Virginia Golfer November / December 2014 | Page 40

Equipment
Titleist 915
D2 driver

Channel

Changers
New slot technology carries with it the promise
of greater performance | by SCOTT KRAMER
WHILE THE SEASON MAY BE SLOWING TO A HALT,
some companies have introduced new gear to keep players in a golf
frame of mind for early spring and occasional offseason play days.

Titleist 915
D3 driver

Titleist 915
H hybrid

Titleist’s new 915 series of drivers, hybrids and fairway woods collectively allows shots to fly longer and
straighter than the preceding 913 series. Two new adjustable drivers, the 915D2 and 915D3, aim to provide
distance and forgiveness, accomplished through low spin, high clubhead speed and high inertia. They
feature an Active Recoil Channel on the sole, which is a wide, deep and long slot that boosts ball speed
while lowering spin consistently across the entire clubface. The feature actively deflects the face inward and
evenly at impact to create a recoil effect outward.
“The Active Recoil Channel is a major technological leap in the area of spin reduction,” says Dan Stone,
Titleist’s vice president of research and development for clubs. “In player testing, we’ve seen significant
distance gains, up to 15 yards for players who need spin control.”
The drivers also include a Radial Speed Face, a forged face insert that’s thicker in the center and thinner
toward the heel and toe. Ultimately, this translates to more ball speed on off-center hits. Loft is adjustable
via the proprietary SureFit Tour hosel. The 915D2 has a full pear-shaped, 460cc profile and gives maximum
forgiveness, making it easier to draw tee shots. Additionally, the club yields 250 rpm more spin than the
440cc 915D3. The D3 has a deeper clubface, is forgiving and workable, has less of a draw bias and
produces a lower peak trajectory.
Both drivers generate a more consistent ball speed and a slightly higher launch than the 913 models.
More than 25 PGA Tour professionals have been using a 915 model, including Adam Scott (915D3, 10.5
degrees), Zach Johnson (915D2, 8.5 degrees) and Jimmy Walker (915D2 9.5 degrees), among others.
Matching 915F fairway woods also feature the Active Recoil Channel, a high moment of inertia design and
adjustable loft. They have a uniformly ultra-thin, high-strength Carpenter steel clubface that maximizes ball
speed from wherever impact is made. A low-forward center of gravity is close to the neutral axis, generating
lower spin, trajectory control and more distance. The fairway metals also get shots airborne easily. A lowerlofted driving version, the 915Fd, is workable, forgiving and generates a more boring trajectory with slightly
less spin.
Thin-crowned 915H and 915Hd hybrids sport the same technology as the fairway woods and achieve
plenty of ball speed with minimal spin for longer shots. (915 D2 and 915 D3 drivers: $499 each; 915F and
915Fd fairway metals: $299 each; 915H and 915Hd hybrids: $269 each;