Titleist GT280 Mini Driver

Posted by GolfBox on 1st Apr 2025

The mini driver fad shows no signs of flaming out. In fact, 2025 is already shaping up to be one of the most active years for the nascent Mini Me category.

The latest addition is from Titleist, who dip their toes in the water with their new GT280 mini driver. Given the previous TSR “mini driver” was labelled a 2-wood by Titleist, the new GT280 is Titleist’s first “official” mini driver.

But semantics aside, you can expect bold and versatile performance from this intriguing little unit. Here’s why…

TEE OR FAIRWAY?

Some golfers will only play the GT280 off the tee. Others play it as a longer fairway wood alternative. A few might use it for both.

The challenge for Titleist was to make a mini driver that would smoke tee balls yet perform equally as well off the deck. Titleist, however, were keenly aware of making a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ kind of club that would provide meaningless performance.

The solution was simple but not exactly straightforward: the GT280 platform would need to take inspiration from both GT drivers and GT fairway woods.

TITLEIST GT280 MINI ME

The new GT280 mini driver bumps the Titleist driver line-up out to five models, joining the 460cc Titleist GT1, GT2, GT3 and GT4 drivers.

For all intents and purposes, the new GT280 mini driver can be considered a scaled down model of Titleist’s GT4 driver — just more fairway wood-y.

The Titleist GT280 features the same lightweight seamless thermoform carbon crown as the rest of the GT driver line-up. The inclusion freed up Titleist to reposition the GT280’s centre of gravity to tune trajectory while also enhancing stability and ball speed.

Meanwhile, a forward/rear adjustable weighting configuration is inspired by the Titleist GT4 driver. It offers a couple of CG settings: the heavier 10g weight in the rear and 3g weight in the front port produces a high-launch/low-spin ball flight (which does sound a lot like every other driver in the Titleist GT line-up). However, flipping the weights will create a more penetrating, lower-spinning performance profile.

NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE

Featuring a much deeper face than any of Titleist’s GT fairway woods, a priority for the GT280 design team was improving the performance of low strikes on the face.

The face design of the GT280 mini driver takes its inspiration from Titleist’s GT fairway woods. It utilises a forged L-Cup face but features a new insert which wraps around the bottom of the club face.

The combination raised ball speed retention for low strikes, both from the tee and fairway. And it also minimised the type of ballooning spin that emanates from lower on the face, offering more forgiving and consistent performance.

The changes continue on the leading edge of the new mini driver: compared to a typical driver, the Titleist GT280 features a lower leading edge.

This automatically raises the strike location for additional forgiveness for low and off-centre strikes.

SIZE MATTERS

As you may have already deduced, the GT280 features a 280cc head. In the mini driver category that’s quite a bit smaller than its competitors but is key to the GT280’s versatility as both a tee-ball and longer fairway wood option.

The GT280 mini driver also features 13° of loft, which is the same as Titleist’s previous TSR 2-wood. However, the new mini driver is fitted with Titleist’s SureFit hosel, which permits loft alterations of 0.75° lower and 1.5° higher.

The standard shaft length of the GT280 mini driver is 43.5”. It’s the equivalent of a stock three wood shaft length. While it will slow club head speed a fraction, will provide more control.

WHY THE TITLEIST GT280 MINI DRIVER?

Titleist suggest the GT280 will be easier to hit straight than the regular-sized drivers. If you’re struggling to find a fairway off the tee, the new GT280 mini driver may be a welcome compromise.

As a fairway wood, the GT280 mini driver offers more forgiveness and length. However, if you’re already struggling to hit fairway woods off the deck, the larger and deeper head of the GT280 mini driver won’t necessarily make things any easier for you.