Current Pro V1 vs. original Pro V1

[HAC]

Found this test by Rick Shiels interesting where he did not find much difference between a current Pro V1 and an original Pro V1 from 20 years ago.  (45) I DIDN'T expect this! | 20 year golf ball test! - YouTube  Might explain the rise of the internet golf ball.  If not much has changed in golf balls for 20 years, and assuming that now everything new in the original ball is off patent, then the main thing left distinguishing between top level golf balls would seem to be quality control.  Thoughts?

[vamosjackets]

13 hours ago, HAC said:

Found this test by Rick Shiels interesting where he did not find much difference between a current Pro V1 and an original Pro V1 from 20 years ago.  (45) I DIDN'T expect this! | 20 year golf ball test! - YouTube  Might explain the rise of the internet golf ball.  If not much has changed in golf balls for 20 years, and assuming that now everything new in the original ball is off patent, then the main thing left distinguishing between top level golf balls would seem to be quality control.  Thoughts?

One pretty big thing that is easy to dismiss/take for granted, which Rick pointed out, is that the newer ball is much more durable than the older ball while also being the slightest bit better in numbers.  Even if the numbers were exactly the same, to have a ball with the same performance that is 10X more durable is no small feat.  Point being, QC, as you stated, along with durability may be distinguishing characteristics to consider with the plethora of premium balls in the market now.

[HAC]

Obviously, I do not plan to buy a 20 year old golf ball, but we can expect this winter to see new versions of golf balls come out and older versions on sale.  If Pro VIs have not changed in 20 years other than durability, it makes a lot of sense to look for the ones going on sale rather than the newest, greatest version.  That is my thinking unless someone talks me out of it.  

In the last couple of years, I can only think of a couple of major changes in golf balls:

1.  Titleist and TaylorMade have come out with Urethane covers for lower priced golf balls (Srixon has had this longer)

and 

2.  The Bridgestone ball this year was supposed to have more spin or something (I have not played these).

Anything else from major manufacturers?

[MadMex]

No disrespect ( I did get suspended from another site for a similar statement) but I don't think there is more than a handful of people who read and post on this site that can discern the difference between premium golf balls. I know I cant !!!!!!!!!!!

So personally I don't pay much attention to ball marketing.

[wely324]

The updates to the pro v1 is mostly marketing, and how the profiles of the two balls vary from year to year are described and even sometimes swap between the two models. If you look at data, like the test that TXG did between the pro v1 and X, the balls are nearly identical. The difference in spin and launch is nearly identical, so it comes down to feel and the thoughts one has about the two balls before picking which one to play.

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, wely324 said:

The updates to the pro v1 is mostly marketing, and how the profiles of the two balls vary from year to year are described and even sometimes swap between the two models. If you look at data, like the test that TXG did between the pro v1 and X, the balls are nearly identical. The difference in spin and launch is nearly identical, so it comes down to feel and the thoughts one has about the two balls before picking which one to play.

There was a big difference between the two balls until 2017. Titleist did swap the balls in 2017 and in 2019 the balls are very similar in spin but the Prov1 will still be in a lower flight window than the 1x. 
 

In my ball fitting yesterday with titleist we talked about the flight windows of the two balls and how prior to 2017 the performance difference I saw in the wind made sense but since I haven’t played much with the 2017 or 19 Version of the 1x in windy conditions I didn’t have personal experience to provide him what I saw.

 

This interview with their r&d guy gets into the differences in the older balls and the recent changes