DESCRIPTION

A Tour-inspired fairway metal featuring a Multi-Relief Sole for enhanced performance that allows for crisp, solid contact from a variety of turf conditions.

The fairway metal may be the most under-rated and least publicized club in the bag. It doesn’t command the $400 price tag of some drivers, nor does it supply as much drama as “letting the big dog eat.” It’s not the newest rage in golf – that honor belongs to hybrids. It can’t make a ball spin like crazy or hit a glamorous flop shot like the modern wedge. It doesn’t make 50-foot putts (or miss three-footers) and it isn’t used on virtually every hole like irons.

Still, as a player’s handicap drops, he typically relies on his fairway woods more and more. Whether it’s playing safe on shorter, tighter par fours or hitting to long par threes or trying to reach long par fives, many better players will use their fairway metals more times during a round of golf than their driver.

Titleist has long held its own in fairway metals. Tiger Woods held onto his Titleist PT 3-wood for years after signing with Nike for a reason: he couldn’t find anything better. Last year, Titleist replaced the 904F with the 906F2. I’ve had a chance to play it, and I believe Titleist has another winner on its hands.

Technology and Design
The 906F2 features a “Tour-inspired Multi-Relief Sole” that moves the contact point forward to enable crisper strikes on the golf ball, even from tightly cut fairways. Both feature a 431 stainless steel body for a solid feel with a 275 carpenter steel insert, which provides a higher ball speed across the clubface. Both clubs feature Titleist’s modified bore-thru hosel, which helps stabilize the clubhead and transmit more feel to the golfer. Titleist has also adjusted the center of gravity of each of the 906 models to offer a bit less hook bias than you’ll find on the 904F.

The technological similarities end there and the 906F models diverge into clubs with their own unique properties.

The 906F2 features a deeper face (and one extra scoreline) with a more forward center of gravity (CG) for a neutral ball flight and maximum shot control. It features a large face area, with a little added room low towards the heel and toe, which helps to increase the effective hitting area over the 904F.

Traditionally, Titleist has offered only one fairway wood and two drivers, but the introduction of the 906F4 changes that game. In looking at the specification and technology differences between the two models, a pattern emerges: though both are geared towards the “better” or “serious” player, the new 906F4 will likely benefit a lot more players as it is geared towards more forgiveness, added ease of use in getting the ball airborn from the fairway, and more distance via an optimized launch. This notion is backed up in play as well, as you’ll find out in the “Performance” section below.

Esthetics

Titleist’s full line of clubs exhibit little flash, opting instead of substance over style. But that’s not to say that Titleist’s offerings don’t have a style of their own. I’ve used words like “refined,” “classic,” and “austere” to describe Titleist’s clubs in the past, and the same words apply to the the 906F2.

At address, both clubs are pure Titleist, with a gloss black finish and a raised triangle/bar logo on the crown. The clubface itself is a simple combination of six (906F4) or seven (906F2) white scorelines set against a satin silver finish. The hosel is similarly uncomplicated. Finally, the Tour-inspired pear-shaped profile inspires confidence at address and frames the ball nicely, allowing for easy alignment and setup.

Hidden below the toe, a classy “PT” graphic sits quietly. The sole shows a bit of flair, starting with an inset, black-filled portion (the “sole relief” mentioned above) set against a brushed silver. A red painted channel continues the scoop’s lines toward the general contact point. The scripted “Titleist” appears along the toe edge of the scoop, the model name (“906F2” or “906F4”) along the other. The bore-through hosel, a small tuning port, and the stamped loft complete the sole’s look.

In this day and age, sexy typically sells really well. Most low handicappers realize, though, that sexy doesn’t hit the golf ball. I’m in favor of clean lines and a simple appearance, and the 906F2 and 906F4 deliver.

Performance
The 904F was a substantial improvement over Titleist’s previous fairway wood, the 980F. The 904F was, at the time, one of the best fairway metals on the market, and this time around the 906F duo makes a similarly significant leap in playability by improving on that which needed improvement and leaving alone all that was successful. Three design factors significantly improve the performance: the extra clubface area, the sole and resulting contact point, and the improved CG location.

The clubface on both the 906F2 and 906F4 were extended low and towards both the heel and toe, providing for more clubface area towards the bottom of the clubhead. The extra area greatly increases the odds of a slight mishit still finding the target with respectable distance. It allows for easier play particularly from the fairway, where tight lies often occur. Though the true measure of the increased playability is very small, it’s noticeably easier. This added face area is perhaps more prominent in the more playable 906F4 due to the wider nature of the 906F4’s clubface over the deeper 906F2’s.

The multi-relief sole improves two aspects of performance: setup and contact. At setup, even on sidehill lies or with the toe slightly higher than the heel, the multi-relief sole resists opening or closing the clubface. Regardless of ball position and lie angle, these clubs will sit squarely behind the ball, providing confidence in your aim.

At impact, the sole’s contact point is closer toward the clubface, allowing for increased versatility in not only playability from differing lies but in angle of attack and shot selection. With the 904F, hitting a high shot played well forward in your stance was difficult given the contact point further back on the sole. Attempting such a shot often resulted in slightly thin shots that came out lower than normal. With the 906s, this shot is relatively simple, as are the others like a stock shot, a “pinch” shot back in your stance, and even shots from fairway bunkers. Likewise, shots from the thinnest of fairway lies or even hardpan are made easier with the improved sole and contact point.

Finally, the improved location of the CG is beneficial to both classes of golfers. With the lower, deeper CG the 906F4 improves on the 904F’s stability at impact, providing easy forgiveness and a higher ball flight than previously capable. This will benefit slower swingers, players who have trouble lifting the ball from tight fairway lies, and players who can sometimes get a little wilder with even their fairway woods.

The 906F2, in contrast, moved the CG location higher and forward in the clubhead. This benefits my game and, I would suspect, the games of other very low-handicap golfers with increased workability of both shot height and shape. While I often had trouble manipulating the ball flight with the 904F, it’s quite simple with the 906F2 whether I want to hit a low cut, a high draw, or any other shot.

Titleist must have realized that the 906F2 was perhaps a bit too demanding for many golfers. The release of the 906F4 comes only one year after the 906F2’s introduction. It’s a wise move, I feel, and one backed by Titleist’s long-time success in a two-driver strategy that continues to this day. Like the 907D2, the 906F2 is for the very good golfer. The 906F4, like the 907D1, is in a position to help the good golfer who isn’t quite in the 0-3 handicap range just yet. The 906F4 features more forgiveness than workability.

These differences are not simply on paper – they’re very noticeable on the golf course. With a swing that I would expect would produce a small fade or cut with the 906F2, the 906F4 would produce a straight shot. While I would expect to pay a penalty for shots hit off the toe and heel with the 906F2, the 906F4 got those shots in the air quickly, on-target, and with minimal distance loss. I’ve heard that most great players tend to miss shots low and high, which complement the 906F2’s deeper face. For the “good” player, the 906F4’s extra face area in the toe and heel will come in handy.

I tested the 906F2 with 15° loft and the new 906F4 with 13.5° loft, both with a stiff UST ProForce v2 85 fairway shaft. I’m currently a 2.9 index golfer. I use my fairway woods from the tee and the fairway in roughly equal doses.

Despite the lower center of gravity, the 13.5° 906F4 produced a slightly lower ball flight than the 15° 906F2. The lower CG’s higher ball flight couldn’t overcome the 1.5° difference in loft, but it closed the gap a little.

With a driver swing speed of just under 110 MPH, I can typically count on my 906F2 carrying the ball about 235 yards from the tee – average to slightly longer than I can get with other similarly lofted fairway woods. As expected, the 13.5° 906F4 carries an extra 10 yards due to the lower launch angle – a welcome perk when using the 906F4 off the tee. The 15.5° 906F4 would have likely resulted in a small loss of distance for me, but the same logic doesn’t apply to everyone. If your clubhead speed isn’t 100+ MPH with your 3W, you may actually gain distance by increasing the launch angle a bit, and a similarly lofted 906F4 may give you more distance (and forgiveness) than your current fairway metal. Either way, Titleist gets good distance out of their fairway woods without the usual tricks like a longer or lighter shaft than standard.

The 906 feel is pure Titleist: a great blend of softness with explosive power. Sweet spot contact is buttery with a rocket ball flight and misses will transmit just enough feel to let better players know where they made contact. Though neither club is quite as forgiving as some of the larger, higher-MOI fairway woods on the market today, they’re more forgiving than I’d expect from a low-handicapper’s fairway metal. The sound at impact is neither dull nor pingy, but rather a solid “thwack” that is perhaps as close to the sound of persimmon as you’ll find on a modern fairway metal.

Specs
The 906F2 comes stock with the Aldila NV 75 Fairway, the Titleist 4375 Fairway, or the UST Proforce V2 85 Fairway. It’s available in lofts of 13°, 15°, and 18°, for both righties and lefties. The 906F4 comes stock with an Aldila VS Proto 80 Fairway or the Graphite Design YS-6+ Fairway. The stock grip is a Titleist Tour Velvet (with the logo thoughtfully placed beneath). Available lofts for righties and lefties are 13.5°, 15.5°, and 18.5°. Shaft length is 43″ on the two lower lofted clubs and 42.5″ on the 18/18.5° models.

Conclusion
As with their two-driver strategy, Titleist seems to be employing a “two-fairway metal” strategy here. I believe it’s to great success: very good players will gravitate towards the more workable (and less forgiving) 906F2. Golfers with a handicap of 4 or 5 and higher will likely favor the 906F4: it’s more forgiving, launches the ball higher, and is easier to use from the fairway.

Those are of course not hard and fast rules, and both Titleist and I would encourage you to visit your local pro for a proper fitting. Regardless of the model you choose, the 906F2 and 906F4 are incredibly useful clubs in the hands of a serious player. They both offer a nice blend of forgiveness with workability and combine subtle improvements with age-old good looks. It’s no wonder these clubs have seen such widespread adoption on the PGA Tour.