The Sentry marks the beginning of equipment release season for numerous brands. Pros show up with the newest gear in their bags. Spy photos from Kapalua turn into full-fledged retail releases — and away we go. It’s a cadence gearheads are used to experiencing.

But things are different this year. Instead of waiting until the Tour’s season-opening event to offer a peek at what’s coming down the pipeline, nearly every manufacturer chose to move up the tour releases. The list includes Callaway, Cobra, Ping, Srixon and TaylorMade.

In other words, practically the entire industry. With one exception.

On Monday, Titleist announced it was unveiling a GT280 mini driver to pros in the field at Kapalua that’s sure to raise some eyebrows. The release is a massive detraction from Titleist’s usual metalwoods release schedule that began back in June when GT drivers and fairway woods were first introduced at the Memorial.

It’s safe to assume GT280 isn’t your average metalwood, which is why Titleist opted to do a separate tour launch. The beginning of its tour validation process will offer pros the opportunity to test the mini product and put it in play. As for the name, it’s plausible the 280 denotes the head size — 280cc’s.

Titleist refrained from offering specifics behind the design but did confirm several staffers, including Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris, worked with R&D to design another option at the top of the setup. Both Young and Zalatoris have been working on 13-degree heads that can be used off the tee and from the fairway.

While GT280 is a new addition to the GT lineup, a mini driver prototype has been floating around on tour since March when a TSR prototype 2-wood surfaced at the Players Championship. Unsurprisingly, Young was the first pro to put it in the bag.

Mini drivers have been growing in popularity since Phil Mickelson deployed Callaway’s Phrankenwood at the 2013 Masters, and a 13-degree X Hot 3Deep as his “driver” en route to winning the Open Championship later that same year.

The mini isn’t a club for everyone, but it’s gained enough traction in recent years to become a credible secondary option off the tee. Tommy Fleetwood and Bryson DeChambeau both carry a mini driver in their regular equipment setups, due in large part to the greater variability of launch and extra spin when compared to a 460cc driver. A larger profile than a smaller-headed 3-wood adds an additional layer of off-center forgiveness.

Similar to the TSR prototype 2-wood, the GT280 boasts a deeper profile than even the larger “Plus” fairway wood with white scoring lines on the face. Earlier this year when Young put the TSR 2-wood in play, Titleist tour rep JJ Van Wezenbeeck said the lines offered the ideal visuals for a less-than-driver club.

“Putting the score lines on it with the fairway shaping and having the leading edge sit tighter to the ground with that bigger volume was the mix we were looking for,” he said. “This isn’t a one-trick pony.”

The GT280 is a tour-only offering at the moment, but if it’s out amongst the pros, it’s very likely it’ll be coming to retail in 2025.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com