My favorite club: Titleist 915F fairway wood

By Michael Geiger -- 2nd Swing Staff Writer

Every year, golfers feel a strong impulse to change up their equipment. The allure of “new” is powerful, but luckily, when it comes to golf, equipment carrying the “used” label often performs at a high level. Used clubs also carry a more reasonable price tag, which provides the golfer with tremendous value.

Many touring professionals, including players like Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson, are famously hesitant to change their equipment once they have found clubs they like. Only last year did Stenson replace the 3-wood that had been in his bag for the previous eight years.

One of the few things I have in common with Henrik Stenson is I feel a similarly strong attachment to my 3-wood, even though mine, like his, isn’t brand new. I purchased a used Titleist 915F 3-wood four years ago, and it hasn’t left my bag since that day.

A golfer can afford to hit a loose shot from time to time, but the 3-wood is usually only pulled in high-pressure situations where precision is demanded. The golfer needs to have confidence in their equipment when teeing off a hole with water left and out of bounds right, or when going for a dangerous par-5 in two.

From time to time, I have experimented with newer metalwoods, but so far, I have yet to find one that matches the Titleist 915F’s combination of versatility, feel, and power. Often, it seems like metalwoods end up having only one of either a “hot” face designed to generate high ball speeds or a “soft” face designed to enhance workability. 

Very few fairway woods strike the perfect balance between those two characteristics and possess a “solid” face, one that is powerful but doesn’t force the golfer to sacrifice feel. Luckily, I managed to strike gold in my search for such a club, and I encourage you to make the same decision I did.

The Titleist 915F features the Active Recoil Channel, which is positioned towards the front of the sole to lower the spin rate and increase overall distance. The 915F’s Ultra-Thin Face also lowers the club’s center of gravity and increases total MOI, a combination that leads to an extremely forgiving 3-wood.

For years, pulling 3-wood on a tee box or a par-5 filled me with dread. I didn’t hit it any straighter than I did my driver, and its intimidating profile didn’t inspire confidence when hitting it off the deck. Shaping the ball isn’t a problem with the 915F, and the ball speed numbers produced by it are still excellent all these years later. It’s been a huge relief knowing that if I absolutely need to hit a fairway, I can go to my 915F.

I invite you to participate in a fitting, either online or in-person, with one of 2nd Swing’s expert fitters before purchasing your next club or set of clubs. But take it from me, a golfer as picky as Goldilocks, your new clubs don’t have to be the latest technology to get the ultimate performance. You’d be surprised by how some older models perform.