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

[pitchinwedge]

I never thought... I'd end up with an all Titleist bag.

[gvogel]

I'm officially going on record to say that the 917 will be at least 2 better than the 915.

 

Two higher, anyway....

[MB Dirtyy]

So how would you compare to the 910 D2? That's my gamer and I am also apprehensive about changing. I didn't care much for the 913 or 915, as the sound was much different and I saw no advantage to change. But my initial impressions after hitting the 917 are that the feel is very similar to the 910, and that the sound was back to what I have now. It also seems to be longer and more consistent with both my current shaft (Aldila RIP Alpha) and the new Rogue M*AX 65.

 

Your thoughts?

I actually played the 910 D3. The several times i've tried the D2, it had a little too much spin in my eyes and I overcooked the ball too often. It didn't help that I prefer a more pear shaped driver. So the biggest thing between the 910 D3 and 917 D3, for MY swing tendencies, was that left and right off-center hits don't curve as hard in the 917. On the 910, low heel shots on the face increased spin like crazy, high slightly toed shots on the face I could hit draws comfortably. On the 917, I was generallly around the middle and those looked like 1-2 yard draws. Off the heel, the ball flight didn't look spinny and produced baby fades that still looked pretty dang straight. Even way out on the toe, the 917 didn't move as much as I would have thought. IMO, the 917 D3 is pretty dang forgiving.

 

The 917 sound to me seemed like a higher pitch version of the 910. Granted, shafts change the sound of drivers so i'm guessing if you stay with your RIP Alpha, it might feel like a faster version of your 910. I haven't hit my 910 with my speeder 661 ts so i'll report back a secondary observation after the weekend.

 

 

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. That was kind of the impression I got of the 917 as well. I little hotter, and a bit straighter on off center hits. I thought the sound was more of the older "Thwack" sound as opposed to the "Ting" I got with the 913 and 915. I think it might be going in the bag, but not until I try the D3.

Sure man no problem! Also it's subtle but the 917 heads are about 1.5gram heavier than 915 heads. I've weighed both my 910 and 915 and they're both the same. So keep that in mind if you're sensitive to an increase in head weight. Im usually sensitive to heavier head weights. Literally 2 grams too much and I feel like I exert more hand action in the impact zone. It wasn't the case with the 917. Sure it felt heavier through the zone, but this is the first setup that worked for me in that regard. Good luck!

[bladehunter]

I also agree it's heavier. And I love that it is. In fact I'm going to order the weight kit and further tune it heavier . It helps me know where the head is. If I can't feel anything but the shaft I can't hit a thing.

[zakkozuchowski]

shivasi

 

 

 

 

[zakkozuchowski]

pitchinwedge

 

 

 

 

[zakkozuchowski]

MB Dirtyy

 

 

 

 

[zakkozuchowski]

KPH808

 

 

 

 

[zakkozuchowski]

LuckyLowbrow

 

 

 

 

[zakkozuchowski]

brushie

 

 

 

 

[scratchswinger]

Great info.... It would be really cool if everything was on the first post of the thread.

[JStang]

Thanks for posting the data. Have you seen drastic changes from changing the weight of the Surefit CG? I saw a review where spin was dropped more than 300 RPM's by going from the 12g weight to the 8g weight.

[golfertmnbg]

Wow really cool guys! I'm scheduled in on the 29th of November and am super excited for it! Especially after reading through this thread!

[KPH808]

Thanks for posting that Zak. Noticed a couple guys got fit for fairway woods as well. Btw, my correct handicap is 3.4 if it makes any difference for those of you reading my review.

[MattyO1984]

This thread has me so jealous! I have been down to the Titleist National Fitting Centre a couple of times when it was at Kings Acre (although I think they have relocated to Gleneagles now) and it is an awesome experience but a fitting at Oceanside just sounds ridiculously good. I'm pretty sure that I would be so pumped that anything they gave me I would be hitting longer.

 

Really interesting to note the numbers for each of the guys that were lucky enough to be selected for this. MB Dirtyy's dispersion with the 917 is filthy good.

 

no doubt the 917 D2 is an accurate forgiving driver that doesnt look as big as it is and sounds fantastic... I cant speak to the M1... But its worlds better than the 915 D2 D3 D4 x2 that it tried to like... and in my fitting the 917 beat the M1 M2 and ping G by a wide margain.. but i will say i never could get the spin down on the M2 enough to call it a "test" and the ping G Ls was actually the closest competitor... which is likely due to my -1 or so AoA,,, I think an M1 430 playing at 44.5 with a low low shaft could blow the 917 out of the water for pure distance ..But i dont know if dispersion would be close.... My shot pattern with the 917 looked like a single rainbow picture... just a group of lines all going the same place.... was really remarkable... Ill have on course report after this weekend...

 

Look forward to the court report blade hunter. Are you using the same shaft in all the models or are you chopping and changing?

[pitchinwedge]

Great thread, cool experience for those that got to take part.

 

My club is a major fitting center for Titleist, so I've pretty much hit everything. The 917 line is great... not surprising people are seeing gains.

 

How great? Majority of what I've heard has been ho-hum, especially from guys hitting the M1/M2. Seriously curious to see some numbers, was hoping to see some of this info in an easy to read layout. 917 is definitely on my radar, but pretty happy with what I have now.. just a big fan of Titleist :)

 

I've been fit three separate times for the M1/M2. I have 5-6* positive AOA, and in my hands, I find the M's deliver incredible numbers. No kidding - 17*/1700rpm. I've seen easily 20yds more carry than anything I did yesterday but something's always kept me from biting the bullet. The numbers really don't tell the whole story....

 

My best shots pre-fitting with the 915D2 were around 16/2400, iirc. To be fair, I think Glenn was looking for closer to 13/2200 with the 917D2 to tighten up the dispersion of my misses. Tweaking ball flight and tendencies was what Glenn was working on. The club seemed to "move" very differently based on the adjustments he made. Much more so than with other clubs I've adjusted in the past. This was really eye-opening. Instead of hunting for every last yard, I think he was trying to make the club feel more "automatic". Help my bad swings instead of making a bad swing worse. IMO, this is where a properly fit 917 potentially wins over the M's.

 

FWIW, I think I owe it to myself to have another fitting. There aren't many drivers out there that can get me to 17/1700 and my hunch is we could have gotten very close with the right D3/shaft combo. Don't know if the the 917 would match the M's ball speeds but it sure looked like they'd be close. Would be cool to have a safety club for off-days and the long-drive machine for on-days.

 

Yeah, that's good info, I'm +3-4 AoA and 178-181ish BS and have found the tour issue 8.5 M2 (and M1 for that matter) to be incredibly long and forgiving. I am a Titleist fan, and have been fit at TPI for irons, wedges, and woods, and honestly the M1/M2 blew the doors of my D4 I was fit to, both longer and straighter. I will probably end up shelling out a few more $$'s to go to TPI and see what my M2 driver and 3 wood do against the 917. I loved the look and feel of the 917, but most of what I've seen and heard has been that the M1/M2 are still better. Disclaimer, the M1/M2 are extremely popular out here, I see them in a lot of bags of amateur players and even more in competitive amateur bags. I have also heard that the 3 wood is a beast this year, so interested to see how it all shakes out.

 

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it!

 

Update - I just finished taking advantage of a Titleist fitting day at Roger Dunn. My swing only marginally better but I decided to go hunting for max distance anyways. Indoor GC2, not Trackman and not ProV1x. You decide if the data is any good, but FWIW, the 917D2 with the TPI recommended shaft and settings yielded similar results.

 

Winner is the D3 9.5* with Speeder 757. Runner up is the D3 10.5* with Whiteboard 70. Both got me to 17/1700, which resulted in +15yds carry and +15yds total (260 carry, 285 total). For me, this is very very close to M1/M2 performance.

 

Man o man, what to do now?

 

Edit: Just wanted to add that the most surprising shaft for me was the Rogue MAX. Felt great!

[zakkozuchowski]

Thanks for posting that Zak. Noticed a couple guys got fit for fairway woods as well. Btw, my correct handicap is 3.4 if it makes any difference for those of you reading my review.

 

Sorry about that! I'll make sure your handicap is correct in the Front Page story

[J13]

Great info but did no one go into this with another OEM's driver? I'm shocked that everyone was playing a Titleist driver already. Maybe I missed it but was that a requirement for eligibility ?

 

Thanks again to the guys for sharing and Zak for posting the info, def helps see the difference between the 915/917

[dikaia22]

I love threads like this! Interested to see the results some of you get.

[bladehunter]

Great thread, cool experience for those that got to take part.

 

My club is a major fitting center for Titleist, so I've pretty much hit everything. The 917 line is great... not surprising people are seeing gains.

 

How great? Majority of what I've heard has been ho-hum, especially from guys hitting the M1/M2. Seriously curious to see some numbers, was hoping to see some of this info in an easy to read layout. 917 is definitely on my radar, but pretty happy with what I have now.. just a big fan of Titleist :)

 

I've been fit three separate times for the M1/M2. I have 5-6* positive AOA, and in my hands, I find the M's deliver incredible numbers. No kidding - 17*/1700rpm. I've seen easily 20yds more carry than anything I did yesterday but something's always kept me from biting the bullet. The numbers really don't tell the whole story....

 

My best shots pre-fitting with the 915D2 were around 16/2400, iirc. To be fair, I think Glenn was looking for closer to 13/2200 with the 917D2 to tighten up the dispersion of my misses. Tweaking ball flight and tendencies was what Glenn was working on. The club seemed to "move" very differently based on the adjustments he made. Much more so than with other clubs I've adjusted in the past. This was really eye-opening. Instead of hunting for every last yard, I think he was trying to make the club feel more "automatic". Help my bad swings instead of making a bad swing worse. IMO, this is where a properly fit 917 potentially wins over the M's.

 

FWIW, I think I owe it to myself to have another fitting. There aren't many drivers out there that can get me to 17/1700 and my hunch is we could have gotten very close with the right D3/shaft combo. Don't know if the the 917 would match the M's ball speeds but it sure looked like they'd be close. Would be cool to have a safety club for off-days and the long-drive machine for on-days.

 

Yeah, that's good info, I'm +3-4 AoA and 178-181ish BS and have found the tour issue 8.5 M2 (and M1 for that matter) to be incredibly long and forgiving. I am a Titleist fan, and have been fit at TPI for irons, wedges, and woods, and honestly the M1/M2 blew the doors of my D4 I was fit to, both longer and straighter. I will probably end up shelling out a few more $$'s to go to TPI and see what my M2 driver and 3 wood do against the 917. I loved the look and feel of the 917, but most of what I've seen and heard has been that the M1/M2 are still better. Disclaimer, the M1/M2 are extremely popular out here, I see them in a lot of bags of amateur players and even more in competitive amateur bags. I have also heard that the 3 wood is a beast this year, so interested to see how it all shakes out.

 

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it!

 

Update - I just finished taking advantage of a Titleist fitting day at Roger Dunn. My swing only marginally better but I decided to go hunting for max distance anyways. Indoor GC2, not Trackman and not ProV1x. You decide if the data is any good, but FWIW, the 917D2 with the TPI recommended shaft and settings yielded similar results.

 

Winner is the D3 9.5* with Speeder 757. Runner up is the D3 10.5* with Whiteboard 70. Both got me to 17/1700, which resulted in +15yds carry and +15yds total (260 carry, 285 total). For me, this is very very close to M1/M2 performance.

 

Man o man, what to do now?

 

Edit: Just wanted to add that the most surprising shaft for me was the Rogue MAX. Felt great!

 

 

Rogue max was my pick too. Feels like the previous rogue but with a stiffer tip. Which was my gripe with previous rogue.

[QMany]

Great info but did no one go into this with another OEM's driver? I'm shocked that everyone was playing a Titleist driver already. Maybe I missed it but was that a requirement for eligibility.

 

"A few weeks ago, we started a thread with a few questions for GolfWRX Members from Southern California who were using Titleist 915 drivers. The response was tremendous, and led to the incredible event we're having today."

[MB Dirtyy]

Thanks for the trackman numbers, Zak!

 

Side note: After the lunch they provided for us, I still didn't want to leave so they showed me the putting green. I finally got a chance to roll some of the models I've had on my radar. I think I'm going to get a one of the newports after all. I tried them before at one of my local golf shops and it must have been an E6 ball because the pro v1s I rolled at TPI had a satisfying click at impact. Which is a complete 180* from the deeper milled models from the past.

 

And yes! Glenn is the man! I'm bummed that I didn't get to say goodbye to him personally. He helped me with more than my long game when he wasnt required to. It was very much appreciated.

[J13]

Great info but did no one go into this with another OEM's driver? I'm shocked that everyone was playing a Titleist driver already. Maybe I missed it but was that a requirement for eligibility.

 

"A few weeks ago, we started a thread with a few questions for GolfWRX Members from Southern California who were using Titleist 915 drivers. The response was tremendous, and led to the incredible event we're having today."

 

Ok I missed that part.

[moonshine]

Really surprised at the hdcp/loft ratio for these guys. No more loft up?

 

Looks like fun, can't wait to try the 917..love the look!

[pitchinwedge]

Thanks for the trackman numbers, Zak!

 

Side note: After the lunch they provided for us, I still didn't want to leave so they showed me the putting green. I finally got a chance to roll some of the models I've had on my radar. I think I'm going to get a one of the newports after all. I tried them before at one of my local golf shops and it must have been an E6 ball because the pro v1s I rolled at TPI had a satisfying click at impact. Which is a complete 180* from the deeper milled models from the past.

 

And yes! Glenn is the man! I'm bummed that I didn't get to say goodbye to him personally. He helped me with more than my long game when he wasnt require to. It was very much appreciated.

 

Couldn't agree more. Thanks again to Glenn! Took me a while to see the light but I'm going to stick to his recommendations.

 

Really surprised at the hdcp/loft ratio for these guys. No more loft up?

 

Looks like fun, can't wait to try the 917..love the look!

 

More forgiveness and consistency with very little loss of distance at any given ball-speed. Even though more potential distance is possible at 17/1700 with a D3/Speeder/Whiteboard, I think I understand now why I'll play better golf with Glenn's set-up. At the end of the day, confidence = better swings = more distance.

[oldhamer25]

Curious to know from those of you who play a D2 if there is much difference in appearance between the two? I know it is now gray, just curios if heads are similar in size. I have not seen one in person.

[JStang]

Curious to know from those of you who play a D2 if there is much difference in appearance between the two? I know it is now gray, just curios if heads are similar in size. I have not seen one in person.

 

The difference in head size and shape isn't night and day like it was with the 915 line. Maybe it's just me but I find the face to be more shallow (top to bottom) with the 917 D2 than other drivers that I've tried lately.

[TWshoot67]

Thanks for all the info here boys, I like the looks of the D3 and D4 heads in the past but just always seemed to get better results with TM and Now Cobra.

[MB Dirtyy]

Curious to know from those of you who play a D2 if there is much difference in appearance between the two? I know it is now gray, just curios if heads are similar in size. I have not seen one in person.

One of the guys (sorry I forgot his name!) said that Adam Scott had a big part in the shaping of the d2 this time around. It's more pear-shaped than previous D2s. Very slight.

[KPH808]

Curious to know from those of you who play a D2 if there is much difference in appearance between the two? I know it is now gray, just curios if heads are similar in size. I have not seen one in person.

One of the guys (sorry I forgot his name!) said that Adam Scott had a big part in the shaping of the d2 this time around. It's more pear-shaped than previous D2s. Very slight.

 

Yeah I remember him saying that. They also mentioned how guys like Justing Thomas and Charley Hoffman who were D4 users went back to the D2. Because how forgiving it was yet maintaining good spin numbers.