The Ultimate Titleist 917 Driver Fitting at TPI Oceanside (Launch Monitor Data Added Pg. 4)

[nwlim]

/Went from a 915D2 9.5 to 917D3 8.5 and spin dropped from about 2k RPMs to 1K RPMs. Any idea if the 917D3 9.5 would work to keep spin about 2k or should I try out the 10.5? Thanks!

[JStang]

/Went from a 915D2 9.5 to 917D3 8.5 and spin dropped from about 2k RPMs to 1K RPMs. Any idea if the 917D3 9.5 would work to keep spin about 2k or should I try out the 10.5? Thanks!

 

1K RPM's? I'm not sure that a couple of degrees of loft are going to help you here. Maybe try the D2.

[rymail00]

QC gone to hell in a hand basket. :D

That's assuming both sets of scales are accurate too

 

QC gone to hell in a hand basket. :D

That's assuming both sets of scales are accurate too

 

Throw a nickel on the scales. It should 5 grams, if does not, just use the correct calculations from there. Or throw a nickel on the scale, hit the tare button then throw the head for a true weight.

[pdaero]

/Went from a 915D2 9.5 to 917D3 8.5 and spin dropped from about 2k RPMs to 1K RPMs. Any idea if the 917D3 9.5 would work to keep spin about 2k or should I try out the 10.5? Thanks!

 

1K RPM's? I'm not sure that a couple of degrees of loft are going to help you here. Maybe try the D2.

 

To be honest, 2000 RPMs is on the low end of acceptable, regardless of launch. I would recommend trying the D2 10.5 - the 917 is a few hundred RPMs lower spinning than the 915.

[pitchinwedge]

It was raining a couple of days ago, and yes, we played in the rain. At the moment, the G30LS is my primary driver but I decided to bring my TPI fit 917D2 as a back-up because it has a Tour Velvet grip. For obvious reasons, the grip became the most important factor in selecting which driver to put into play. Unfortunately for the G30LS, anything with the Tour Wrap 2g is a definite no no in the rain.

 

So, with the 917D2, I hit 12/14 fairways, and the 2 missed weren't the club's fault. Cold, wet and little or no roll due to rainy conditions, but distance was surprisingly decent. Not quite to where my shots usually end up in dry conditions, but better than expected. I out-drove my playing partner nearly every hole. This guy is almost always longer than me and only once in a while does my tee-ball ever roll about even with his. Hard to say what was going on here other than he struggled with the conditions, but it was fun watching him hit his approach shots first.

 

Also for reference, the rain let down enough on a couple of holes to hit both the G30LS and the 917D2. As expected, the results were pretty similar. No clear winner. In order to decide between them, I'd have to resort to feel, looks, and long-term consistency.

[shivasi]

It was raining a couple of days ago, and yes, we played in the rain. At the moment, the G30LS is my primary driver but I decided to bring my TPI fit 917D2 as a back-up because it has a Tour Velvet grip. For obvious reasons, the grip became the most important factor in selecting which driver to put into play. Unfortunately for the G30LS, anything with the Tour Wrap 2g is a definite no no in the rain.

 

So, with the 917D2, I hit 12/14 fairways, and the 2 missed weren't the club's fault. Cold, wet and little or no roll due to rainy conditions, but distance was surprisingly decent. Not quite to where my shots usually end up in dry conditions, but better than expected. I out-drove my playing partner nearly every hole. This guy is almost always longer than me and only once in a while does my tee-ball ever roll about even with his. Hard to say what was going on here other than he struggled with the conditions, but it was fun watching him hit his approach shots first.

 

Also for reference, the rain let down enough on a couple of holes to hit both the G30LS and the 917D2. As expected, the results were pretty similar. No clear winner. In order to decide between them, I'd have to resort to feel, looks, and long-term consistency.

 

Stay the course, it worked out well for me. Good luck.

Ken S

[Wisconsin Terrapin]

Today's head options

 

 

 

Phew...I was lucky not to have been selected. There are no left handed heads. Would have been tres awkward.

 

The box has 2 shelves. The bottom shelf is the LH heads. I was fit shortly after the article by Dino. I had the wrong 913 D2, and in a 917 D2 with a lighter shaft and stiffer flex, Dino squeezed 20+ yards in the 917. For East Coast guys, Titleist has the Manchester Lane facility in Acushnet, MA. If you are serious...

[pitchinwedge]

Well, I've had a couple more "fittings" and a bunch of time with the 2017 M1 and Epic. Made me appreciate all over again what a great job Glenn did for me with the 917D2 at TPI. Every time, the best results come from a set-up similar to what Glenn recommended. It just takes a lot longer to arrive at the same conclusion.

 

However, as someone on WRX poignantly pointed out, most "fittings" aren't really fittings at all. They are testing sessions to find the standard option with the least misfit. As case in point, Glenn was the only fitter who attempted to adjust playing length and swingweight.

 

Which brings me to another point... in all this ho-ing and experimenting has shown I get very similar ball speeds on average from all three drivers, and also my still-in-the-bag G30LS. For a moment, ignore launch and spin. Same playing length + same swingweight = same results on Trackman (even with different shafts in each club). So IMO, when set-up as similarly, all four of these clubs can produce the same potential distance. My SZ hasn't even shown up yet, but it will be interesting to see which one I end up favoring once I've got them all dialed-in. BTW, the 917D2 isn't anymore a spin machine than the M2.

 

I suppose all of this rambling was to say, whether you're a fan or not, if you're out for a new driver there's no reason not to consider Titleist. A lot of hype buzzing around some of the other drivers but the best gains will likely be a result of the best fitting, not the club itself.

[tipperi]

I've followed this thread for several months now (among others) as I set some dough aside to get my first driver fitting since I started playing about 7 years ago. Yesterday, I made a 2 hour trip north to a Top 100 clubfitter who came recommended by a few friends.

 

My background, 15 handicap who struggles with any sort of consistency out of the tee box. Repeatable short game and decent with an iron in my hand. Current drivers were 815 DBD Aldila 60 Silve Stiff and XR16 Pro with the 665 Speeder TS in Stiff. Both Ebay Clubs I purchased for a good deal used without ever swinging.

 

I had no idea what my swing speed was, AOA, Spin Rates ect. Im 30 years old, pretty athletic and guessed to be 90-95 swing speed. I struggle with a miss to the right, and wanted to try and eliminate that as much as I could with this fitting.

 

I went in thinking I would leave with an Epic, M2 maybe an M1 based on the threads I have followed on here the last several months. I couldn't have been more wrong about so many things. I warmed up on Trackman outside at the range with a few 7 irons. I had been sick the last few days with a cold and was worried endurance would be limited so after 6-7 I wanted to get started with the fitting. My fitter wanted me to hit the M2 and Epic a few times with the stock Stiff shafts to get a better feel for my baseline and to see my miss. When he told me my swing speed was 104-105 I was floored. After a few swings with each he quickly got me into a few stiffer tipped shafts to try and get the ball back left (opposite of what I had always believed but similar to what one of the testers found in this thread). He wouldn't tell me what the shafts were or what adjustments were being made but every 8-10 balls we rotated between M2, Epic and 917 D2. I loved the look of the M2 and 917 at address, really was not a fan of the Epic the way I thought I would have been.

 

Almost immediately the M2 was not an option. I hit a few low spin bombs but it was so obvious that I struggled to control it, and it just didn't have the forgiveness I felt I needed. The mishits sounded dead, and I quickly lost confidence in it. The best carry was 267, which was very good for me but there were several sub 230 yard mishits that left me feeling less than inspired.

 

The sound of the Epic was intoxicating. I loved the way the ball came off of it, and the forgiveness was much much better than anything I had ever swung. I tend to catch alot of balls off the bottom of the face and the Epic did a very good job of keeping ball speed up but I swill found it difficult to hit consistently. The appearance, the name, the colors and the fact that i'd be buying another Callaway driver that would be outdated by the end of the summer were the turn offs. My best carry was also 267, and it i hovered around the high 240's with it. Better than the M2 for me, but not enough to over come the things I did not like about the driver.

 

I fell in love with the 917 setting it down by the ball before I ever took the first swing. Once I put a few swings on it, that didn't change. The forgiveness was so much better than I expected from a Titleist driver. The numbers were my next concern as I had heard all along they were not up to snuff with the other 2 I was testing. Out of the first 10 swings, 9 of them would have been in the fairway and the shortest carry of the batch was 252, peaking at 263. Launching at just under 14 degrees, spinning it on average about 2200 revs. Im sure it was the shorter shaft but it felt so easy to hit. After about 45 minutes and several shafts it was an easy decision. Myself and the numbers agreed the very first Titleist combo we started with was the winner.

 

917D2, A2 Hosel setting, Neutral 12 gram on the SureFit CG. Diamana D+ 70 Stiff and the icing on the cake? It was all in stock and I walked out the door with it in hand.

 

The 917 was not the longest, but I feel like there's no question it was the right driver to attack my handicap and lower my scores.

 

Sorry for the long winded post, but the excitement of my first fitting and my new toy as at an all time high. Thanks to everyone who's contributed in this thread and helped some slow work days pass by a little easier.

[pitchinwedge]

Grats, man! Enjoy the D2!!

 

Basically I went G30LS > 917D2 > 2017 M1 > Epic > Epic SZ > 2017 M1 > 917D2. In between the D2, every round I played was just crap. All due to poor driving. I suppose it's the price I had to pay the exorcist to purge me of the hype-devils.

[tipperi]

Quick update. 27 holes since picking up the 917 last week. No regrets. Hands down the best performance I have ever had driving the ball.

 

18 swings with Driver in hand and 16 Fairways. The 2 misses were a block that ended up in the right rough and a pull that ended up in the drink. I have been amazed at the distance I am getting when I hit the tight high spinning cut off the heel I am known for. Finding myself in unfamiliar places on the golf course...now I just have to improve my wedge and short iron game to take full advantage and start scoring.

[MB Dirtyy]

Still using my fitted 917 D3 build from the trip. Best combo of accuracy, distance, and feel. Sounds cheesy buts it's f'n true.

[Togatown22]

I just dumped the M2 in my sig to put my 917D3 with the 74 gram stiff Speeder back in the bag. Immediately felt more comfortable and started hitting more fairways. I'm not sure why I tinker so much.

[Tony_Ireland]

Still loving mine that i got fit for last oct. Hcap since march til now has went from 2.7 to 1.7. Not all down to driver obviously but just feel very comfortable with it. The tinkering i shall try stay away from (until oct 2018 hah). Still hate the look of the shaft but it seems to work so thats all that matters

[shivasi]

Still using mine and through improved golf swing & practice have dropped from 4 to 3.2. No longer a dead fade but more like a tiny bullet draw. I would like to get on another analyzer and see where my improvement really came from.

Thanks.

[pitchinwedge]

Shafted up a Tensei Pro White 60 for the 917D2 and hit the launch monitor today. Some of the highest ball speeds I've ever produced and definitely the fastest ever for me with the D2. Identical to the best numbers put up by the Epic SZ. Shocked.