A game-improving hybrid that Cam Young played? It’s an all-purpose weapon for me.

One of the coolest gear stories I’ve seen on the PGA Tour this year lost some of its enthusiasm when Cameron Young switched from the Titleist GT1 Hybrid he used to win the Players Championship.

That didn’t dampen my enthusiasm in the least to see if this club could contribute to my game. And it turns out this game-improving hybrid is the “7-wood” I’ve ever owned.

I had my GT1 Hybrid fitted at the Titleist Performance Institute last month. And to my surprise, the club easily defeated the gamer in front of me and made me the bag to compete in the recent State Amateur Qualifier.

This is the part of the bag I’ve struggled with finding the right fit for years, but now I might have a solution that just needs to be pried from my cold, dead hands.

What is Titleist GT1 Hybrid?

When the GT1 Hybrid was released, I had no idea it was a club that would fit in a tour pro’s bag, much less that it would fit in a tour pro’s bag. 1 in Titleist’s metal wood lineup has historically been an ultra-lightweight, high-launch model aimed at helping players with slower swing speeds hit the ball higher.

But both the GT1 fairway wood and the hybrid are in the bags of Titleist staff players this season, including Young and Tom Kim. Hybrids feature an oversized profile that falls somewhere between a hybrid and a high-loft fairway wood, with a sharp leading edge to help cut through the grass.

This size is unusual in the industry and only the Callaway Apex UW fits a similar profile.

Young and Kim both added hybrids to their bags at the Farmers Insurance Open, using their versatility out of the rough to get even more launches. Young installed a fairway wood shaft to get, as JJ Van Wesenbeek, Titleist’s senior director of player promotion, puts it, “more flight” from the fairway shaft’s softer tip. The GT1 Hybrid has the unique ability to accept both standard 0.370-inch diameter hybrid shafts and 0.335-inch fairway wood shafts, but only the club’s featured shaft, the Fujikura Air Speeder, is currently available from Titleist.

A more standard weight shaft also allows the club to be played with a more standard swing weight.

I was immediately intrigued as I was looking for a club to transition from mini drivers to irons.

what I was looking for

I ignored hybrids for a few years because I couldn’t find one that didn’t go left. Last year I had a Ping G440 3 hybrid with a Nippon Modus GOST shaft that immediately outperformed the rest.

It was easy to launch into the air and hit about 240 yards.

The shaft is super heavy and stiff, giving me the powerful flight I was looking for. Even when he got up, he didn’t let the ball fly to the left.

But for some reason, this year I struggled with the club and the left-hand mistake reared its ugly head again. Perhaps related to that, the spin dropped a bit and the ball seemed to fly too much.

Both problems occurred during the first qualifying session of the season, forcing him to tee off the hybrid multiple times on the short, hard course. What’s the point of hitting a hybrid 280 yards when the fairway ends at 260 yards?

Fortunately, I found a new shaft that partially solves the spin and remaining issues with the Fujikura Ventus Blue HB+. This new build is good, but still needs a bit of tinkering as the club feels a bit light since the old shaft was quite heavy.

Enter GT1 hybrid

Titleist GT1 Custom Hybrid

From Fairway Jockey $329.00

Also available: PGA Tour Superstore, Titleist

During a fitting at TPI with ace fitter Lewis Reynard, who had previously fitted me with a set of T-Series irons and SM11 wedges, we were comparing the GT1 and the new GTS3 7-wood and 5-wood.

The reason hybrid gaps are generally better for me is because I tend to have more loft at impact. When I get a wood with a lot of loft, like a 7-wood, I usually hit it straight into the air with too much spin. For me, the hybrid flies flatter and has better control.

Louis gave me the GT1 first and to be honest it never gave anything else a chance. Lofting the 20-degree GT1 “4 Hybrid” by 1 degree and flattening it by 1 degree resulted in 3 mph higher ball speed, 20 feet higher peak height, and 300 rpm more spin than Gamer. The club cut through the grass like an iron and launched very easily. Each shot was a simple high draw. The GT1, set at 19 degrees, was 0.25 inches shorter than my Gamer with the same loft.

The GTS3, a 7-wood with a reduced loft on a 5-wood shaft, was close, but the hybrid was superior in terms of ease of use and stability. Ventus Blue HB’s timing also seemed to be improving.

This game-improving hybrid was the best “7-wood” I had that day.

GT1 on the course

I don’t think I realized how valuable the GT1 Hybrid would be to me until I actually played around on the track.

When I got the clubs, my first thought was to use them depending on the situation, since I knew that trajectory-wise my Ping Hybrid was a good middle ground between a GT1 and a 3-iron. When the course is really hard and I need to hit the ball high to stay on the green, I use the GT1.

But then I realized that it can be flattened even when exposed to the wind. Suddenly you had a club that you could tee off without worrying about it flying too far or ballooning up into the air and going nowhere.

What really attracted me was the grassy interaction outside on the deck. In a practice round for a tournament, I was hit a 220-yard shot into the wind with little bailout area and ended up over water all the way to the green. The lie was a little thin and there wasn’t much grass, so I had a hard time hitting the gamer hybrid cleanly.

I then grabbed the GT1 and streamed it into the center of the green, 15 feet from the hole, a nice divot and all.

Once I discovered how easily I could flatten the trajectory, GT1 became a gamer. The next day I was able to hit 4 out of 5 fairways, including the tight par 5 tee shot that kept me up the night before. I connected with birdie.

conclusion

Titleist GT1 Custom Hybrid

From Fairway Jockey $329.00

Also available: PGA Tour Superstore, Titleist

If game improvement clubs can get you into the best clubs in the world, why wouldn’t it work for you?

What’s even more surprising is that the GT1 comes standard with a backweight configuration. You can move heavier weights forward to achieve lower flight. But I haven’t even touched it yet. You can fly the GT1 from 130 feet in the air to 70 feet flat. What do I need to try forward weighting?

If you’re afraid of left mistakes, you should also know that I actually moved the weight back from a flat position to a standard lie because I struggled with turnovers. The results will vary depending on the person, but for me, who often makes left-handed mistakes, the results so far are very good.

So, for those like me who have overlooked it before, GT1 is worth your attention.

The author welcomes your comments: Jack.Hirsh@golf.com.

Looking to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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