2023 Titleist White Box Testing Thread

[Javs]

51 minutes ago, HikingMike said:

I remembered @CLenahan is from St. Charles. So I think that makes roughly 5 St. Louis area testers if we count you as a former resident. St. Louis, the MyGolfSpy Titleist golf ball testing capital of the world™

Does it spin more or less in St. Louis? Just joking, ha ha

[Javs]

54 minutes ago, Peejer said:

Great job consolidating all the reviews.  I’m not surprised it’s all over the place with assessments.  Many of the reviewers offered opinions based upon their play.  Personally, unless it’s on a simulator or launch monitor, it’s all conjecture.  MGS made its reputation on real data.

I also think there are too many reviewers, this thread is almost impossible to follow due to the larger numbers of reviewers.

Interesting comments. I agree with the various types of golfers there will be a wide range of comments. I agree the numbers don’t lie and metrics are extremely important. However, I would offer that game conditions and assessments are important as well. I like to see the flight of the ball even more than my numbers on the LM. Additionally, I like playing the various shots around the green and seeing how the ball reacts. I also like there were many testers. I think if we would have time the extensive input would show the ball is great for certain player types. 

[JackBurtonsPorkchopExpress]

1 hour ago, HikingMike said:

I remembered @CLenahan is from St. Charles. So I think that makes roughly 5 St. Louis area testers if we count you as a former resident. St. Louis, the MyGolfSpy Titleist golf ball testing capital of the world™

The coastal elites don't have anything on us.

[Cfhandyman]

1 hour ago, HikingMike said:

Rough Summaries from Comments About Backspin

I tried gathering comments people have made about spin, particularly when they have a comparison to another ball or two. These are mostly rough paraphrases, with higher or lower, and the types of shot or club used, with a few quotes thrown in also. Apologies if I missed anyone. I was navigating the forum with the Ctrl-F find working rapidly and scanning quickly so this wouldn't take 5 hours.

It looks like it's all over the map. For reference, here is how many people said it was higher vs lower spin compared to something else. It is not counted in this number if a person said it was roughly the same.

Higher Spin
10 of 18

Lower Spin
8 of 18

Spin summaries:

@Parshooter36 - Higher spin than AVX and Chromesoft, less than Pro V1 with 3/4 wedge shots. Higher spin than AVX and Chromesoft, similar spin as Pro V1 with full 9i.

@Tom the Golf Nut - Higher spin compared to AVX with 9i.

@Javs - "Pitching and chipping: The White Box was very similar to a Titleist AVX. On pitch shots it was a one hop and stop. On chips the ball would grab, but did not spin excessively."
"While I notated the lower spin on this ball, I did not find that there was excessive run out on pitches or chips. My results were more of a one hop and stop."

@Hook DeLoft - Lower spin than Bridgestone B XS around the green.

@MH15 - Higher spin than Bridgestone e6 with Driver and 7i, but same spin with PW.

@taylorjonasher - Higher spin than Pro V1 RCT with 4i. But "greenside spin on the test ball was noticeably less; I could not check it up like the ProV1."

@Ben Joest - "Spin around the greens wasn’t noticeably better or worse"

@Josh Parker - "Shots into the green did a one hop stop or very little backspin."

@funkyjudge - Lower spin than a Maxfli Tour X CG and Pro V1xLeftDash with wedges. Also lower spin (by an even wider gap) with irons and full PW.

@brogies - Higher spin than Pro V1 RCT on every club, especially wedges.

@GolfSpy_BNG - Higher spin than CSXLS with 46 degree wedge and 7i.

@DukeStKing - "Punch shots and knock downs stopped on a dime for me and I got plenty of backspin on approach shots."

@vandyland - Lower spin than both Pro V1 and Kirkland V3 with 7i. In a round, "ball seemed to roll out a little bit more on full shots and pitches but not dramatically so" compared to Pro V1.

@JohnH1 - Higher spin than Pro V1, less than Tour Response, with 7i.

@Randall Robbins - "shorter irons were stopping after a hop and slight roll." "Wedges:  Nice stopping ability"

@Slater - Lower spin than Pro V1 and Pro V1x with 80 yard shots, 140 yard shots, 160 yard shots, 200 yard shots, and driver. "This has more approach and short game spin than previous AVX models, as well as 100-200 more rpm off the driver." "Unfortunately,  it has very little green side stopping power."

@Cfhandyman - "Spin is definitely less" for long shots such as tee and fairway compared to Srixon Z-Star XV. For wedges, "the ball stopped relatively quickly but had a little more roll out than the higher spinning Srixon ball". 

@Prodigal Duffer - "On longer wedge shots, the ball more or less stopped on one hop. On shorter pitches, the ball rolled more than I would expect." (normal gamer ball is Vice Pro)

@buckpillar - "from 100yds in, I was able to control the spin, hit the one hop and stop shot with excellent success"

@d0m41n - Higher spin than OnCore Vero X1 and Maxfli Tour S with driver. Also higher spin with irons and wedges for better stopping.

@ctg44 - "I definitely had a ton more launch height and spin with these than I did with any other ball, including ProV1 and ProV1X, Maxfli Tour (2023 yellow), OnCore Vero X1, and Bridgestone e12 Contact (2023)."

@Peejer - Lower spin with 7i.

@J7Hawkins - Higher spin than Mizuno RB Tour X.

@JackBurtonsPorkchopExpress - Less hold around the greens than Srixon Z-Star XV.

@golfinnut - Lower spin off tee, lower spin on approach compared to Pro V1.

 

Wow, great job for putting this all together. Well done and thank you.

[J7Hawkins]

1 hour ago, HikingMike said:

Very true. We have all kinds of swing speeds and swing types. It just makes me realize how hard it is to actually choose a ball for yourself.

Great point about swing speeds. I definitely think the ball is good and think that for many people it may be great, but with my swing and my swing speed it just isn’t a fit. Also living in Oklahoma with high winds OFTEN I shy away from anything that launches high. 

[buckpillar]

1 hour ago, HikingMike said:

Rough Summaries from Comments About Backspin

I tried gathering comments people have made about spin, particularly when they have a comparison to another ball or two. These are mostly rough paraphrases, with higher or lower, and the types of shot or club used, with a few quotes thrown in also. Apologies if I missed anyone. I was navigating the forum with the Ctrl-F find working rapidly and scanning quickly so this wouldn't take 5 hours.

It looks like it's all over the map. For reference, here is how many people said it was higher vs lower spin compared to something else. It is not counted in this number if a person said it was roughly the same.

Higher Spin
10 of 18

Lower Spin
8 of 18

Spin summaries:

@Parshooter36 - Higher spin than AVX and Chromesoft, less than Pro V1 with 3/4 wedge shots. Higher spin than AVX and Chromesoft, similar spin as Pro V1 with full 9i.

@Tom the Golf Nut - Higher spin compared to AVX with 9i.

@Javs - "Pitching and chipping: The White Box was very similar to a Titleist AVX. On pitch shots it was a one hop and stop. On chips the ball would grab, but did not spin excessively."
"While I notated the lower spin on this ball, I did not find that there was excessive run out on pitches or chips. My results were more of a one hop and stop."

@Hook DeLoft - Lower spin than Bridgestone B XS around the green.

@MH15 - Higher spin than Bridgestone e6 with Driver and 7i, but same spin with PW.

@taylorjonasher - Higher spin than Pro V1 RCT with 4i. But "greenside spin on the test ball was noticeably less; I could not check it up like the ProV1."

@Ben Joest - "Spin around the greens wasn’t noticeably better or worse"

@Josh Parker - "Shots into the green did a one hop stop or very little backspin."

@funkyjudge - Lower spin than a Maxfli Tour X CG and Pro V1xLeftDash with wedges. Also lower spin (by an even wider gap) with irons and full PW.

@brogies - Higher spin than Pro V1 RCT on every club, especially wedges.

@GolfSpy_BNG - Higher spin than CSXLS with 46 degree wedge and 7i.

@DukeStKing - "Punch shots and knock downs stopped on a dime for me and I got plenty of backspin on approach shots."

@vandyland - Lower spin than both Pro V1 and Kirkland V3 with 7i. In a round, "ball seemed to roll out a little bit more on full shots and pitches but not dramatically so" compared to Pro V1.

@JohnH1 - Higher spin than Pro V1, less than Tour Response, with 7i.

@Randall Robbins - "shorter irons were stopping after a hop and slight roll." "Wedges:  Nice stopping ability"

@Slater - Lower spin than Pro V1 and Pro V1x with 80 yard shots, 140 yard shots, 160 yard shots, 200 yard shots, and driver. "This has more approach and short game spin than previous AVX models, as well as 100-200 more rpm off the driver." "Unfortunately,  it has very little green side stopping power."

@Cfhandyman - "Spin is definitely less" for long shots such as tee and fairway compared to Srixon Z-Star XV. For wedges, "the ball stopped relatively quickly but had a little more roll out than the higher spinning Srixon ball". 

@Prodigal Duffer - "On longer wedge shots, the ball more or less stopped on one hop. On shorter pitches, the ball rolled more than I would expect." (normal gamer ball is Vice Pro)

@buckpillar - "from 100yds in, I was able to control the spin, hit the one hop and stop shot with excellent success"

@d0m41n - Higher spin than OnCore Vero X1 and Maxfli Tour S with driver. Also higher spin with irons and wedges for better stopping.

@ctg44 - "I definitely had a ton more launch height and spin with these than I did with any other ball, including ProV1 and ProV1X, Maxfli Tour (2023 yellow), OnCore Vero X1, and Bridgestone e12 Contact (2023)."

@Peejer - Lower spin with 7i.

@J7Hawkins - Higher spin than Mizuno RB Tour X.

@JackBurtonsPorkchopExpress - Less hold around the greens than Srixon Z-Star XV.

@golfinnut - Lower spin off tee, lower spin on approach compared to Pro V1.

 

Awesome job condensing all the information, very informative, thanks for doing it! 

[HikingMike]

35 minutes ago, Javs said:

Does it spin more or less in St. Louis? Just joking, ha ha

Let me tell you the next time I golf somewhere else. As soon as the next MyGolfSpy golf resort trip testing opportunity opens up. 

Now we need to ask @Leonvdwesthuizen that question as the Southern Hemisphere participant. I wonder if I would hit a fade in South Africa instead of a draw. haha  

11 minutes ago, JackBurtonsPorkchopExpress said:

The coastal elites don't have anything on us.

lol

35 minutes ago, Randall Robbins said:

You can add me as well, since I moved to Florida from Glen Carbon.  How is Fox Creek now?

Hah no kidding? Let's count us as 6 then. I actually don't play at Fox Creek even though it's less than 10 minutes away, not since 15 years or so. But 5 years back they did have a really great deal for "membership" subscription that I considered. Lately, I heard the course isn't in great shape, not kept up. So my guess is it seems to be really up and down. My league was at Oak Brook until 2 years ago and now we're at Arlington.

Sorry for all the off-topic here, whoops. It just kind of had a life of its own.

[Zman56]

I received my Titelist “Test” sleeve of balls a couple of weeks ago so have played 4 rounds with them.  Funny thing is, they ended up where many of mine end up, in the water.  

I did like the feel of the balls off the driver and around and on the green.  Overall performance very similar to my Taylormade Distance + and the Srixon Z Star.

Thank you Titelist for giving me the opportunity to test these out!  

[Cfhandyman]

I'm almost done my indoor testing using Trackman and I will share my results when completed.  My Indoor testing Protocol will be conducted like a golf ball fitting, in an indoor golf facility/academy with Trackman 4. I will hit 10 shots each of the following:

A)     with a partial wedge (50 yard)

B)     full wedge (54*) shots,

C)     7 iron and

D)     Driver. 

Any outliers, if any (0 – 2) will be discarded to ensure a decent sample size.  I will rotate between balls every 5 shots to avoid tester coldness/fatigue.  Testing will be done over multiple days, but I will do wedge test on one day, 7 iron on another, driver on another to avoid swing fatigue and to ensure consistency as swing does change according to the day. i.e. I’m not a robot.

Test Parameters: I will be specifically looking at the following: clubhead speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry distance, total distance, spin, height, land angle, as well as club path, launch angle and dynamic loft.  The reference ball will be the Titleist ProV1x and the comparator balls will be what I’ve been fitted for by the Ping Ballnamic (ballfitting.com) site, as well as by the Titleist selector tool (ProV1x). The other comparator ball will be the Titleist AVX ball primarily because the shipping label sent by Titleist indicated it was a sleeve of AVX balls and it has the same number of dimples (348) and design pattern as an AVX.   Please note, it could be an upgraded prototype or something totally different.  Only Titleist knows for sure.  However, testing may reveal a completely different result.  So, I’m open to what the data shows.   The indoor results will then be compared to the outdoor on course results to produce the final evaluation.   Comparison of the balls are listed below

  

Source: MyGolf Spy Quality comparison tool, MGS

 

[Hook DeLoft]

Arrgh!  I thought I had entered a long post using my phone but it's not showing up.  I'll skip to a summary:

Using a launch monitor, I compared the test ball to the Pro V1x and the Bridgestone B XS.  I hit shots with a driver, a 7 iron and a 54 degree wedge.  I recorded ball speed and spin numbers.  Basically, there was very little difference between the 3 balls other than spin on the 7 iron -- the test ball averaged 1700 rpm less than the other 2 balls with a 7 iron.  Surprisingly, the spin was very close with the driver and wedge. 

For kicks, I hit 2 shots with an old Callaway Jaws wedge that has illegal grooves.  I stopped using this wedge on the course because it tends to chew up balls.  Sure enough, it chewed up the test balls.  I will attach a couple of pics showing that.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Hook DeLoft

[Randall Robbins]

34 minutes ago, HikingMike said:

Let me tell you the next time I golf somewhere else. As soon as the next MyGolfSpy golf resort trip testing opportunity opens up. 

Now we need to ask @Leonvdwesthuizen that question as the Southern Hemisphere participant. I wonder if I would hit a fade in South Africa instead of a draw. haha  

lol

Hah no kidding? Let's count us as 6 then. I actually don't play at Fox Creek even though it's less than 10 minutes away, not since 15 years or so. But 5 years back they did have a really great deal for "membership" subscription that I considered. Lately, I heard the course isn't in great shape, not kept up. So my guess is it seems to be really up and down. My league was at Oak Brook until 2 years ago and now we're at Arlington.

Sorry for all the off-topic here, whoops. It just kind of had a life of its own.

That's too bad, I always liked it there but also Lochaven, Oak Brook, Arlington and Sunset Hills when I could get on, besides all the ones down by Belleville and Fairview Heigjts.

[SpanishHands]

I’m afraid I may be the last one to join the party. I am on a business trip all week and I hope that a FedEx package will be waiting for me when I get back on Friday.
 

if that is the case Saturday morning I am taking them for a ride.  

[funkyjudge]

FINAL REVIEW and ASSESSMENT:

After an exhaustive (and exhausting) launch monitor/simulator session, a 90-minute chipping, pitching and putting session on and around the practice green at one of my favorite golf courses, and two rounds of golf (one 9-holer, and an 18-hole round today), I am ready to present my final assessment of these Titleist "White Box" Test balls.  First a refresher and summary of my prior findings --

Initial Impressions and Data from Launch Monitor Session (11/7/23)

You have already seen my unboxing impressions and the dissertation that I did regarding my planned testing methodology. Today, I spent more than 2.5 hours (actually closer to 3 hours) on one of the launch monitors/simulators at Baylinks Golf, which is the golf center where I do a great deal of my clubfitting and analysis work. The LM is an HD Golf model (made in Canada), and as someone who owns two other launch monitors, and who has done fitting and testing work with all of them, plus several other models, I have a great deal of confidence in these monitors, which I have used for close to 6 years, as has the PGA Professional who owns Baylinks Golf.  I collected ten pages of data, and did my tabulations and comparative analysis for another two hours after I got home late this afternoon.  The following is a summary of my findings and impressions based on this launch monitor session.

Partial Shots (25 & 50 yards) with 50* 54* and 58* Wedges:

Most of these shots were taken with my 54-12 and 58-10 Ping Glide 2.0 Wedges, with a small sample of low punched partial wedge shots taken using my 50* Cobra "Snakebite" wedge.  Here's a summary of what the data showed:

Total spin is between 900 - 1,550 RPM lower with this Titleist Prototype Ball than with either the 2023 Maxfli Tour X CG or the Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash balls on partial wedge shots from both of these distances.

Due to the lower spin, run-out is about 20% greater with the Titleist "Test" ball on 25-yard pitch and chip shots (ball speed average of 31.8 MPH), and a whopping 100% greater on-average when the Titleist White Box Prototype ("TEST") ball is used with any of these wedge lofts for 50-yard pitch or chip shots. This run-out gap widens by an even greater margin vs. the above-referenced balls (Maxfli Tour X CG and Pro V1xLeft Dash), plus vs. the standard Pro V1 ball) when hitting lower-trajectory partial wedge shots.

The combination of low spin and significantly greater run-out, which naturally go hand-in-hand, makes control very difficult on all types of short pitch and chip shots

Full Swing Shots with Irons and Pitching Wedge:

Once you get to full-swing shots with the irons and pitching wedge, the gaps in total spin and run-out actually widen. I saw an average spin difference of 1,060 RPM on full shots of 100 - 113 yards with my Paradym pitching wedge, which already produces fairly low spin numbers, and about 1,200 RPM less on full shots with my Paradym 7-iron when using the Titleist Test ball. The average spin rate of less than 3,600 RPM with this Titleist ball on full 7-iron shots of between 146-152 yards makes this Titleist Prototype ball unplayable with the irons, in my opinion .... at least, for me.

Add to the above the fact that I saw a consistent trend of almost 9 yards of additional run-out (8.8 yards actual delta) on full 7-iron shots, and about 4.5 to 5 yards of additional run-out on full PW shots with the Titleist Test ball, making the "unplayability factor" even worse.

Here's Some Positive Data Regarding this Test Ball .... at least for me!:

When it comes to the longer clubs (hybrids, and especially fairway woods and the driver), the lower-spin/greater run-out trend continues, which for me is a very good thing.  Lower spin and greater run-out leads to both longer shots (at least overall .... carry distance wasn't the greatest, but it was never more than 10-12 yards short of what I would expect from my better hits) and straighter shots, as well. With these longer clubs, particularly with the driver, I was seeing very straight shots and lots of run-out; however, the launch monitor/sim is set to "firm fairways", and because I was hitting these longer clubs VERY straight, I saw good overall distance. Nearly every shot that I hit with my driver, 4-wood, Apex Utility Wood and 21* Sub 70 hybrid went virtually dead-straight when hitting this ball, while that was not exactly the case with the balls that I was hitting for comparison purposes. There were no extreme hooks, in fact nothing worse than gentle draws and 2 to 5 yard fades with the Titleist Prototype ball, even when I was sure that I had hit some shots that were going to miss the fairways left, and maybe a couple that I thought could fade off the fairway to the right. I wasn't hitting the ball all that well today, and based on a few shots that I missed by a fairly wide margin with the other balls (almost exclusively hooks) I expected to see some that would at least show themselves to be significant draws when hitting this Titleist Test ball, but that definitely was NOT the case. I did hit a few driver shots and one or two with my 4-wood that carried farther when hitting the Maxfli Tour X CG and Pro V1x Left Dash balls, but they ended-up in the rough, or in the "virtual trees" on a couple of occasions.  We'll see how things go when I get outside and play these balls on a real golf course!

Keep in mind that this data and my impressions regarding this ball's performance were derived entirely from a 2.5+ hour launch monitor session. I still plan to spend an hour or more on the chipping/putting green and in the practice bunker at an area golf course tomorrow (I have to go there for an awards luncheon anyway, so I might as well make use of the facilities). This will be followed by a round of casual golf using these Titleist Prototype balls (and hopefully hitting some side-by-side shots with my favorite Maxfli Tour X CG balls for comparison purposes). I will post my final report and complete the questionnaire following these additional ball-testing activites .... stay tuned for the final report.

Next, off to the chipping and putting green (11/09/23) --

As I posted yesterday in my initial impressions from my launch monitor session, I got out on the chipping and putting green to test these Titleist "White Box" Prototype balls in a variety of around-the-green conditions [very short chips from adjacent to the green, longer chips (up to 10 yards) from the rough, high pitch shots and plenty of putts]. I had also planned to hit a variety of shots from the practice bunker, but that bunker was under repair, so that was impossible to do. Here is what I observed with these Titleist Test balls vs. both the 2023 Maxfli Tour X CG and the regular 2023 Maxfli Tour CG:

Feel - The Titleist Test ball feels quite soft; much softer than the Maxfli Tour X and also a bit softer than the Maxfli Tour ball. The Tour X from Maxfli is a very firm ball at more than 100 compression, and it has a rather firm feel on all shots, but the 2023 Maxfli Tour is only 85 compression, and this Titleist ball still feels noticeably softer than that Maxfli model, so I'm guessing that this Titleist ball is a sub-80 compression ball (?)

Responsiveness - It seemed that it took a more forceful strike on short chip shots with the wedges and with the putter to get the same distance with the Titleist ball as I got from either of the Maxfli ball models, especially with my favorite Tour X model. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially on downhill putts and chips to tight pin positions or on chips and pitches with some downward slope toward the pin; however, you need to know what to expect, and when I first started hitting shots (particularly short chips and putts) with the Titleist ball, I was leaving everything short.

Performance - Once I got used to the softer feel, nothing about the Titleist ball was "bad", and I actually made a few reasonably long putts (15-25 feet) with it. I also hit some chips pretty close to a few of the holes that were in tough positions (I tried as many difficult chips as I could), and hit the flagstick one time with the Titleist ball, although I didn't hole the chip. Again, nothing to complain about with the Titleist ball, once I got used to the feel, but as soon as I dialed-in my stroke with those balls, I started blowing the putts well past the holes with the Maxfli balls, particularly the Tour X.

Overall Observations - I'm not a fan of "soft" or low-compression golf balls (one in the same, I guess), but when I got used to these Titleist "White Box" Test balls, they performed all right off the wedges and putter .... especially the putter. I was expecting to see some excessive run-out on chip and pitch shots, after what I experienced yesterday on 25 and 50 yard partial wedge shots when testing on the launch monitor, but this didn't happen outdoors under real-world golf course conditions, and this practice green was certainly not what I would call "slow" (in fact, it was pretty fast).

NOW FOR THE ON-COURSE ASSESSMENT: (performed 11/13 through 11/15/23)

As I mentioned in my introduction at the beginning of this post, I played nine holes on Monday and 18 holes today with the Titleist test ball (well, not actually a full 18 holes today, because I lost two balls by the 8th hole, and the third ball was so badly abraded from my Ping Glide 2 wedges that I had to take it out of play by the 10th hole). The on-course performance that I got with the test balls very closely paralleled what I saw on the launch monitor and during my time pitching, chipping, and putting with it .... but, if anything a bit worse for me, especially around the greens. Whenever I had the opportunity, I hit two balls off the tee, or into the greens, with the first being with the Titleist "White Box" test ball and the second shot hit with a Maxfli Tour X CG (2023 model).  Not one shot that I hit with the Titleist Test ball was as long as with the Maxfli Tour X that I hit from the same spot, using the same club. Now, of course you can say that no two swings are the same, and maybe I was making better swings and contact with the Maxfli ball, but it's just not realistic to think that I would always make a better stroke, better contact, etc. with one ball over the other!

With my Callaway Paradym X driver, I was hitting the Maxfli Tour X ball about 20 yards longer EVERY TIME than I did with the Titleist ball(s). On iron shots, I was at least 1/2 club longer with the Maxfli Tour X than with the Titleist ball (sometimes, close to a full club longer, meaning about 12-13 yards).

Here is the part that was most disturbing for me - The Titleist test ball would just not check-up at all for me on partial wedge shots and greenside chips! This was much worse than what I had experienced on the launch monitor, as I was seeing close to 2x, and sometimes even 3x, the run-out with the Titleist test ball than what I saw with the Maxfli Tour X. 

Putting was another area where I was VERY disappointed with the Titleist ball. I had 19 putts on my front nine today (all with the Titleist ball), and only 13 putts with the Maxfli Tour X ball on the back nine. Some of this was attributable to my approach shots ending-up far closer with the Maxfli ball, but then that speaks volumes regarding how much more spin and check-up that I got with the Maxfli ball hitting everything from an 8-iron to my 58* wedge.

Sure, a great deal of my better performance with the Maxfli ball (I shot 4-over on the back nine today, after shooting 8-over on the front nine) was due to getting into a groove and with my greater comfort level with the Maxfli Tour X. However, when you are playing a ball that doesn't work as well for you, as this Titleist ball definitely did not work well for me, you're going to shoot higher scores with the poorer-performing ball. 

I did not do as much of a comparison on Monday, as I played the Titleist ball exclusively. In addition, I was in a foursome where we were being pushed, so I did not have the luxury of hitting two balls on any holes. However, my observations during the nine holes that I played on Monday were about the same as I saw today on my first ten holes with the Titleist ball. 

Today, I spoke with my playing partners about my wish to compare balls on as many shots as possible, and their response was "as long as we aren't holding up the groups behind us". We played 18 holes in 3:46, so we were definitely not holding anyone up .... in fact, after the first hole, we never again saw the threesome behind us (we were a foursome, by the way).

I initially thought that I might be able to play this Titleist ball model as my "winter golf ball", but today's results in particular were telling me clearly that I would not get along well with that Titleist ball model.

There you have my take on these golf balls; everyone will get different results and impressions, but my impression is that these balls are not a good fit for me.

Edited November 17, 2023 by funkyjudge

[buckpillar]

Could this be what we are Testing?

Please check out this article from PGATOUR.com about Billy Horschel and a special ball he is using.... 

Here is the link - https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/equipment-report/2023/11/15/check-out-billy-horschel-recent-iron-changes-and-why-he-uses-a-secret-golf-ball-titleist-620-t100-pro-v1

 

Here is the portion of the article talking about the "secret" ball-

Speaking of his golf ball landing softly on the greens, Horschel also uses a special Titleist prototype golf ball that’s designed to spin a bit more.

“I use a Titleist Pro V1 Plus – it's a secret golf ball,” Horschel said. “This is a golf ball that spins a little higher, launches a little bit higher. It's an updated version of the Pro V1 Star; that was a 2017 model."

As Horschel returns to the PGA TOUR at The RSM Classic, keep an eye on his iron game. If you see the ball cutting toward the target and landing softly near the flagstick, now you know why.

 

What does everyone think?

 

[Javs]

5 minutes ago, buckpillar said:

Could this be what we are Testing?

Please check out this article from PGATOUR.com about Billy Horschel and a special ball he is using.... 

Here is the link - https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/equipment-report/2023/11/15/check-out-billy-horschel-recent-iron-changes-and-why-he-uses-a-secret-golf-ball-titleist-620-t100-pro-v1

 

Here is the portion of the article talking about the "secret" ball-

Speaking of his golf ball landing softly on the greens, Horschel also uses a special Titleist prototype golf ball that’s designed to spin a bit more.

“I use a Titleist Pro V1 Plus – it's a secret golf ball,” Horschel said. “This is a golf ball that spins a little higher, launches a little bit higher. It's an updated version of the Pro V1 Star; that was a 2017 model."

As Horschel returns to the PGA TOUR at The RSM Classic, keep an eye on his iron game. If you see the ball cutting toward the target and landing softly near the flagstick, now you know why.

 

What does everyone think?

 

That is a very interesting find. In my humble opinion this test ball is not a Prov1 type ball. I really do believe we are testing an updated AVX. If this was intended as the Prov1 Plus that would be a huge surprise. Especially with the durability issue when hit with a wedge. I can’t imagine any tour pro wants to play a ball that looks like a waffle iron hit it after a wedge shot. 

[Josh Parker]

21 minutes ago, Javs said:

That is a very interesting find. In my humble opinion this test ball is not a Prov1 type ball. I really do believe we are testing an updated AVX. If this was intended as the Prov1 Plus that would be a huge surprise. Especially with the durability issue when hit with a wedge. I can’t imagine any tour pro wants to play a ball that looks like a waffle iron hit it after a wedge shot. 

I have to agree!  One wedge shot and it was scuffed.  

Now that's not to say that they aren't also testing a ProV1 model but it isn't what I hit during testing. 

[Cfhandyman]

45 minutes ago, Javs said:

That is a very interesting find. In my humble opinion this test ball is not a Prov1 type ball. I really do believe we are testing an updated AVX. If this was intended as the Prov1 Plus that would be a huge surprise. Especially with the durability issue when hit with a wedge. I can’t imagine any tour pro wants to play a ball that looks like a waffle iron hit it after a wedge shot. 

I would attend to agree with Javs that we’re testing an updated AVX. The ProV1 plus is apparent a higher spinning version of the ProV1x. I can’t see a pro playing a low compression ball with durability issues

[Leonvdwesthuizen]

10 hours ago, HikingMike said:

Let me tell you the next time I golf somewhere else. As soon as the next MyGolfSpy golf resort trip testing opportunity opens up. 

Now we need to ask @Leonvdwesthuizen that question as the Southern Hemisphere participant. I wonder if I would hit a fade in South Africa instead of a draw. haha  

lol

Hah no kidding? Let's count us as 6 then. I actually don't play at Fox Creek even though it's less than 10 minutes away, not since 15 years or so. But 5 years back they did have a really great deal for "membership" subscription that I considered. Lately, I heard the course isn't in great shape, not kept up. So my guess is it seems to be really up and down. My league was at Oak Brook until 2 years ago and now we're at Arlington.

Sorry for all the off-topic here, whoops. It just kind of had a life of its own.

@HikingMike.. good question..I've always been biased to more of a fade than a draw, but that's just me trying to hit the ball too hard.

All Golfspies are welcome to come to the most beautiful city at the southern tip of Africa, Cape Town, and you can experience it for yourself (it is a bucket list thing)!

We have unbelievable amount of perfect courses to experience.. and our currency is so weak against the dollar you'll live and play like a king!

#lookingforsomeplayingpartners

Anyway, let me get back to planning and testing and reporting..

[Josh Parker]

 

I have made several post on my findings throughout the testing but I wanted to recap all my findings.

Distance: 
I found this ball to have slightly less distance than my normal ProV1X but that is to be expected from a softer ball.  It seemed to be about a half a club less with my irons and once I adjusted it played out well.

Ball Flight:  
I experienced a nice high ball flight during my testing.  I also found that the ball wanted to stay straight off the entire bag of clubs.  This can be very beneficial for a player that tends to have a slice or hook shot.

Course Testing:
I played 27 holes with the first Titleist test ball and the findings were quite interesting.  The first hole on my course is a dogleg left and played driver off the tee.  I immediately found that the ball wanted to travel straighter than my normal gamer ball.  It came off the face of the driver with a smooth buttery feel and the elevation was nice.  I did find that the ball traveled less than my gamer but with a straighter ball flight, it was acceptable.  From 60 yards out, I hit my 58 degree wedge to what ended up being 3.5 foot from the flag.  Made the birdie putt and proceeded to the cart.  Looking at the ball, one thing became very clear.  Durability is going to be the issue on this test ball.  After one hole, we now had scuffing on the ball.  It had not dug into the cover or made it unplayable, but it would be something that I was going to observe with my use. 

As I continued to play the round, I found that my iron shots were about a half a club shorter.  Once I made the adjustments to the distance, I didn’t find that it was a huge deal as the ball wanted to fly straight and it feels good coming off the clubface.  Hitting a mid to short iron into the green, I found that the ball would take a one hop and stop or a slight backspin which was nice to see.  Knowing the ball wouldn’t take a long skip forward allowed me to be a little more aggressive on my approach shots and have confidence that it was going to stop where it landed. 

Chipping from just off the green was consistent with the amount of spin I expected, and I was able to control how the ball would react once it hit the green.

Putting with this ball provided a soft feel off the face of the putter and the ball rolled well.

Overall impressions:  
My overall impression of the Titleist Test Ball is positive.  While I don’t think I would be switching to this ball full time, I do think there is a huge market for it depending on the price point.  As I mentioned above, the ball wants to fly straight.  I noticed this the most on my tee shots with driver, where I tend to have a fade. 

My Likes: The ball is soft and feels good off the face of the club.  It has a nice trajectory and for me personally, it stops well on the greens.  It will stay straight and that is beneficial to a lot of players. 

My Dislikes: The biggest downfall on this test ball is the durability.  With the prices of everything going up and up, I want a ball that will last more than one round. 

Who Is This Ball For: I think this is a perfect choice for someone who has a fade/slice off the tee.  The ball wants to stay straight.  For a player that may not have as much swing speed or creates as much spin with the wedges this ball would be perfect.

 

 

[jbern]

One of my playing partners is a Titleist fanboy (I'm 99% sure his bag top to bottom is Titleist). I showed him the Test ball yesterday and he immediately said "Wow, that looks like the AVX!" 

I, personally, wouldn't have guessed that if it wasn't for the forum.

[russtopherb]

7 minutes ago, jbern said:

One of my playing partners is a Titleist fanboy (I'm 99% sure his bag top to bottom is Titleist). I showed him the Test ball yesterday and he immediately said "Wow, that looks like the AVX!" 

I, personally, wouldn't have guessed that if it wasn't for the forum.

 A lot of the comments and feedback immediately made me think AVX as someone who has played that ball on and off - it sounds like a higher flying version of it, as the low flight was one of the biggest complaints about the previous releases (and one of my complaints as well).

[Fred Mitchell]

17 hours ago, Javs said:

Very interesting read when all the comments are lined up. Thank you for doing this. I wonder if there are certain types of players that were seeing high verse low spin? In the end, this shows how a ball that fits one golfer perfectly is not a good fit for the next. 

Havent been on a launch monitor yet. As of now I am guessing that my low ball flight magnifies any lower spin with short irons and wedges. I would say my usual short/wedge shots are medium flight but yesterday all balls were lower, probably weather change / lowering temps having an effect on a high mileage , high surgery count 61 year old body. 

[ctg44]

16 hours ago, buckpillar said:

Awesome job condensing all the information, very informative, thanks for doing it! 

Agreed, this was a lot of work, and very appreciated.  It just goes to show that everyone's swing can produce different results with the same ball, even though the general characteristics that the manufacturer intended for its performance might say otherwise.  In my case, anything that goes higher in the air is a bad thing because it therefore gets caught in the incessant Texas wind more.  That's one of the reasons I'm liking the yellow versions of the Maxfli and OnCore balls because of their slightly harder feel and lower launch / spin characteristics than their original white models.  

[Fred Mitchell]

15 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

 A lot of the comments and feedback immediately made me think AVX as someone who has played that ball on and off - it sounds like a higher flying version of it, as the low flight was one of the biggest complaints about the previous releases (and one of my complaints as well).

I have played at least 1 , probably 2 generations of AVX and for me and IMO this ball is hotter of the face and longer than before, I tested a lot of balls at a store a couple of hours away roughly 5-6 months ago including AVX before going with my Bridgestones which were longer/ better off the irons, more stopping power with irons and shorter off the driver than AVX , yesterday heads up along with Maxfli Tour s the Test Ball was hotter and longer on everything except putter. Thats just for me , my swing speed and swing itself is different just like everyone else. I would love to know the compression of this ball

[RjGolf4Life]

Good morning MGS family!

I am blessed enough to have been selected for the first time to test a product out. I was on vacation and when I arrived back home there it was … the white box within a white box of the Titleist Test balls. 
 

Unfortunately, I have been forced to work with no days off right now but plan on testing the balls out and providing my opinion regarding the test balls. 
 

Stay tuned for my results …

[jbern]

1 hour ago, russtopherb said:

 A lot of the comments and feedback immediately made me think AVX as someone who has played that ball on and off - it sounds like a higher flying version of it, as the low flight was one of the biggest complaints about the previous releases (and one of my complaints as well).

I have never played the AVX, but I did test it yesterday for 9 holes against the Vice Pro, which as been my gamer ball all year. I noticed some interesting things that I'll post later today or tomorrow.

[HikingMike]

6 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

 

I have made several post on my findings throughout the testing but I wanted to recap all my findings.

[...]

As I continued to play the round, I found that my iron shots were about a half a club shorter.  Once I made the adjustments to the distance, I didn’t find that it was a huge deal as the ball wanted to fly straight and it feels good coming off the clubface.  Hitting a mid to short iron into the green, I found that the ball would take a one hop and stop or a slight backspin which was nice to see.  Knowing the ball wouldn’t take a long skip forward allowed me to be a little more aggressive on my approach shots and have confidence that it was going to stop where it landed. 

Chipping from just off the green was consistent with the amount of spin I expected, and I was able to control how the ball would react once it hit the green.

Putting with this ball provided a soft feel off the face of the putter and the ball rolled well.

Overall impressions:  
My overall impression of the Titleist Test Ball is positive.  While I don’t think I would be switching to this ball full time, I do think there is a huge market for it depending on the price point.  As I mentioned above, the ball wants to fly straight.  I noticed this the most on my tee shots with driver, where I tend to have a fade. 

My Likes: The ball is soft and feels good off the face of the club.  It has a nice trajectory and for me personally, it stops well on the greens.  It will stay straight and that is beneficial to a lot of players. 

My Dislikes: The biggest downfall on this test ball is the durability.  With the prices of everything going up and up, I want a ball that will last more than one round. 

Who Is This Ball For: I think this is a perfect choice for someone who has a fade/slice off the tee.  The ball wants to stay straight.  For a player that may not have as much swing speed or creates as much spin with the wedges this ball would be perfect.

Great review!

Ok so you are at least the 3rd person to say it was shorter with irons. ( @Prodigal Duffer and me). But I did see at least one say it was longer with irons.

I think I have the same likes and dislikes then. I need a lot more rounds in to take a guess at whether it's really straightening mine out. I play a draw naturally on most shots but I do have the occasional miss bad hook or slice off the tee. I could see myself playing this if it helps. According to my Golfshot Strokes Gained (and my own suspicions), I lose most off the tee, with approach shots a close second. I can have good rounds off the tee and bad ones. I hit long enough, so it comes down to inconsistency. My short game is more solid usually. I don't live or die on spin with my game, so that might be less of a factor than for others. Full iron shots have no problem stopping in any case. And I had no problem putting with this ball.

This is an interesting exercise in figuring out how my game works. 

[HikingMike]

7 hours ago, Leonvdwesthuizen said:

@HikingMike.. good question..I've always been biased to more of a fade than a draw, but that's just me trying to hit the ball too hard.

All Golfspies are welcome to come to the most beautiful city at the southern tip of Africa, Cape Town, and you can experience it for yourself (it is a bucket list thing)!

We have unbelievable amount of perfect courses to experience.. and our currency is so weak against the dollar you'll live and play like a king!

#lookingforsomeplayingpartners

Anyway, let me get back to planning and testing and reporting..

I believe you! My brother-in-law spent 2 weeks in S Africa over Christmas years back and he loved the trip. He had a good college friend that apparently has a wealthy family and had a bunch of buddies make the trip together. There wasn't any golf, but they did go down a scenic river with tubes and much of it was rapids and navigating down rocks which looked like a blast. I forgot what they called it. He showed his photos and went through the trip. Cape Town did look incredible.
 

Quote

Purchasing power parity is the number of currency units required to buy goods equivalent to what can be bought with one unit of the base country.

https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-ppp.htm

It looks like it is around 7.0 as of last year, meaning it takes 7 ZAR to buy the same as 1 USD can (purchasing power being equal). And right now the exchange rate is 18.4 ZAR to 1 USD. So wow you are not joking. I think this means we can buy 18.4/7.0 = 2.6 times more goods/services with our exchanged money.

I did the same for Mexico and that came out to (17.3/10.4) 1.7.

However... it would require a LOT of golf to make up the airfare to South Africa 

[buckpillar]

17 hours ago, Javs said:

That is a very interesting find. In my humble opinion this test ball is not a Prov1 type ball. I really do believe we are testing an updated AVX. If this was intended as the Prov1 Plus that would be a huge surprise. Especially with the durability issue when hit with a wedge. I can’t imagine any tour pro wants to play a ball that looks like a waffle iron hit it after a wedge shot. 

Let me add to this thread, what's the possibility that Titleist is completing multiple ball test?

Since they have all our contact information, they can track which type of ball goes to a specific person and flag those reviews for each ball?

Could be why the tests / comments are all over the board.

 

[Javs]

1 hour ago, buckpillar said:

Let me add to this thread, what's the possibility that Titleist is completing multiple ball test?

Since they have all our contact information, they can track which type of ball goes to a specific person and flag those reviews for each ball?

Could be why the tests / comments are all over the board.

 

I suppose that is a possibility. I also think that players, swings and amount of spin each player generates are all over the place as well. That even happens with elite players. For example Nicklaus and Trevino both elite players; however, flight and the spin and shots they generated were completely different. Now take that to regular players and the difference is really going to be all over the place. 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Javs