Tiger Woods is well known for the 'Tiger Slam' which he achieved in 2001 when he held all four major titles at the same time. It was an incredible achievement, one that has not been repeated since, and it was one that he completed using a Titleist 975D driver. This is undoubtedly one of the most iconic golf clubs ever made and we got hold of one from golfclubs4cash for under $50 / £40 GBP. The big question is... can it still perform and how does it stack up against the latest GT3 driver from Titleist?
Joe Ferguson took it to Frilford Heath Golf Club to find out in Golf Monthly's series of Retro Review.
Joe Ferguson took it to Frilford Heath Golf Club to find out in Golf Monthly's series of Retro Review.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Retro review time.
00:01We've got an absolute belter for you today.
00:03In my eyes, this is the most iconic driver of all time.
00:07It is the Titleist 975D.
00:11Now, we've teamed up with Gold Clubs for Cash,
00:13one of the leading retailers of pre-loved equipment,
00:16and they've sent us some absolute gems like this to test.
00:19So if you're interested,
00:20check those guys out in the description below.
00:22♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
00:27♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
00:29Now, Titleist manufactured this driver
00:31between 1998 and 2001,
00:33and just about anyone who was anyone was using it.
00:36Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia,
00:38David Duval became world number one with it,
00:41and Tiger Woods even won the Tiger Slam with this driver.
00:44Now, I've picked it up for $38.99 from Gold Clubs for Cash,
00:47so I can't wait to see what it can do.
00:50Now, as always on Retro Review,
00:51we're going to put it up against its modern-day equivalent,
00:53which is going to be the Titleist GT3.
00:56This is fresh out.
00:57This has been receiving rave reviews,
00:59so this is some pretty stiff competition.
01:02Right, so we're just going to do this
01:03really organically today.
01:05I've come down to the driving range
01:06at the beautiful Frilford Heath Golf Club
01:09here in Oxfordshire.
01:10I've got my full swing kit launch monitor,
01:11and I've got a load of golf balls,
01:13and I'm just going to hit a load with each,
01:15talk you through what I'm seeing,
01:17talk you through what I'm feeling,
01:18and then maybe we'll get the data together at the end,
01:20and we'll have a discussion
01:21about what the actual tangible differences
01:24between the drivers are.
01:25But from a non-measurable sort of point of view
01:27to start with,
01:28the first thing you notice is quite clearly the head size.
01:31We've got 260 cc's in the 975d,
01:36which looks rather small next to this GT3 at 460 cc's.
01:41It's not just heel-to-toe, front-to-back, it's everywhere.
01:45The overall dimensions, the face depth,
01:47there's just a lot more real estate to that GT3.
01:51In terms of specs,
01:53this one was custom fitted for me recently at Woburn
01:56at the Tireless Performance Institute.
01:57Graphite design, X-Flex shaft.
02:00It's measuring at eight degrees of loft.
02:02I've tuned it up just a little bit
02:03to match the 8.5 that's on the 975d.
02:06We've got the old EI70 classic shaft here,
02:09but it's just in stiff flex,
02:10so it might be a little bit soft for me.
02:13And in terms of length,
02:14I know the GT3's at 45 and a half inches.
02:17The 975d looks like it's a solid inch shorter than that.
02:21So there may be some swing speed differences
02:23just to put that out there to start with.
02:25But I'm going to start with the 975d
02:27because I'm itching to see the performance
02:29on this after so long.
02:31Let's just hit some away and see where we get to.
02:35So yeah, like I said, straight away in behind the ball,
02:38it looks no bigger than my three-wood,
02:40which is certainly interesting.
02:45It's a great start from a feel point of view.
02:48That's exceptional.
02:49A lot softer than any of the drives I've been trying
02:52recently from a data point of view.
02:55Yeah, I put 110 miles an hour speed into that.
02:59161 ball speed out of it,
03:01which gives me a relatively good efficiency.
03:041.47 or smash factor, you might know it.
03:07Spun up a lot, 3,500 revs there,
03:10and barely 240 yards of carry.
03:12So that's not great output, if I'm totally honest,
03:15from 110 miles an hour speed.
03:18We are hitting into quite a strong headwind here.
03:24It looks very similar.
03:25That's probably on top of the last ball.
03:29Slightly more efficient, 165 ball speed,
03:32which is pretty good.
03:33That's not bad at all from a driver
03:35that's best part of 30 years old.
03:38The feel is just exceptional.
03:40It's just melting into the club base.
03:41There's no tinginess, there's no clanginess.
03:44It's a really, I don't hesitate to say soft
03:47because you don't want a soft-feeling driver, but it is.
03:54Just leaking a touch to the right.
03:58Maybe seven or eight yards of fade on that one.
04:01Slightly less efficiency,
04:02but the ball speed's still pretty decent there.
04:04At one best part of 163 miles an hour,
04:07that did get the spin down under 3,000.
04:09So we're pushing a 250 carry now
04:11into this decent headwind.
04:13So that's a really interesting start.
04:16Feels great, it looks gorgeous in behind the ball.
04:18I could really get used to that head size again.
04:21I would like to, I'm going to hit a lot more now
04:23because I want to see what those heel and toe strikes do.
04:26I've struck all those pretty solidly,
04:27which I'm quite impressed with myself about.
04:30But once I can get a few more of these balls in,
04:31let's hit some heel and toe strikes,
04:33some high and low in the face,
04:35and I'll see how much that affects the ball speed
04:37and the performance numbers.
04:38I'll do that now, then we'll get onto the GT3
04:40and we'll take it from there.
04:46If you're enjoying this retro review
04:48and you like seeing these iconic clubs,
04:50don't forget to hit the like button
04:51and subscribe to the channel.
04:53Also, get in the comments down below
04:54and tell me what you'd like me to review next.
04:57Well, that was really interesting.
04:58I found a couple of things.
04:59When I hit a few more balls,
05:00I actually found a couple of things
05:01which I'll talk about in the conclusion,
05:03which made it perform a little bit better for me.
05:06But it was a lovely little trip down memory lane
05:08and I'm really looking forward to the next one.
05:10So I'll see you in the next one.
05:11Cheers.
05:15So I've been playing this game to a driver
05:16that I've used in the past,
05:18and I'm really interested to see,
05:20with these conditions that we're playing in today,
05:22what a modern day GT3
05:24that is less than two months old, really, can do.
05:27So let's get to it, let's hit a few away
05:30and see what we've got.
05:31I mean, as I said before,
05:33the first thing that hits you
05:34is just the sheer volume of the head
05:36and it just does inspire an awful lot more confidence
05:40behind the ball.
05:42So let's see if that translates into better results.
05:46There's a really nice strike out of the gate.
05:53Nice and low, nice and powerful.
05:56Significantly, significantly different day today.
05:59That's really interesting.
06:00So off a touch more club head speed, admittedly,
06:04about two or three miles an hour more there,
06:05which would be, that'd be factored in
06:07by the length I would think that's giving me that.
06:10I've generated 172 miles an hour ball speed, nearly.
06:141.49 efficiency, a spin rate of basically bang on 2000,
06:20which into this wind has given me a carry
06:22at nearly 270 off these range balls,
06:24which is pretty solid.
06:25So that's a significant difference
06:28straight out the gate there.
06:29Let's see if that sort of theme continues.
06:33The feel, I was expecting harsher, actually,
06:36even though I've tested this driver a lot,
06:38I thought it was going to feel harsher
06:39coming from that sort of buttery, soft 975B,
06:43but it did feel great.
06:44I know Titleist have done an awful lot of work
06:46on the acoustics and feel of this new GT range,
06:48so that feels like it's coming to fruition there.
06:51Let's see what we get up next.
06:57It's a noticeably longer, sort of lower,
07:00more penetrating ball flight.
07:03Popped up a little bit in spin there,
07:05so it's still under 3000 just.
07:08More club head speed, 118, 170 of ball speed,
07:11260 carry, which is decent output in these conditions.
07:16Yeah, we're noticing quite a bit
07:17of performance difference here.
07:23That'll be an interesting one.
07:24That was low and off the heel.
07:26It's got a little sort of fade-y flight to it,
07:28so I'd expect the spin to kick up a lot there.
07:31It didn't massively, it's 2600 revs.
07:34Carry's dropped, that was less than 250,
07:36which off 118 yards, 118 miles per hour
07:40club head speed rather, isn't great,
07:41so the efficiency did drop a fair bit there to 1.43,
07:45which actually, not something I've seen with this driver.
07:47I'm actually testing those sort of low heel strikes
07:49have performed a little bit better,
07:51so I'm wondering whether that's a ball issue,
07:52but interesting, let's hit another one.
08:00Okay, squared it up a little bit,
08:02so it's gone a little bit left there on me.
08:04That'll take some spin down,
08:05so that's dropped under 2000 revs of spin,
08:08which actually into this wind
08:09is actually really, really useful.
08:11It's given me 173 miles an hour ball speed
08:14and a very efficient strike,
08:15although like I said, it has gone a little bit left.
08:17Interesting initial data there.
08:19Let's get through a few more shots,
08:20because like I said, I want to have a good pool
08:22to pick from and really get my ideas together,
08:24and then we'll talk a bit more
08:25about the data in the conclusion.
08:40Well, that was really, really enjoyable, that session.
08:44It was like a little walk down memory lane
08:45with a driver I've used before,
08:47and if anything, I feel a little bit sad.
08:49I wanted the 975D to do a little bit better
08:53on the launch monitor,
08:54but it's very difficult to hide from those numbers,
08:56so when I compare the overall carry distance
08:59with the GT3, for example,
09:01this gave me 250 yards into this wind,
09:04whereas the GT3 was pushing 270,
09:06so nearly 20 yards of difference there.
09:09159.7 miles an hour of ball speed with this,
09:12172.2 with the GT3,
09:15and the spin was the real killer,
09:17because we're hitting into quite a strong headwind here.
09:19This was spinning at nearly 3,200 revolutions per minute.
09:23The GT3, less than 2,500,
09:26so it was just penetrating through the wind
09:28a little bit more,
09:29and in terms of efficiency,
09:31the GT3's giving me 1.47 smash factor,
09:34so the ball was coming quicker off the face
09:36relative to my club head speed,
09:38certainly than the 975D.
09:40So overall, the measurable stuff,
09:42you can't really argue with.
09:43The GT3 very much outperformed the 975D,
09:48and some of the intangible stuff, though,
09:50I still really like it.
09:52From a feel point of view,
09:53whilst Titleist have done a great job
09:54with the GT range as a whole,
09:56the sound, the feel,
09:58it's really become more palatable
10:01than some of their other ranges,
10:03I still think the 975D was better.
10:05It was softer, it was muted,
10:06it was a nice, dull thud,
10:08and I really, really enjoyed it.
10:10And let's keep it in perspective.
10:11The model I was using there, the GT3,
10:13as a stock model,
10:14retails at the best part of 600 pounds.
10:16In the setup I've got it at,
10:18with that shaft that I was fitted for,
10:19it's a north of 700 pounds.
10:21This is less than 40 pounds.
10:23Yes, you're not getting a product that performs as well,
10:26but if you're someone who needs a little bit more spin
10:28and need a little bit more help to get the ball airborne,
10:30then perhaps, for less than 40 pounds,
10:32there's some value to be had here.