Watch an amateurgolf.com interview with Brett
Porath, Titleist Director of Golf Club FittingThe great thing about technological
advances
as they pertain to the game of golf is that
with
every new design, the quality of product
and
the positive impact it has on the
consumer's
game only improves.
That much is evident in
Titleist's 913 fairway woods and hybrids.
The 913 fairways and hybrids, like the 913
driver released late last year are a new ---
and
improved --- take on the successful 910
models released in 2010. With the advances
Titleist's Research and
Development team has made in the new
913
woods and hybrids, it appears a lot has
changed in the last three years.
“Golfers are always looking for more
distance
and control in their long game, but they
also
need versatility,” said Steve Pelisek,
General
Manager, Titleist Golf Clubs. “The 913
fairways
and hybrids not only deliver better
performance, they provide serious golfers
with
more options to dial-in their set
composition to
fit their long game strategy and the way
they
play the game.”
Upon release in November,
amateurgolf.com's
Pete Wlodkowski took a deep look at
Titleist's
913 Driver,
which you can read here.
Now, let's
take a similar look at the 913 Fairways
and
Hybrids:
TECH AND SPECS
Titleist's main boast with the new 913F
and
913H models is increased distance
through
improved launch conditions --- indeed, a
growing trend in the equipment industry.
The 913 fairway woods and hybrids
feature a
much lower center of gravity than the 910
models, leading towards more distance
thanks
to reduced spin. The lower center of
gravity,
of course, also helps with stability and
forgiveness on each swing.
To achieve the new center of gravity,
Titleist
made changes to the head designs and
the
SureFit Tour hosel structure, according to
a
recent Team Titleist press release. The
changes allow for more weight to be
redistributed lower in the club head.
“In combination with a new flat SureFit
Tour
weight, this allowed us to really move our
CGs
to new performance thresholds and obtain
improved distance potential,” said Dan
Stone,
Vice President of Research and
Development,
Titleist Golf Clubs.
According to Titleist's official press release,
engineers utilized a new
casting and polishing process to produce
an
ultra-thin crown, with a lower, flatter sole
profile similar to the new 913 drivers. The
913
hybrids were refined with a sleeker, tour-
inspired design. For both the 913 fairways
and
hybrids, Titleist R&D created a leaner
SureFit
Tour hosel with a lower hosel height and
tapered sleeve, which benefits CG position
as
well as the appearance at address. The
new
SureFit Tour weight on the sole further
optimizes the CG for speed and
forgiveness.
The weight has a new, flat geometry with
a
screw that holds the weight in place but
does
not extend up into the driver head,
contributing to a lower overall CG.
Respectively, the 913 fairway woods and
hybrids also feature distinctive designs.
Titleist's 2013 line of fairway woods
include
the 913F and the 913F.d Low Spin. The
chief
difference between the two is a lower
center
of gravity in the 913F.d model. The Low
Spin
models also have a different weighting
allowing
for less spin on launch.
According to Titleist, the 913F is a high
performance, classic pear shaped metal
wood
that delivers its distance thanks to low
and
deep weighting for all-around performance
either off the turf or off the tee.
The 913F.d Low Spin, on the other hand,
is a
high performance, larger full pear shaped
fairway that delivers distance with lower
spin
(measurements from Titleist player testing
indicate about 200 rpm less than 913F)
from
low and forward weighting for a more
penetrating flight.
The science behind the new 913H and
913H.d
hybrids is similar. As with the fairways,
both hybrid models were redesigned with
a
lower center of gravity to add distance.
The 913H was developed with a 'tour-
inspired'
shape, a softer toe and 'sleeker' heel. All
of
that, of course, leads towards improved
ground contact, appearance, playability
and
forgiveness.
The 913H.d plays more like the 913F.d ---
providing distance thanks to lower spin
and
optimized weighting in the clubhead.
All 913F and 913H models are equipped
with
Titleist's patented SureFit Tour adjustable
hosel, which allows golfers to set the loft,
lie
and bias of the clubhead to their specific
swings.
“We call it ‘Tour Van-in a hosel’ because
that
was our inspiration for designing SureFit
Tour
in that it provides all the power of a tour
van –
the ability to bend for loft and lie, and
interchange shafts – right on the tee at
the
point of fitting,” Stone said.
Titleist's SureFit technology is present in
all
913 models and, according to Titleist, the
dual
angle SureFit Tour hosel features a sleeve
and
ring, each with four settings. The sleeve
settings are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and the
ring
settings are lettered A, B, C, D. In total
there
are 16 settings, each creating a unique
loft
and lie combination.
CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS
The 913’s high performance stock shaft
matrix
features four tour-proven options,
including
three high-performance aftermarket shafts
(one from Aldila and two from Mitsubishi)
to fit
a wide range of players and swing
speeds.
The stock fairway lineup includes the Aldila
RIP
Phenom 80 shaft, the Mitsubishi Diamana
D+
White 82 and Mitsubishi S+ Blue 72, along
with
the Titleist Bassara W 55 (S,R,A) and 45
(L) by
Mitsubishi.
The stock hybrid lineup includes the Aldila
RIP
Phenom 80 HYB, the Mitsubishi Diamana
D+
White 92 HY, the Diamana S+ Blue 82 HY
(S)
and 72 HY (R), as well as the Titleist
Bassara
W 60 HYB (S,R,A) and 50 HYB (L) by
Mitsubishi.
In addition, Titleist offers an industry-
leading
number of custom shaft choices,
which can be
viewed here.