WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Titleist GT1 line-up of driver, fairway woods and hybrids continues the idea of bringing the technology of the mainstream line-up to players who are looking for more help with clubhead speed, forgiveness and higher launch. That tech upgrade includes a new weight-saving thermoformed carbon composite crown piece of the driver and fairway woods, and lower centres of gravity throughout. There’s even a heavier weighting option that extends this lightweight line-up back towards the mainstream swing speeds.

AVAILABILITY & PRICE: GT1 driver ($1,049, $NZ1,199; 9, 10, 12 degrees); GT1 fairway woods ($649, $NZ729; 15, 18, 21, 24 degrees); GT1 hybrids ($499, $NZ569; 20, 23, 26, 29 degrees). All heads with 16-way adjustable hosel. Available for pre-sale on February 5 and in golf shops worldwide from February 21.

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3 Cool Things

1. Not just for the senior set. While the Titleist drivers of the past that featured the “1” designation (TS1, TSi1, TSR1 and now GT1) have tended to occupy the space reserved for moderate speed players, this “1” will go after a broader audience. Specifically, Titleist’s design team consulted with its network of fitters and found that more players could benefit from a driver that emphasised high launch and forgiveness without an all-out focus on low spin. Moreover, those players might even reach average clubhead speeds.

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So the new GT1 will cater to high launch first and accommodate below average clubhead speeds with the overall lightweight construction (head, shaft, grip) seen in previous iterations. But it also will have room for a heavier sole weight (15 grams) that lets it fit in the universe of average swing speeds.

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“The resounding feedback that we heard across the board for the driver, fairways and hybrids is that anything we can do to increase launch is going to help this player improve their overall trajectory, consistency and distance,” said Stephanie Luttrell, Titleist’s director of metal-wood product development. “Making the line launch higher, while maintaining optimal spin rates, is really going to benefit both the moderate speed player as well as the player that is naturally low spin.”

The GT1 driver uses a new variable thickness face design, which features a ring around the perimeter of the back of the face to improve ball speed consistency. There’s also more aerodynamic shaping to milk any potential speed for this player, as well as the overall lighter weight of the system. The GT1 drivers use stock shafts as light as 40 grams for the standard version and 35 grams for the women’s and juniors models.

Finally, a thermo-formed carbon composite crown piece saves weight that’s split internally within the front and back of the head for balanced spin, launch and forgiveness performance on mis-hits. Indeed, the GT1 with its rear weighting offers the deepest CG front to back than any other driver in the GT line.

“Along with raising launch, we’re always looking at ways we can increase speed for this player,” Luttrell said. “The GT1 driver has a very aerodynamic shape – it is the shallowest head in terms of face depth and profile in the line-up. We worked hard to refine crown and sole shape curvatures to make it even faster through the air.”

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2 A fairway wood with options. While its standard setup favours an ultralight approach, the GT1 fairway wood features the same ability as the GT1 driver to morph into a non-lightweight version through the use of heavier sole weights. But it’s those sole weights that also provide a new level of versatility for the GT1 player. By positioning the heavier of the two weights towards the rear, the GT1 fairway wood can launch higher with greater off-centre hit performance. On the other hand, switching the heavier weight to the front position makes for a head that produces less spin.

“Having the option to move that weight forward in the fairway wood really gives fitters a good opportunity to fit different types of players into GT1 than we could have with TSR1,” said Tom Bennett, principal product manager for metal woods at Titleist. “We’ve done a lot of consumer testing and what we found was that about 60 percent of players preferred the heavy weight in the aft, while 40 percent preferred it moved forward. That tells us that having both options makes a big difference.”

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The GT1 fairway woods still feature a shallower face design and their larger size (about 10-20cc larger than GT2) helps produce the fairway woods with the deepest CG front to back in the GT family. That deeper CG yields more stability on mis-hits and creates the potential for more loft with higher spin, a bonus for lower-spin players and those slower swingers who need more spin to maximise carry distance.

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3 A hybrid shaped for forgiveness. The GT1 hybrid also occupies a unique space, deftly straddling the line between high-lofted fairway wood and hybrid. Its larger shape – almost 28 percent larger than the new GT3 hybrid, for example – exudes forgiveness even more than past “1” models. (The GT3 is 109cc, compared to the GT1 at 138cc.) As well, the GT1 is longer heel to toe than past models to better preserve ball speed on mis-hits. The head also accommodates a .335-inch tip for more fairway wood like flex in the shaft to further engender higher launch. A 50-gram shaft (Fujikura’s Air Speeder Next Gen) helps boost the potential for distance for moderate speed players.

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Like the GT1 fairway woods, the GT1 hybrids feature front and rearward sole weights (11 and 5 grams) that can be flipped to favour forgiveness (heavy weight back) or lower spin (heavy weight forward). With the heavy weight back, it plays with a similar moment of inertia (stability on off-centre hits) to the TSR1 hybrid.