Titleist's new "AVX" golf balls, with premium urethane covers

[bladehunter]

My courses shop has them. Only got 7 dozen. Hit it today. Has dimples nearly identical to Bridgestone b330. Feels like 330s. I'd say a carbon copy.

[grm24]

My courses shop has them. Only got 7 dozen. Hit it today. Has dimples nearly identical to Bridgestone b330. Feels like 330s. I'd say a carbon copy.

The B330s has fewer dimples than the AVX, the B330s has dimples in dimples while the AVX does not, the B330s is not cast thermoset urethane like the AVX is and with the B330s having fewer dimples the dimple patterns would be different than the AVX. So outside of them both being white and round how then would the AVX be a carbon copy of the B330s?

[North Butte]

My AVX are yellow, so I guess that makes them exact clones of the SuperSoft.

[bladehunter]

Lol. Carbon copy was giving too much credit. It isn't as good so yes. I am wrong. Jut meant that the shallow sharp dimples are a copy of B stones wind cheating formula.

[North Butte]

Was it the original Wilson ZIP had the really shallow “pan head” dimples? One of the Wilson balls a decade ago anyway. I wondered how they even counted as dimples at all.

[kcowgolf]

Finally tried some on an AZ golf trip, less than amazing IMHO. Price point too high and definitely not a ball I would use. Titleist was successful suckering me in to purchasing them so kudos to them for the hype. Played a lot like a Callaway with a harder cover, not even close to Pro V performance.

[PureStrikes54]

its exactly like a Prov1 or X but 75-80 compression--spin playability etc all the same--plus it comes in optic yellow

 

Perhaps you have more experience than me with AVX but I got ahold of one yellow AVX and played it for two rounds in place of my usual ProV1x.

 

I think the ProV1x spins as much or more than any ball out there on wedge shots between 20 and 60 yards. The AVX is noticeably lower spin on those shots.

 

AVX also flies lower off my driver than ProV1x but definitely lands hotter and adds a few yards to my my driver roll out.

 

Hope this is an attempt at sarcasm and not a sales pitch as there are a number of other balls that meet both criteria available for 1/2 to 3/4's the price.

 

Titleist balls are always priced higher than competitors. Not exactly a news scoop, there.

 

And this ball shouldn't be. That's your "news scoop".

[North Butte]

its exactly like a Prov1 or X but 75-80 compression--spin playability etc all the same--plus it comes in optic yellow

 

Perhaps you have more experience than me with AVX but I got ahold of one yellow AVX and played it for two rounds in place of my usual ProV1x.

 

I think the ProV1x spins as much or more than any ball out there on wedge shots between 20 and 60 yards. The AVX is noticeably lower spin on those shots.

 

AVX also flies lower off my driver than ProV1x but definitely lands hotter and adds a few yards to my my driver roll out.

 

Hope this is an attempt at sarcasm and not a sales pitch as there are a number of other balls that meet both criteria available for 1/2 to 3/4's the price.

 

Titleist balls are always priced higher than competitors. Not exactly a news scoop, there.

 

And this ball shouldn't be. That's your "news scoop".

 

Another non-scoop is the incessant whining on GolfWRX, every single day of the every single week, year after year about how much Titleist charges for golf balls. You lot just never get tired of it, apparently.

[lspky_muskie]

Is there any difference than the Prestige and the AVX?

[ihapp]

Titleist needs to focus on not losing out to the TP5 and Bridgestone. Improve the PRO V. The ball has become too spinny for most.

[Sean2]

It's probably a re-badged NXT Tour S.

[grm24]

It's probably a re-badged NXT Tour S.

The AVX has 352 dimples and is a 3 piece urethane ball. The NXT Tour S has 310 dimples and is a 2 piece surlyn ball.

[grm24]

Is there any difference than the Prestige and the AVX?

Outside of a $30+/dozen difference? No.

[bladehunter]

My club pro loves this ball. For reference he swings around 105 with driver. It does stop well on pitches etc. he's on staff with titleist for ball and driver ( or they provide them for him. Depending on how you want to look at it. ) he's contacted titleist rep to get a supply and has been told they may not come to retail fully. And that he might only be able to get him 4-5 more boxes . Wonder what is up with that ?

[North Butte]

I do kind of like the yellow AVX. Overall it doesn’t necessarily perform better than ProV1x for me but given a choice I might just choose AVX myself. Just to get the yellow color, if nothing else.

 

That said, I will still be surprised if becomes a real Titleist product. Its place in their product lineup just doesn’t seem like a normal Titleist thing to me. But I know nothing about marketing!

[Michael Ventana]

Played em again a few days ago. They really are consistently very long -- especially off the Tee. But they don't spin much and my natural draw seemed to flatten out a bit on approaches and Par 3s. They don't check up "poorly" but they don't compare to my B330RXs and they are currently almost $50 a dozen so...I aint buying em again.

[North Butte]

Played em again a few days ago. They really are consistently very long -- especially off the Tee. But they don't spin much and my natural draw seemed to flatten out a bit on approaches and Par 3s. They don't check up "poorly" but they don't compare to my B330RXs and they are currently almost $50 a dozen so...I aint buying em again.

 

I'd agree with your formulation. It's not that they check up "poorly" like a Surlyn distance ball or something but the greenside spin is not quite B330, ProV1 or even Chrome Soft level IMO.

[jimpsycho]

I was in AZ recently and saw these at the pro shop for a whopping $64. Needless to say i passed on playing them.

 

I am happy with my ProV so why bother paying more for a ball that already works for me???

[wjdpar1]

Can buy them at $47.99 in AZ. Bought a sleeve.

 

They feel soft at impact, but with my slow club head speed I am not able to compress them.

[Hehateme]

Played my first full round today with the AVX in Yellow and I love this ball. I typically play the PV1X or the Chrome soft X for reference. Greens we played today were a solid 12 and firm but accepting and the AVX provided predictable one hop and stop performance. I typically spin the ball a little too much on my full approach shots so this was refreshing. My iron distance seemed to be consistent with the other balls I play, and I am hesitant to say that my driver was a little longer with them, judged purely against my distance versus my playing partners. For me, it plays similar to the Costco Kirkland ball, though construction is different. Greenside spin seemed to be about what I am used to with the other ball I play.

[Z4Par]

Our club pro came out and tossed me a couple of these balls today. I chipped with them around the practice green side by side with my current NXT Tour gamer. I noticed that I was getting more spin than my current NXT Tour's but not crazy spin (like Pro V1 spin). They intrigued me around the practice green so I went and played 4 holes. My first shot I hit a beautiful drive, struck it clean and got a nice kick off a slight down hill that then races up a slight uphill rolling approximately 30 yards and finished 265-270. Ball flight seemed a hair lower with the driver which I also noticed around the practice green when chipping. In any event, I loved the flight of this drive. In my book I would say it is safe to call it a mid launch trajectory. Next shot was 119 yards to the flag and I used my 48 degree AP3. Struck it well and loved the flight of this wedge shot, once again, the AVX launched just a bit lower than my NXT Tours. When the ball arrived to the green it did a ''one hop'' on the front crown of the green, spun nicely, rolled out and finished approximately 10-15 feet from where the ball struck the crown and put myself within 10 feet of the pin. Won't go into detail of the next 3 holes but I was very pleased with this ball. Was looking for a ball that I could control better around the greens and this ball feels and appears to be it. I could see the "lifer" Pro V1 users not liking this ball simply because the Pro V1 is going to be softer and spin quite a bit more. However, in my own case coming from an NXT Tour and not wanting to get too much spin going to a Pro V1; the AVX is it!

[Break81]

Our club pro came out and tossed me a couple of these balls today. I chipped with them around the practice green side by side with my current NXT Tour gamer. I noticed that I was getting more spin than my current NXT Tour's but not crazy spin (like Pro V1 spin). They intrigued me around the practice green so I went and played 4 holes. My first shot I hit a beautiful drive, struck it clean and got a nice kick off a slight down hill that then races up a slight uphill rolling approximately 30 yards and finished 265-270. Ball flight seemed a hair lower with the driver which I also noticed around the practice green when chipping. In any event, I loved the flight of this drive. In my book I would say it is safe to call it a mid launch trajectory. Next shot was 119 yards to the flag and I used my 48 degree AP3. Struck it well and loved the flight of this wedge shot, once again, the AVX launched just a bit lower than my NXT Tours. When the ball arrived to the green it did a ''one hop'' on the front crown of the green, spun nicely, rolled out and finished approximately 10-15 feet from where the ball struck the crown and put myself within 10 feet of the pin. Won't go into detail of the next 3 holes but I was very pleased with this ball. Was looking for a ball that I could control better around the greens and this ball feels and appears to be it. I could see the "lifer" Pro V1 users not liking this ball simply because the Pro V1 is going to be softer and spin quite a bit more. However, in my own case coming from an NXT Tour and not wanting to get too much spin going to a Pro V1; the AVX is it!

I know you probably want a ball to match the AP3s but seriously if you already put out $30 plus for the NXT Tours , why aren’t you playing the QST, Project A or older version B330-RX ? Cheaper and AVX and performance equal too or better ?

[Z4Par]

Our club pro came out and tossed me a couple of these balls today. I chipped with them around the practice green side by side with my current NXT Tour gamer. I noticed that I was getting more spin than my current NXT Tour's but not crazy spin (like Pro V1 spin). They intrigued me around the practice green so I went and played 4 holes. My first shot I hit a beautiful drive, struck it clean and got a nice kick off a slight down hill that then races up a slight uphill rolling approximately 30 yards and finished 265-270. Ball flight seemed a hair lower with the driver which I also noticed around the practice green when chipping. In any event, I loved the flight of this drive. In my book I would say it is safe to call it a mid launch trajectory. Next shot was 119 yards to the flag and I used my 48 degree AP3. Struck it well and loved the flight of this wedge shot, once again, the AVX launched just a bit lower than my NXT Tours. When the ball arrived to the green it did a ''one hop'' on the front crown of the green, spun nicely, rolled out and finished approximately 10-15 feet from where the ball struck the crown and put myself within 10 feet of the pin. Won't go into detail of the next 3 holes but I was very pleased with this ball. Was looking for a ball that I could control better around the greens and this ball feels and appears to be it. I could see the "lifer" Pro V1 users not liking this ball simply because the Pro V1 is going to be softer and spin quite a bit more. However, in my own case coming from an NXT Tour and not wanting to get too much spin going to a Pro V1; the AVX is it!

I know you probably want a ball to match the AP3s but seriously if you already put out $30 plus for the NXT Tours , why aren’t you playing the QST, Project A or older version B330-RX ? Cheaper and AVX and performance equal too or better ?

 

I sent our club pro a text a few days prior explaining the test ball I received from Titleist was junk. I was thinking it was the AVX originally, however not the same cover and dimple pattern when he brought out an AVX to show me (the test ball was believed to be an updated NXT). Our club pro said, “here, try this ball (AVX) I am curious to see how it does.” He is also taking it on a golf trip to FL soon so I said sure why not. I then simply tried out the AVX side by side with my NXT Tours I have been playing. To be honest I didn’t plan to make any changes unless I found something that made changes in the right direction. I guess I don’t have any plans to try anything else since what was thrown at me is fantastic. I don’t mind paying a premium if it is performing for me in that manner.

[North Butte]

Our club pro came out and tossed me a couple of these balls today. I chipped with them around the practice green side by side with my current NXT Tour gamer. I noticed that I was getting more spin than my current NXT Tour's but not crazy spin (like Pro V1 spin). They intrigued me around the practice green so I went and played 4 holes. My first shot I hit a beautiful drive, struck it clean and got a nice kick off a slight down hill that then races up a slight uphill rolling approximately 30 yards and finished 265-270. Ball flight seemed a hair lower with the driver which I also noticed around the practice green when chipping. In any event, I loved the flight of this drive. In my book I would say it is safe to call it a mid launch trajectory. Next shot was 119 yards to the flag and I used my 48 degree AP3. Struck it well and loved the flight of this wedge shot, once again, the AVX launched just a bit lower than my NXT Tours. When the ball arrived to the green it did a ''one hop'' on the front crown of the green, spun nicely, rolled out and finished approximately 10-15 feet from where the ball struck the crown and put myself within 10 feet of the pin. Won't go into detail of the next 3 holes but I was very pleased with this ball. Was looking for a ball that I could control better around the greens and this ball feels and appears to be it. I could see the "lifer" Pro V1 users not liking this ball simply because the Pro V1 is going to be softer and spin quite a bit more. However, in my own case coming from an NXT Tour and not wanting to get too much spin going to a Pro V1; the AVX is it!

I know you probably want a ball to match the AP3s but seriously if you already put out $30 plus for the NXT Tours , why aren’t you playing the QST, Project A or older version B330-RX ? Cheaper and AVX and performance equal too or better ?

 

Well that’s as predictable as the sunrise. Any time someone mentions using or liking a Titleist golf ball, it must be responded to with a complaint about the price of Titleist golf balls. It’s like a rule of GolfWRX.

[Break81]

Our club pro came out and tossed me a couple of these balls today. I chipped with them around the practice green side by side with my current NXT Tour gamer. I noticed that I was getting more spin than my current NXT Tour's but not crazy spin (like Pro V1 spin). They intrigued me around the practice green so I went and played 4 holes. My first shot I hit a beautiful drive, struck it clean and got a nice kick off a slight down hill that then races up a slight uphill rolling approximately 30 yards and finished 265-270. Ball flight seemed a hair lower with the driver which I also noticed around the practice green when chipping. In any event, I loved the flight of this drive. In my book I would say it is safe to call it a mid launch trajectory. Next shot was 119 yards to the flag and I used my 48 degree AP3. Struck it well and loved the flight of this wedge shot, once again, the AVX launched just a bit lower than my NXT Tours. When the ball arrived to the green it did a ''one hop'' on the front crown of the green, spun nicely, rolled out and finished approximately 10-15 feet from where the ball struck the crown and put myself within 10 feet of the pin. Won't go into detail of the next 3 holes but I was very pleased with this ball. Was looking for a ball that I could control better around the greens and this ball feels and appears to be it. I could see the "lifer" Pro V1 users not liking this ball simply because the Pro V1 is going to be softer and spin quite a bit more. However, in my own case coming from an NXT Tour and not wanting to get too much spin going to a Pro V1; the AVX is it!

I know you probably want a ball to match the AP3s but seriously if you already put out $30 plus for the NXT Tours , why aren’t you playing the QST, Project A or older version B330-RX ? Cheaper and AVX and performance equal too or better ?

 

Well that’s as predictable as the sunrise. Any time someone mentions using or liking a Titleist golf ball, it must be responded to with a complaint about the price of Titleist golf balls. It’s like a rule of GolfWRX.

It was just a question and he answered without being combative. It was more about what was so good about the NXT Tours and not a direct dig on the AVX (which yes I do believe is overpriced but it’s not my money)

 

I get free NXT Tours to hand out to customers and they either decline the offer or take them and give them to their kids or friends. I seriously do not know anyone who really likes them. I know a couple guys who like the Velocity (also under $27) if they want a Titleist non urethane ball.

[North Butte]

I frankly don't understand why a market for 3-piece Surlyn cover balls even exists in this day and age. Anything that can't be done by a cheap 2pc "soft" distance ball or a multilayer urethane ball certainly can't be done by a multilayer Surlyn one.

[Break81]

I frankly don't understand why a market for 3-piece Surlyn cover balls even exists in this day and age. Anything that can't be done by a cheap 2pc "soft" distance ball or a multilayer urethane ball certainly can't be done by a multilayer Surlyn one.

There are some decent 3 pc non urethane balls I can play , but they should be no more than $17 a dozen. I picked up 3 dozen TF Gamer yellow for $30 on Black Friday. iMHO they are much better than the NXT Tours. For soft conditions they are extremely pleasing to play with.

 

You are correct, there are so many options for a quality $30 urethane ball, the NXT Tour marketplace is very questionable.

[North Butte]

Titleist charges a few dollars a dozen more for their brand balls than any other brand. Like for like, the Titleist will be slightly more expensive. And they only discount occasionally under strictly controlled, limited-time scenarios. I suspect it is that hard line no-discount approach that really causes the constant Titleist hate on this forum.

 

But anyway, if you decide you like a Titleist ball of whatever type it will be slightly more expensive because it's a Titleist. People who worry over price tend to go elsewhere.

 

I've got no issue with Titleist charge $36/dozen for an NXT Tour instead of $30/dozen. That's been the way it is for Titleist balls since longer than I've been playing golf. But what perception drives the desire for a $30 multipiece Surlyn ball instead of a $20-$25 soft distance ball? That's what I don't understand at all.

 

My theory is, it's for people who want something "a little bit better" than the $20 balls their buddies play but don't think they need or deserve to use a "Tour" ball. So that whole category (for all brands, not just Titleist) exists because of that age-old consumer adage about never buy the cheapest or most expensive model, the ones in between are "value".

[Break81]

Titleist charges a few dollars a dozen more for their brand balls than any other brand. Like for like, the Titleist will be slightly more expensive. And they only discount occasionally under strictly controlled, limited-time scenarios. I suspect it is that hard line no-discount approach that really causes the constant Titleist hate on this forum.

 

But anyway, if you decide you like a Titleist ball of whatever type it will be slightly more expensive because it's a Titleist. People who worry over price tend to go elsewhere.

 

I've got no issue with Titleist charge $36/dozen for an NXT Tour instead of $30/dozen. That's been the way it is for Titleist balls since longer than I've been playing golf. But what perception drives the desire for a $30 multipiece Surlyn ball instead of a $20-$25 soft distance ball? That's what I don't understand at all.

 

My theory is, it's for people who want something "a little bit better" than the $20 balls their buddies play but don't think they need or deserve to use a "Tour" ball. So that whole category (for all brands, not just Titleist) exists because of that age-old consumer adage about never buy the cheapest or most expensive model, the ones in between are "value".

you pretty much said it right there. The ball market for the NXT type performance is right there with the E6 , Supersoft , Superhot , Q-Star , RBZ , Gamer etc etc. and all are more realistic on price for what they offer.

 

 

 

 

[Z4Par]

For clarification, I still bag a Callaway staff bag and previously had Apex Pros and entire bag Callaway. Even played Chrome soft balls at one time. I have always loved Callaway (even before there recent big boom). But the AVX simply works for me and has outperformed other tryings in my past. My personal experience and that’s all I can speak for. Don’t buy it because of the name stamp, buy it because it beats what is in your bag! I understand cost is associated for some when purchasing a golf ball. If this was the case for me I would take the time to hit several lower cost options. However it would be more time consuming than anything for me when I like what I switched to and an extra $20 isn’t a concern when it’s my main hobby.