RECAPS: The 2019 Titleist Pro V1 Experience. GolfWRX Members visit Titleist World Headquarters!

[Dreadzombie]

> @Go_Time said:

> > @518TitleistX said:

> > > @Go_Time said:

> > @PapaJohick said:

> > > @Go_Time said:

> > > > @518TitleistX said:

> > > > > @Go_Time said:

> > > > > TXG had the 2018 X lower spin than the regular ProV.

> > > > >

> > > > > What did/do the Titleist staff say about it?

> > > >

> > > > Thatd be incorrect. V1x launches higher with more spin. V1 is lower launch and spin.

> > >

> > > Watch the videos yourself. Believe Rick Shiels saw the same.

> >

> >

> > I will have to look that up. That’s interesting. Not saying you or they are mistaken but everyone during ball fitting saw the 1x spinning more and flying higher. Hence why only two of us were fit to it haha.

>

> Right. Not saying you guys are wrong either, which is why I was curious if they said anything.

 

Titleist were fairly adamant that its v1x>v1>avx in the launch and spin, and that showed for all of us on the range under trackman.

 

 

[Carolina Golfer 2]

> @Go_Time said:

> TXG had the 2018 X lower spin than the regular ProV.

>

> What did/do the Titleist staff say about it?

 

There isn't a 2018 ProV. There is a 2017 and 2019.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

> @PapaJohick said:

> > @"Carolina Golfer 2" said:

> > What a great experience and recap guys, Thanks.

> > This thread must have inspired me as I had my first Hole in One today and a PB round of 82. All of course with the Prov1x

> >

>

> Tweet that out to titleist :)

> Which carolina Are you in?

I posted and tagged them on IG and Team Titleist site as well.

Was in North Carolina, now in Maryland.

 

 

[grm24]

> @HipCheck said:

> Found the OG 392 on the course. Weird.

>

>

>

> So I put in play on 11. Great drive, approach to 15 feet or so.

>

> Of course I missed the birdie because I putted like Stevie Wonder today, but solid par. I switched from AVX to 2019 Pro V1 for the rest of the round. Think I might go permanently. Such a good ball.

 

That's the 2003 version (3rd iteration) of the Pro-V1 392. Nice find.

[getair23]

Just got home. Can’t thank Titleist and WRX for such a mind blowing amazing time! I’ll work on a recap in the morning.

[PapaJohick]

Finally home..... well in Charleston. Now I’m just trying to find food. Haven’t eaten since lunch at the course and I am starving but everything is closed dammit haha

[getair23]

Secret Titleist formula pre-round!

 

[n_rones]

As far as a trip recap goes PapaJohick nailed it on the head. Reflecting back this morning on everything we did and saw the past couple days was simply incredible. I am honored to have taken part in this trip and cant thank GolfWRX and Titleist enough. What really stood out to me more than anything was the passion everyone at Titleist has for what they do. Its no accident the average years worked there is 21 years. I can now confidently play Titleist products for the rest of my life knowing they are doing everything they can to produce the best product on the market. I also want to thank Hipcheck for all the work he put in organizing and following us around for a couple days. Lastly it was a great group of guys and im glad to have met you all and have had some conversations ill never forget.

[n_rones]

> @Unteachable said:

> did you guys find the prov1 to spin less than the v1x off the driver?

 

They said to us the driver spin difference was not going to be much different between AVX, Pro V1, and Pro V1X. You would notice more of a difference the shorter the club got.

[getair23]

> @n_rones said:

> > @Unteachable said:

> > did you guys find the prov1 to spin less than the v1x off the driver?

>

> They said to us the driver spin difference was not going to be much different between AVX, Pro V1, and Pro V1X. You would notice more of a difference the shorter the club got.

 

We saw that all the balls are fast and spin very similar off the driver by design. My biggest takeaway was on the 2nd shot. The windows each ball flew through were noticeably different. Pro V1X high and came down with a lot of spin, V1 exactly where I wanted to see it, mid flight that would stop or come back a few feet, and AVX low off the irons and stopped or rolled out a few feet.

 

We had ample time while other guys were doing ball fitting, driver fitting, prototype etc... to hit all 3 balls on the range. Without all the expertise and data we had access too, one could easily grab a sleeve of each ball and hit them into the green to get a look/feel of what would work best for their game.

 

[getair23]

> TXG had the 2018 X lower spin than the regular ProV.

>

> What did/do the Titleist staff say about it?

I think I heard them say.

I can get a good look at a Pro V1 by sticking my head up a bull’s a*&, but I’d rather take the guy at Titleists who designed and tested it a few times word for it.

 

[jwm1]

Since I failed the "live" portion of the posting, and much has been said about what we did chronologically, I'll stick to the stuff that really jumped out at me. I think somehow, both through marketing and experience, we have the word "quality" as the number one word associated with Titleist. We can't help but also associate quality with price and assume that all expensive balls are great. Titleist is unique in that they control the entire manufacturing process of the ball.

 

The tour of Ball Plant III was impressive. We heard at the R&D lab that the ProV1 had 90 quality checks and the V1X had 120. You start at the top on the 3rd floor where the raw materials are ground up and combined as gravity feeds it to the 2nd floor and by the first floor they're making golf balls. A massive freight elevator brings the materials up and they get weighed and mashed together in large vats. The materials flowed down to make the material that makes the cores. When a sheet of the core material came out an associate would run up and grab a sample. There's a little lab in the next room. We're at one of the first stages of production and they are already testing material samples. The associates had the equipment in their lab to take the materials and nearly finish the core right there so they'd have an idea how that batch would perform before it made it any farther into the process. They tested it for COR and consistency among other things, separating out the outliers and blending them based on complimentary qualities. They are already dialing in consistency at what is, essentially, still a raw material stage.

 

The cores were formed next and centered in the liquid covers. They make it look easy to center the core but the R&D and quality inspections of competitive balls showed that it was not that easy for everyone. Their process is completely proprietary and they don't patent it for fear of giving up the trade secret in its publication. Next the covers are smoothed where the seams are joined and they're off to paint. There are more and more quality inspections with people and cameras checking the logos and branding, rejecting balls that were off by imperceptible margins. It was really cool to see the yellow balls and all that went into making them yellow. The covers, the paint, the cores all had to have formulation changes to achieve the color AND pass the performance consistency tests. If they had just changed the cover without the core the color would be off. Somebody from the group jokingly asked where the tour balls come out of, and the guide actually showed us a guy with a tote full of tour balls. The difference with the tour balls was simply making sure the markings and the paint matched exactly what were in the USGA conforming list with additional quality checks to make sure that nothing that left the factory would ever disqualify anyone. Some players were slower to change to the new balls but a clear majority were playing the 2019s.

 

Maybe it's because my grandparents were machinists but my eyes were drawn to the focused and busy people working through the noises and distractions. All throughout the tour our hosts at Titleist's executive level were checking in with the associates in the factory on a first name basis. The work spaces are impossibly clean. People are looking up at us while we were sometimes getting in their way but they were smiling and carrying on. When we were leaving an employee was coming into work and she smiled at us and made small talk with our guide. They were pointing to the bulletin board for employee news and she said she was going to have her 40th work anniversary in August. The average at the factory was around 18-19 years. I'll make some more posts about R&D, Manchester Lane, the dinners, and Metacomet. But walking out of the factory I was pretty sure these people would make anything with pride and with extreme precision, they just happen to make awesome golf balls. I asked if this tour was set up just for us because it seemed a little too perfect and they said no. If anyone wants to sign up for Team Titleist and email/call they'll try their best to set one up. If you are in the area you'd be crazy not to.

[jwm1]

To answer questions on the V1 vs V1x in 2019, V1 is supposed to be the ball that fits the most people. V1x is comparably higher flying and higher spin off irons. I'll do a more in depth post about the ball fitting but I was a V1x user in 2017 but the 2019 V1 was what I was fit to. It spun about 300-500 less on a 7 iron and resulted in 4 yards of carry and a flatter ball flight. My total spin with both was over 7000 so they both fit fine but the flatter flight would be better on windier days.

[jwm1]

OK let me go back in time, we did the R&D tour before the ball tour. It definitely help set up our knowledge base for all the work that happened before raw materials get poured into vats. The R&D lab is part Mythbusters, part PHD chemistry lab, part prototyping manufacturing. The amount of patents on the walls is jaw dropping. They actually keep a patent leaderboard. The new guys have some work to do to catch up. We stop at what they called the Crime Lab and it was set up like one. If someone has an idea it is vetted and broken down in that room. If the idea is promising it gets moved on, if it's not feasible or disproved it is also killed in that room. They are also tasked with finding out why products fail and what can be done differently. There are rooms dedicated to testing durability, ball speeds, COR, etc. They test dimples and aerodynamics. And then there's a guy named Nate. Nate is a guy you'd want on your side if you had a problem. He is obsessive about his job. He creates and maintains databases on golf balls and their characteristics, quality, and consistency. Nate probably knows more about the competitors balls than the competitors. When I wrote earlier that other manufacturers have problems centering their golf ball cores, there is significant proof in Nate's office. There are premium balls with absolutely unacceptable tolerances. You might get a sleeve of one brand that has cores from two different factories with different properties that are visually identifiable if you cut them all up. Those balls are then tested and perform differently within a sleeve and within a dozen. We saw the gimmick balls and the "value" balls that are nothing more than new brands on old balls. We discussed how he assists the company in protecting the IP developed by his coworkers. After watching the process from design to marketing to testing to manufacturing I was joking that I don't think they make money on a $4 ball. It made me wonder how much of the $4 pie was spent on the design, testing, manufacturing by the competitors or just the marketing.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

> @jwm1 said:

> OK let me go back in time, we did the R&D tour before the ball tour. It definitely help set up our knowledge base for all the work that happened before raw materials get poured into vats. The R&D lab is part Mythbusters, part PHD chemistry lab, part prototyping manufacturing. The amount of patents on the walls is jaw dropping. They actually keep a patent leaderboard. The new guys have some work to do to catch up. We stop at what they called the Crime Lab and it was set up like one. If someone has an idea it is vetted and broken down in that room. If the idea is promising it gets moved on, if it's not feasible or disproved it is also killed in that room. They are also tasked with finding out why products fail and what can be done differently. There are rooms dedicated to testing durability, ball speeds, COR, etc. They test dimples and aerodynamics. And then there's a guy named Nate. Nate is a guy you'd want on your side if you had a problem. He is obsessive about his job. He creates and maintains databases on golf balls and their characteristics, quality, and consistency. Nate probably knows more about the competitors balls than the competitors. When I wrote earlier that other manufacturers have problems centering their golf ball cores, there is significant proof in Nate's office. There are premium balls with absolutely unacceptable tolerances. You might get a sleeve of one brand that has cores from two different factories with different properties that are visually identifiable if you cut them all up. Those balls are then tested and perform differently within a sleeve and within a dozen. We saw the gimmick balls and the "value" balls that are nothing more than new brands on old balls. We discussed how he assists the company in protecting the IP developed by his coworkers. After watching the process from design to marketing to testing to manufacturing I was joking that I don't think they make money on a $4 ball. It made me wonder how much of the $4 pie was spent on the design, testing, manufacturing by the competitors or just the marketing.

 

Great stuff!! Thanks for sharing. This post right here, gives a lot of validity to the recent ball study that was done that created so much discussion. So it was completely reasonable for one ball from a company to fly 30 yards off line from another ball from he same company tested right before it.

[518TitleistX]

If I recall, I think Nate said that they "dissect" in the neighborhood of 135,000 golf balls amongst all manufacturers annually (including Titleist). They actually go to the store and buy them off the shelves so as not to have varying levels of "shelflife". The joke was made many times over that we wish we all had Nate's Dicks sporting goods scorecard points.

[518TitleistX]

> @"Carolina Golfer 2" said:

> > @jwm1 said:

> > OK let me go back in time, we did the R&D tour before the ball tour. It definitely help set up our knowledge base for all the work that happened before raw materials get poured into vats. The R&D lab is part Mythbusters, part PHD chemistry lab, part prototyping manufacturing. The amount of patents on the walls is jaw dropping. They actually keep a patent leaderboard. The new guys have some work to do to catch up. We stop at what they called the Crime Lab and it was set up like one. If someone has an idea it is vetted and broken down in that room. If the idea is promising it gets moved on, if it's not feasible or disproved it is also killed in that room. They are also tasked with finding out why products fail and what can be done differently. There are rooms dedicated to testing durability, ball speeds, COR, etc. They test dimples and aerodynamics. And then there's a guy named Nate. Nate is a guy you'd want on your side if you had a problem. He is obsessive about his job. He creates and maintains databases on golf balls and their characteristics, quality, and consistency. Nate probably knows more about the competitors balls than the competitors. When I wrote earlier that other manufacturers have problems centering their golf ball cores, there is significant proof in Nate's office. There are premium balls with absolutely unacceptable tolerances. You might get a sleeve of one brand that has cores from two different factories with different properties that are visually identifiable if you cut them all up. Those balls are then tested and perform differently within a sleeve and within a dozen. We saw the gimmick balls and the "value" balls that are nothing more than new brands on old balls. We discussed how he assists the company in protecting the IP developed by his coworkers. After watching the process from design to marketing to testing to manufacturing I was joking that I don't think they make money on a $4 ball. It made me wonder how much of the $4 pie was spent on the design, testing, manufacturing by the competitors or just the marketing.

>

> Great stuff!! Thanks for sharing. This post right here, gives a lot of validity to the recent ball study that was done that created so much discussion. So it was completely reasonable for one ball from a company to fly 30 yards off line from another ball from he same company tested right before it.

 

It was actually demonstrated to us at Manchester Lane that if a ball were to have varying dimple depths from one side of the ball to the other, it could create a flight imbalance and cause lateral dispersion issues of fairly epic proportions. Quality control was definitely stressed as one of, if not the most important part of the construction of a Titleist ball.

 

I will work on my write up tonight, but it may be pretty hard to touch on something the others have not already mentioned.

[QuigleyDU]

> @518TitleistX said:

> > @"Carolina Golfer 2" said:

> > > @jwm1 said:

> > > OK let me go back in time, we did the R&D tour before the ball tour. It definitely help set up our knowledge base for all the work that happened before raw materials get poured into vats. The R&D lab is part Mythbusters, part PHD chemistry lab, part prototyping manufacturing. The amount of patents on the walls is jaw dropping. They actually keep a patent leaderboard. The new guys have some work to do to catch up. We stop at what they called the Crime Lab and it was set up like one. If someone has an idea it is vetted and broken down in that room. If the idea is promising it gets moved on, if it's not feasible or disproved it is also killed in that room. They are also tasked with finding out why products fail and what can be done differently. There are rooms dedicated to testing durability, ball speeds, COR, etc. They test dimples and aerodynamics. And then there's a guy named Nate. Nate is a guy you'd want on your side if you had a problem. He is obsessive about his job. He creates and maintains databases on golf balls and their characteristics, quality, and consistency. Nate probably knows more about the competitors balls than the competitors. When I wrote earlier that other manufacturers have problems centering their golf ball cores, there is significant proof in Nate's office. There are premium balls with absolutely unacceptable tolerances. You might get a sleeve of one brand that has cores from two different factories with different properties that are visually identifiable if you cut them all up. Those balls are then tested and perform differently within a sleeve and within a dozen. We saw the gimmick balls and the "value" balls that are nothing more than new brands on old balls. We discussed how he assists the company in protecting the IP developed by his coworkers. After watching the process from design to marketing to testing to manufacturing I was joking that I don't think they make money on a $4 ball. It made me wonder how much of the $4 pie was spent on the design, testing, manufacturing by the competitors or just the marketing.

> >

> > Great stuff!! Thanks for sharing. This post right here, gives a lot of validity to the recent ball study that was done that created so much discussion. So it was completely reasonable for one ball from a company to fly 30 yards off line from another ball from he same company tested right before it.

>

> It was actually demonstrated to us at Manchester Lane that if a ball were to have varying dimple depths from one side of the ball to the other, it could create a flight imbalance and cause lateral dispersion issues of fairly epic proportions. Quality control was definitely stressed as one of, if not the most important part of the construction of a Titleist ball.

>

> I will work on my write up tonight, but it may be pretty hard to touch on something the others have not already mentioned.

 

That is impressive.

[4rheel]

Great stuff guys. So I'll ask the million dollar question: Will you guys play Titleist balls exclusively from here on out?

[n_rones]

> @4rheel said:

> Great stuff guys. So I'll ask the million dollar question: Will you guys play Titleist balls exclusively from here on out?

 

Without a doubt.

 

 

[jwm1]

> @4rheel said:

> Great stuff guys. So I'll ask the million dollar question: Will you guys play Titleist balls exclusively from here on out?

 

Since it’s my money buying balls I will keep an open mind (that picture of the ProV ball pit was not our going away present)...to any ball that owns their entire manufacturing process, staffed by people obsessed with quality, delivers consistency across 100% of the balls, and performs well. When you’re paying premium ball prices, after seeing how the sausage is made, I’d rather go with the company that after checking the ball 90x’s X-rays every single one at the end. If someone can beat that I’d buy it. I have a couple more stories to post Monday but I’ll try to answer any questions as they come in.

[TIM929]

> @PapaJohick said:

> Yes. Part of that wall there was a section with 18 “different” brands but all the balls were the same. Prices were from 20$ a dozen up to 75$. For the same ball.

>

> There was also a company with a line up of balls, such as their distance, accuracy, feel, and they were all the same ball haha

 

It's insane how 18 different companies, market 18 different balls that claim to do different things, but all sell the same ball from $20 to $75 price range.

 

Wish there was more info on this, like a list of companies/ models/ prices = same ball lol.

 

100% staying faithful to Titleist... Awesome Thread!

[PapaJohick]

Ya safe to say I’ll be playing a titleist almost exclusively. Whether it’s the prov1x I was for into or when if I need to go cheaper for random rounds then I can go dt trusoft. Not their premium line but just like the prov 1/x and avx, they are completely done in house at ball plant 2 with similar quality minded processes.

[Dreadzombie]

> @4rheel said:

> Great stuff guys. So I'll ask the million dollar question: Will you guys play Titleist balls exclusively from here on out?

 

1000% yes. Cant imagine playing anything else after what was seen.

 

Speaking of, played a scramble this morning at orchard creek (me and my buddy played lights out, shot -10) and the driver was HOT.

 

Ended up with 2 of my longest drives ever (310 baby fade uphill, and a massive 340 downhill with a half decent tailwind) ball wasnt rolling much due to the rain yesterday, but goddamn the greens were soft.

 

Tied for first, lost in the tiebreaker to the team with the club pro (still not sure how this was determined, but whatever it's a charity event)

 

 

[Dreadzombie]

So just a recap of my adventure, wall of text incoming!!! (Forgive my formatting doing this via phone as my PC is FUBAR)

 

I applied when I first saw the thread pop up, and after not hearing anything, I decided to double check to see of winners were selected.

 

Thank God I did, as @HipCheck let me know there were a few openings! I immediately sent all my info and eagerly awaited to hear back. After getting the glorious message that I was in, I set up to take the time off. Thankfully my job is flexible enough to where i could swing it on a short notice.

 

I then left after work Tuesday around 4. Only a 3 hour drive so not as bad as some, and I finally got there around 730 with traffic.

 

 

Met the guys at the bar, and after chatting for less than 10 minutes I knew this was going to be a blast. What a fan f****** tastic group of guys to hang out and talk golf and drink with. Couldnt have asked for a better group.

 

Ironically, 3 of us were from the Albany area, and often played the same courses and chatted in the same threads!

 

After eating and drinking at Moby Dicks (Meh beer, though taco Tuesday was neat) I headed back to the hotel to deal with an issue at work. Didnt sleep much that night as I was as giddy as a kid on Christmas eve!

 

Morning of Wednesday, wake up early, and get some continental breakfast, and wait for the guys in the lobby. We all have our golf bags and are geeking out over gear in true WRX fashion, then we head out to the customs plant!

 

Holy motherload, ive never seen so many golf balls. We were showed the various packaging sizes and options that were available and produced by titleist, as well as the process for developing and producing the mytitleist golf balls (saw a beautiful set of masters balls that I'd love to someday pickup). As an electrical engineer, the machinery developed and used by titleist was fantastic. Simply awe shock by the whole setup, and I dont think I stopped smiling the entire time.

 

Next, onward to the r&d department. Not sure how much I can go into here, but the sheer number of patents titleist has, as well as how many the individuals have under their belt, is mind boggling. That, as well as the number of tests they run on balls, is super cool. Really love seeing the scientific process put to use. After this visit, I can 100% say I'm not buying anything but a titleist ball, period.

 

Now the fun part, Manchester Lane Fitting facility. Trackman were set up and we had a chance to check out some cool stuff (such as how dimples affect aerodynamics) and were fit for a ball. I was also lucky enough to have the time to work on my irons (bad day of hitting everything off the bottom) as well as confirming my driver shaft fit me perfectly (stock ef white 6.0, half inch short) after testing a few other shafts.

 

We did 3 challenges, 50 yard chip (made it to 8'6", just beat out by @Drewmiller07) a SEVENTY FIVE yard put (13' 5", lost to @PapaJohick who out it to under 7') and a par 4 built into the facility (let's not talk about how I skulled my approach over the green....) overall, a crazy day, finishing out with dinner and a few drinks with the guys, with more golf talk.

 

 

 

 

Last day, out to BPIII, where the AVX/V1X/V1 are made.....

 

Imagine Willy Wonka and the Golf Ball Factory, because that's what this was. If you haven't, sign up, and take a freaking tour.

 

The amount of care taken into account, while still pumping an ungodly amount of golf balls out, is insane. Just crazy the tolerances involved as well as the process needed to insure everything is top of the line. One thing I also found interesting is that titleist still produces new old models, for tour players that prefer the older style v1. The fact that @titleist does 100% of the process from start to finish with 0% outsourced is astonishing, and definitely is the reason for their quality.

 

 

After that, we headed to Metacomet Golf club in Providence, RI. Beautiful and a fun Ross Course. I had the privilege of playing with @PapaJoHick and 2 Titleist guys. Man my driver was out of whack, but it was still such a fun round with perfect weather. Shoutout and good luck to Stephen in this weeks Mass Open!

Headed home after and got back around 9pm.

 

 

 

 

Shout out to June and Erik, who were the greatest hosts to us throughout the entire thing. Everyone was so generous and loved their work, and couldn't have been happier to have us. @HipCheck do you have June and Erik's contact info? I lost June's card on the drive back it seems, and would love to send them my personal thanks! (Also, thank you so much for the life changing experience)

 

 

Phew my thumbs are tired! If you're still here, here's my dog that my putter cover is based off of for 0 reason!

 

Cheers, Dreadzombie (Matt Senneca)

 

 

[PapaJohick]

> @TIM929 said:

> > @PapaJohick said:

> > Yes. Part of that wall there was a section with 18 “different” brands but all the balls were the same. Prices were from 20$ a dozen up to 75$. For the same ball.

> >

> > There was also a company with a line up of balls, such as their distance, accuracy, feel, and they were all the same ball haha

>

> It's insane how 18 different companies, market 18 different balls that claim to do different things, but all sell the same ball from $20 to $75 price range.

>

> Wish there was more info on this, like a list of companies/ models/ prices = same ball lol.

>

> 100% staying faithful to Titleist... Awesome Thread!

 

Most of the companies in that group of 18, many of your typical wrx era are not playing them.

 

There was one oem though (that probably many do okay or might try out) that was simply a rehashed older model BIG oem ball maker.

 

If I simply could not play titleist golf balls, I would either go srixon/Bridgestone as long as the box was sent out of their Japan factories haha.

 

[Drewmiller07]

> @4rheel said:

> Great stuff guys. So I'll ask the million dollar question: Will you guys play Titleist balls exclusively from here on out?

 

I will never play anything else. Ever.

 

[QuigleyDU]

I know it is poor taste in these situations to mention what balls are the same but with different logos but I would love to know what they are. I do not expect anyone to say, nor would I ask. But I am curious.

[jwm1]

If a company does not manufacture a ball there are a few ways to sell them. They joked that any of us could start a ball company tomorrow. The bigger companies buy components and assemble them, put on their own covers, paint and label. Some large companies that come out with balls out of nowhere are licensing older versions of previously released balls. The smaller startups either buy an older model ball or have a custom run done by a factory. When a custom run is done the factory does not maintain the tooling for those specs, they move on to the next order. So when that company re-orders the second run of balls will have significant differences.

 

The most egregious example was a startup out of a garage that repainted used balls and marketed them as new. They were all random balls on the inside. It was a $20 a dozen brand none of us have heard of and might have been shut down from lawsuits.

[getair23]

 

> @4rheel said:

> Great stuff guys. So I'll ask the million dollar question: Will you guys play Titleist balls exclusively from here on out?

Seeing behind the curtain has convinced me that Titleist has the highest quality control in the industry. The Pro V1 fits my game perfectly. Seeing what went into the ball and how well it is made gives me an extra bit of confidence every time I hit one. I still have a balls from other companies that I will use from time to time (non competitively) until they run out. Until something changes every ball purchase moving forward will be Titleist.