New three-part series explores the mystery and development of ‘feel’ in the PGA TOUR’s most played irons
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Finding Feel
CARLSBAD, Calif. (Feb. 29, 2024) – The feel of a pure iron shot is a sensation every golfer chases. It’s a personal experience, a phenomenon that occurs within half a millisecond, that’s difficult to describe – and even tougher to create.
“Finding Feel,” a new original three-part docuseries, brings you inside Titleist’s efforts to unravel the mystery of feel and find an answer to the bewildering question, “How do you engineer an emotion?”
“Every time we do a survey on what dedicated golfers want, the number one response regarding irons is, ‘I want feel,’” says Steve Pelisek, President, Titleist Golf Clubs.
“It’s a difficult problem for an engineer,” says Alan Hocknell, Vice President, Advanced Research and Innovation. “Because when you add complexity to the design of the club head, in order to gain advantages such as easier launch conditions or better off-center impact, these are naturally in conflict with the best feel performance.”
“Finding Feel” takes golfers on this R&D journey, exploring how Titleist engineers collaborate with the world’s best players to find the best combination of performance and feel.
“Finding Feel” debuts today on the Titleist YouTube channel and at Titleist.com/FindingFeel.
Titleist has been the top choice of players on the PGA TOUR for 19 of the last 20 seasons, including each of the last nine. T100 is the most played iron model on the PGA TOUR and has been since the first generation’s introduction on TOUR in 2019.
The Titleist T-Series iron family – T100, T150, T200 and T350 – launched on the PGA TOUR at the 2023 Memorial Tournament, seeing widespread adoption across the worldwide professional tours. Each of the four models has been played at the game’s highest level.
“I just didn't know that it was possible to have that much feel in an iron and then still have the forgiveness,” said PGA TOUR winner, Will Zalatoris after first testing NEW T-Series irons. “I know exactly where I'm hitting the ball on the face to the dimple, and now I’m still getting the forgiveness.”
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Zalatoris games a set of T150 irons (4-P) and plays a T350 3 iron as a driving iron, while Cameron Young opts for a T200 3 iron along with T100 4-5 irons at the top end of his mixed set.
Said Young: “I think the work [R&D puts in] to make them feel consistent throughout the line from an MB all the way up through some of the bigger heads I think, one, creates a consistency that you need to know what you're going to get because that way, you know what you're looking for in that strike. Two, I think the way these new ones feel, the new T100s are unbelievable. They feel so much like a blade. Just to know that it’s going to be that rewarding when you do get it right is something that obviously, you strive for.”
The feeling of flushing a pure iron shot is difficult to describe – and even tougher to create. From science to sensation, the Titleist irons team digs deep to wrap their arms around golf’s most subjective challenge and merge the worlds of performance and feel.
Finding Feel | Episode 1 | The Subjective Objective
The phenomenon of feel occurs within half a millisecond. How do you capture and analyze an experience that happens in a window that small? For Titleist, it all comes down to acoustics. The prolific key that begs the question, “How far can we push this?”
Theory can only get you so far. After developing their refined approach to feel, the Titleist team is ready for the ultimate test - validating their designs with the best golfers in the world. Have they found that elusive combination of performance and feel? The answer awaits at impact.
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