Titleist GTS fairway woods: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Titleist GTS fairway woods feature more composite than in past models with the lightweight piece wrapping around the crown to the sole. The saved weight allows for adjustable heel and toe sole weights, two different shapes and face heights and deeper centers of gravity and higher launch vs. previous models.

PRICE: $400, available June 11. GTS2: 13.5, 15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees. GTS3: 15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees. ($600 for premium shaft versions.) Each with a 16-way adjustable hosel.

3 Cool Things

1. Lightness of being. The GT fairway woods from two years utilized a lightweight composite crown to save mass, but the new GTS lineup extends that lightweight piece into a wraparound section that provides about 16 grams of mass to redistribute within the head for distinct center of gravity positions for the GTS2 and GTS3, said Titleist’s Stephanie Luttrell, senior director of metalwood research and development. More importantly, the saved mass makes for lower CGs on both models to reduce spin.

“Our express goal was we got to get the ball up in the air with less spin, and we wanted it to be more launch and spin consistent between center and low face, so anything we can do to move CG down is going to help with that,” Luttrell said. “These were the lowest CGs that we had ever achieved in our fairway woods, and in doing that, the first prototypes were actually pretty hot, and so we had the opportunity then to move CG back without adding spin, which helped us to increase inertial stability and make these fairway woods even more forgiving than they have been in the past, as well.”

The saved weight also allows for adjustable heel and toe sole weights (11 and 5 grams) to create optional draw and neutral biased weighting across the face.

2. Making a difference. The GTS2 and GTS3 fairway woods differ more than the two models have in the past. While the previous GT2 and GT3 differed in face height by barely half a millimeter, these new models offer a distinctly shallow-faced option (GT2) and a deeper face version (GT3). As Luttrell explains it, these differences are a crucial way to optimize performance for different players.

“Players have different swing dynamics,” she said. “In particular, players that we see having the best level of success with GTS2 are players that are a little bit shallower or sweeping in their angle of attack, so having a shallower face normalizes the distance between a center-face impact and a turf impact, such that they get better speed, launch and spin consistency because you're closing that distance gap between those two impact locations. They get more consistent distance more often from a shallow-face fairway. ”

It’s a different set of requirements for GTS3 players and its deeper face, Luttrell said. “If you're a player that holds posture really well or hits down on a fairway wood with a great level of success, having a deeper face benefits your performance. With the deeper face and that steeper angle of attack, you move impact location up the face, more into the middle of it. You get better speed, launch and spin. You get more compliance out of the bigger face, but not everyone is able to do that. ”

In general, the GTS2 fairway wood features a face height similar to the current GT1 fairway wood with a larger address profile than GTS3. The GTS3 fairway wood is more compact, but like the GTS2 it now includes a 7-wood option.

3. Face facts. The high-strength stainless steel face on the GTS fairway woods wraps under the leading edge to form an L-shaped cup. This is designed to create greater deflection for impacts lower on the face, where most players make contact with their fairway woods. In addition the GTS fairway woods have returned to a polished face design, which helps players see more of the face at address and encourages more of a downward strike through impact.