Titleist T-Series Irons and U505 Utility on PGA TOUR

Three new Titleist T-Series irons are available to PGA TOUR players for the first time this week. The T100, T100•S and T200 will replace current models later this summer. A U•505 Utility is also coming.

Titleist T-Series Irons at the Travelers Championship

The release of pictures of the new Titleist T-Series irons provides evidence that we’re creeping towards the fall release season. The industry’s launch cadence is typically predictable. However, there may be some surprises this year.

Despite compounding shortages of shafts and grips, expect some companies to push forward on schedule. Others are all but certain to hold new launches into 2022.

With Titleist announcing PGA TOUR seeding of the upcoming second generation of its T-series irons, the company looks to be among those sticking to the schedule for the rest of 2021.

As is typical for Titleist Tour seeding, the story is light on technical details (literally none) and heavy on the theme of validation with the requisite reminder that Titleist has been the most-played iron on Tour for seven years straight (and 16 of the last 17).

We expect it will be another month or so before Titleist gets us specifics about the technology story of the new lineup. For now, we get a few pictures, which is just enough to make a few reasonable assumptions.

2022 Titleist T100 and T100•S

The T100 is born of the AP2. It’s the workhorse of the Titleist T-Series on Tour and given that Tour pros are typically change-averse, don’t expect any radical departures from the formula. The cosmetic changes are obvious enough but you shouldn’t expect any sort of radical performance departure.

Given that the current T100•S is effectively a stronger lofted version of the T100 meant to put the “Player’s” back in the Player’s Distance category, you probably shouldn’t expect too much to change there, either. It’s still going to be one of the more compact offerings in the Player’s Distance category.

The opportunity for significant change is found in the other two Titleist T-Series offerings making their way to the Tour this week.

2022 Titleist T200

The current T200 is a curious offering for Titleist. Though a tick bigger, like the T100•S, it fits solidly within the Player’s Distance category. The visible Max Impact Technology was perhaps a bit showy by Titleist standards and the lofts were absolutely JACKED. Perhaps to a degree that was uncomfortable for some in the target demographic.

Like the AP1s, Titleist pushed the boundaries of what’s playable as evidenced by the 43-degree pitching wedge. We can talk about dynamic loft and higher launch because of it but the reality is that no matter how well designed a jacked iron is, if proper gapping is important to you, recalibrating the rest of the bag around the irons is inevitable.

I liked the T200 enough that I tried to make it work by dropping a hybrid and tweaking wedge gaps but, ultimately, I ended up bending them to better blend with the rest of my bag.

So, with all of that said, my expectation this time around is that the iron will feature similar technology, albeit buried under the hood, to give the irons a more traditional look. I wouldn’t be shocked if Titleist rolled back the lofts.

Given that Titleist has expanded its iron lineup, it has the opportunity to leave the really strong stuff to the T300 and T400 crowd while shifting the T200 to compete more directly with things like the TaylorMade P790.

I’d love to see a more balanced approach to serving the needs of golfers who want more distance and those for whom a 43-degree pitching wedge is a bit too much.

Fingers crossed.

Titleist U505 Utility

On the model number alone, U505 utility would seem to sit between the U-510 and more forgiving U-500. That may be exactly what it is. Seeding it to the Tour would suggest that if Titleist chooses to launch two utility irons again—and there’s no guarantee of that—the U505 would be the more “better-player-centric” of the two.

While you can reasonably expect some sort of performance story, the biggest need for Titleist in the utility space is better feel on off-center hits. When struck well, the current U-series feels as good as nearly anything else. When you miss a bit … unpleasant is putting it mildly.

Again, fingers crossed for improvement where it is desperately needed.

Titleist T-Series: More To Come

The expectation is that Titleist will spill the beans on its entire new T-Series iron lineup later this summer, likely sometime in late July. While not included in the Tour seeding, updated versions of its CB and MB irons are likely as are new version of the T300 and T400, though it’s possible the T400 may come later, as it did in the current series.

As always, we’ll share more information as it becomes available.

Until then, let us know what you think about the new Titleist irons.

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