Titleist vs. Taylormade drivers...

Jeckert07 · January 30, 2014

I have played a Taylormade driver for years (I think back to the R7 days). I currently play an R11s which has been a great driver for a couple years now, but I've started looking at some new offerings for this season and am thinking about a 913 D2 or D3. I trust Titleist for everything else in my bag from irons to wedges and putter down to my ball...why not my driver as well? For whatever reason TM drivers have always suited my eye best until this year so I am wondering if anyone has made a similar decision and what their thoughts are...I'm sure a million of you guys have played both over the past 10 years, what are your thoughts?

jparker390 · January 30, 2014

What's wrong with your current TM? Anything, or do you just want to have a single-brand bag?

dagoose383 · January 30, 2014

For me I like the no nonsense look and feel of the Titleist drivers. Their adjustability comes in the form of a simple grid and the club itself is pretty basic compared to Taylormade's latest offerings. It boils down to the fact though that I haven't found a TM driver that I like more than the 910, although the black R1 was close and may have put up a bigger fight with more testing.

Jamboy72 · January 30, 2014

I really like drivers from both companies...my issue has always been trying to lower spin and lately I've had better luck with TM in this regard...

FWIW, two of my all-time favorite drivers are the 510TP and the old 983k...

Jeckert07 · January 30, 2014

[quote name='jparker390' timestamp='1391103921' post='8565736']
What's wrong with your current TM? Anything, or do you just want to have a single-brand bag?
[/quote]

Nothing is wrong with it other than the usual wear and tear of a few years of play. No desire for a one-brand bag, it's just worked out that everything but my driver and woods are Titleist so naturally I look at Titleist first since I have preferred their equipment for everything else in the past.

I naturally went to the TM section to check out their new drivers first and for the first time in a LONG time I didn't click with a certain model right off the bat. My first criteria with a driver has always been "does this look/feel right in my hands"...if so, I start testing it and dialing in the right combo. Another thing to consider is that I have never touched any of the loft/angle dials with any of my TM drivers, so those options really haven't played a factor in my decision.

I'll go test out most of the new drivers from the companies that offer lefty demos, but you can only see so much on launch monitors, so reaching out to those who have spent time on the course with both.

Kratus977 · January 30, 2014

In the past I've played a Titleist 909 and 913 D2. I played the 913 until this December. I absolutely loved the 913. I had no intention of taking it out of the bag. My 913 D2 was a 9.5 loft (opened up and turned up to 10.25) and had a whiteboard shaft in it for reference.

However, in December I was a member of the JetSpeed trip. We all got Jetspeed drivers. And I was the grand prize winner and got to play in the pro-am. One of the gifts from the pro-am was a SLDR driver. My JetSpeed Driver is 9.5 and my SLDR is 10.5. I tried the Ahina/Whiteboard in the JetSpeed and it didn't work as well for me. I needed something with a higher launch for both the JetSpeed and SLDR. Ended up with a Matrix RUL shaft. As a side note, I also played the 910 3wood with ahina shaft. I also got a JetSpeed 3w on the trip fit with an Ahina shaft. The JetSpeed 3w would also outperformed the 910F - again couldn't believe it and didn't want to believe it.

Quite frankly, for me, both the JetSpeed and SLDR outperformed the 913. Never in a million years would I have thought that. I've gone back to the range and hit all three drivers numerous times since December, and no matter how much I want the 913 to outperform the Tmag drivers, it doesn't. Both Tmag drivers are about 10 yards longer for me.

wrayner · January 30, 2014

I've played Titleist drivers forever. For me it boils down to the classic looks and the fact that from a performance standpoint I never thought I could do much better. I also do not spin the ball a lot and always had a problem with the low spin TM heads.

prorobo · January 30, 2014

I still game my original R11 from time to time (even picked up a new shaft for it to experiment with this off season), but I preferred the feel and sound of my 910 and like my 913 even better. For me, the 913 is even more forgiving than my R11. But the Titleist headcovers are still a pain to put on.

Dat_Dude · January 30, 2014

I was fitted for drivers a while ago and, as a high spin player, the R1 just spun way too much even with my current shaft in it. It spun even more than the D2 and Covert Performance, which was shocking to me. Different strokes I guess.

I do like the no non-sense look, sound, and feel of Titleist though. TM just seems to gimmicky to me lately, basically since the R9 series (which I loved).

sandman31774 · January 30, 2014

I like the basic look of the Titleist drivers. TM has gotten too gimmicky and space age looking for me. There is no doubt that TM makes good products but they just don't do it for me. Titleist 910d3 is in my bag now. Previously had TM superfast burner 2.0 tp....TItleist with ahina feels much better to me and is slightly more accurate and longer. Titleist for me. For others it'll be TM....no right or wrong. It's just one persons junk is anothers treasure.