It's hard to believe that the Titleist Pro V1 has been
around for 15 years. (The Pro V1 launched in 2000,
the Pro V1x came later, in 2003.)
Like "woods" made of metal, there is
an entire generation of golfers now who have never
played a wound ball, let alone one with a balata
cover. (If' you don't know what balata is, please
Google it!)
One of those players is named Jordan Spieth.
The same day the 2015 model of Pro V1 and Pro V1x
were introduced, he spoke to an auditorium full of
Titleist's staff professionals at the PGA Show in
Orlando. Titleist equipment means a lot to him, and
he's an excellent ambassador for the brand. You
might say he was feeling pretty good about his
game, coming off back-to-back with the new Pro V1x
at the Australian Open and Hero World Challenge. He
won those events by a combined 16 strokes.
Spieth called his final round 63 at Australian Golf
Club the best of his life. And as for the new Pro V1x?
“It obviously performed well,”
Spieth said after the round. “I used the same
ball the entire day today and it still flew perfectly.
The changes to the new golf ball have been big for
me and I’ve been playing well since
changing.”
So let's take a look at the changes. I'll start off
with the technical facts that come directly from
Titleist, and then give you a little of my own
feedback, after playing more than a half a dozen
rounds with the Pro V1x and trying the Pro V1 as
well.
TITLEIST OFFICIAL INFO
Pro V1
has a softer feel, slightly more long game
spin and a more penetrating trajectory for a
shallower angle of descent for more roll than Pro
V1x.
- Pro V1 is a three-piece, multiple
component technology with a very soft compression
ZG process core, ionomeric casing layer, softer
thermoset urethane elastomer cover, and
spherically-tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple
design.
Pro V1x has a slightly
firmer feel and lower long game spin and launches
higher with a steeper angle of descent than Pro
V1.
- Pro V1x is a four-piece, multi-component
technology with a ZG process dual core, ionomeric
casing layer, softer thermoset urethane elastomer
cover and spherically-tiled 328 tetrahedral dimple
design.
THERMOSET COVER
There is a unique property to the cover material
of the Pro V1 and Pro V1x that allows Titleist to dial
in the softness, spin control, and durability. The
thermoset urethane cover formulation on both Pro V1
and Pro V1x is created by a chemical reaction that
takes place during the sophisticated casting process.
Liquid materials specifically formulated by Titleist
R&D are combined and react to form the solid
cover. This urethane is termed
“thermoset,” meaning that the cover,
once formed, will not re-melt. Most competitive
urethane-covered golf balls use a thermoplastic
urethane (TPU), supplied by an outside vendor and
usually formulated for another non-golf product,
which is melted and then reformed to create the
cover.
“We do a lot of testing, says Michael
Sullivan, Titleist's Vice President of Golf Ball
Development. "We test the urethane on the ball
and test it off the ball. In fact, we do so much
material testing before it even gets onto a golf ball
that by the time it does, we have a solid
understanding of how it’s going to react. With
the new 2015 models, we tested hundreds of
formulations. You simply can’t do that with
TPU. In the end, our iterative prototyping process
ultimately improves performance for golfers.”
ON COURSE TEST RESULTS
I found the Pro V1x softer, on all shots from
putter to driver. From a feel perspective, Pro V1x
seems to stay on the club longer, especially on
drives. Around the green, it's clear if you drop the
previous model and 2015 version next to each other
on the green and roll a few putts that the new Pro
V1x feels softer and sounds a little less
"clicky" and I can't imagine anyone who
won't like that. In short, I can't see anyone who
likes the current Pro V1x not liking the new one
better, but you've really got to try it for yourself.
The Pro V1 continues to feel great, but being a
low-ball hitter it's not as well suited to my game. In
my opinion, players currently using the Pro V1 will
have the most to think about. Now that the Pro V1x
is softer, all Pro V1 players should take out a sleeve
or two and see what happens. If you've gone back
and forth between the two you might find yourself
leaning towards Pro V1x or making the switch
altogether.
SUMMARY
I like Titleist's new TV spots, that focus on the
company's history of quality and their team that
brings the balls from design to market, with
hundreds of "check points" along the
way. Titleist is a company with an amazing history,
which all started when a man named Phillip Young
made a great stroke on an important putt during a
match at New Bedford (Mass.) Country Club. The ball
deviated from it's line in such a way that Young was
convinced that the ball was to blame. He brought the
ball to a dentist friend who offered to x-ray it for
him. What they discovered was a distorted core,
which resulted in a ball that could not roll or fly
perfectly true. It took three years for Young (who
worked in rubber processing) and his college
roommate to perfect a process that involved freezing
a liquid core -- resulting in a ball that was perfectly
round. The name Titleist was chosen for the brand,
and the logo to this day is based on the handwriting
of Young's secretary, Helen Robinson. What a story!