50 Words or Less
The Titleist TSR3 hybrid has exceptional ball speed. Very good forgiveness relative to its size. Adjustable CG and hosel combine to give you a lot of control over the ball flight.
Introduction
Titleist hybrids have become a staple in the bag of Matt Meeker [full WITB HERE]. This year, he’s hitting his long approaches with Titleist’s more accessible hybrid, the TSR2 [full review HERE]. The Titleist TSR3 hybrid – with its compact shape and players designation – caught my attention and made me wonder if I should be following Matt’s lead, so I got one in for testing.
Looks
The Titleist TSR3 hybrid is one of the most compact hybrids on the market. From heel to toe it frames the ball with just a little extra on either side. It has a slight pear shape and a tidy front-to-back measurement. The scoring lines run the full length of the tall face. Overall, the TSR3 hybrid looks the part of the players hybrid – enough extra size to feel forgiving without being so big that it feels unwieldy.
Flipping the club over reveals a sole that’s dominated by the SureFit Adjustable CG Track. Despite it taking up so much real estate on the sole, it’s quite understated, and I can imagine many golfers see it without even realizing what it is. All of the Titleist and TSR3 branding is pushed to the extreme heel and toe, almost off the sole entirely.
Sound & Feel
My notes describe the feel of the Titleist TSR3 hybrid as “solid with some pop.” There’s also the more subjective note, “So damn good.” This is exactly the feel I want in a hybrid. The solidity makes it feel iron-like and controlled, but there’s something extra that lets me know the ball is going to carry a long way.
This great feel is complemented by a sound that’s quiet, low-pitched, and full. Just like the feel, it reminds me a lot of an iron but with more horsepower.
Though this is a players club, the feedback from the Titleist TSR3 hybrid is subtle. Through the hands, the feedback on strike location is precise but tame. No mishit, even a big one, is going to sting your hands or steal the satisfaction of the strike. The sound gets a little dull off center, but you need to pay attention to notice the difference.
Performance
When I started testing the Titleist TSR3 hybrid, I was looking for the hallmarks of a players club – workability and precision. While those traits are certainly present, what jumped to the front of the line was the ball speed. During my fitting, the Trackman was regularly reporting smash factors of 1.5 – the maximum possible. In or out of the players category, the TSR3 hybrid has all the ball speed you could ask for.
As the shots piled up, the next thing that caught my eye was the consistency. Small misses on the heel or toe still put up smash factors in the high 1.4s. Bigger misses still yielded very good results – 200 yard carries instead of 220, for example. Short of chunking the ball or hitting the very edge of the face, the TSR3 hybrid turns every swing in to a playable shot, which is not something I expected from a club this small.
Turning back to those player’s characteristics, the Titleist TSR3 hybrid has those, too. The ball launches on a piercing trajectory with slightly above average spin, but those are just the default settings. With some modest swing adjustments, you can flight the ball higher or lower. Similarly, the TSR3 hybrid is happy to move the ball right or left. In spite of its speed and forgiveness, this is still every bit a players hybrid.
Something that’s new for the TSR3 hybrid is enhanced adjustability. The new SureFit Adjustable CG Track System on the TSR3 has five positions where its predecessor, the TSi3 hybrid, had only three [review HERE]. As you can see above, this is a very tidy system, but it’s not built for on-the-fly adjustments. This fits Titleist’s philosophy of being fit for your clubs, then just playing golf. Set it and forget it. It’s also important to note that this is a fine tuning mechanism. If you need a slice buster, this isn’t it. The extreme positions do offer strong biases than on the TSi3, but this system is for perfecting your ball flight not fixing a chronic issue.
That said, if you do have a major problem to address, pairing the SureFit Adjustable CG with the SureFit Hosel can go a long way. Titleist hasn’t touched this system because there’s no reason to. This hosel gives you sixteen settings that span three degrees of loft and lie angles. The combination of loft, lie, and CG can go a long way toward minimizing a miss or promoting a preferred shot shape, trajectory, or distance.
Conclusion
The Titleist TSR3 hybrid is one of the best players hybrids in 2023. It has elite ball speed and more forgiveness than you can fairly expect from a club this compact. If you’re looking for even more forgiveness, be sure to check out the TSR2 hybrid or the TSR1 hybrid [review HERE] for higher launch and easier speed.
Visit Titleist HERE
Titleist TSR3 Hybrid Price & Specs
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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3 Comments
Thanks for the review Matt! You are my ‘go to’ as we are very similar in swing speed. Your reviews are always honest and straightforward. Hit’m well!
Matt, how would you compare this to the STZ 230 hybrid that you reviewed earlier this year.
Zach,
I prefer the TSR3 for the adjustability and the ball speed.
-Matt