Titleist GT1 3Tour:  The World’s Best Golfers Crash The Moderate Swing Speed Party

The Titleist GT1 fairway wood was supposed to be simple. When it launched, the story was straightforward: a lightweight fairway wood designed for moderate swing speed players who need help getting the ball airborne. Sure, the updated model had that flip weight system that could be used to build it to a more conventional fairway wood spec but the GT1’s primary mission was clear—to help golfers who struggle to generate enough spin and launch with traditional fairway woods.

Then something weird happened.

In February, Titleist started quietly offering a 14.5-degree prototype version to PGA Tour players. Much to nearly everyone’s surprise—including Titleist’s—they started putting them in the bag. Today, roughly 20 percent of Titleist fairway woods in play on Tour are GT1s.

The appeal isn’t hard to understand once you’ve experienced it. GT1’s shallower head profile makes hitting off the deck almost foolproof. While that might sound like a moderate swing speed golfer’s problem, it turns out Tour players appreciate a fairway wood that sets up behind the ball in such a way that suggests it’s impossible not to get it airborne.

About those lofts

There’s a bit of nuance to this story worth understanding. While it seems odd to launch a line extension that’s, on paper anyway, all of half a degree stronger than what’s on store shelves, the 15-degree model we told you about in January is actually closer to 16.5 degrees of loft.

Manipulating loft specs is a common approach manufacturers take to give their target golfers the help they need while stamping the lofts those golfers want to see. While it’s perhaps not an entirely transparent approach, the unfortunate reality of the marketplace is that when you stamp certain lofts on clubs—13 or 13.5 degrees and 16 or 16.5 degrees on fairway woods—it tends to scare golfers off, even when they could benefit from that performance.

The fun with loft game has made things a little dicey this time around but I suppose that’s the consequence of the emergence of a product (in this case the GT1 3Tour fairway) that wasn’t part of Titleist’s original strategy. Its success caught the company by surprise but it’s reasonable to think that when the next iteration of the GT1 rolls around in a year and a half, the Tour model will be in the lineup from Day One.

Who should consider the GT1 3Tour

If you’re a better player, or perhaps even an average one, who has always struggled with fairway woods—regardless of your swing speed—the GT1 3 Tour deserves a look. The combination of the shallower profile and the conventional weighting makes it surprisingly versatile. You get the confidence-inspiring setup of a club designed for easier launch with the performance characteristics you actually want.

When Tour players are willing to embrace what was originally designed for moderate swing speeds and spin-challenged golfers, that’s usually a pretty good sign that the rest of us should pay attention.

GT1 3Tour fairway specs

The GT1 3 Tour measures 43 inches long with 14.5 degrees of loft and a 180cc head size. Stock weights are 11 grams and three grams and it ships with the heavier weight positioned in the front for lower spin and a more penetrating ball flight.

Featured shafts, availability, pricing

The stock shaft offerings for the Titleist GT1 3Tour fairway mirrors the rest of the GT fairway lineup. They include the PX Denali Red (high launch), Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue (Mid launch), PX HZRDUS Black (low/mid launch) and Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black (low launch).

The premium Graphite Design lineup includes the Graphite Design Tour AD VF, Tour AD DI and Tour AD UB.

A full catalog of additional shafts is available through custom.

Retail price for Titleist GT1 3Tour is $399 with a stock shaft and $599 with the premium options.

The Titleist GT1 3Tour is available for fitting and pre-sale now. Full availability begins [].

For more information, visit Titleist.com.

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