Titleist TSR Fairway Woods – TSR2, TSR3 and TSR2+

• Titleist has announced the TSR2, TSR3, and TSR2+ fairway woods
• Each offers a lower/deeper CG (center of gravity) location compared to TSi
• Retail price is $399. Available starting 9/23

With any product launch, it’s often the case that fairway woods draft off the success of a flagship driver.

But the Titleist TSR fairway woods stand on their own merits.

That’s the quick synopsis of what Titleist believes sets this release apart from previous generation TSi and TS series fairway woods.

Ask any fitter who’s been in the business for a long time and they’ll tell you that the 3-wood is often the hardest club to fit. You can likely extend that thinking to all fairway woods. Other than the putter, one could argue that fairway woods are the most personal club. And, like a perfect pair of jeans, a newer model isn’t necessarily any better—or what consumers want.

It presents a quandary for engineers when developing the next iteration and, to a degree, it’s a matter of melding the feedback from tour pros with the projected demands from everyday golfers. What will work for Titleist staffers like Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth and generate similar benefit for weekend warriors like Justin Smith and Jordan Johnson?

ABOUT THE TITLEIST TSR FAIRWAY WOOD FAMILY

As with TSR drivers, Titleist is launching three TSR fairway wood models: TSR3, TSR2 and TSR2+. The Titleist TSR2 and TSR3 closely trace the player profile of the driver models with the same designations. A new toy, the Titleist TSR2+, is the largest of the three models at 190cc.

We hear the term visual technology quite a bit. Brands love to show the fruits of large R&D budgets and consumers are inclined to buy what they can see, feel and touch. Call it tangible technology. It also gives the marketing department a clear direction around which it can build fancy graphics, hype videos and clever slogans.

The TSR line is somewhat the antithesis of that approach. Call this concealed technology.

The updates from TSi to TSR are significant. However, the off-the-rack buyer likely won’t see much evidence of this while perusing display racks at the local big box retail outlet.

In fact, the most integral change, CG location, isn’t visible at address. Or in a store. Or anywhere else. Compared to TSi, the center of gravity is lower but more face-centered.

Here’s why that’s important. All things being equal, a lower CG will produce a higher trajectory. According to Titleist, in each TSR model the CG location sits damned near the neutral axis and slightly further back in the head than comparable TSi models. The net result is a bit less spin and a skosh more forgiveness.

That’s the result. What allows a CG location to move is weight reallocation. In this case, Titleist ditched the ARC (Active Recoil Channel), removed the upper hosel and moved the flat sole weight to the lowest part of the head.

With TSR, we also see the return of full-face scoring lines. According to Titleist, continuous score lines and a monochromatic face keep the head from appearing closed or upright. In general, better players prefer a neutral/open look at address.

Titleist TRS2

Of the three models, one could argue that the TSR2 is most like its predecessor, TSi2.  It’s also likely to fit a larger percentage of golfers than the TSR3 or TSR2+. It features the lowest CG of the TSR line which means it’s also Titleist’s lowest CG fairway wood ever.

A low/rear CG location often generates high launch but with excessive spin. Most golfers don’t hit fairway woods high enough so the increased height is helpful. But too much spin tends to be detrimental. High, spinny and short isn’t the ideal fairway wood recipe.

With TSR2, Titleist believes it has an optimal combination of trajectory and spin for golfers who use fairway woods off the tee and can benefit from a bit more height on shots from the fairway.

Titleist TSR3

Hands up if you remember the Titleist 906F2 fairway wood. It was one of those fairway woods that plenty of golfers raved about and gained a cult-like following in the late 2000s and early 2010s. If you could find the center of a dime-sized sweet spot, it actually felt a bit like persimmon.  But it was about as forgiving as a Catholic nun in a bad mood.

The Titleist TSR3 fairway is the 906F2 reincarnated and improved in every quantifiable manner.

At 175cc, it has the same volume as TSR2 but the CG location and five-position SureFit Adjustable CG Track System allow for more precise weight adjustments. Titleist calls it “Precision Tuned Performance.”

The TSi3 fairway wood used a similar three-position weight track. The larger five-position TSR3 weight track provides finer CG adjustment (0.5mm vs. 0.75mm in TSi3) and a greater overall CG movement (2mm vs. 1.5mm in TSi3).

I get that small numbers might seem, well, trivial. But it’s worth noting that, throughout the entire TSR metalwood family, Titleist’s philosophy is to make several incremental changes as opposed to single, large-scale modifications that are tied to a specific material or technology.

Titleist TSR2+

TSR2+ is a new addition to Titleist’s fairway wood family. At 190cc, it’s larger and more forgiving than TSR2. It also has a deeper CG which helps elevate shots from the fairway.

On paper, it’s best suited as a secondary option off the tee. But don’t let the 13-degree stamped loft and large footprint scare you. In fact, Titleist nearly decided to forgo placing any loft number on the TSR2+ because they thought might dissuade golfers who would otherwise fit into this model. Remember those “objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear” stickers? The TSR2+ could just as easily have a “club launches higher than static loft might suggest” disclaimer on the headcover.

Case in point: Will Zalatoris. Previously, Zalatoris bagged a 16.5-degree 4-wood. Plenty of high-speed golfers opt for a higher-lofted fairway wood because lower-lofted models can go too far and encroach on driver distance.

Prior to the Scottish Open this year, Zalatoris started testing new fairway woods. As someone who plays exclusively a cut (left-to-right) shot with his driver, Zalatoris was looking for something with a bit more length than his current fairway wood that he could turn right to left. Turns out there’s this little gathering in April down in Georgia that has several pivotal holes that require such a shot. Initially, Zalatoris felt he wouldn’t be able to get the TSR2+ into his preferred launch window. Frankly, the deep face and wide footprint doesn’t exactly scream “high launch.” Turns out he was wrong. During testing, Zalatoris would hit a shot with the TSR2+ and look in a window where he expected the ball to be. Each time, it was higher than he anticipated.

I bring this up for several reasons. First, even the best golfers can improve by routinely assessing the objective for every club in the bag. Also, the stamped loft on any club is irrelevant. What matters are the mass properties of the club and how the player interacts with those elements to produce dynamic loft.

Stock Shafts

As with TSR drivers, the stock shaft lineup features four discrete options.

HZRDUS Red CB – The counterbalanced design is helpful when an overlength build is required or the golfer fits best into a slightly heavier head at the stock length.

Tensei AV Blue – The 55-gram shaft from Mitsubishi is the mid-launch, mid-spin option. On paper, it should be the most popular at retail.

HZRDUS Black – The new HZRDUS Black is comes stock at 60 grams (70- and 80-gram options available). The stated profile is low-launch/mid-spin.

Tesnsei 1K Black – The low-launch, low-spin offering in the TSR lineup, the Tensei 1K Black will be best suited for higher swing speed players looking to cut spin.

Premium Stock Shafts

Titleist is continuing its partnership with Graphite Design and will offer three Graphite Design Tour AD models as Premium Stock offerings.

The Tour AD DI (mid-high launch/low spin) and Tour AD IZ (high launch/with low spin—these are relative descriptions) carry over from the TSi lineup.

The TOUR AD UB (released last fall) replaces the Tour AD XC as the low-launch offering in the premium lineup. The stock weight is 60 grams but it’s also available in 50, 70 and 80 grams.

The stock grip is a Golf Pride TV 360 No Fill Flat Cap 58R. Again, other options are available through custom.

My $0.05

The most likely TSR fairway consumer is still the golfer that’s also buying a TSR driver. That said, if you’re potentially in the market for a new fairway wood, it’s best to pose the same question you should ask of any club: “What is the job description?” Far too many golfers continue to buy equipment without any real defined intention. Here’s a quick tip for a reasonable starting point: the total 3-wood distance (carry+roll) should equal your driver carry distance.

We’re firmly in the marketing era where a single term is often the buzzword. Some companies highlight a signal material advancement (carbon) or defining technological process (A.I. – Artificial Intelligence). Titleist has a different approach. High. Far. Forgiving. For some, it might seem mundane. Others will appreciate the simplicity. That isn’t to suggest one is uniformly better than another. Just different, that’s all.

TSR Fairway Woods – Pricing and Availability

Retail price for all Titleist TSR fairway woods is $349 ($549 /Premium Graphite Design shaft).

You can get fitted for a Titleist TSR driver now. Full retail availability begins Sept. 23.

For more information, visit Titleist.com.