I got home yesterday and found a "Canpar" courier notice stuck on my door.  I went over to their facility and picked up the package and found that I'd just received a sleeve of test Pro V's - can't wait to get out there and hit them and see what they're all about!

I received my package of three test balls today. Perfect timing, as I will be heading out to the course in about an hour. I will give them a good testing today, and then again as the week progresses. I look forward to next week as well, as the weather forecast shows much cooler weather which will allow me to compare performance in both warm and cold weather.

If I still have them in the bag I will be able to test them later this fall in South Carolina when I take my annual trip to Myrtle Beach with my brother and a couple of friends for our 16th annual TDGE (Turkey Day Golf Extravaganza).

I am curious - is there a date by which TT would like the feedback? Do we have to the end of October when the golf season in Ontario comes to an end?

Darius

I'm not 100% sure on the timeline.    I tested mine as soon as possible, mostly because it was exciting lol and I wanted to test while my game was still sharp and I could give titleist proper feedback.  

BTW I found them to literally be the best ball titleist has made.  That's my opinion as the ball fit my game and swing speed.  I am truly amazed that titleist built this ball so perfectly 

Thanks TT. Just got home from my final night of Men's league for the season and 

found a really nice surprise. A sleeve of test balls. I will be out tomorrow testing these.

If all goes well I will put into play on Sunday at our men's league finals.

Regards

Andrew

Biggest problem I have now is I had to cancel my 10dz prov1x order lol.  Because I will be waiting for this one to come out.   I'm done buying balls this year ( unless titleist goes on sale )   

Looking forward to a 10 dozen order of these (hopefully ) in the spring to cover next season 

Hehehe...

Canpar dropped off a little care package at my house today, too.  I am utterly thrilled to be part of the R&D process.  What an amazing opportunity for someone like me to provide feedback on a new product.  I am awestruck by a company that solicits direct customer feedback in this manner.  Kudos, Titleist.  Gold star!  

Weather permitting, I should go out Sunday, and will alternate holes between the prototype and my "usual" ProV1x.  Once I have exhausted my supply of test balls, I will definitely leave feedback at the web link provided.

Regards,

--
Kevin

I had the chance to play 12 holes with the "test" sleeve and my usual prov1x's and they were very similar. The test did seem to go about the same distance with short irons (I hit 2 9irons about a foot from each other). Putting and chipping felt about the same. The new one did go a bit further off the longer clubs. I actually drove one onto the front edge of the 3rd green. It was downhill and down wind, but still a 350 yard par 4. Most important was the durability. I bashed them around pretty good for 12 holes and they looked very good and still playable. I heard January for the 2015 versions, so we'll see how they roll on the living room carpet until the snow is gone in April in Ontario. I'll try not to lose these ones in the leaves the next 6 weeks!

Did you find that it was much easier to control spin with short irons?     I really noticed more of a drop and stop with 7-pw rather than spinning 4-5 feet back.   And a 1 hop and stop with mid irons      

Granted im a very high spin player so this was something I was really watching for,   it performed well on those 30-60 yard pitches with a maybe a couple hops and zipping back a foot. 

It seems like a very refined version of the 2013 model.   I found it launched slightly higher also.  Did you notice that? 

I'm very much an analyzer of ball flight ect  I know those differences are very subtle and many won't notice   but I see it as a privilege to be able to test the ball so I figured those details are important 

Mike: I really couldn't see a big difference in flight, but I'm a fairly low ball flight player anyway (6 iron average height on Trackman was 65 ft, 5800 spin). I tend to be a 2 bounce & stop player and the new ball did just that. I did try to hit a couple of "spinners" and the new ones did (90 yard carry with my 56-10 SW, backed up about 10 feet). I also hit a few from 50 yards and the spin/stop action was pretty much the same as the 2013 prov1x. I was fun to hit a bunch of shots trying to find difference anyway. Regardless, the new 2015 prov1x's will be in my bag next spring anyway!!

Thanks, Chris.

Here is my review after a round and a half with my Test Balls...

Titleist Test Ball. Red Numbers.

Wednesday October 1, 2014

Location – Barrie, Ontario

Course – Vespra Hills Golf Club

Course  Par 70 – Score - 74

Weather – 61 degrees – Overcast with fine drizzle throughout most of the round.

Course conditions – soft fairways and greens.

Driver – The test ball appeared to fly lower than my normal shots with either my ProV1x or my TM Penta. Would also say that there appeared to be low spin off the driver as the ball would not fly off line to much when I miss hit with my normal miss which would typically lead to an exaggerated fade.

Iron shots were crisp and the ball felt quite soft coming off the club face. Interesting that although the driver seemed to hit the ball further, the distance with my irons stayed within my normal averages.

Ball felt very nice with approach shots with short wedges. Ball stuck well and would spin back or stop dead when hitting in from 50 to 100 yds.

Putting - Ball felt very nice off the putter face. Nice and soft.  Distance control with the putter was excellent today as well. Not sure if that was due to the ball, or that the fact that I was putting with a lot of confidence today. Overall only 31 putts today and still missed a couple of three footers due to misreading the break.

Thursday October 2 - Same Course Similar weather conditions as yesterday only there was no precipitation today. Fairways and greens still soft due to rains earlier in the week and a lack of sun over a few days.

Played front nine with my Red Numbered Test ball. Fired off a 37 and found similar experience as yesterday. Ball carried well and felt under control coming off the club face both in terms of trajectory and distance. After playing with the ball yesterday I felt comfortable that it would carry the distances I expected. It did. Unfortunately I just nicked some outside branches of a tree attempting to draw my tee shot around a corner to shorten my 9th hole par four and got a bad kick to the left and lost the ball. (I guess the results over a round and a half were starting to go to my head.) Pulled out a second test ball and managed to save bogey with the penalty out of the hazard.

Back nine - Used one of my TM Penta Balls for the back nine. Ball did not carry as well off the driver, and found myself in a few bunkers short of some greens. My distance control seemed to be lacking a little. Was it the ball or me? Putting was not quite as good on this nine. (18 putts) even with a couple of one putts.Score - 7 over 43

After playing with two different balls over two nines, the test ball certainly scored better. Is it the ball or me ? I can certainly say the new test ball felt much softer than the TM Penta, and It flew straighter off both my driver and my Irons.

Will play another round next week and I look forward to testing out the ball when I head south later in October.

Darius

So - I only had time to do 9 holes today, and since the course was empty I played two balls. This time I used one of the new Red Numbered test balls and one of my new ProV1x balls.

The weather today was sunny and warmer than the two previous test rounds (temp at around 23 C.

I have to admit that both balls performed identically. At least I could not notice the difference between them. My ProV1x and the TEST balls both cut through the wind nicely and both reacted similarly off the wedges when I missed the greens and had to chip. I kept score with both balls and shot a 39 with each. Given the strong winds today - I was very happy with the result.

Now I don't know if I have a set of placebo balls or not :)

The drives were on average the same distance and similar ball flight. Both behaved and stayed low when I tried to make that shot into the wind, and both carried the same down wind when I hit them higher to try and take advantage of the tail wind.

The feeling off the putter was identical to me with both balls.

It will be interesting to hear at the end of this testing period what ball I was actually testing. Is it a ProV 1, a ProV1x, an NXT Tour, a Velocity, or something else ?

Next test will be when I head south.

Darius

Great review Darius.  Very detailed. Looking

forward to your down south review.

Regards

Andrew

I had similar experiences to many here with the red test ball:

- Slightly less spin with the driver/3w resulting in slightly straighter drives with more roll vs ProV1x. This was a good thing for me.

- Not much difference with irons vs ProV1x 

- A little more spin with the wedges vs ProV1x. Seemed to be more noticeable on pitches and chips around the green.

- Felt the same with the putter

- Maybe slightly more durable than ProV1x. The scuffs from my irons seemed to be less noticeable.

T.

Great review Darius.

I just completed my testing with the BLACK test ball.  I am fortunate that we have a great short game practice facility and managed to spend well over an hour doing a direct comparison of the Test ball with the ProV1x.  I found the Test ball to have a definitely softer feel for putting but no noticable difference in feel when chipping or pitching.  I found the Test ball had better spin / stop action for pitches starting around 30yds and out but in close the action was the same as the ProV1x.  Out on the course the Test ball played practically identical to the ProV1x with the exception of a bit more curve off the long clubs - ouch! 

I agree that it would be really great if Titleist tells us what the test balls were or are about to become.

Mike M

Hello everyone!

Would like to start off buy saying thanks for allowing me to participate in the testing of the new golf balls. I currently play a pro v1 and love the way it performs. This is my fourth year playing golf and it did not take me long to figure out that Titleist is the #1 ball in golf. I found that the new ball felt softer than my current ball and was a little longer on average. The ball performed fantastic and checked up nicely with short irons and chips around the green. All in all, I am once again impressed with the team at Titleist and will remain a faithful customer. Keep up the great work. 

Thanks Stu