2023 Titleist White Box Testing Thread

[RoverRick]

I normally play the AVX. When I played these balls side-by-side, I couldn’t see any real world difference in them. However, the Test Ball felt softer off the putter. I loved the feel of this ball and the performance was a few feet either way. My strike could account for the difference. 

I could definitely see and feel a difference in the performance between the Test ball and the ProV1, ProV1x, and the left dash ProV1X, but as I said, this felt like perhaps a new version of the AVX. 

One thing I absolutely loved about this, aside from the feel off the putter, was the durability of this ball. 
 

The ball on the left has been played for 45 holes. Granted I didn’t bang it off trees or down cart paths, but I took this picture and then played another 18 holes and it still looked fine. Sadly, it doesn’t float any better than any other ball. 

All-in-all, I like this ball a lot. 

[Preeway]

Yes, I too deducted a couple points from my overall score due to lack of floating ability

[Prodigal Duffer]

Go out today. Weather was cool (high 40s) and very windy, so it afforded some good testing conditions.

Off the tee, the ball went far. The wind really affected its flight—on a short par 3, I hit a beautiful tee shot with my 9 iron (clubbing up). Ball had beautiful trajectory and just stopped as if it hit a brick wall. 

I had decided I was going to use the test ball only on the front nine, as the ball was very scuffed. So, I agree with fellow testers that the ball does not seem to be very durable. Unfortunately, I hit the ball into some trees on hole 9, so I don’t have any photos.

With irons, the ball flew as expected (accounting for both wind and temperature), so that was a big plus. 

Today did not move the needle from my earlier conclusions—this ball performs largely like my gamer. Given that it did not outperform my normal ball, and the durability is an issue, I doubt I would buy these balls unless they were very inexpensive. Given that they’re Titleist, I doubt that’s the case.

[golfinnut]

I'd be curious to know ...   those of you who don't like the ball because it "advances" too much on the green, what % of your iron shots were short of the target or green?  

 

[Preeway]

If I understand your question correctly, I would say I missed short of my target the same amount of the time as I do with my gamer ball. Ball flight, and therefore distance from target, was comparable to the Srixon Z-Star diamond. Just less spin off my irons for the test ball.

[HikingMike]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:32 PM, RjGolf4Life said:

Hello MGS family!

 

My name is Rolly and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I have been golfing on and off for over 32 years. I am 53 years old and have been consistently playing golf 1-2 times a week for the past 10 years now. My current index is 8.8. The strongest part of my game is putting. The weakest part of my game is everything else, LMAO! What saves my scores is that I scramble good around the green. 

Great post! 

Quote

The strongest part of my game is putting. The weakest part of my game is everything else, LMAO! What saves my scores is that I scramble good around the green. 

Sounds like me. If I could improve long game and approach consistency, I would be dangerous. Sometimes I'm in the zone off the tee and end up playing great.

Interesting you have more length even though the Test ball is softer. MyGolfSpy's ball test says "soft is slow", but I think I've had good luck with some low compression ones also. Doing a ball fitting is moving up my priorities list, definitely in part due to this test and thinking a lot more about this stuff.

That looks like a hell of a drive off #5 especially with the narrow fairway. 

Quote

The Test ball was decent but for some reason I hit more fades with the Test ball versus PXG ball.

Same here. It doesn't make sense, but here we are.

[HikingMike]

1 hour ago, golfinnut said:

I'd be curious to know ...   those of you who don't like the ball because it "advances" too much on the green, what % of your iron shots were short of the target or green?  

Yeah this is an interesting point here. It makes me wonder if these are golfers with lower trajectory, or if they are accustomed to higher spin than the average hacker and didn't get that spin on the Test ball. Mine didn't seem to roll out more than usual, but I hit my irons high and don't have a ton of spin with anything - just enough for it to stop quickly if I land on the green. The greens could definitely be a factor too.

[golfinnut]

1 hour ago, Preeway said:

If I understand your question correctly, I would say I missed short of my target the same amount of the time as I do with my gamer ball. Ball flight, and therefore distance from target, was comparable to the Srixon Z-Star diamond. Just less spin off my irons for the test ball.

Genuine question .... if it spun less for you, wouldn't it have gone further?  With everything else being equal?  

[Javs]

9 minutes ago, golfinnut said:

Genuine question .... if it spun less for you, wouldn't it have gone further?  With everything else being equal?  

Found a good article on the topic of spin rates:

https://theleftrough.com/spin-rates-in-golf/

[Preeway]

12 minutes ago, golfinnut said:

Genuine question .... if it spun less for you, wouldn't it have gone further?  With everything else being equal?  

Not necessarily. Multiple factors dictate ball flight. Spin can actually help increase carry distance by increasing the time an object stays airborne. I would have to pull up all the research, which I don't even have access to, but I'm sure there is a bell curve with the data as it relates to spin and carry distance. Also, I'm sure in strong wind conditions, spin could actually work against you. 

[Javs]

15 minutes ago, Preeway said:

Not necessarily. Multiple factors dictate ball flight. Spin can actually help increase carry distance by increasing the time an object stays airborne. I would have to pull up all the research, which I don't even have access to, but I'm sure there is a bell curve with the data as it relates to spin and carry distance. Also, I'm sure in strong wind conditions, spin could actually work against you. 

Agree and there are many factors that influence spin rates. Also there are optimum spin rates for each player and the club being hit. Spin can be a good thing or bad. That said, spin rates are part of a good ball fitting. 

[funkyjudge]

2 hours ago, golfinnut said:

I'd be curious to know ...   those of you who don't like the ball because it "advances" too much on the green, what % of your iron shots were short of the target or green?  

 

Almost ZERO. 

[Rob Person]

6 hours ago, golfinnut said:

I'd be curious to know ...   those of you who don't like the ball because it "advances" too much on the green, what % of your iron shots were short of the target or green?  

 

My chips and lofted shots were pretty consistent with my normal shot play style.  So I would say that for me, it was the ball.

[RjGolf4Life]

5 hours ago, HikingMike said:

Great post! 

Sounds like me. If I could improve long game and approach consistency, I would be dangerous. Sometimes I'm in the zone off the tee and end up playing great.

Interesting you have more length even though the Test ball is softer. MyGolfSpy's ball test says "soft is slow", but I think I've had good luck with some low compression ones also. Doing a ball fitting is moving up my priorities list, definitely in part due to this test and thinking a lot more about this stuff.

That looks like a hell of a drive off #5 especially with the narrow fairway. 

Same here. It doesn't make sense, but here we are.

Yeah, amazing what happens when everything is in synch with your swing and you can crush a ball once in a blue moon

 

Yeah, I thought it was strange I hit the ball further on the simulator. Maybe I subconsciously had a smoother stroke to get better contact on the ball. I thought I was swinging the same for each stroke but could be totally human error on my part

 

Hence, I am just an amateur player like the most of us and have an our good and bad days. 

[Cfhandyman]

6 hours ago, Preeway said:

Not necessarily. Multiple factors dictate ball flight. Spin can actually help increase carry distance by increasing the time an object stays airborne. I would have to pull up all the research, which I don't even have access to, but I'm sure there is a bell curve with the data as it relates to spin and carry distance. Also, I'm sure in strong wind conditions, spin could actually work against you. 

Agreed.  Spin is impacted by multiple factors. Clubhead/ball speed, angle of attack, loft of club, launch, path not to mention where you hit it on the club face. Throw in a low or high spin ball, add a little wind and it’s time to find the cart girl for your favourite beverage. See below from Ping on optimal launch and spin conditions for driver as a function of ball speed, angle of attack and launch.

[EugeGall]

Form all submitted, but thought I should post my take on the test ball (yes I'm going to say it was an AVX, I could be wrong LOL )

Side by side compared to my gamer (Seed SD-01, equivalent to Titleist ProV1) I'd say the test ball has more pronounced dimple pattern from touch point of view, not sure what difference this would make. Initial hit on indoor putting matt to gauge the sound (don't like a clicky ball sound when putting) was you couldn't tell them apart. I always work back from the "green" when trying new balls so this was a good start.

To give these a good test I spent a couple of hours hitting them into the green from 120-130 yards and in, closing hole at my course - 3x Prototype and 3x Gamer. I have to thank my home course for letting me do this. I found the test ball to be similar in feel/sound off my wedges. They did fly a little lower with a shallower flight so rolled out a bit further which took a a bit to get used to - a check and roll compared to check and stop from my gamer. Once I hit a few I would say they played consistent. Around the green I did notice a drop off in spin/bite, but not unplayable. Off the putter they felt smooth and very like my gamer sound and feel.
Next was to put them in full play - good solid distance off the driver, flight was lower and they may have run out a bit more, but nothing too noticeable. Now where I did see a difference was of my approaches, mid irons (6-8) with approx. 5 yards gain on ShotScope X5, again flight was lower, more piercing so this I say did have a good outcome.
All in all the ball would work, once I get the short game dialled in. However at the price point the Seeds will be staying as almost half the price
Thanks Titleist and MyGolfSpy for the chance to test.

[Cfhandyman]

3 hours ago, EugeGall said:

Form all submitted, but thought I should post my take on the test ball (yes I'm going to say it was an AVX, I could be wrong LOL )

Side by side compared to my gamer (Seed SD-01, equivalent to Titleist ProV1) I'd say the test ball has more pronounced dimple pattern from touch point of view, not sure what difference this would make. Initial hit on indoor putting matt to gauge the sound (don't like a clicky ball sound when putting) was you couldn't tell them apart. I always work back from the "green" when trying new balls so this was a good start.

To give these a good test I spent a couple of hours hitting them into the green from 120-130 yards and in, closing hole at my course - 3x Prototype and 3x Gamer. I have to thank my home course for letting me do this. I found the test ball to be similar in feel/sound off my wedges. They did fly a little lower with a shallower flight so rolled out a bit further which took a a bit to get used to - a check and roll compared to check and stop from my gamer. Once I hit a few I would say they played consistent. Around the green I did notice a drop off in spin/bite, but not unplayable. Off the putter they felt smooth and very like my gamer sound and feel.
Next was to put them in full play - good solid distance off the driver, flight was lower and they may have run out a bit more, but nothing too noticeable. Now where I did see a difference was of my approaches, mid irons (6-8) with approx. 5 yards gain on ShotScope X5, again flight was lower, more piercing so this I say did have a good outcome.
All in all the ball would work, once I get the short game dialled in. However at the price point the Seeds will be staying as almost half the price
Thanks Titleist and MyGolfSpy for the chance to test.

Nice review.

[vandyland]

Final Review - Mid/High Speed Player with Spin Issues - 

Player Profile
Age: 39
Driver/7 iron Swing Speed: 105/87 mph
Handicap: 2.2 - 2.6 (but trending up )
Strength: Driving the ball
Weakness: Short game (sand)/putting (distance control)
Wants/Needs in Golf ball: (1) higher spin around the greens (2) mid-flight (if possible) (3) high spin with irons / mid spin off driver

First Impressions
The balls arrived in their non-descript packaging and were emblazoned with a large "TEST" on the golf ball. I found this useful for lining up putts but, suffice to say, this will not be a part of the finished product. The balls themselves felt awfully similar to a ProV1 in hand, off a putter and juggling on a wedge. Maybe *slightly* softer but we are talking razor thin margins here. Definitely softer than a ProV1x but, again, largely indistinguishable from a ProV1 for me. 

 

The Numbers
I start with the numbers because my "feel" results were underwhelming. This is the one place where I could be fairly unbiased as I was switching balls out rapidly and trying not to be able to see any markings (on the white balls) for my test ball vs the other balls I selected. In the first test I did, I used a 7 iron (34*), indoors, on trackman. The other balls tested against it were a Kirkland V3 Performance Ball (I was hoping for a slight increase in spin). Anyway, they all came out rather similarly:

For the test ball, it was decent on spin but I would prefer more. Launched a little lower and came in on a lower land angle than the ProV1 and those are all rather important metrics for me. I did determine that the Kirkland ball does not really do what I wanted it to do for me, like at all. But based on this initial 7 iron test, the ProV1 is better in most ways (launch, spin, land angle). 

Then I did a second test (different day) where I tested the performance off a wedge by hitting a 75% 54* wedge shot (I hit a lot of those) and a 50% 58* wedge shot. I was looking for feel differences and spin differences mostly here. Did I get them?

This was more encouraging for the test ball. I swapped out the ProV1 and brought in a Srixon Z star XV after I determined the test ball was not really a ProV1 competitor. Overall happy with how the test ball worked out here. It spun more, launched higher and landed steeper....all good things in my book. The test ball felt softer than the Srixon Z star and definitely softer than the Kirkland. The Kirkland really didn't do at all what I hoped it would do. 

Outdoor Short game testing

Obviously I am very interested in how this thing works around the green. I didn't see a massive difference off the tee so I am good with that. We have FAST greens here so I need some stopping help around the greens. I compared the "test" ball against a ProV1. I spent 2 hours over two different pitching and chipping sessions and could not see a discernible difference between these two, it was maddening. They performed, for me, exactly the same from a variety of lies. I played sand shots, downhill shots, uphill shots, shots from 15-30-45-60 yds. Could not tell a difference at all. Zilch. Both rolled out slightly farther than I would like but that is probably a "me" problem. I am probably just more an "X" player and would do better in a ProV1x or Chromesoft X. 

On Course

Played 4 rounds with the test balls and they performed similarly well to the ProV1 except on a few iron shots that seemed to roll out a tad more (could have been strike though, right?). Overall I generally forgot I was playing the test ball most of the time which says to me that it didn't set off any alarm bells in my head that it was "DIFFERENT" in any material way. I did have a few durability issues with the cover but nothing that was quite "unplayable." I remember the last bit of test balls got some road rash as well. Shot 74-77-76-80 which is about standard for me. 

Play it or Trade it

This is a good quality golf ball that is largely indiscernible from a ProV1 which is the ball I have played for a long time. I have recently determined I need more spin so the ProV1 doesn't quite suit me anymore and, thus, neither does this ball. I can and will certainly play it until I lose them all but in my mind I have already decided I need more spin....at least for now. 

 

 

 

[Preeway]

13 minutes ago, vandyland said:

Final Review - Mid/High Speed Player with Spin Issues - 

Player Profile
Age: 39
Driver/7 iron Swing Speed: 105/87 mph
Handicap: 2.2 - 2.6 (but trending up )
Strength: Driving the ball
Weakness: Short game (sand)/putting (distance control)
Wants/Needs in Golf ball: (1) higher spin around the greens (2) mid-flight (if possible) (3) high spin with irons / mid spin off driver

First Impressions
The balls arrived in their non-descript packaging and were emblazoned with a large "TEST" on the golf ball. I found this useful for lining up putts but, suffice to say, this will not be a part of the finished product. The balls themselves felt awfully similar to a ProV1 in hand, off a putter and juggling on a wedge. Maybe *slightly* softer but we are talking razor thin margins here. Definitely softer than a ProV1x but, again, largely indistinguishable from a ProV1 for me. 

 

The Numbers
I start with the numbers because my "feel" results were underwhelming. This is the one place where I could be fairly unbiased as I was switching balls out rapidly and trying not to be able to see any markings (on the white balls) for my test ball vs the other balls I selected. In the first test I did, I used a 7 iron (34*), indoors, on trackman. The other balls tested against it were a Kirkland V3 Performance Ball (I was hoping for a slight increase in spin). Anyway, they all came out rather similarly:

For the test ball, it was decent on spin but I would prefer more. Launched a little lower and came in on a lower land angle than the ProV1 and those are all rather important metrics for me. I did determine that the Kirkland ball does not really do what I wanted it to do for me, like at all. But based on this initial 7 iron test, the ProV1 is better in most ways (launch, spin, land angle). 

Then I did a second test (different day) where I tested the performance off a wedge by hitting a 75% 54* wedge shot (I hit a lot of those) and a 50% 58* wedge shot. I was looking for feel differences and spin differences mostly here. Did I get them?

This was more encouraging for the test ball. I swapped out the ProV1 and brought in a Srixon Z star XV after I determined the test ball was not really a ProV1 competitor. Overall happy with how the test ball worked out here. It spun more, launched higher and landed steeper....all good things in my book. The test ball felt softer than the Srixon Z star and definitely softer than the Kirkland. The Kirkland really didn't do at all what I hoped it would do. 

Outdoor Short game testing

Obviously I am very interested in how this thing works around the green. I didn't see a massive difference off the tee so I am good with that. We have FAST greens here so I need some stopping help around the greens. I compared the "test" ball against a ProV1. I spent 2 hours over two different pitching and chipping sessions and could not see a discernible difference between these two, it was maddening. They performed, for me, exactly the same from a variety of lies. I played sand shots, downhill shots, uphill shots, shots from 15-30-45-60 yds. Could not tell a difference at all. Zilch. Both rolled out slightly farther than I would like but that is probably a "me" problem. I am probably just more an "X" player and would do better in a ProV1x or Chromesoft X. 

On Course

Played 4 rounds with the test balls and they performed similarly well to the ProV1 except on a few iron shots that seemed to roll out a tad more (could have been strike though, right?). Overall I generally forgot I was playing the test ball most of the time which says to me that it didn't set off any alarm bells in my head that it was "DIFFERENT" in any material way. I did have a few durability issues with the cover but nothing that was quite "unplayable." I remember the last bit of test balls got some road rash as well. Shot 74-77-76-80 which is about standard for me. 

Play it or Trade it

This is a good quality golf ball that is largely indiscernible from a ProV1 which is the ball I have played for a long time. I have recently determined I need more spin so the ProV1 doesn't quite suit me anymore and, thus, neither does this ball. I can and will certainly play it until I lose them all but in my mind I have already decided I need more spin....at least for now. 

 

 

 

Nice write up!

[EugeGall]

35 minutes ago, vandyland said:

Final Review - Mid/High Speed Player with Spin Issues - 

Player Profile
Age: 39
Driver/7 iron Swing Speed: 105/87 mph
Handicap: 2.2 - 2.6 (but trending up )
Strength: Driving the ball
Weakness: Short game (sand)/putting (distance control)
Wants/Needs in Golf ball: (1) higher spin around the greens (2) mid-flight (if possible) (3) high spin with irons / mid spin off driver

First Impressions
The balls arrived in their non-descript packaging and were emblazoned with a large "TEST" on the golf ball. I found this useful for lining up putts but, suffice to say, this will not be a part of the finished product. The balls themselves felt awfully similar to a ProV1 in hand, off a putter and juggling on a wedge. Maybe *slightly* softer but we are talking razor thin margins here. Definitely softer than a ProV1x but, again, largely indistinguishable from a ProV1 for me. 

 

The Numbers
I start with the numbers because my "feel" results were underwhelming. This is the one place where I could be fairly unbiased as I was switching balls out rapidly and trying not to be able to see any markings (on the white balls) for my test ball vs the other balls I selected. In the first test I did, I used a 7 iron (34*), indoors, on trackman. The other balls tested against it were a Kirkland V3 Performance Ball (I was hoping for a slight increase in spin). Anyway, they all came out rather similarly:

For the test ball, it was decent on spin but I would prefer more. Launched a little lower and came in on a lower land angle than the ProV1 and those are all rather important metrics for me. I did determine that the Kirkland ball does not really do what I wanted it to do for me, like at all. But based on this initial 7 iron test, the ProV1 is better in most ways (launch, spin, land angle). 

Then I did a second test (different day) where I tested the performance off a wedge by hitting a 75% 54* wedge shot (I hit a lot of those) and a 50% 58* wedge shot. I was looking for feel differences and spin differences mostly here. Did I get them?

This was more encouraging for the test ball. I swapped out the ProV1 and brought in a Srixon Z star XV after I determined the test ball was not really a ProV1 competitor. Overall happy with how the test ball worked out here. It spun more, launched higher and landed steeper....all good things in my book. The test ball felt softer than the Srixon Z star and definitely softer than the Kirkland. The Kirkland really didn't do at all what I hoped it would do. 

Outdoor Short game testing

Obviously I am very interested in how this thing works around the green. I didn't see a massive difference off the tee so I am good with that. We have FAST greens here so I need some stopping help around the greens. I compared the "test" ball against a ProV1. I spent 2 hours over two different pitching and chipping sessions and could not see a discernible difference between these two, it was maddening. They performed, for me, exactly the same from a variety of lies. I played sand shots, downhill shots, uphill shots, shots from 15-30-45-60 yds. Could not tell a difference at all. Zilch. Both rolled out slightly farther than I would like but that is probably a "me" problem. I am probably just more an "X" player and would do better in a ProV1x or Chromesoft X. 

On Course

Played 4 rounds with the test balls and they performed similarly well to the ProV1 except on a few iron shots that seemed to roll out a tad more (could have been strike though, right?). Overall I generally forgot I was playing the test ball most of the time which says to me that it didn't set off any alarm bells in my head that it was "DIFFERENT" in any material way. I did have a few durability issues with the cover but nothing that was quite "unplayable." I remember the last bit of test balls got some road rash as well. Shot 74-77-76-80 which is about standard for me. 

Play it or Trade it

This is a good quality golf ball that is largely indiscernible from a ProV1 which is the ball I have played for a long time. I have recently determined I need more spin so the ProV1 doesn't quite suit me anymore and, thus, neither does this ball. I can and will certainly play it until I lose them all but in my mind I have already decided I need more spin....at least for now. 

 

 

 

Good review

[Josh Parker]

Played my round today with the "test" ball and forgot to add a club to my approach shots!  Ended up short of the green all day long and struggled with putter speed today.  I blame the cold weather.... ha

The ball has nice flight but the durability is terrible.  I started with a new ball and by the 18th it was ready to be turned into a range ball.  One of my wedge shots put a pretty deep cut.

No trees or cart path were hit....

[Cfhandyman]

52 minutes ago, vandyland said:

Final Review - Mid/High Speed Player with Spin Issues - 

Player Profile
Age: 39
Driver/7 iron Swing Speed: 105/87 mph
Handicap: 2.2 - 2.6 (but trending up )
Strength: Driving the ball
Weakness: Short game (sand)/putting (distance control)
Wants/Needs in Golf ball: (1) higher spin around the greens (2) mid-flight (if possible) (3) high spin with irons / mid spin off driver

First Impressions
The balls arrived in their non-descript packaging and were emblazoned with a large "TEST" on the golf ball. I found this useful for lining up putts but, suffice to say, this will not be a part of the finished product. The balls themselves felt awfully similar to a ProV1 in hand, off a putter and juggling on a wedge. Maybe *slightly* softer but we are talking razor thin margins here. Definitely softer than a ProV1x but, again, largely indistinguishable from a ProV1 for me. 

 

The Numbers
I start with the numbers because my "feel" results were underwhelming. This is the one place where I could be fairly unbiased as I was switching balls out rapidly and trying not to be able to see any markings (on the white balls) for my test ball vs the other balls I selected. In the first test I did, I used a 7 iron (34*), indoors, on trackman. The other balls tested against it were a Kirkland V3 Performance Ball (I was hoping for a slight increase in spin). Anyway, they all came out rather similarly:

For the test ball, it was decent on spin but I would prefer more. Launched a little lower and came in on a lower land angle than the ProV1 and those are all rather important metrics for me. I did determine that the Kirkland ball does not really do what I wanted it to do for me, like at all. But based on this initial 7 iron test, the ProV1 is better in most ways (launch, spin, land angle). 

Then I did a second test (different day) where I tested the performance off a wedge by hitting a 75% 54* wedge shot (I hit a lot of those) and a 50% 58* wedge shot. I was looking for feel differences and spin differences mostly here. Did I get them?

This was more encouraging for the test ball. I swapped out the ProV1 and brought in a Srixon Z star XV after I determined the test ball was not really a ProV1 competitor. Overall happy with how the test ball worked out here. It spun more, launched higher and landed steeper....all good things in my book. The test ball felt softer than the Srixon Z star and definitely softer than the Kirkland. The Kirkland really didn't do at all what I hoped it would do. 

Outdoor Short game testing

Obviously I am very interested in how this thing works around the green. I didn't see a massive difference off the tee so I am good with that. We have FAST greens here so I need some stopping help around the greens. I compared the "test" ball against a ProV1. I spent 2 hours over two different pitching and chipping sessions and could not see a discernible difference between these two, it was maddening. They performed, for me, exactly the same from a variety of lies. I played sand shots, downhill shots, uphill shots, shots from 15-30-45-60 yds. Could not tell a difference at all. Zilch. Both rolled out slightly farther than I would like but that is probably a "me" problem. I am probably just more an "X" player and would do better in a ProV1x or Chromesoft X. 

On Course

Played 4 rounds with the test balls and they performed similarly well to the ProV1 except on a few iron shots that seemed to roll out a tad more (could have been strike though, right?). Overall I generally forgot I was playing the test ball most of the time which says to me that it didn't set off any alarm bells in my head that it was "DIFFERENT" in any material way. I did have a few durability issues with the cover but nothing that was quite "unplayable." I remember the last bit of test balls got some road rash as well. Shot 74-77-76-80 which is about standard for me. 

Play it or Trade it

This is a good quality golf ball that is largely indiscernible from a ProV1 which is the ball I have played for a long time. I have recently determined I need more spin so the ProV1 doesn't quite suit me anymore and, thus, neither does this ball. I can and will certainly play it until I lose them all but in my mind I have already decided I need more spin....at least for now. 

 

 

 

Excellent and thorough review. I particularly liked your short game testing method. This is a good ball but the key question does it match up best with your game and/or what you’re looking for in a ball. Not always easy to assess.  Well done. 

[Rob Person]

Final test for me today as well. ( we will get to why )

It was 44⁰ at 10 am tee time, I kept the 3 balls in 2 pockets the whole time to keep them warm.  9 am chipping and putting practice.  Putting was very smooth, the practice green were just rolled, so they were definitely at the top of their speed ratings.

Getting a feel for the greens and the balls only took a few strokes to adjust to them both.

Again, as previously tested,  these are very soft off the face. Could hear the click, but didnt really feel the ball. They rolled smooth, almost no hop or loping to them.  Tested from 10' and 4' a few times.  Then I tested alternating between these and some proV1's. A little more face feedback from Vs, almost like they were a bit denser than the Testers. (Could be the cover differences too I suppose)

On to the chipping area. Here is where I struggled a bit. From off fringe bumps, the ball wanted to release faster, causing more roll out than I wanted. Even after adjusting for that possibility,  it was very hit or miss on the stopping portion. Chipping/flopping from 10' to 30' away was a better result, but not ideal most times. Used a pw and a 9i.

Most resulted in zero stopping ability. It just rolled and rolled. The 60⁰ from 20-30' away, with considerably more air under the ball, would hop and perform a short roll out past the hole, every time. Even tried to get it to zip back or check and stop. It just didn't happen.

 

I played the 3 test balls almost the entire round. Back 2 back 2 back water hazard holes prevented me from closing my round with them. So I went back to the Callaway triple track for 17 and 18.

I was impressed with the driving portion today though,  as the lower ball flight kept me mostly under the winds wiley ways of pushing the ball around. There was a lack of distance of about 20 yards or better on average.  The ball did track straighter too though 90% of the time. I usually drive 225-230. Was never past 200- 210 yards playing this ball. (The Callaway did land over 225 yards the last 2 holes.

 

I will say after the few par 3s, one of the ball covers was spent. I hit those with a 7i and 8i, and the cover looked like a kid just bounced it off the sidewalk a few dozen times afterwards.

Not good at inserting photos in the right spots,  and I did take a few videos and will see if they will upload too.

   

Edited November 29, 2023 by Rob Person
Image

[Preeway]

Nice write-up

[RjGolf4Life]

5 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Final test for me today as well. ( we will get to why )

It was 44⁰ at 10 am tee time, I kept the 3 balls in 2 pockets the whole time to keep them warm.  9 am chipping and putting practice.  Putting was very smooth, the practice green were just rolled, so they were definitely at the top of their speed ratings.

Getting a feel for the greens and the balls only took a few strokes to adjust to them both.

Again, as previously tested,  these are very soft off the face. Could hear the click, but didnt really feel the ball. They rolled smooth, almost no hop or loping to them.  Tested from 10' and 4' a few times.  Then I tested alternating between these and some proV1's. A little more face feedback from Vs, almost like they were a bit denser than the Testers. (Could be the cover differences too I suppose)

On to the chipping area. Here is where I struggled a bit. From off fringe bumps, the ball wanted to release faster, causing more roll out than I wanted. Even after adjusting for that possibility,  it was very hit or miss on the stopping portion. Chipping/flopping from 10' to 30' away was a better result, but not ideal most times. Used a pw and a 9i.

Most resulted in zero stopping ability. It just rolled and rolled. The 60⁰ from 20-30' away, with considerably more air under the ball, would hop and perform a short roll out past the hole, every time. Even tried to get it to zip back or check and stop. It just didn't happen.

 

I played the 3 test balls almost the entire round. Back 2 back 2 back water hazard holes prevented me from closing my round with them. So I went back to the Callaway triple track for 17 and 18.

I was impressed with the driving portion today though,  as the lower ball flight kept me mostly under the winds wiley ways of pushing the ball around. There was a lack of distance of about 20 yards or better on average.  The ball did track straighter too though 90% of the time. I usually drive 225-230. Was never past 200- 210 yards playing this ball. (The Callaway did land over 225 yards the last 2 holes.

 

I will say after the few par 3s, one of the ball covers was spent. I hit those with a 7i and 8i, and the cover looked like a kid just bounced it off the sidewalk a few dozen times afterwards.

Not good at inserting photos in the right spots,  and I did take a few videos and will see if they will upload too.

 

   

Cool review

[EugeGall]

10 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Final test for me today as well. ( we will get to why )

It was 44⁰ at 10 am tee time, I kept the 3 balls in 2 pockets the whole time to keep them warm.  9 am chipping and putting practice.  Putting was very smooth, the practice green were just rolled, so they were definitely at the top of their speed ratings.

Getting a feel for the greens and the balls only took a few strokes to adjust to them both.

Again, as previously tested,  these are very soft off the face. Could hear the click, but didnt really feel the ball. They rolled smooth, almost no hop or loping to them.  Tested from 10' and 4' a few times.  Then I tested alternating between these and some proV1's. A little more face feedback from Vs, almost like they were a bit denser than the Testers. (Could be the cover differences too I suppose)

On to the chipping area. Here is where I struggled a bit. From off fringe bumps, the ball wanted to release faster, causing more roll out than I wanted. Even after adjusting for that possibility,  it was very hit or miss on the stopping portion. Chipping/flopping from 10' to 30' away was a better result, but not ideal most times. Used a pw and a 9i.

Most resulted in zero stopping ability. It just rolled and rolled. The 60⁰ from 20-30' away, with considerably more air under the ball, would hop and perform a short roll out past the hole, every time. Even tried to get it to zip back or check and stop. It just didn't happen.

 

I played the 3 test balls almost the entire round. Back 2 back 2 back water hazard holes prevented me from closing my round with them. So I went back to the Callaway triple track for 17 and 18.

I was impressed with the driving portion today though,  as the lower ball flight kept me mostly under the winds wiley ways of pushing the ball around. There was a lack of distance of about 20 yards or better on average.  The ball did track straighter too though 90% of the time. I usually drive 225-230. Was never past 200- 210 yards playing this ball. (The Callaway did land over 225 yards the last 2 holes.

 

I will say after the few par 3s, one of the ball covers was spent. I hit those with a 7i and 8i, and the cover looked like a kid just bounced it off the sidewalk a few dozen times afterwards.

Not good at inserting photos in the right spots,  and I did take a few videos and will see if they will upload too.

 

   

Nice review

[Cfhandyman]

12 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Final test for me today as well. ( we will get to why )

It was 44⁰ at 10 am tee time, I kept the 3 balls in 2 pockets the whole time to keep them warm.  9 am chipping and putting practice.  Putting was very smooth, the practice green were just rolled, so they were definitely at the top of their speed ratings.

Getting a feel for the greens and the balls only took a few strokes to adjust to them both.

Again, as previously tested,  these are very soft off the face. Could hear the click, but didnt really feel the ball. They rolled smooth, almost no hop or loping to them.  Tested from 10' and 4' a few times.  Then I tested alternating between these and some proV1's. A little more face feedback from Vs, almost like they were a bit denser than the Testers. (Could be the cover differences too I suppose)

On to the chipping area. Here is where I struggled a bit. From off fringe bumps, the ball wanted to release faster, causing more roll out than I wanted. Even after adjusting for that possibility,  it was very hit or miss on the stopping portion. Chipping/flopping from 10' to 30' away was a better result, but not ideal most times. Used a pw and a 9i.

Most resulted in zero stopping ability. It just rolled and rolled. The 60⁰ from 20-30' away, with considerably more air under the ball, would hop and perform a short roll out past the hole, every time. Even tried to get it to zip back or check and stop. It just didn't happen.

 

I played the 3 test balls almost the entire round. Back 2 back 2 back water hazard holes prevented me from closing my round with them. So I went back to the Callaway triple track for 17 and 18.

I was impressed with the driving portion today though,  as the lower ball flight kept me mostly under the winds wiley ways of pushing the ball around. There was a lack of distance of about 20 yards or better on average.  The ball did track straighter too though 90% of the time. I usually drive 225-230. Was never past 200- 210 yards playing this ball. (The Callaway did land over 225 yards the last 2 holes.

 

I will say after the few par 3s, one of the ball covers was spent. I hit those with a 7i and 8i, and the cover looked like a kid just bounced it off the sidewalk a few dozen times afterwards.

Not good at inserting photos in the right spots,  and I did take a few videos and will see if they will upload too.

 

   

Very nice review, pictures and video. Thanks for sharing

[HikingMike]

23 hours ago, vandyland said:

I did determine that the Kirkland ball does not really do what I wanted it to do for me, like at all. 

[...]

The Kirkland really didn't do at all what I hoped it would do. 

This reminds me of when I played Kirklands, though on a different level. I eventually realized they were all ending up in the woods and I stopped playing them

Later I saw the high driver spin on a MyGolfSpy test.

[PeterHenric]

So here’s a blanket complaint I have about people and their golf equipment in general. People put too much value in sound, feel, and looks compared to actual performance. Performance needs to come first, second, and then sound, feel, and looks can be tied for 3rd along with performance again. 
If you can find 2 clubs, balls, or putters that perform identically, then and only then should sound, feel, and looks be factored into your choice of which one to play. 
Far too often I read people say that “X” performed well but I didn’t like the way it sounded or felt or looked so I decided to go with a different product. It drives me nuts. It shouldn’t matter if the ball felt clicky off the putter or your irons. 
End of rant. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by PeterHenric

[HikingMike]

I just had a 30 minute chipping session at a course nearby, actually from the dormant grass fairway to the #9 green since I was the only one out there. It was 38F degrees (3C) so not the greatest test conditions But the sun was still out with a clear sky and I was warm to start with so I went for it. My goal was to determine if I could notice any difference in spin around the green.

I brought my 50 degree gap wedge to hit everything, though I did hit one group with my PW as well. The green seemed soft, but cold and damp, and I didn’t get very good stopping power. I hit a bunch from 30 yards and then from 15 yards out. I was leaving small ball marks on the green from 30 yards, and even for a few shots from 15 yards. They seemed to take a bigger first hop than normal. I am a decent chipper but I don't play with much spin this close to the green anyway.

I used the TEST balls, some Pro V1s, a Pro V1x, Srixon Z-Stars, and Callaway Supersofts. I can say the Supersofts definitely feel soft, lol. I didn't have my AVX with me out there since I only had one of those.

I almost made the first chip from 30y which was nice, so I was hoping I’d make one but never did. But I honestly had a hard time judging which were stopping better. I was keeping them in line with the hole OK, but distance varied a bit. They would skip on the first bounce, bite a bit, then some roll. So I was unsuccessful in my objective.

Actually now when I see the MyGolfSpy 2023 ball test again (useful scatter plot here), I can pull up spin numbers for "Wedge - 35 Yards" and almost all are grouped within 600 RPM or so. I guess that agrees.

The biggest difference I could discern was sound/feel, and this wasn't something I was looking out for when I started. This seemed to line up roughly with compression as you might expect. The Supersofts were softest, then the TEST balls, then Z-Stars and Pro V1s, and the Pro V1x was clickiest. I knew some balls had softer feel putting and chipping, but I had never really paid too much attention to it since I didn't test multiple ball types at the same time like this with my observation powers attuned. I understand why people like the softer feel ones. It can give me the impression the ball will land softer and stop quicker, which may lead to a little more confidence around the green, which leads to making a better chip swing, and ultimately getting closer to the hole. I have definitely heard some golf league buddies deriding "rocks"   So I do like the Titleist TEST balls for this as they seem to be at a sweet spot for me of soft but not marshmallow. I find it weird there may be nothing in the hard data to this, and it could be a purely psychological effect - super interesting.

I should note that I have heard there was a study done that found "soft feel" is largely based on sound in reality, though I haven't read that myself. (mentioned in the comments below this article)

So I did discover a big preference differentiator among the ball types, along with some self-discovery there. This may not be news to anyone. But I guess I have to decide what I like best and how "soft" or what minimum "softness" I like in a ball. Right now the TEST ball, AVX, Pro V1, and Z-Star are it, and those others around that same softness range. Though I'm sure I can get around that if I consciously train myself to know there is little difference in chipping spin between a hard Pro V1x and a soft Supersoft.