Multitasker

Titleist’s new mini driver will give you some options at the longer end of the bag

By: Tony Dear

Two years ago, Titleist introduced the GT280, a mini driver incorporating some of the same technologies found in its GT drivers. On Tuesday (14^th) morning, the company announced it was adding to its mini-driver line with the GTS300. You needn’t be an MIT graduate to realize the name implies it’s a little bigger than its predecessor – 20cc larger, or thereabouts.

So is it a large mini driver, a small driver, or really a larger, stronger 3-wood? In a word…yes.
Versatility is the name of the game here. The GTS300 obviously won’t send the ball as far as the GTS drivers themselves (the shaft is 2” shorter for one thing), but at 300cc (well, 305 to be precise) and with 13˚ of loft, the GTS300 will give you plenty of distance. It’s still noticeably smaller than Callaway’s Quantum mini driver (340cc), but Titleist believes 305cc gives you the best of all worlds, as it’s designed to also give you a little more control for courses with narrow fairways.

Importantly, though, it’s still small and shallow enough to be used off the deck. Hitting a 460cc driver off the fairway is a shot elite Tour pros might have, but it’s not something less-able golfers are terribly good at. Put the GTS300 up behind the ball in the middle of the fairway on a par-5, however, and a lot more golfers will be confident about hitting the green in two.

The GT280 certainly found its target market, but a consistent misgiving was that it wasn’t quite forgiving enough for some. Its larger size gives the GTS300 a higher MOI than the GT280, and use of the Proprietary Matrix Polymer (PMP) composite construction, found in the GTS drivers, allowed engineers to push weight and the CG back a little to add a little spin, increase launch angle, and make the club significantly more stable.

There’s an L-Cup face to retain ball speed, especially on below-sweetspot strikes, and interchangeable forward and back weights (one 3 grams, the other 11 grams) enable players to set their preferred trajectory – position the 11 gram weight at the back to add spin, increase launch, and make the club more forgiving; or put that weight toward the front of the head to create a lower launch and add a little ballspeed.

The GTS300 offers you another option on the tee and fairway. It’s conceivable it will allow you to take out your current driver and strongest 3-wood to add a wedge or high-loft hybrid should you be playing a shorter, tighter course where control is everything, and distance is not so great a concern.

$549
Loft – 13˚
Length – 43.5”
Shaft – Project X Titan, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Blue, Tensei CK White
Right and left-hand
Build and order at titleist.com today or find it in stores on July 23^rd.