Titleist GT280: The Most Versatile Mini Driver In Golf?

Mini drivers might not show to be the “subsequent massive factor” however they’re inarguably the factor, proper? With the introduction of the GT280, Titleist isn’t simply becoming a member of the most recent pattern; it’s attempting to put declare to a place out there it that its opponents have largely ignored with their current releases.

Throughout the final 12 months, the mini driver panorama has expanded from primarily a TaylorMade monopoly to an more and more authentic tools section with a number of choices. The GT280 joins TaylorMade’s BRNR Mini (304cc), PXG’s Secret Weapon (300cc) and Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340. The primary and final on that record are doubtless to get replaced sooner quite than later.

To paraphrase Roy Scheider in Jaws, “We’re gonna want a much bigger bag.”

Titleist GT280: The mini-est driver

What differentiates Titleist’s GT280 from what’s obtainable proper now’s that it’s extra compact than its opponents’ choices. At 280cc (therefore the title), one may say it’s positioned nearer to the center of the driver-to-fairway wooden spectrum. GT280 is neither a shrunken driver nor an outsized 3-wood. By mixing applied sciences from driver and fairway wooden, Titleist has purposefully positioned GT280 as a extra versatile choice within the mini driver class.

“GT280 is a very new providing that was born from golfer suggestions,” mentioned Josh Talge, Titleist’s Vice President of Golf Membership Advertising. “For some, this membership is for tee photographs solely. Others want to have the ability to hit this membership off the turf. GT280 is designed to carry out exceptionally underneath each situations.”

Technical particulars

I haven’t carried out the mathematics with decimal level precision however from a know-how standpoint, consider the GT280 as equal elements driver and fairway wooden:

It options the identical Seamless Thermoform Crown (with Proprietary Matrix Polymer) present in the remainder of their metalwoods lineup.

Just like the GT1 and GT4 drivers, the GT280 gives ahead/aft CG adjustability by way of interchangeable weights. This technique provides fitters and golfers two distinct CG settings with an 11-gram weight inventory within the aft place and a three-gram weight ahead within the inventory configuration. Flipping them creates a decrease, extra penetrating flight for these searching for to cut back spin.

It ought to go with out saying that becoming issues but when I have been inclined to make use of GT280 virtually completely off the tee, I’d begin with the heavy weight ahead. I believe an aft-heavy configuration will probably be extra playable off the golf green.

I’d encourage you to experiment and discover what works finest for you.

Maybe most important for a membership designed to be performed off the turf is the cast L-Cup face. It’s textbook fairway wooden design however, on this case, Titleist is utilizing a titanium (Ti-425) insert. The L-Cup wraps across the backside of the clubface to maximise efficiency on low-face strikes that are going to occur with any off-the-turf membership however extra so when the membership has a bigger footprint (like mini driver, for instance).

Lastly, GT280’s design features a vanguard that sits near the bottom and softened sole curvature from heel to toe. The overall concept is to make the membership extra playable from the golf green than different mini drivers available on the market proper now.

I’m sensing a theme.

GT280 by the numbers

The GT280 is available in a 13-degree mannequin. That’s it. The inventory shaft size is 43.5 inches, two inches shorter than normal GT drivers. I suppose the vital factor to know is that the GT280 head is suitable with Titleist’s SureFit Fairway sleeve and as a result of GT280’s longer hosel, a 43-inch fairway shaft (inventory 3-wood size) plugged into this head will play a half-inch longer at 43.5 inches.

There are sometimes inconsistencies between how totally different membership producers measure their golf equipment however by the numbers, the Titleist GT280 is a bit shorter than many of the aggressive set. Once more, that speaks to Titleist’s determination to tilt in direction of the playable finish of the mini driver spectrum.

Titleist GT280 mini driver: Do you want one?

As we’ve mentioned beforehand, the mini driver class occupies an attention-grabbing house. On the PGA Tour, execs are more and more utilizing these golf equipment off the tee in conditions the place the driving force is an excessive amount of membership. On condition that the 3-wood is mainly lifeless on the elite stage, it’s a bit of simpler to seek out house for the mini within the bag.

For amateurs, the worth proposition is much less clear. Shot Scope information suggests 15-handicap golfers hit barely fewer fairways with 3-woods than drivers whereas giving up almost 20 yards. Even five-handicappers achieve solely marginal accuracy (51 % versus 49 % of fairways hit) whereas shedding virtually 15 yards.

Nonetheless, this doesn’t account for the mini driver’s potential to enhance outcomes for golfers who battle to color between the traces with their driver. Not a penalty stroke is all the time a greater end result than a penalty stroke, so if a GT280 can present extra forgiveness and distance than a 3-wood whereas providing higher management than a driver, there’s a authentic case for making room in your bag.

(Or hold it as a literal fifteenth membership. I’m the final man that may rat you out to the USGA.)

Maybe crucial takeaway is that each golfer is totally different and, with that, the mini driver might be various things to totally different gamers. For some, it may very well be a everlasting substitute for the strongest-lofted fairway wooden within the bag. It’s the rationale Titleist designed GT280 to be playable off the deck.

For others, it may very well be the driving force substitute that trades distance for the accuracy some golfers lack off the tee with their full-sized, full-length drivers.

For many people (who begrudgingly play by the principles – largely), the mini might work as a situational fifteenth membership for programs with quick par-4s or tighter fairways that demand extra precision than the driving force can ship.

In that sense, a mini driver just like the Titleist GT280 might be no matter you want it to be.