2018 Titleist AVX Golf Balls

[ThinkingPlus]

I switched from the Srixon XV to the AVX primarily because of the lower spin characteristics of the AVX. Normally folks would not think of me as the type of player needing less spin. Senior lady with low 90s swing speed, but it has more to do with play preferences and local conditions than anything.

 

Here in south TX, the wind blows continuously, the fairways are firm, and the greens are bermuda and firm. Lower launch with irons and driver is important to keep the ball in play. Lower spin keeps the ball under control. The downside of lower spin would usually be inability to stop the ball on firm greens, but bermuda seems to counter that downside. The grain generally grows down hill meaning most shots are repelled by the bristly blades helping to stop a less spinny ball (greens pretty much slope back to front). While spin can be sexy for short game shots, I am more consistent hitting chips and pitches into grain with less spin. A spinny ball, to me, exhibits more extremes relative to spin. Nip it and the spin is insane. Clank one a little and the check is not in the mail. A less spinny ball tones down the max spin while giving pretty much the same performance on a clank. It is also hard to get a lot of nippable lies in the bermuda rough. It is just more consistent for me to play the rollout on short shots.

 

Finally I really don't like playing from above the pin either on the green or chipping. My preferred play is to hit my irons just short of the pin and let the ball release just under the hole. I have never felt comfortable trying to fly shots past the pin and spin the ball back. I find that approach too unpredictable (which could be synonymous with I am not good enough to do it).

 

The AVX checks all the boxes. I liked both Srixon balls and the Cally CS, but they spin so much in the wind here and I am not good enough to control that much spin. In this case, less is truly more for me in these playing conditions.

[monks66]

Finally got around to playing the AVX since they are selling them in sleeves. Played a Pro V1 for some time now and the current edition is the perfect golf ball. I really have no issues with it other than it could be a little softer to putt with. It's great in the wind and about as long as anything else out there.

 

I played a sleeve of white AVX and didn't notice much of a difference with it compared to the Pro V1 other than that it flew a little lower. About the same spin, feel, distance. Then I tried the new yellow ones. I hated them. The ball flew much lower with very little spin and it felt like a surlyn ball. Normally I hit a PW 130 yards, but I was hitting it at least 140 yards with the AVX. I couldn't hold greens and that's not the norm with a urethane ball for me. Was it just me thinking the yellow ball was different?

I have wondered if the yellow paint on balls, changes its characteristics at all...the yellow version of balls I have tried, just didnt seem to feel like the white, maybe just me, but wonder

[noodle3872]

I’ve played the white and yellow AVX and Srixon Z Star. I don’t notice the white playnig/feeling different than the yellow. I doubt a manufacturer would produce a colored golf ball that plays differently than the same model in white.

[gatorpedsMD]

the white version is always the best feeling one. it's just science.

[North Butte]

I’ve played the white and yellow AVX and Srixon Z Star. I don’t notice the white playnig/feeling different than the yellow. I doubt a manufacturer would produce a colored golf ball that plays differently than the same model in white.

 

Completely agree.

 

Here’s a fun one. Have you ever used those Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips with the white paintfill that Vokey puts on wedges? Everybody including me insists they feel soooooo much softer and easier on the hands than regular, all-Black Tour Velvets. But they are actually 100% identical except for color of the paintfill.

 

Perception and cognition are weirdly wonderful things. Usually.

[Break81]

The only thing different between Yellow and White is visibility and the perception of durability as the yellow tends to hide scuffs a little better than white.

 

Performance is identical

[monks66]

The only thing different between Yellow and White is visibility and the perception of durability as the yellow tends to hide scuffs a little better than white.

 

Performance is identical

 

ok cool, its just me then

[North Butte]

There's a listing on eBay for new AVX balls. Two dozen for 75 bucks.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Brand-New-Titleist-AVX-Golf-Balls-2-Dozen-Free-Shipping/163231730025?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=462444885544&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

I've no relation to the eBay seller, I've just been checking AVX listings out of habit every morning for the last few months!

[monks66]

The 5A's I get off ebay are pristine..

[TheLarch]

the white version is always the best feeling one. it's just science.

.

 

the white version is always the best feeling one. it's just science.

.

[Brass_Bullseye]

I found an AVX in the rough on 10 a few weeks ago and decided to put it in play on the next hole, a 200 yard downhill par 3 that plays about 190. I hit my stock 190 yd 5-iron and flew the green. Played it the next eight holes of that round and about six holes of a scramble the next day before I flared it OB. Seems to be a good 10-15 yards longer off the irons than the Pro V1 or Gamers I was playing before. Just snagged a dozen at Golf Glalaxy to continue the experiment.

 

Update on my AVX testing. My last revision had me at a 9.5 index. I played three rounds this weekend with the AVX and shot 78-78-79. That is the first time I have shot in the 70s consecutively in 25 years. Best ballstriking sessions in 15 years. Some of that can be attributed to a setup change I've made to guard against leaving too much weight on my back foot during the downswing. But the ball performance is absolutely incredible. The low spin off the driver has definitely improved my accuracy. I hit 30 fairways in 54 holes. I've gained half a club to a club with my irons, and although I'm not spinning my short clubs back, I'm getting one skip and stop. When chipping around the greens I have to play for more rollout than the Pro V1 or Gamers, but that wasn't a difficult adjustment to make. I'm sold. When they first released this ball I thought $48 for a non-Pro V was a sucker bet. Not anymore.

[Pulledabill]

Same review as I couldve wrote. Ive yet to buy any as Ive found two. Got about 40 holes out of the two before I gave one away and thrn lost the other yesterday. i either need to buy some or stick with my ProV1s as the spin and iron distance mess with me if I change. One one par 3 I normally hit 9i to 145 stick on the hole with my Prov1. Yesterday I played the AVX on this hole and it flew about 153 to back edge. Ill play my pRiv1s the rest of the good weather before I go back to a soft ball for the winter and keep an eye out for deals then buy.

[North Butte]

I've spent a few months waffling about this, mostly due to the continuing difficulty finding knockdown prices on my favorite yellow AVX balls.

 

For me the best ball over the past few years has always been ProV1x but I played through a couple sleeves of those and the performance (for my game, driver and irons combined) simply doesn't measure up against AVX. I think the 2017 ProV1x are probably not working for me as well as the 2013 version did but after eight months with AVX, revisiting the ProV makes it clear why I switched to AVX in the first place. Instant improvement going back to AVX.

 

I also played through a dozen TP5. Thought it might be a touch longer than most balls off the irons but did not have anything remotely like the added driver performance I get from AVX.

 

Won't mention a couple other balls I tried briefly and rejected but the final experiment was Snell MTB Black. Kind of opposite to TP5. It does give a nice, flat driver trajectory and a bit of extra roll. But it's indistinguishable from a ProV1x or B330 or Chrome Soft off the irons. Doesn't have the extra club of distance off the long irons or the wind-cheating ability that AVX does.

 

So back to AVX full time as of immediately. Remarkable ball.

 

P.S. I have just the past few days seen two deals in the neighborhood of $37.50/dozen on eBay, albeit not in single dozen lots. So maybe the extra-premium pricing is starting to relent a bit now that they've been on the market a while. That's not much higher than the best deals typically available on ProV1/ProV1x.

[deepred]

Just about two years ago as I recall, I heard a couple of Titleist guys in the local Saturday radio golf show talking about a new version of the ProV.

They described it as lower flying and with less spin. The one rep said “in years past that wasn’t considered an improvement but this is what the players are telling us they want”

Sure sounds like that improvement became a different ball.

[deepred]

Just about two years ago as I recall, I heard a couple of Titleist guys in the local Saturday radio golf show talking about a new version of the ProV.

They described it as lower flying and with less spin. The one rep said “in years past that wasn’t considered an improvement but this is what the players are telling us they want”

Sure sounds like that improvement became a different ball.

[North Butte]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

[Kmac]

I’ve played the white and yellow AVX and Srixon Z Star. I don’t notice the white playnig/feeling different than the yellow. I doubt a manufacturer would produce a colored golf ball that plays differently than the same model in white.

 

Completely agree.

 

Here’s a fun one. Have you ever used those Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips with the white paintfill that Vokey puts on wedges? Everybody including me insists they feel soooooo much softer and easier on the hands than regular, all-Black Tour Velvets. But they are actually 100% identical except for color of the paintfill.

 

Perception and cognition are weirdly wonderful things. Usually.

 

Damn it there's no way that Vokey GP grip is the same! I was just saying to one of my golfing buddies how much better that version of the grip feels, lol.

[North Butte]

I’ve played the white and yellow AVX and Srixon Z Star. I don’t notice the white playnig/feeling different than the yellow. I doubt a manufacturer would produce a colored golf ball that plays differently than the same model in white.

 

Completely agree.

 

Here’s a fun one. Have you ever used those Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips with the white paintfill that Vokey puts on wedges? Everybody including me insists they feel soooooo much softer and easier on the hands than regular, all-Black Tour Velvets. But they are actually 100% identical except for color of the paintfill.

 

Perception and cognition are weirdly wonderful things. Usually.

 

Damn it there's no way that Vokey GP grip is the same! I was just saying to one of my golfing buddies how much better that version of the grip feels, lol.

 

I saw some sort of interview/comment/article quoting a Golf Pride rep saying something like it's the most common question they get asked and people can't believe that it's really exactly the same grip, made out of the same rubber.

[Bobb3rdown]

Got my first dozen of the avx this weekend gonna play a few 9s this week after work to get a feel for them. Went from zstar to project a last weekend and didnt really like the project a. Not terrible. But considerably higher flight then the zstar. Looking forward to the avx testing.

[North Butte]

Got my first dozen of the avx this weekend gonna play a few 9s this week after work to get a feel for them. Went from zstar to project a last weekend and didnt really like the project a. Not terrible. But considerably higher flight then the zstar. Looking forward to the avx testing.

 

It will not fly higher than ZStar so no worries on that!

 

 

[SwooshLT]

Not fully committed yet but 6 rounds in and I haven't noticed driver gains but irons are solid with slight gains but just overall consistency and control.....still on my 1st ball which looks beat to hell but chugging along!

[ShortGameJunkie]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

 

I don’t know that the low iron spin thing will really catch on being that many GI irons are going the route of low spin themselves. It may become a niche but I see most balls sticking to low driver spin, high/good iron spin(whatever you wanna say). I don’t see too many balls going the route of low spin driver low spin irons.

[SwooshLT]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

 

I don’t know that the low iron spin thing will really catch on being that many GI irons are going the route of low spin themselves. It may become a niche but I see most balls sticking to low driver spin, high/good iron spin(whatever you wanna say). I don’t see too many balls going the route of low spin driver low spin irons.

 

Correct if I'm wrong but I don't find AVX low spinning with irons at all....

[Pulledabill]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

 

I don’t know that the low iron spin thing will really catch on being that many GI irons are going the route of low spin themselves. It may become a niche but I see most balls sticking to low driver spin, high/good iron spin(whatever you wanna say). I don’t see too many balls going the route of low spin driver low spin irons.

 

Correct if I'm wrong but I don't find AVX low spinning with irons at all....

 

Not the lowest spinnning ball by any means, but certainly less than the ProV1. My prov1 backs up and will come back off some sloped greens. For me the AVX checks up very nice. I notice the spin difference on chips and pitches.

[Break81]

A pro playing on firm greens will never play the AVX.

 

But most of us do not need that kind of spins at the local muni courses.

 

 

Mostly however , for me the price point is silly. But your money is your money so spend it as you wish.

[North Butte]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

 

I don’t know that the low iron spin thing will really catch on being that many GI irons are going the route of low spin themselves. It may become a niche but I see most balls sticking to low driver spin, high/good iron spin(whatever you wanna say). I don’t see too many balls going the route of low spin driver low spin irons.

 

Correct if I'm wrong but I don't find AVX low spinning with irons at all....

 

It seems to show up in launch monitor testing as something like 15-20% less spin than ProV1 (or most other Tour balls) with a 7-iron. Not low like a Surlyn ball but about as low as you’ll ever find on a Urethane ball.

[SwooshLT]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

 

I don’t know that the low iron spin thing will really catch on being that many GI irons are going the route of low spin themselves. It may become a niche but I see most balls sticking to low driver spin, high/good iron spin(whatever you wanna say). I don’t see too many balls going the route of low spin driver low spin irons.

 

Correct if I'm wrong but I don't find AVX low spinning with irons at all....

 

It seems to show up in launch monitor testing as something like 15-20% less spin than ProV1 (or most other Tour balls) with a 7-iron. Not low like a Surlyn ball but about as low as you’ll ever find on a Urethane ball.

 

 

Not doubting this but my on course findings are just a few feet further on chips but 7-10yds longer with irons.....I'll take the tradeoff!

[North Butte]

I know very little about what a good player might want or about what goes into engineering golf balls. But I certainly read everything I can get my hands on concerning golf-ball design.

 

It seems to me the initial advantage to multipiece urethane balls 20 years ago was being able to produce really low spin off the driver while having plenty of spin off wedges and especially around the greens. Depending on the specific design (3pc, 4pc, 5pc, details of the layer stiffnesses and thicknesses, etc.) the spin on iron shots fell somewhere in between but tended to be pretty high. The low-spin thing was touted as an advantage for driver shots.

 

It's funny that nobody seems to have gotten any traction (prior to AVX) with the notion that maybe low iron-shot spin is a good thing, like low driver spin. With the AVX they moved the in-between layer performance for irons more toward being driver-like than wedge-like. While keeping low driver spin and high short game spin.

 

Is that simply really hard to do? Or is it something people just now started wanting? Or did other balls try it and simply not get any attention or sales?

 

I don't know that the low iron spin thing will really catch on being that many GI irons are going the route of low spin themselves. It may become a niche but I see most balls sticking to low driver spin, high/good iron spin(whatever you wanna say). I don't see too many balls going the route of low spin driver low spin irons.

 

Correct if I'm wrong but I don't find AVX low spinning with irons at all....

 

It seems to show up in launch monitor testing as something like 15-20% less spin than ProV1 (or most other Tour balls) with a 7-iron. Not low like a Surlyn ball but about as low as you'll ever find on a Urethane ball.

 

 

Not doubting this but my on course findings are just a few feet further on chips but 7-10yds longer with irons.....I'll take the tradeoff!

 

What you're seeing totally agrees with the launch monitor results. And totally agrees with my own results. AVX spins 15-20% less of a 7-iron than ProV1 and that lower spin gives at least a half-club longer iron distance for many of us. But AVX only spins about 5-10% less in the short game than ProV1 and unless you play a very high-spin-dependent low, checking instantly type of chip shot 5-10% less is almost undetectable.

[gatorpedsMD]

 

What you're seeing totally agrees with the launch monitor results. And totally agrees with my own results. AVX spins 15-20% less of a 7-iron than ProV1 and that lower spin gives at least a half-club longer iron distance for many of us. But AVX only spins about 5-10% less in the short game than ProV1 and unless you play a very high-spin-dependent low, checking instantly type of chip shot 5-10% less is almost undetectable.

 

agree here 100%. I did notice on my Michigan trip with fast downhill bent grass greens it was almost impossible to stop.....both an AVX and ProV1, lol. i hit multiple small pitches and could not get a serious difference with the pro v1 to say wow that would have made a difference.

[North Butte]

What you're seeing totally agrees with the launch monitor results. And totally agrees with my own results. AVX spins 15-20% less of a 7-iron than ProV1 and that lower spin gives at least a half-club longer iron distance for many of us. But AVX only spins about 5-10% less in the short game than ProV1 and unless you play a very high-spin-dependent low, checking instantly type of chip shot 5-10% less is almost undetectable.

 

agree here 100%. I did notice on my Michigan trip with fast downhill bent grass greens it was almost impossible to stop.....both an AVX and ProV1, lol. i hit multiple small pitches and could not get a serious difference with the pro v1 to say wow that would have made a difference.

 

Back in October when AVX first showed up I spent several hours playing a round and stopping at about every other green to try AVX and ProV1x side by side on 15-40 yard shots. I eventually convinced myself the AVX was releasing just a tiny bit more on average but that may have been as much imagination or expectation as reality. There was no difference big enough to say for sure even after dozens of side-by-side shots.

 

But I do know a few people who play that Tour-style low spinner. Wouldn't be surprised if they tried it and said, "Woah, the AVX isn't spinning enough". Although there's one young fellow at my club, really good junior golfer, who I see those practicing low spinners all the time. I happen to know he tried AVX instead of ProV1 for a couple rounds and was an instant convert. So it must not be hobbling him too badly around the greens.

 

Then again, he can get a range ball to stop dead after one hop on a waist high 25-yard wedge shot so technique might have something to do with it...