Titleist Velocity Balls - Thoughts/Impressions

[BrenkJ]

Everything is dormant and yellow here in Texas, which makes it tough to see a white golf ball.   I usually play Pro V1 or Pro V1X, but the only alternative color they come in is yellow - which is even worse for visibility against yellow grass.  So I stopped by my local Golf Galaxy yesterday to get some balls that would stand out.   The Titleist Velocity comes in a matte bright orange.   I've always been skeptical about a ball making a big difference in distance, but since I have trouble with distance, I figured I'd give those a try.   Holy Crap!   During my round yesterday, I would guess I hit my drives 20 yards further on average, and my irons 10 yards further.    I did notice that I didn't do as well with putting or short chips (basically bump and runs), leaving many of them short.     Does anyone else have experience with these balls compared to Pro V1's.   I know putting and chipping are supposed to be more important than distance, but if I can hit my approach shot with an 8 iron instead of a 6 iron, that's gotta be a net benefit, right?

[Golfweasel]

Velocity 2020 balls are 2 piece 80 compression. ProV1 2021 balls are 3 piece 86 compression. 
Velocity’s are geared for slower ss, less spin off of the driver (straighter/longer) and less spin around the green. For $30/dz they are a really decent ball. 

[BrenkJ]

2 hours ago, Golfweasel said:

Velocity 2020 balls are 2 piece 80 compression. ProV1 2021 balls are 3 piece 86 compression. 
Velocity’s are geared for slower ss, less spin off of the driver (straighter/longer) and less spin around the green. For $30/dz they are a really decent ball. 

Thanks for the response.   I don’t know what most (or all) of that means.  Bottom line - does it make sense that they would feel “slower” on putts and short bump-and-run chips as compared to the Pro V1?

[Golfweasel]

ProV1 is a premium ball which will feel much better than the Velocity. You will notice hard/slow feel on putts with the Velocity.  Chips with Velocity won’t check up like a ProV1 and will run out typically. 
Check out the Titleist website so you can be better informed on ‘premium’ vs ‘distance’ balls and how one or the other could benefit your game. 

[NC Golfer]

Rented clubs in Vegas and was given Velocity's. I like them a lot. For a firm ball, they feel great. They are harder to stop on approaches. But, the distance and forgiveness is good. I don't get the whole matte thing. The new colored ones look like plastic. I am curious if there's any feel to them. Why not shiny and yellow?

[GregGarner]

21 hours ago, BrenkJ said:

Everything is dormant and yellow here in Texas, which makes it tough to see a white golf ball.   I usually play Pro V1 or Pro V1X, but the only alternative color they come in is yellow - which is even worse for visibility against yellow grass.  So I stopped by my local Golf Galaxy yesterday to get some balls that would stand out.   The Titleist Velocity comes in a matte bright orange.   I've always been skeptical about a ball making a big difference in distance, but since I have trouble with distance, I figured I'd give those a try.   Holy Crap!   During my round yesterday, I would guess I hit my drives 20 yards further on average, and my irons 10 yards further.    I did notice that I didn't do as well with putting or short chips (basically bump and runs), leaving many of them short.     Does anyone else have experience with these balls compared to Pro V1's.   I know putting and chipping are supposed to be more important than distance, but if I can hit my approach shot with an 8 iron instead of a 6 iron, that's gotta be a net benefit, right?

You'll find several members here enjoy the Velocity. As noted, it's not surprising that you're seeing a distance boost on full swings. The Velocity has a cover (ionomer) and construction (2 piece, cover and core) that lends itself to high launch and low spin while the ProV1 has a different cover material (urethane) and different internal construction (3 piece, cover, mantle, and core) to emphasize a specific spin profile across different kinds of shots. The differences you've seen while playing are exactly what the Titleist engineers were hoping for. Tour-level players make their money around the green and want a golf ball that they can control (i.e. spin) in different shots. The Velocity in this regards is a bit of a one-trick pony as it isn't going to spin nearly as much as a premium ball like the ProV1. As for what that means for your game, it's totally up to you. If you play a bump and run and don't need a lot of spin, 2 clubs less into the green sounds pretty sweet!

More than you asked for, but high levels of spin typically come from a soft cover over a firmer mantle. The greater this differential, the more spin you'll get. Thus, the ProV1x spins more than the ProV1. But the ProV1 spins more than the Velocity, which doesn't have a mantle layer at all.

[BrenkJ]

1 hour ago, NC Golfer said:

Rented clubs in Vegas and was given Velocity's. I like them a lot. For a firm ball, they feel great. They are harder to stop on approaches. But, the distance and forgiveness is good. I don't get the whole matte thing. The new colored ones look like plastic. I am curious if there's any feel to them. Why not shiny and yellow?

I totally agree.   I love the extra distance I'm getting, but the matte finish is not for me.   I do think it affects feel on putts and soft chips.   Makes no sense to me why so many bright-colored balls are matte finish.  I might start carrying a "putting ball" (probably a Pro V1) in my pocket to switch to once I'm on the green.

[NC Golfer]

9 hours ago, BrenkJ said:

I totally agree.   I love the extra distance I'm getting, but the matte finish is not for me.   I do think it affects feel on putts and soft chips.   Makes no sense to me why so many bright-colored balls are matte finish.  I might start carrying a "putting ball" (probably a Pro V1) in my pocket to switch to once I'm on the green.

The Velocity is the one ball I will play in white. It is pretty bright for a white color. If you like the Velocity and don't like the matte ones, it is worth trying the white. I am not sure if there's a big difference between the 2022's and the prior gen. You could save a few dollars on the prior gen. 

[fixyurdivot]

I have played Velocity balls on and off for the past few years and think they are a great performing and value.  I tied my lifetime personal best score (74) playing one in Yuma and they have also been party to some of my sub 80 rounds.  I think they are every bit as long as the PV1, TP5, CS, and Maxfli Tour balls that I also play frequently.  

### Disclaimer###

If you have followed me at all on this forum, you'll know I am not overly picky about which balls I play.   MoJo's, Pinnacle's, and a few others aside, I don't find appreciable differences in how mid and upper tier balls play on the course.  Maybe LM numbers would show some differences but I don't keep score on the LM.

[Vertical]

Wow! These balls are long and I like the firm feel. Great winter ball…the neon green is super visible and a very pleasing color. I wasn’t sure about the matte finish, but it does appear to have less side spin than a glossy ball. I hit drives with the Velocity and Callaway Super Soft matte green balls side-by-side on several holes. I thought I hit the SS better on both holes…the contact felt pure because of the soft feel. The Velocity felt firm and powerful, not “pure”. In both case the Velocity went 10-20 yards further. The Callaway matte finish has a soft rubbery feel. The Velocity matte green felt denser and more premium. The Velocity was long and straight with fairways and long irons. Across the bag it had a high effortless launch. With the shorter irons and lob shots it dropped and stopped. Chipping was Ok, definitely more feel with a premium urethane ball…but not bad at all. It felt soft but fast off the putter. I would say it was noticeably longer than the ProV1, but lacks the premium feel when chipping. Had one of my best ball striking days with these. I’m a 12 handicap and shot a 78 with this ball on a difficult course. I’ll be gaming this.

Edited October 31 by Vertical

[sbean401]

What does "LM" mean?

[Galvanized23]

Launch monitor

[Fred Mitchell]

On 1/3/2023 at 7:27 AM, BrenkJ said:

I totally agree.   I love the extra distance I'm getting, but the matte finish is not for me.   I do think it affects feel on putts and soft chips.   Makes no sense to me why so many bright-colored balls are matte finish.  I might start carrying a "putting ball" (probably a Pro V1) in my pocket to switch to once I'm on the green.

Vice has some BRIGHT Gloss finish non white balls. Srixon is another option.

[Galvanized23]

I’m a big fan of vice golf balls. Bright colors but price has creeped up over the last couple of years, but quality imo.

[NC Golfer]

Hoping on the next release the Velocity goes to a glossy yellow and orange ball. Even the Straightfli has added a gloss yellow. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Not to day the Velocity doesn't have a place, but curious why anyone would go with it when a) it's pretty proven how much better slightly higher priced balls are. 

B) DTC good brands offer better balls at the same price. Or the same at lower prices 

C) if it's due to someone loosing lots of golf balls why not go to used market or again DTC. 

Again not say these are bad, just gotta think the value is far greater for others 

[funkyjudge]

Call me a “golf ball snob” if you want, but there is no two-piece, Ionomer-cover golf ball that I would play (unless I am playing in a scramble, which is not real golf anyway). My golf game, and my ability to score well is based in great part on my ability to stick my approach shots close to the pin and to get up-and-down with a variety of finesse shots when I miss the green, which at my handicap level is far too often.  That is why I play Urethane-cover 3 or 4-piece balls.

[Jnoble89]

31 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Not to day the Velocity doesn't have a place, but curious why anyone would go with it when a) it's pretty proven how much better slightly higher priced balls are. 

B) DTC good brands offer better balls at the same price. Or the same at lower prices 

C) if it's due to someone loosing lots of golf balls why not go to used market or again DTC. 

Again not say these are bad, just gotta think the value is far greater for others 

Don’t disagree with this take at all. You can get ProV1/V1x from sites like lostgolfballs.com, 5A condition, for less than the Velocity. Being someone who came from Velocity to V1x, it’s 100% worth the used route if you want to play Titleist. Otherwise, Vice has a very solid line of balls that I would put ahead of Velocity. Not saying it’s a junk ball, but premium balls typically do perform better in multiple facets

[Shrek74]

22 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Not to day the Velocity doesn't have a place, but curious why anyone would go with it when a) it's pretty proven how much better slightly higher priced balls are. 

B) DTC good brands offer better balls at the same price. Or the same at lower prices 

C) if it's due to someone loosing lots of golf balls why not go to used market or again DTC. 

Again not say these are bad, just gotta think the value is far greater for others 

I agree with you on this Jamie. The ball makes a difference and for the same price there are a ton of better options out there.

A quick price check on a few of those options reveals some interesting thoughts.

- Maxfli Tour/S/X are $30/dzn when buying 4. One of the best reviewed non-Titleist balls on the market both from MGS but from a ton of other online reviewers.
- Vice Tour is $28/dzn or $21/dzn when buying 5. It's a Surlyn cover, but 3-piece and it's surprisingly good. I've played with them before and found them very quality for the price and materials.
- Vice Pro/Plus/Soft is $32/dzn when buying 5. Urethane cover 3-piece (4 in the Plus) ball that's also reviewed well in the MGS golf ball test.
- OnCore Elixr (2020 or 2022 versions) is $30/dzn or $28/dzn when buying 3-5 or $26/dzn at 6+. Urethane cover 3-piece construction. It's also done well in MGS testing.

These are just a few of the bigger names in DTC that have large followings and that have done well in a variety of testing both with MGS and others. I'm not a fan of used balls, and would never go "reconditioned" as MGS has proven is very bad.

The $30-$40 price point is a smorgasbord of very high quality options where you'll get more for your money outside of the big 3. Always worth investigating.

[NC Golfer]

I hear you. But, it's a solid ball. It's one of the few distance balls with a good feel to it. All Titleist balls are overpriced. 

Edited November 13 by NC Golfer