Recently, I received a surprise package late in the afternoon. There was a knock on the door and my daughter who recently moved back home answered. She came in and was holding a padded envelope. Interesting! I just assumed that it was more nail polish that my wife ordered (she has a bit of a problem and a nail blog). Anyways, I was informed that it was for me from Titleist. Now it got real interesting. So I opened up the envelope. Inside was a ominous enough looking sleeve of balls with no writing and a letter. I read the letter and I was selected by Titleist Canada to do some ball testing for R&D purposes. I was actually pretty pumped as this was a new and unexpected opportunity that fell into my lap… literally (my daughter dropped it into my lap). In short the letter asked to play the “Test” balls against my usual ball which is the Titleist Pro V1x. I was pretty excited to get them out there and that’s what I did.
The testing took place on a day where it was a little breezy. In fact there was anywhere from a 3 to 4 club wind. Relatively intense. It was cool as a front was moving in and the course had seen from precipitation recently as well. Below is a summary of what I noticed “Test” (Red) vs. Pro V1x (2014).
Driver Performance - So I teed off of the first hole with the driver. Right out of the gate there is a forced carry of 240 yds. Admittedly, I haven’t been too crazy with the feel of the Pro V1x where I’ve felt that it borderlines on “harsh”. I honestly prefer a softer feeling ball which has me thinking about Pro V1 instead. Anyways, from a feel standpoint with the driver I think the two balls felt about the same. From a distance standpoint there might have been a slight edge to the “Test” ball. I thought that the trajectory might have been a little lower through all of the holes played. This all tells me that the driver spin might be a little less as well. Perhaps a dimple pattern was introduced?
Fairway Woods, Hybrid and Long Irons - Fairway wood strikes don’t really apply here but I can comment on the hybrids and long irons. Again I noticed a slightly lower trajectory which resulted in slightly longer yardage over Pro V1x. When I say slight advantage in yardage we’re talking maybe 3-5 yards. I felt like there was also a little more “jump” off of the face. In the big winds I noticed that the control was about the same from a staying on line standpoint goes. The Test ball did not stray off course and held it’s line “cheating the wind”. The ball definitely has a better feel than it did with the driver but this is “par for the course” as far as Pro V1x feels the same way. The spin was very good with the approach shots into the green. The “Test” ball exhibited more of a “drop ‘n’ stop” quality for me. Definitely a pro.
Short Irons and Wedges - The trend continued in my estimation with trajectory with the “Test” ball and the short irons/wedges. I have been working on trapping the ball a little more and this might be the reason for the lower ballflight. That said, considering I was playing both balls and the “Test” ball was flying a little lower head to head. I like the feel of the Pro V1x with my short irons and wedges (irons in general) and the ball definitely felt responsive off of the face. This is where I noticed that it might have felt a touch softer. Furthermore, I noticed a little more yardage consistently with the “Test” ball and we’re talking not more than 5 yards. So for some this would be considered negligible. Again I was liking the drop ’n’ stop control exhibited by the “Test” ball and that is the same quality that I find with the Pro V1x.
Greenside Control - Now this is where I noticed a significant difference between the “Test” ball and the Pro V1x. It exhibited much better greenside control. Where I actually play the Pro V1x with a little rollout factored in the “Test” ball really spun and slammed on the brakes. I felt that the greenside control was more “fun”. As a matter of fact going back to the first hole and my 30 yard approach I hit a low “nipper” with both balls. Where V1x rolled out the “Test” ball bounced twice and stopped. The checking ability was really obvious already on the first hole. I think the greenside spin of the “Test” ball is superior. Feel was a little bit softer with the “Test” ball.
Putting - Here is where I noticed the most difference in feel between the Pro V1x and “Test” ball. Where the tone off my Futura putter is a higher pitched tone (like an A sharp the Futura of course sounding like a tuning fork) the “Test” ball sounded like a B flat. The sound was a little more muted and that translated also to a softer feel. I actually was quite fond of the feel with the putter.
Durability - I really think Titleist improved the durability of the latest Pro V1x offering over past years. Let’s face it… prior to this year and maybe 2013 the durability of the Pro V1x and V1 was quite modest and the durability quite frankly was not there. Well the “Test” ball was durable, has shown to be “none the worse for wear” (did I word that wrong?) and to be honest I bounced one off of a tree on the first hole with my drive and a little saliva later it actually cleaned up. No blemishes on the cover.
All in all I would say that the “Test” ball performed marginally better than Pro V1x and the real “X-factor” putting it ahead of the Pro V1x was the greenside control. And the slightly lower balflight/distance.