Titleist Blind Ball Test Thread

[Tsecor]

19 hours ago, myherobobhope said:

Just got the balls here in Kentucky on a cold and wet day... my course is closed, my golf cart needs new tires... so there is only one thing to do, and it's over analyze the golf balls I just received! So let's begin... I brought in my own control ball, mostly because I have 2 sleeves sitting in the garage... Titleist AVX  that I bought on a whim... I have some random ProV1s in the bag from the course, but I don't know them well enough to know which year they are or anything like that... So the AVX is going to be my point of comparison... As previously noted, there isn't an A or B, these are just balls labeled "Titleist" with a number...

 

Conspiracy Theory #1: I think they were labeled 3 and 4 because people would have bias against balls labelled 1 and 2... even 2 and 3 would create a problem... I have no data to back up this claim, but it's obviously true. I'm only ordered balls with 1 or 0 on it moving forward. It will obviously help my game.

Dimples: The only obvious point of comparison on the balls right now would be the dimples... The AVX dimples seem to be slightly flatter, while both mystery balls are more round and deeper... based on the visuals of the dimples, I can quickly pick the AVX out. The other two balls are very similar from a visual perspective. My guess is these are the same dimples on the ProV balls... Someone else can confirm this. All three balls have small markings on them... AVX: ZL T3: CZ T4: TP (does that stand for TOUR PROFESSIONAL. PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL FOR OTHER GUESSES). I'm curious if others have the same markings... I'm sure they are just factory codes, but also... the numbers, what do they mean?

Dimple Pattern / Seam: I'm old enough to remember when you would line the seam of the ball up down the fairway and it would net you an extra 20 yards... The seams on these are much less noticeable... I had originally written I couldn't find a seam, but then I found it on the AVX and went back to look at the mystery balls. I found it on the T3 relatively quickly... it's findable on the T4 but less noticeable... Overall, I'm still just very impressed with the manufacturing capabilities of Titleist. Kudos to them. 

The dimple pattern, to my untrained eye, appears to be the same across the balls... it appears to be mostly large dimples, with an occassional repeating pattern of 6 smaller dimples and occasionally 2 even smaller dimples. Titleist has found a pattern that works, so I'm not going to question it... I'm also unwilling to count the dots. 

So, in conclusion: The main differences I've seen VISUALLY is a less noticeable seam and deeper divots than the AVX. 

did u seriously just pump your youtube channel?

i wonder if some people received two of the same balls to see if they have different write ups for each when in fact the balls are the same.

[Tsecor]

14 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

The AVX has a Bridgestone like dimple design... anyone else seeing that?  I probably missed it in the original tester thread, but does Titleist ever reveal any of the design specifics associated with the various balls?  With them all being code stamped in some manner, do they ask testers for this info in the results?  Are they just looking for trends in the tester feedback, to sift out performance attributes associated with whatever variation to current standard balls these have?  

Many compaanies employ the same dimple design but make up their own names for the design. if you google the patent on these type of dimples you will find up to 10 different golf ball manufacturers all use the same basic design. That is not surprising at all.  

[myherobobhope]

43 minutes ago, Tsecor said:

did u seriously just pump your youtube channel?

i wonder if some people received two of the same balls to see if they have different write ups for each when in fact the balls are the same.

I don’t have a YouTube channel.

[Tsecor]

4 minutes ago, myherobobhope said:

I don’t have a YouTube channel.

you posted that in your write up....lol.....was that sarcasm? if so i missed it...

 

Dimples: The only obvious point of comparison on the balls right now would be the dimples... The AVX dimples seem to be slightly flatter, while both mystery balls are more round and deeper... based on the visuals of the dimples, I can quickly pick the AVX out. The other two balls are very similar from a visual perspective. My guess is these are the same dimples on the ProV balls... Someone else can confirm this. All three balls have small markings on them... AVX: ZL T3: CZ T4: TP (does that stand for TOUR PROFESSIONAL. PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL FOR OTHER GUESSES). I'm curious if others have the same markings... I'm sure they are just factory codes, but also... the numbers, what do they mean?

[tommc23]

50 minutes ago, Tsecor said:

did u seriously just pump your youtube channel?

i wonder if some people received two of the same balls to see if they have different write ups for each when in fact the balls are the same

It would be a good way to show how people can say these are different just by a number or if people can’t really tell the difference about balls. I’m sure there is someone like that or close to that as a control

[GregGarner]

3 hours ago, tommc23 said:

It would be a good way to show how people can say these are different just by a number or if people can’t really tell the difference about balls. I’m sure there is someone like that or close to that as a control

yeah, visually I can't tell the difference between these two balls. The dimple patterns and depths are, without counting or color-coding to look for patterns, identical. The covers feel soft and between that and the thinner script logo, I suspect they're both urethane. Haven't gotten them out to the course yet, but in some living room putting, they sound the same. (Way to early to declare them to be the same ball, but without cutting it open, I've done about all I can before heading to the course.)

[TCUfrog]

Just got mine in the mail. Unfortunately, weather here isnt great for the next few days, but I'll be heading up to play some golf this weekend and will try them out if we receive direction from Titleist

[myherobobhope]

Got some testing done in between a Srixon fitting (also, I'm buying new Srixon irons)... Here are my overall thoughts:

Quick Conclusion: T3 spins more than T4. This is the only difference I have noticed thus far.

After warming up for my demo day, I went and putted and chipped with the two balls to see if I noticed any differences around the green... This was not scientific at all, I just kept hitting one of each ball and seeing if I noticed anything different between the two. My chipping has been mediocre, so this was more an excuse to practice getting up and down than anything else... overall, I did not notice any difference. Both felt similar around the green and with the putter... I tend not to care what I'm putting with, but these two felt the same... I'll do some lag drills with all 6 and see if there are any noticeable difference tomorrow.

After the demo day, I "played" 10 on my way home... It's a wide open hole perfect for testing shots... I usually have about 100 yards into the green after a good shot... I teed up 20 yards behind where I usually tee off from, but was still around the 150 mark... I didn't flush either ball, but the 4 flew further than the 3... both had fade spin, and the 3 moved more left to right... Both balls were in the rough and playable (this was 100% a swing issue)... then, as it started to rain, I dropped at around 100 and hit a 54 degree wedge at the pin. Fortunately, both balls landed on the green. 

A 100 degree 54 is about a 3/4 swing for me, and the 4 landed and bounced slightly forward, and the 3 stayed exactly where it was put... It wasn't a HUGE difference, but I believe the 3 spins slightly more.

I think, overall, both balls will have too much spin for my current swing but I think the 3 is slightly MORE spinny... I'll hopefully get out to do a more thorough testing this week.

[GregGarner]

1 hour ago, myherobobhope said:

I'm buying new Srixon irons

I think, overall, both balls will have too much spin for my current swing but I think the 3 is slightly MORE spinny... I'll hopefully get out to do a more thorough testing this week.

Ooh which ones? I'm super pleased with mine. They're lower spin than the Ping i210s I was gaming (thankfully!), which has me wondering if I can get away playing something higher spin...

[myherobobhope]

1 hour ago, greggarner said:

Ooh which ones? I'm super pleased with mine. They're lower spin than the Ping i210s I was gaming (thankfully!), which has me wondering if I can get away playing something higher spin...

ZX5 with ctaper 130x… really looking forward to it.

[Clayton]

Everyone ready for a TEST!?!?!?!?!

[myherobobhope]

3 hours ago, Clayton said:

Everyone ready for a TEST!?!?!?!?!

I’m so confused… why do your balls look different? (Are we still doing phrasing?) mine are blank other than titleist and a number.

[Clayton]

1 minute ago, myherobobhope said:

I’m so confused… why do your balls look different? (Are we still doing phrasing?) mine are blank other than titleist and a number.

It's from an older test sleeve I received maybe 5-7 years ago.  It was a terribly hard budget ball from what I could tell. I filled out the survey and never got another sleeve.  I just thought it looked cool since it said <--TEST--> on it.

[Shankster]

First ever mail addressed to “Shankster”

First glance has me thinking that #3 is the ProV1 rendition, and the #4 is the ProV1x rendition.  The dimple patterns are very similar to the V1 and the V1x respectively.

 

[Shankster]

Flip those.  4 is V1 and 3 is V1x.  

[Larryw]

Haven't started testing but did float my 6 balls in Epsom Salt bath. They were all perfectly balanced as near as I can tell. Always came up in a different spot and never a hint of a heavy side.

Encouraging at least.

[GregGarner]

1 hour ago, Larryw said:

Haven't started testing but did float my 6 balls in Epsom Salt bath. They were all perfectly balanced as near as I can tell. Always came up in a different spot and never a hint of a heavy side.

Encouraging at least.

It's getting harder and harder to ignore Titleist's commitment to quality....

[myherobobhope]

30 minutes ago, greggarner said:

It's getting harder and harder to ignore Titleist's commitment to quality....

Yeah… I’m honestly just impressed… curious to see the results in the main site.

[fozcycle]

Got mine this week as well, like some of the others, the only marking is the word Titleist and either the number 3 or 4……no sight lines or other incidental markings.

[heavygolffeels]

16 hours ago, Larryw said:

Haven't started testing but did float my 6 balls in Epsom Salt bath. They were all perfectly balanced as near as I can tell. Always came up in a different spot and never a hint of a heavy side.

Encouraging at least.

Nice. I plan on doing the same test.... Once the balls show up.

I was hoping with a dozen that we might detect more quality issues in one ball than the other, but 3 is way too small of a sample size. Maybe if more testers did this we might learn something? Hard to say.