This week, a special edition of the Golf Talk Podcast as we talk with Steve Pelisek, General Manager, Titleist Golf Clubs and Stephanie Bezilla, Titleist Metalwoods Development Manager about the new 909 Drivers – the DComp, D2, and D3 – about to hit store shelves. Check out this exciting episode of Golf Talk.
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For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.
Interviewees
Steve Pelisek
General Manager, Titleist Golf Clubs
Stephanie Bezilla
Metalwoods Development Manager
Handy Links
Chapter Summary and List of Questions
- 909 Drivers
- “Failure” of 907 Line – First off, let’s start by asking about the 907s. Despite the different shapes, the launch conditions of the two clubs were virtually identical, and the club was thus fairly hard to fit to the majority of players. Many of the Titleist Tour Staff stuck with 905R. Was the 907 line a failure?
- PGA Tour Player Adoption – How has player adoption on the PGA Tour gone? Have most players switched from the 905 or the 907 to the 909? What percentages are being fit into each model?
- Learning from 907 Line – What were you able to learn from the 907? How does the 909 series improve on the 907?
- End of “Geometry” – The 907D1 was Titleist’s first foray into “geometric” drivers, and though a few people loved them, they didn’t sell well and it’s not hard to notice there are no funny shapes in the 909 line. Why the brief advance and then the immediate retreat from geometry?
- Composite without the Composite Sound – Tell me about the 909 DComp, Titleist’s first composite driver. I was most impressed by the sound in particular. What does the composite construction allow you to do, and what are the downsides? How’d you make it sound so metallic?
- 909 D3 as Sibling to 907 D4 – The 909D3 seems to be the sibling of the 907D4, which was never released. In my experience, a lot of people seem to be excited about the D3, but with its lower launch and lower spin, is it really a driver suited for a large number of people or would most people likely be better off in the D2 or even the DComp?
- Comparing the 909s to 907, 905, and Each Other – How do the three drivers relate to each other? Launch, spin, MOI… How do these numbers compare to 905R and 907?
- Stock Shaft and Custom Build Options – We’ve had a few questions about the stock shafts: they seem like a steal at $400 for a complete driver when some of the shafts, like the Aldila VooDoo, sell for $350 alone. What’s a “by Titleist” version of a shaft and how does it differ? Why the upcharge for what were previously “stock” shafts?
- SureFit Options for New 909 Drivers – Tell us about the SureFit cart. We talked about this earlier in the year, but we understand most fitters will get several driver heads, shafts, and even the little weights in order to properly fit virtually every player. Correct?
- Fitting Players with Unusual Swing Characteristics – The Stack and Tilt method of swinging produces a low launch angle with a lot of spin. We understand that’s the toughest player to fit, and Zach Johnson is an example on Titleist’s staff. I heard he gained 5-10 yards by moving the ball forward in his stance an inch or so. True? And if so, how does Titleist work with their PGA Tour staff to maximize their driving capabilities, and how should an amateur golfer approach a driver fitting if they have some unusual or hard-to-fit swing characteristics?
- Sales Predictions – Can you share with us some of the predictions you and others at Titleist have made regarding the sales predictions for each model? If we had to guess, we’d put D2 at 70% with DComp and D3 pulling down 20% and 10% respectively. What are your guesses?
- Wrapping it Up
Colophon
This show was recorded with Audio Hijack Pro over a Skype connection. We then used Soundtrack Pro to edit the show and GarageBand to produce the AAC file from the AIFF file, to add the artwork, and so forth. Feeder was used to create the XML file.
Note: This is an AAC (MP4) file, an open file format. iTunes – free software – can play AAC files, as can numerous other players, though we heartily recommend iTunes.
You Can Contribute
If you’d like to submit a listener question that we can answer on the air, send the question to podcast@thesandtrap.com.
Great interview Erik.
It will be interesting to see how the 909 fares. They seem to have expanded their reach with the 909 DComp. Titleist always comes out with class equipment but they have generally catered to the better player.