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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Titleist Introduces New 716 CB and MB Irons

Titleist Introduces New 716 CB and MB Irons for Tour-Proven Shotmaking and Solid Forged Feel; CB’s High-Tech Construction Provides Shotmaking with Forgiveness; MB’s Modern, High Muscle Profile Enhances Tour-Proven Look and Feel

(FAIRHAVEN, Mass.) – New Titleist 716 CB and MB irons advance the heritage of the PGA Tour’s most trusted blade irons through innovative design and engineering, and a development process driven by feedback from the best ball strikers in the game.

The new 716 CB is a modern cavity blade engineered with industry-leading amounts of high density tungsten for tour-proven shotmaking with added forgiveness. The new 716 MB, inspired and validated by the world’s best shotmakers, is a pure muscle back blade with modern refinements that provides maximum shot control.

“In order to make the best iron product line in the world, you need to satisfy the best players in the world. And many of the world’s best prefer a cavity back or muscle back blade for control and feel,” said Chris McGinley, Vice President, Titleist Golf Club Marketing. “CB and MB have been among the most played models on the PGA Tour for years, so it’s critical that our R&D team works together with players to deliver a product that performs better and gives them more confidence.”

The most high-tech cavity blades in the game, new Titleist 716 CB irons use extreme high density tungsten weighting to position the center of gravity (CG) low and perfectly aligned at impact for more speed with tour-proven trajectory and control. An innovative co-forged construction places high density tungsten low and on the perimeter for added forgiveness in its tour-proven profile.

“The technology we’ve added to 716 CB puts this iron in a class by itself in terms of MOI and forgiveness, and makes it clearly stand out among traditional blade forgings,” McGinley said. “The new co-forged construction and addition of high density tungsten weighting gives CB an added kick with unprecedented forgiveness in a traditional blade size.”

Inspired by the world’s best shotmakers, the new Titleist 716 MB is a precise, high muscle back design with a squarer toe, thin topline and pre-worn leading edge that delivers maximum shot control with pure, forged muscle back feel.

“716 MB is a throwback to our Forged 680 Series, which our R&D team has really made modern through high-tech CAD modeling, with input from players such as Adam Scott and Webb Simpson,” McGinley said. “Shotmaking is all about confidence, and the way this club looks at address, feels at impact and performs through the turf is what our players who prefer a traditional muscle back blade want.”

Forged from 1025 carbon steel, new Titleist CB and MB irons feature tour-preferred constant blade lengths with minimal progressive offset for maximum workability. Compact shapes with precise, progressive CG locations and traditional tour lofts deliver the proven flight, feel and shot-making confidence that have made CB and MB the choice of many of the world’s best players.

NEW 716 CB TECHNOLOGY: New CB irons provide shot control with forgiveness and solid forged feel through the game’s most high-tech blade construction:

• High Density Tungsten weighting creates a Low CG that is perfectly aligned at impact to increase speed and distance. The tungsten weights are shaped to perimeter and precisely placed low and out using an Advanced Co-Forging Process pioneered for golf clubs by Titleist R&D. The result is solid feel and higher MOI.

• A forgiving High-MOI Design – with an average of 55.2 grams of tungsten per head – drives higher ball speeds across the face for more consistent distance on off-center hits, without the loss of workability or shot control, at the CB’s constant, tour-preferred blade length. The forgiveness of 716 CB, with 12 percent higher MOI than the previous generation 714 CB, is comparable to the previous generation 714 AP2.

• Optimized CG heights, low with a slight progression up through the set, deliver precise, tour-proven trajectory, while increasing the sweet spot for solid feel.

“With this new CB, we are effectively bringing the high-tech construction of our AP2 platform to the cavity back blade category,” said Marni Ines, Director, Titleist Irons Development. “Thanks to our co-forging process, we can now shape the tungsten weights exactly to the perimeter of the club head, which allows us to place the center of gravity exactly where we want it, low and aligned with the point of impact, for more speed. At the same time we’ve been able to increase forgiveness to a previously unforeseen level.”

“It’s still a shotmaker’s club,” said Dan Stone, Vice President, Titleist Golf Club R&D. “It’s still a pretty small blade, but it’s now also a very forgiving club. We’ve never had a tour player complain about getting more forgiveness. Everyone can benefit from ball speed on off center hits.”

NEW 716 MB TECHNOLOGY: New MB irons deliver maximum shot control with pure, forged feel through a precise, muscle back design with high-tech refinements:

• A modern High Muscle Design with a squarer toe and thin topline, inspired by the Titleist Forged 680 series (circa 2003), delivers tour-proven flight with maximum shot and trajectory control. The high muscle back weighting, better positioned behind the sweet spot, provides pure, forged feel on every shot.

• Optimized CG heights, low with a slight progression up through the set, deliver precise, tour-proven trajectory, while increasing the sweet spot for solid feel.

• Designed using extensive player input and High-Tech CAD modeling, new MB irons feature precise profiles that look perfect from long irons to short and provide consistent performance on every shot.

“There’s quite a bit of CAD and engineering work that went into the new MB. This is a very well engineered muscle back blade,” Stone said. “The Forged 680 was a product that was developed on the bench with hand shaping. We’ve taken the 680 and done a lot of work in CAD to get the muscle in the right place and use precise measurements to drive the shapes and sizes so that they blend properly as you progress through the set. When we gave Webb Simpson the new MB’s and he saw that consistency from club to club, he told us he couldn’t even look at the 680s anymore.”

SOLID, FORGED FEEL: The solid, forged feel of CB and MB irons is enhanced by their progressive CG locations positioned closer to the point of impact, which produce a larger sweet spot.

A Pre-Worn Leading Edge on both models delivers precise turf performance with less dig, providing a fast and smooth transition into and out of the turf.

ON TOUR: More than 60 players across the worldwide professional tours have put new Titleist CB and MB models in play since the start of the seeding and validation process. Many players, including Webb Simpson, Jimmy Walker, Ian Poulter, Justin Thomas, Bernd Wiesberger and Zac Blair put the new models in the bag the first week they were available. Most recently, Byeong Hun An earned his first victory on the KPGA Tour playing a set of 716 MB models.

WHAT PLAYERS ARE SAYING…

Webb Simpson: “The R&D team at Titleist always has the same goal of making things better. With MBs, it’s hard to improve the technology that much, but they’ve done it. It goes through the turf better. It seems like with every new MB that comes out, there’s more consistency. When I first got on TrackMan with the 716s I was able to see how much more consistent they were. My spin rates were a lot tighter. Shot shape was better. I want to be able to hit the ball higher with more spin, but not lose any distance, and the new MBs were doing that for me.”

“I think 716 MB has a great hybrid look between the 680 that I’ve been playing and the more recent models. I’ve been playing MB’s since I was 15. Fell in love with them. As a kid, you fall in love with how it looks, not how it feels or plays. I fell in love with the look at first, but the more I played them, the more I learned to love them. I’m kind of an old school guy. I like the feel of an MB. I like to be able to shape the ball a little more so, once I started playing them, I can’t get rid of them.”

Adam Scott: “What’s so important in a blade I believe is the sole and the leading edge. For me, I like that to be fairly sharp and fairly flat. Not too much bounce on it. You want that crisp feel in the turf. That’s what a muscle back has always been about. The new MB certainly has that progressive blend through the set. It’s still very clean which is important but that toe shape is looking very neat and progressive through the set, blending nicely, particularly in that 7- and 8-iron area.”

Zac Blair: “The New CB’s have been great. I put them into play the first week I got them. The new profile has a classic, clean look and a great feel. I’ve really liked the strong, high ball flight these clubs have given me, and the added forgiveness I’m getting from the tungsten is a huge bonus.”

HIGH PERFORMANCE STOCK SHAFTS: Titleist is the exclusive launch partner of the 716 CB’s stock shaft, the True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT. Featuring new, tour-proven innovative ascending mass technology, the True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT produces lighter long iron shafts for launch and speed and heavier short iron shafts for control.

716 MB features the high performance, tour-proven True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shaft for tour-preferred flight, feel, feedback and performance.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY: New Titleist 716 CB and MB irons will be available in golf shops worldwide beginning Oct. 23.

Titleist 716 CB
• Steel: MAP $150 per club ($1,199/set of 8) | MSRP $168 per club
• Graphite: MAP $175 per club ($1,399/set of 8) | MSRP $193 per club.

Titleist 716 MB
• Steel: MAP $137.50 per club ($1,099/set of 8) | MSRP $155 per club
• Graphite: MAP $162.50 per club ($1,299/set of 8) | MSRP $180 per club.

ON THE WEB: www.titleist.com

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