When I went to The Golf Club at Newcastle to meet with Titleist Product Specialist Rick Barlament to go through a full Titleist TS driver fitting, I also had an opportunity to test out the new Titleist TS2 and TS3 fairway metals as well.
Much like the Titleist drivers, their fairway metals have always been intended for the serious player and made with the highest craftmanship. Overall speed was not a major priority. But, something changed, and Titleist was challenged by their Tour players to design and develop a set of woods that could keep up with the other manufacturers’ increases in distance and ball speed.
After 2 years of research and development, Titleist unveils their fastest fairway metals ever. Enter Titleist Speed. In order to produce the increased ball speeds, the TS fairways, like the drivers, also feature the all-new Speed Chassis.
Both the TS2 and TS3 Fairway metals have a 175cc club head, but the TS2 is constructed with a modern shape, while the TS3 has a more traditional shape. A 27% thinner crown allowed Titleist to reallocate that weight savings lower and further back in the club head to promote better launch. The thinnest Variable Thickness Face they’ve ever made produces the uptick in ball speed.
The soles of the Titleist TS fairway metals for the most part mirror their driver counter-parts. The TS2 features a single interchangeable weight all the way back for better forgiveness across the entire face, and the TS3 fairway metal has the SureFit weight port for players who want to move the sweet spot to a position that fits their swing and common misses.
Titleist TS2 Fairway Wood
The Titleist TS2 Fairway Wood is designed with low-back CG for fast ball speeds, high launch angles, and maximum forgiveness.
Shop Titleist TS2 Fairway Wood
The Titleist TS2 Fairway Wood is designed with low-back CG for fast ball speeds, high launch angles, and maximum forgiveness.
Titleist TS3 Fairway Wood
The Titleist TS3 Fairway Wood is designed with an interchangeable weight that lets players adjust the location of the sweet spot.
Shop Titleist TS3 Fairway Wood
The Titleist TS3 Fairway Wood is designed with an interchangeable weight that lets players adjust the location of the sweet spot.
Unlike the TS driver, the fairways still have the Active Recoil Channel, and version 3.0 is taller, offering more face flex, especially on strikes low on the face.
Once again, during the testing we focused on increasing my launch angle compared to my current gamer, the Tour Edge CBX T-3 15-degree Fairway Wood. Rick said right away he knew what head he thought would be best for me.
The first combo he had me try was the TS2 16.5-degree head with the Project X Even Flow T1100 White 75 shaft. Rick picked a winner; this combo was fantastic! The first 5 or 6 shots I hit all launched high and carried long. This was important because I was hitting these shots off the mat. I rarely hit my current 3-wood off the deck because of the launch angle.
With the TS2 fairway metal, Trackman showed my trajectory was in an optimal launch angle range. The longest of these shots traveled almost 270 yards. It’s a great weapon to be able to hit a wood from 250-260 into par 5s or on a narrow tee shot.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wall/PGA TOUR
The looks and sound of the Titleist TS fairway metals were right in line with the drivers, which I loved. The club sets up beautifully at address, clean, classic, all-black with a silver alignment aid and white scoring lines.
After picking up over 6 mph of ball speed with the TS2 driver compared to the 917 D2 driver, I was curious to see if the trend continued with the TS2 fairway. I went over to Pro Golf Discount in Bellevue, Washington to compare the two fairway woods on a GC2 Launch Monitor. My gains were on average 6 mph faster than the 917 F2.
Titleist hit a home run with the TS woods. The looks are top notch, the playability is excellent, and they achieved their goal in generating faster ball speeds that can compete with Callaway and TaylorMade woods. If you’ve ever played Titleist woods and were looking for an excuse to return, you’ve just found your excuse. I hope this club review has been helpful, feel free to share your experience with the TS fairway woods in the comments below.
Keith Schneider
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