Titleist 915 Exclusive Demo : Distance without compromise

Tis the season when manufacturers start rolling out their new merchandise, their new 'weapons' and the next big thing.

Titleist, a household name synonymous with Golf, is no different with the highly-anticipated launch of their new 915 range of metals (driver, woods and hybrids).

These babies will only hit stores on 14th November, but if you are really lucky, one of your friends may just have exclusive invites from Titleist to attend an exclusive demo of the 915. 

I was one such lucky person and thanks to my mate Kenny, we managed to get a few spaces for the 915 demo at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club's driving range on 29th October.

After our round we settled for a quick dinner at the Coffee house and then made our way to the driving range. We could hear the sounds of golf balls getting whacked from a distance and we quickened our steps.

Participants from the earlier session were finishing up and they were clearly having plenty of fun testing out the new equipment.

We were greeted by Tom Hutton, Golf Ball Product and Consumer Connection Manager for Titleist who registered us for our session. 

The session began with a short briefing by Titleist Golf Club expert Gene Saunders, about the new 915 metals range and the technology involved. It was really informative and Gene really knew his stuff. 

All the tech details here.

Here's what the good folks at Titleist have to say in a nutshell.

"More Distance Through 

Higher Speed and Lower Spin

Active Recoil Channel™

The wide sole channel delivers more distance by actively flexing at impact to launch the ball off the face with higher speed and lower spin"

"More Distance on Off-Center Hits

Radial Speed Face

The high speed face insert with a thick center and radially thin perimeter in the heel and toe, delivers more distance on off-center hits."

(This feature, attracted me most. More below.)

"More Distance, More Often

High MOI Design

Reduced thickness up front allows weight to be strategically placed in the back, resulting in a low and deep CG that provides ball speed preserving forgiveness."

Then it was the moment everyone was waiting for.

Boy, what a sight it was. Drivers, Woods and hybrids all available at our disposable (for just the 1 hour of course). Did I mention we were hitting ProV1 range balls too? 

I was really curious about how the drivers would perform, so I started with the 915 D2 driver in 9.5* paired with the Diamana S+ Blue shaft.

The 915 drivers feature five new aftermarket options to fit a wide range of players and swing speeds. 

The stock lineup includes the Fujikura Speeder 652 (mid launch) and the Mitsubishi Diamana D+ White 70 (low launch), Mitsubishi Diamana S+ Blue 60 (mid launch), Mitsubishi Diamana M+ Red 50 (high launch) and Mitsubishi Diamana M+ Red 40 (high launch). 

Really liking the design of the 915.

So how did the 915 D2 fair? 

I was loving it.  

For a high handicapper like me, the biggest thing to me was the radial speed face. Usually, when my drives are off-center, I usually lose a fair bit of distance. 

Not so with the 915. Visually, I could tell I wasn't losing as much distance from off-center hits or even when I sliced my drive. And with center hits the ball just rocketed off the face effortlessly and the sound, simply divine. 

On centre-hits I could see I was hitting it past the 200m marker but without a flight monitor, I wasn't sure if I was actually gaining distance. 

The hybrids were nice but it didn't feel that much different from my current Callaway Xhot-22* 

Perhaps I was a little fatigued. After all, we had a round of 18 holes earlier and I must have whacked a bucket worth of balls with the D2 driver.

In conclusion, I personally feel that the 915 D2 driver certainly lives up to their tagline. Distance without compromise.

It's very forgiving and will certainly appeal to a wide range of golfers. 

I myself am quite keen to have it in the bag, but if I do, I probably will explore other after market shaft options. 

I must also take the chance to mention that Tom, Gene and the Titleist team present, were very helpful and informative. They were ever ready to help out participants and this really enhanced the demo experience. 

If testing the new 915s before everyone else wasn't enough, we were each given, not 1, but 3 sleeves of ProV1s as part of the goodies bag. Hands-down, best demo ever.

Jealous yet? :)

Then to cap off a great golfing day, Kenny treated me to awesome hokkien mee, amongst other foods. Thanks Kenny!

Then it was off to bed, for day 1 of the CIMB Classic at the KLGCC.

In other news, we are off to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow for a golfing weekend, where we will take on 3 courses. Sabah Golf and Country Club, Nexus Karambunai and Dalit Bay. 

More posts when I come back!