My Thoughts on Titleist 905R

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Just some pre-review thoughts on the driver

I have a 905R review coming up in a little over a week at The Sand Trap and I wanted to run all this by you fine fellows. I have a stock lie/length 905R, 9.5 degrees, with the stiff 75g UST ProForce V2. I swing at about 105-107 MPH and my miss is a quick hook.

I played a 905S with a YS-6 Stiff (all drivers 9.5 degrees) last year, and this year I've been using an r7 TP 425 with the stock stiff shaft. I hit the S pretty well and I hit the TP great.

Now, my preliminary thoughts on the 905R.

1) The sound takes some getting used to. It's a deader sound than the S, that's for sure, and not nearly as high-pitched as the r7.

2) Misses all over the face seem to travel reasonably straight, but lose distance more than off my r7. They work out better than off the S, though, particular the toe or heel hits. You can't miss as high or as low as with the S, though, given the shallower face.

3) I hit a few balls dead on the sweet spot and I swear I felt the trampoline, like "boy-oy-oy-oing" if that makes any sense. But misses not on the reasonably small sweet spot felt much deader (and the sound was duller too).

4) I opted for this shaft because the S is an easier-to-fade, lower-spinning head. The R launches about the same as my S (with the higher-launching YS-6+ shaft), wants to turn over a little more easily, and spins the ball way too much for my taste. I tried to counter the higher-spin nature of the head by using a stiffer-tipped shaft (higher kick point anyway), but it seems to have failed. Launch is about the same but the ball rides up a little with the spin.

5) My miss is to the left, so I have to watch the slightly heel-weighted drivers from Titleist. Another reason I went with the S over the T - I had a K before it that I spun too much and hooked more than I'd have liked. In the end, I really have to feel like I hold off the face from closing to hit a little cut that more often than not still goes straight (because if I hadn't held off the face, it'd be left of Hillary Clinton).

6) The looks, etc. are great. That's not up for debate - I've always liked the look of a pear-shaped driver.

Overall, I'm rather ho-hum about the driver - it's a tad more forgiving but at the expense of some distance over my 905S (due to the higher spin). Neither really beat the r7 TP for me.

What do you guys think? What have your experiences told you?

[hogangolf4life]

honestly i kind of have to respectively disagree. As weird as this sounds my dad has the 425 and my other experiences are with a T and a 460 Comp. IMO the 425 gives me very little feedback, yes the sound is higher pitched and the face it hoooot. Launches the ball quite nicely but I have trouble telling where my mishits are sometimes, i tend to get to close to the ball then too far when i correct it (not bad but feedbacks very imporant for me). I had the comp before the T and honestly it was a good but longer than the T (for me), but I had no idea where it was going. I loved the feel off the face but couldnt control the thing for some reason, but when I hit it, it went FARR. Had a T a couple months ago and I loved it, unfortunately I was fitted to a graffaloy blue, swing speed doesnt match that(so WTH right?). But I loved the feedback with that club, didnt particularly like the sound, and felt the sweet spot dead center all of twice in about 6 months. NOW I have the 905R with the 65g v2 with a stiff shaft, i upped the degree to 10.5 with the lower launching shaft. I dont think of the sound as dead but more like a crack, sounds much more explosive than the T IMO. I launch the ball higher(read appropriate now) trajectory, and it doesnt balloon. Im not a really long hitter but this things consistently 260-275 about 290 if i really catch one. Just been making ssome swing changes recently (dropped my handiccap!) and have finally regained control of my driver. Im loving the larger sweet spot, the added height, the sound, the distance, pretty much everything about my 905R. Feel free to Pm me if u want to know anything else about how I feel about it,

[phillypete]

I went to a demo day hoping to fall in love with the R. i was left down. I felt it was marginally better than the K and definitely not in the same league as the R7's, the SQ, and the FT-3.