The start of a new PGA Tour season in Kapalua has given Titleist the opportunity to get ahead of the next blitz of new releases with a teaser of its upcoming GT280 Mini Driver.
With the updated version on the USGA list, it’s possible that Titleist staff like Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris will have the new club in play.
Like the Titleist Tour’s seeding protocol and validation process, technical details are few. What we do know is that the GT280 is the finished version of the the 2-Wood prototype that came out at last year’s PLAYERS Championship.
It’s also clear from the photos provided that Titleist’s shot at a mini driver included front and rear roll weights for trajectory tuning and the company’s SureFit string system.
Another kind of mini?
If we take a step back and assume that the “280” in GT280 refers to the volume of the clubface, this suggests a mini pickup that is slightly smaller than what is currently on the market from Titleist’s competitors.
Mini Driver is an emerging category in the hardware space. For most of the past few years, TaylorMade has been the exclusive player in this category, but we can confidently say that the number of offerings will increase significantly in the coming months.
In the Tour, Minis are used almost exclusively as outside substitutes for drivers. Perhaps surprisingly, TOUR pros go to the mine, not to increase accuracy, but rather when the driver is too long off the tee.
A mini move
As more mini models make their way to retail, it will be interesting to see which companies rely almost exclusively on mini drivers as standard driver replacements and which choose to go smaller and make their own minis viable 3-wood replacements that can be easily hit. – deck.
The reality is that while Mini drivers are intriguing, the category itself is likely to be relatively niche. That said, it’s always good to have options – especially towards the top of the bag. So, at an absolute minimum, golfers will have a few new options to choose from.
More to come
We’ll have more information as we get closer to the GT280’s launch in early spring. In the meantime, let us know if you’re excited for more Mini Drivers to hit the market or if the category isn’t for you.
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