to take it all the way down to 13.75˚ with the SureFit sleeve. It also features an even lower CG to help stronger players produce a flatter ball flight, but still take advantage of the wide and shallow footprint.
“Tour feedback is incredibly valuable, so we involve our players in testing for all products — even those that may be designed with a different player in mind,” J.J. Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s senior director of club promotions , said in a release. “During GT1 fairway testing, we found some tour players really loved the shaping and face height, but we knew that many of them would need a little less loft and lower CG for a stronger flight.
“Tom Bennett [a product manager in Titleist’s metalwood R&D department] and the R&D team were able to give us a product in GT1 3Tour that gave us all the benefits of the GT1 shaping while lowering spin to a more optimal window for those players. Since bringing it out on tour, we’ve seen strong adoption from several players who like a shallow, easy-to-launch design, but need a little less spin.”
The GT1 3Tour’s quick adoption on the PGA Tour illustrates the trend of players opting for more forgiving profiles in their woods as long as they can cut spin to an appropriate level. The shallow profile and low CG created through the use of Titleist’s new Proprietary Matrix Polymer (PMP) in the crown, the GT1 3Tour fits the bill.
Should players want more spin or a higher launch out of the GT1 3Tour, it also features adjustable forward and aft weights to change the CG. While the standard GT1 comes with the heavier weight back, the 3Tour will come standard with the heavier weight in the front. In addition, there will not be an ultralightweight configuration available like the stock GT1 models.
Price, availability and specs
Titleist GT1 3Tour Fairway Wood
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