I recently got a chance to play with the Black # Test balls I received from Titleist a few weeks ago. I play a ProV1 on a regular basis and is in my profile but I played this ball with no mind set to compare it to the ProV1, unsure of what kind of ball it is. Here are my findings on the test ball.
- Feel: this ball seemed to be a little firmer than the ball I am used to playing. Not overly hard, but noticeably harder. Feel off the clubface is good though, as well as the putter. Not a noticeable "click" off the face either.
- Off the Driver: nice flight and reasonable distance but not as far as the ProV1. Also could not work the ball nearly as easy as the ProV1. Good sound off the face, not too loud.
- Distance: not quite as long as my normal ball (5-7 yards less) off both the irons and woods.
- Spin: did not spin nearly as much as the ProV1. It did still have the "Drop, Stop Performance" but I could not get it to back up nearly as much.
- Durability: great! much harder to scuff up with the irons (and the cart path :)) than the ball I currently play. Even with a few of my "non-conforming" grooves on my older wedges.
- Trajectory: had a nice penetrating flight with the irons and did not balloon, which was nice. The peak trajectory off the driver was good as well. Didn't seem to just drop out of the sky. I didn't get much roll out of it though. But that could be attributed to the course I was playing (very wet) as well as my swing.
Overall experience: I liked the ball. I would compare it to the NXT or NXT Tour. Definitely firmer than the ball I currently play and am used to. Hard for me to put spin on it though, which I rely a lot on. Still like the Drop, Stop Performance though, so it would give me confidence that I could still fire at the flag. I would love to take these balls to a simulator and see the specs (spin rate, rpm, etc.)
This was a fun experience! It was great to go out and hit shots with my current ball and then drop the test ball down to see the difference. I want to thank Team Titleist for the opportunity and I look forward to many more opportunities like this in the future.
Titleist is definitely the #1 ball in golf! I will never play another ball :)