Cameron Young experimenting with prototype 2-wood at THE PLAYERS Championship

Given the demand for distance and accuracy off the tee at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, players need to consistently combine length with precision on their tee shots. On some holes, though, hitting driver can bring extra trouble into play, but a 3-wood may leave too much yardage into the green on the approach shot.

Well, how about a 2-wood?

On Tuesday at THE PLAYERS Championship, GolfWRX.com spotted Titleist staffer Cameron Young trying out an all-new Titleist TSR 2-wood prototype club.

Although it may have looked brand new to an outsider, Young’s idea for a 2-wood actually began last summer, according to Titleist Tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck.

“We had some discussion with Cam Young that he was looking for something that was a little more optimized off the tee,” Van Wezenbeeck told GolfWRX.com. “So, Tom Bennett – who’s the principal engineer for our fairway woods and hybrids – spoke with him. He had designed some internal prototypes of 2-woods in the past, and we went through a discussion of what type of volume (size) we would be looking for, what type of loft we would be looking for, and what type of performance.

“(Young) was looking for a certain ball speed and yardage gap from his driver. One of the things for him with the 3-wood is he wanted something with a little more volume that he felt more confident off the tee with, so he was looking for a little bigger footprint and something that was a little bit more penetrating than some of the 3-woods he’s played in the past. This will be a club he’ll hit 90 percent off the tee, versus the ground, so for the golf courses that set up for that, that’s what he’s looking for.”

The new TSR 2-wood prototype has a larger head profile compared to the company’s popular TSR2 and TSR3 fairway woods, and it has a taller face with more hitting area; that leaves more space on the face for mishits on the titanium club head.

Compared to a driver, which spins about 2100-2400 rpm, and a 3-wood, which spins about 3000-3400 rpm, the new 2-wood hits a spin window between 2700-3000 rpm.

Van Wezenbeeck and Young set out to achieve ball speeds from the 2-wood about 8-10 mph slower than his current driver. Initially, using the 13-degree 2-wood that measured the length of his 3-wood, Young was finding the speed to be a little too fast. However, they decided to cut the length down by a half-inch, and added a touch of loft to the head, using Titleist’s D4 SureFit setting, which adds 0.75 degrees of loft.

They also tested multiple shafts, eventually settling on a Mitsubishi Tensei 1K shaft that matched up with Young’s driver shaft.

In general, the new 2-wood has two interchangeable weights on the sole, and it’s made to look like a fairway wood with its shaping and groove pattern on the face.

As confirmed by Van Wezenbeeck, the TSR 2-wood is a Tour prototype, and the company is still in the process of gaining information and feedback from the players.

“This may or may not ever come to retail,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “It's a chance for us to learn and put it in future products that may not be exactly this … It has forward and aft CG (center of gravity), similar to our TSR4, and we’re just seeing where that is shaking out, like do players prefer the forward or back CG? What setting are we ending up in?

"We had less than 10 heads this week. We’re truly trying to just learn about this product and who’s it for, and what type of performance variables do we want and need. The great part is this is the first week with it, and we’re getting lots of positive feedback on performance, on sound, on looks. All of those seem to be checking a lot of boxes.”

The new 2-wood prototype might even make its way into Young’s bag this week.

“It’s really, really good,” Young told GolfWRX.com.

Positive feedback confirmed.