Darius,

My advice to you is to get it fitted by a certified Titleist rep or staff.  I did mine in late winter along with the wood and hybrid.  I must say, now that I am playing with them, they are just awesome!!  I always played stiff shaft but was fitted for X Stiff and it made a world of a difference.  Check your local golf courses as there are many demo days comng up.  I was fitted at my local GT when Titleist was there for a free fitting session.  Once again, I highly recommend it and if you are to spend that kind of money.......

Thanks Tom...  I have seen many of your posts and believe you have some good credibility based on your comments to date.

I guess it is time for another fitting !

Darius

Great advice Tom.     It's a big investment for most golfers so do it once correctly if you can.   Check Titleist.ca for fitters and fitting days.   If you could spend some time hitting the different stock shafts offered with the Surefit system,  and possibly some other available custom options it makes the selection process easier than guessing.   Many times driver swings are different than iron tempo, etc and it would be best to dial in launch angle, spin rate and maximum ball speed to your swing with a certified fitter.

Good luck 

Darius,

In regards to your question, I do agree with Tom.  The best course of action would be to get set up with a fitting with a local Authorized Titleist Fitting Facility or Sales Rep within your area.

With our various different heads/lofts, our extensive shaft matrix and our SureFit Tour hosel our fitters will be able to dial you in to the proper head/shaft combination.  From personal experience not always do the idea of a similiar launching shaft work in both driver and irons; it is player dependent hence why we suggest getting fit.

If you need some assistance in locating a Titleist Fitter in your area, please visit us at http://www.titleist.ca/find-a-golf-shop/ or contact our Customer Service team at 1-877-928-8898.

Ryan P - Team Titleist

Thanks to all for the great advice...

Looks like I will be going for a driver fitting.

Darius

Well - I bit the bullet !

I have made an appointment at the Titleist Fitting Center at Eagles Nest in Ontario to get fitted for my new 913 Driver.

I don't know if it will be a D2 or a D3. I will leave it up to the expert to guide me through the selection. I go next week !!!

Darius

Good stuff Darius!!  One thing to remember is that you go in there completely unbiased to any setting, shaft, loft etc.!  The fitters are very extensive and will work to fit your swing.  Thats exactly what happened with me and I was quite surprised what I was fitted to.  You can read everyones opinion and thoughts of what you should be hitting but why not let the pros take care of it.  I was even fitted for the Pro V1x at the same time and I must say that is my ball of choice!!  Pretty cool when they start changing shafts and lofts.....you really see the difference. I'd be interested in what you end up with.  Have fun!! 

Thanks Tom...  I was even thinking that I did not want to go in with the preconceived idea that I wanted a D3 or a D2 head. I have not hit either one so I have no bias.

I am really looking forward to see what I end up with. Will certainly post my results.

Darius

Well - today was the day for my driver fitting at the Titleist Regional Fitting Center at Eagles Nest Golf Course in Ontario. In spite of a small mix-up with the schedule, the staff still got me in on schedule and looked after me very well.

It was an interesting experience as I started off with my own driver to set a base line. This was important to me so that I could tell if I was going to improve with the new driver. I learned first of all that my swing speed is a little slower than I thought it was (I'm sure many of us think we are faster than we actually are). My swing speed was clocked at 95. My "smash factor" was consistently at 150 with both my driver and with the final combination of head and shaft that Chris Welton zeroed in on. He started me with a variety of shafts that simply did not work for me and eventually found one that was close. Then when he set me up with the D2 head and the Aldila RIP Phenom 60 Stiff shaft I noticed that all of a sudden I was getting very consistent on my line and dispersion.

Here are the key (average) figures that caught my eye...

Swing Speed: My Driver - 94.1 Titleist 913D2 - 94.2

Ball Speed: My Driver - 140.8   Titleist - 141

So far things look the same.

Vertical Launch Angle: My Driver - 12.4  Titleist - 11.6

Spin Rate: My Driver - 3099   Titleist - 2810

Spin Axis: My Driver - 8.8   Titleist - 0.3

Carry:  My Driver - 220.5  Titleist - 229.8

Total Distance: My Driver - 252.1   Titleist: 261.5

And here is the real kicker that convinced me to place an order when I got home...

Side Yards ( average distance to the right of my target): My Driver - 23.8yds   Titleist - 5.5yds

With the ability to narrow that dispersion, I know that I will have that many more fairways in my future, and best of all, my home course is quite narrow leaving me little room to start down the left side on many holes in order to keep the ball in the fairway. With the ability to keep my drift narrowed, I will be able to aim down the middle of the fairway and avoid the overhanging branches that typically get in the way.

Of course, I would have liked to get an additional 50 yards to my drives, but unfortunately Chris and Titleist can only do so much... An additional 50 yds was probably a little unrealistic :)

Thanks to Chris and Mitch for all the advice. I can hardly wait to get the new driver in my bag.

Darius

Darius,

That is a very thorough review of your experience at Eagles Nest.  I am happy to hear that the fitting went well!!  Just like me, I did gain extra yards but being dialed in with the dispersion was the selling point also.  So tell us the truth, did you work up a sweat swinging all those driver settings, lol.  I was beat after my testing!!  Enjoy your new driver and being in the fairway is a lot better than re-loading off the tee....

Yes - I was a little worn out when I finished. How many times do you get to the range and try to hit 70 or so perfect drives?

It was worthwhile getting there a little early as it gave me time to hit some warmup balls. At least that way when you are testing the new combinations of heads and shafts your swing is not the question.

Near the end there is no question you feel like you have hit a lot of balls, but it is exciting to see the results improving as they keep dialing in the best combo for you.

The order has been placed for the new driver and I should have it in around 10 days. Then I can take it to my range and more importantly out on the course. My existing driver seems to know something is up though, as it is hitting longer and more fairways than usual. Not sure how I will break the news that it is going to be relegated to the basement with my other old clubs :)

Darius

The new kid is now in the bag...

I picked up my new 913D2 driver today. I had just finished my practice and was heading home when our club professional told me my new driver had arrived. So - like any one of you would, I went back down to the range to check it out.

Worked just as well as it did during the fitting :)

Now I wait for my next round which will hopefully be tomorrow (weather permitting as I would hate to have lightning strike my new driver).

Really looking forward to having the new arsenal in the bag. I fully expect to hit more fairways and take that confidence into the other aspects of the game !

Many thanks to Team Titleist for delivering the club in such a timely basis.

My experience with the fitting and the purchase along with the follow-up by TT staff has been second to none. I highly recommend anyone looking to purchase a new driver to get fitted. It is well worth it !

Darius

Darius:

Congrats on your great aquisition. Keep it in the short stuff. Which setting?

Alex

Alex...  My setting was the standard setting A3

The key seemed to be the shaft selection. We went through 8 shafts if I recall correctly before Chris settled on the right one.

Played my first round with it today and apart from a couple of drives where I got back to far (still not used to the shorter shaft as yet) I hit fairway after fairway aiming down the center instead of aiming down the left side counting on my fade to bring things back to the middle. Fired off a 79 which is a really good sign.

Darius

Standard is A1 - nice to hear the dispersion is tight, such an amazing club

Alex- you are correct - the standard setting is A-1 and I just double checked my club. I am in fact set at A-3 so I guess I am far from standard !  This means that as my swing changes a little over the years, I will have room to adjust back towards a more standard setting.

Darius