We've all been there. You fill out a sweepstakes form, you hit submit and probably don’t believe you have any chance of winning. That’s why we’re never surprised to hear the shock and disbelief on the other end of the line when we let a Team Titleist member know that they are in fact a winner and that no, this is not a hoax.

And out of the dozens of sweepstakes, giveaways and contests we run each year, the one that results in the most surprise from the eventual winner is without a doubt the granddaddy of them all - The Team Titleist Ultimate Experience.

This year was no exception and our winner, Travis I. from Georgia, could not believe that he had won an all-expenses-paid visit to Titleist West Coast Operation in San Diego, CA.

As for the guest that would be accompanying Travis, he selected his daughter. The choice was an easy one for him. “She has had a club in her hand since she could stand,” explained Travis. “It has been an amazing journey so far watching how she enjoys and learns from this great game.”

After hearing this, our goal was to make sure this next chapter in their golfing journey was certainly one to remember. So we pulled out all of the stops and mapped out the dream itinerary that included:

• A tour of the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, CA followed by a Tour Fitting experience with our expert fitters who helped dial them in for a full set of our latest equipment.
• The next day, we shared a behind-the-scenes tour of our West Coast HQ, home to our state-of-the-art club assembly and quality assurance operations, Golf Club R&D and Golf Club Marketing teams.
• From there, it was time for a VIP Tour of the Scotty Cameron Gallery in Encinitas.
• And to round out the trip, we provided passes to the Farmer’s Insurance Open at Torrey Pines along with rounds of golf at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.

It was a lot of activity in a few short days but Travis and his family were beyond excited. To put the excitement in perspective, Travis told us “[His daughter] said the trip was almost as good as Disney World.” and "That’s a real compliment.”

Being compared to a trip to Disney World from the perspective of a young girl is the sincerest form of flattery. We'll take it! 

One of the many highlights of this trip for us was watching our fitters work one-on-one with Travis and his daughter to build out the perfect sets for their individual games. Our best-in-industry custom options and build capabilities allow us to make clubs that meet the specifications for a wide range of golfers, and we were excited to show off that ability in fitting Travis's 11-year-old daughter.

We also had some brand new offerings that were specifically engineered for her type of developing swing speed: T400 irons. And when we say new, we mean new. Travis's daughter was the first golfer ever to hit T400 fitting components at the Titleist Performance Institute. Not only was she the first to try them, but they proved perfect for her game helping her achieve longer carry distances, higher apexes, and most importantly, a near-perfect descent angle for holding greens. 

Speaking of new, Travis and his daughter were among the first golfers ever to be fitted for the new Vokey Design SM8 wedges. Travis also had a similar first-ever experience in testing the new T100·S irons. Ultimately T100 non-S were the best performing irons for his game. Again, we put a premium on gapping and descent angles, and T100 irons produced the best results in those categories. Here's how their bags rounded out: 

Travis's New Setup:

• Pro V1 Golf Ball
• TS3 8.5° Driver with Tensei AV Series blue 65g Stiff Shaft
• TS3 16.5° Fairway with Tensei AV Series blue 75g Stiff Shaft
• U510 2 & 4 irons with Tensei AV Series Blue 70 HYB Stiff Shafts
• T100 irons 5-P with Modus 3 Tour 120 Stiff Shafts
• SM8 50.08 F, 54.12 D, 58.12 D wedges with Modus 3 Tour 120 Stiff Shafts
• 35" Scotty Cameron Special Select Newport 2.5 

Travis's Daughter's New Setup:

• Pro V1 Golf Ball - Optic Yellow
• TS1 10.5° Driver with Mitsubishi Fubuki MV 45g A Shaft
• TS2 16.5° Fairway with Kuro Kage 45g A Shaft
• TS2 25° Hybrid with Kuro Kage 50g A Shaft
• T400 irons 6-P, W43° W49° with Mitsubishi Fubuki MV 45g A Shafts
• SM8 54.12 D, 54.14 K, and 62.08 M wedges with Tensei Pro Red Shafts
• 33" Scotty Cameron Phantom X 6 STR

Travis and his family were first-class guests well deserving of the first-class experience. Take a scroll through the images below to get a taste of their trip: 

Congratulations, Travis! A very sincere thank you for coming and spending some time with us in San Diego. We'd like to extend a sincere thank-you to all of the Team Titleist members who entered this year's Ultimate Experience contest. Your dedication and passion for the game is an inspiration to all of us here at Titleist.

Check back soon as we'll have many more exciting sweepstakes and giveaways for Team Titleist throughout 2020! We also are giving away a Year Supply of Golf balls every month for either registering a TT profile or updating your WITB info. Learn more here: https://www.titleist.com/sweepstakes/tt-year-supply