New 2024 Titleist AVX ball announced today!

[grochol17]

1 hour ago, mlf said:

Still, no one has tried it out? Was expecting to see some reviews after the weekend. 

 

I picked up a sleeve yesterday, but because of rain and other life things, the best I can do for a review is this... I hit some putts in my basement with the 2022 and 2024 AVX and the 2024 definitely feels softer.  Bouncing both balls with my wedge, the 2024 might feel a bit softer, but I think the feel difference that I noticed when putting mostly goes away.  I'd guess that in a blind test I could tell the balls apart while putting, but not when bouncing them with my wedge. 

[__jimmyd]

Hope they make it even better and welcome the price drop.  Everytime I've found an AVX on my local course I played it... loved it.  The clubhouse never seemed to be able to keep them in stock.  I picked up a dozen of the old model on sale last week and enjoyed playing a full round with them.  Titleist also has the best yellow shade in the game, so hopefully that conveys with the different cover.

[flushem]

I found a stray Tour Speed in almost new condition and played full round 18 yesterday.  I was impressed with durability of the ball as it went in bunkers 3 times and few bounces on concrete cart path.   If 24 AVX has the same durable TPU cover, I would not be disappointed with durability.  

[ShakeyT]

As a long time Tour Speed player, I'm not a fan of Titleist replacing it with a "cheaper" tour ball. Oh well, looks like I'm moving full time to the Mizuno RB Max. In my testing, it was very similar to the Tour Speed anyway. 

[monks66]

I am on the fence about trying the 24 AVX, what intrigues me is that its been said it is softer then the 22 AVX.  I just am not sure of the feel of the TPU urethane cover instead of the Cast urethane....

[cardigan]

2 hours ago, monks66 said:

I am on the fence about trying the 24 AVX, what intrigues me is that its been said it is softer then the 22 AVX.  I just am not sure of the feel of the TPU urethane cover instead of the Cast urethane....

Just buy a sleeve?

[Locked]

I love the old AVX so ordered a box of the new one that arrived this week.  Haven't played them yet but I'm already off to a good start with them because they messed up the custom print on it (or better said, half of my order was printed with somebody else's order) so they are resending the order and letting me keep the wrong ones so I just got them for 50% off 🙂 .  

 

The old AVX was a meaningful improvement in distance for me off the tee but I did struggle a bit with greenside spin and holding greens.  So if its true that this spins a bit better greenside this will be a huge winner for me.  I'll return and report.  Playing tomorrow.  

 

 

[Locked]

Just read through the whole thread... people on here crack me up worrying about whats played on tour.  

 

For 90%+ of you: you don't use the exact same clubs they use on tour.  You don't have the same swing speed they have on tour.  You don't produce the same angles and spin dynamics they do.  What makes you think what ball the tour players play is relevant to you?

 

This was probably 6 years ago but I was with a titleist exec talking about the golf ball industry and he said that almost all amateurs play the wrong ball for their game because of the stigma around the more expensive balls (or "tour" balls in this threads terms) which benefits them as a company.  He said they had tried designs that they were fully confident would help the amateur golfer score better but nobody bought them.  This thread makes me believe that even more.  

 

I'm the only one I know at my club that plays the AVX and I'm 100% sure that if more people tried it and weren't worried about the "ProV" social pressure they'd make a switch.  Literally nobody I play with has ever even tried it.  I hope the new one plays for me how the old one did. 

 

My point is not that everybody should play the AVX.  Its that people should really try different balls and see what's best for your swing because there's no way that the prov1 and prov1x just happen to match up perfectly with the vast majority of golfers.    (for the record I'll happily play either prov1 and prov1x, they are great, but there's no doubt that the off the tee performance of the AVX benefits my scores)

[mikec3672]

Very well said, and why I think Bridgestone higher end balls for better players, was all about swing speed. Hence for me when I play a B, it's always the RX (as a 10-12 cap, and 95-98 SS).

[monks66]

16 hours ago, Locked said:

Just read through the whole thread... people on here crack me up worrying about whats played on tour.  

 

For 90%+ of you: you don't use the exact same clubs they use on tour.  You don't have the same swing speed they have on tour.  You don't produce the same angles and spin dynamics they do.  What makes you think what ball the tour players play is relevant to you?

 

This was probably 6 years ago but I was with a titleist exec talking about the golf ball industry and he said that almost all amateurs play the wrong ball for their game because of the stigma around the more expensive balls (or "tour" balls in this threads terms) which benefits them as a company.  He said they had tried designs that they were fully confident would help the amateur golfer score better but nobody bought them.  This thread makes me believe that even more.  

 

I'm the only one I know at my club that plays the AVX and I'm 100% sure that if more people tried it and weren't worried about the "ProV" social pressure they'd make a switch.  Literally nobody I play with has ever even tried it.  I hope the new one plays for me how the old one did. 

 

My point is not that everybody should play the AVX.  Its that people should really try different balls and see what's best for your swing because there's no way that the prov1 and prov1x just happen to match up perfectly with the vast majority of golfers.    (for the record I'll happily play either prov1 and prov1x, they are great, but there's no doubt that the off the tee performance of the AVX benefits my scores)

I love the AVX...may stay with the 22 gen, love the cast cover

[gvogel]

I played the Tour Speed at the end of last season and thought that it performed nicely.  I'm a bit disappointed that it is going away.  The former AVX was a nice ball in the summer in windy conditions, and also when the fairways were firm.  It was particularly good into the wind.  Guess I'll try the new one, but I will also have some ProV's and ProVx balls to compare.

 

Maybe I'll go to Tour Soft or Velocity when conditions get softer and colder in the fall.

[grochol17]

4 hours ago, mikec3672 said:

Very well said, and why I think Bridgestone higher end balls for better players, was all about swing speed. Hence for me when I play a B, it's always the RX (as a 10-12 cap, and 95-98 SS).

 

The problem with the swing speed approach is that not everyone with the same swing speed has the same launch conditions or needs from a ball.  In an interview, a Titleist tour rep said that, in spite of their "slow" swing speeds, a lot of LPGA tour players fit into the V1x better because of the high flight and high spin.

[mikec3672]

yeah, but you don't see optimal distance w/o the proper swingspeed. I clearly hit the AVX (driver and irons) longer than the V and X.

[Locked]

Forgot to take the new box of golf balls to my club today... so nothing to report yet.  Greens were a bit soft from this week's rain in LA so feedback on greenside spin (which is what I'm really curious about) wouldn't have been that relevant as it just wasn't that difficult to hold greens today.  

[grochol17]

On 2/2/2024 at 4:30 PM, mikec3672 said:

yeah, but you don't see optimal distance w/o the proper swingspeed. I clearly hit the AVX (driver and irons) longer than the V and X.

 

That's not how it works.  If you look at the my golf spy ball test, at high swing speeds, generally the hardest balls give the fastest ball speeds.  But, the opposite does *not* hold true.  As swing speed decreases, the difference in ball speed between hard and soft balls gets smaller until the ball speed for all balls is the same.  But, there is never an inversion point where softer golf balls produce faster ball speeds than harder golf balls.  So, all else being equal, a soft ball will never travel further than a hard golf ball.

 

If you're hitting the AVX further than a Pro V1 or V1x, it isn't because the ball is soft and you're magically getting more ball speed.  It is because the flight characteristics of the AVX are a better fit for you than the other options.  When I did a Titleist ball fitting a while back, I was getting the best ball speed with the left dash.  But, I produce a high launch and high spin with all my clubs, so I was getting more driver distance out of the AVX because the low flight and low spin characteristics helped to ameliorate my swing issues.

[ChrisATL]

Never played an AVX, but the early reviews are intriguing.  Hoping to pick up a sleeve and test out soon!

[mikec3672]

whatever it is, it's longer, so then, the RX is designed as is the AVX to target a swing like mine (95-100), where it fits my launch and spin best, with best distance etc. obviously there are many others out there like me that fit into that launch and spin window, and are under 105 MPH swing speed, and hence why Bridgestone chose to use that (maybe not 100% true), as a marketing point.

[AusGolf22]

10 hours ago, grochol17 said:

 

That's not how it works.  If you look at the my golf spy ball test, at high swing speeds, generally the hardest balls give the fastest ball speeds.  But, the opposite does *not* hold true.  As swing speed decreases, the difference in ball speed between hard and soft balls gets smaller until the ball speed for all balls is the same.  But, there is never an inversion point where softer golf balls produce faster ball speeds than harder golf balls.  So, all else being equal, a soft ball will never travel further than a hard golf ball.

 

If you're hitting the AVX further than a Pro V1 or V1x, it isn't because the ball is soft and you're magically getting more ball speed.  It is because the flight characteristics of the AVX are a better fit for you than the other options.  When I did a Titleist ball fitting a while back, I was getting the best ball speed with the left dash.  But, I produce a high launch and high spin with all my clubs, so I was getting more driver distance out of the AVX because the low flight and low spin characteristics helped to ameliorate my swing issues.

Don't want to derail the thread but I'm interested by your point re: ball fitting. I'm also high speed/launch/spin, and have loved Left Dash for being fast and cutting down spin. I haven't given much thought to AVX given I figured LD would be best fit for me and my tendencies, and has been I suppose, but what do you see with AVX that fits you better than LD across the board? I may need to test myself it seems too

[grochol17]

14 hours ago, AusGolf22 said:

Don't want to derail the thread but I'm interested by your point re: ball fitting. I'm also high speed/launch/spin, and have loved Left Dash for being fast and cutting down spin. I haven't given much thought to AVX given I figured LD would be best fit for me and my tendencies, and has been I suppose, but what do you see with AVX that fits you better than LD across the board? I may need to test myself it seems too

 

My main issues with my ball flight are very little roll with the driver and the high flight/spin are terrible into the wind with all clubs.  The left dash helped with the spin rate, but the flight was too high, so my landing angle was still extremely steep.  With the AVX, the spin rate was about the same as the left dash, but the flatter ball flight works better for me, and brought my landing angle down. 

 

For what it is worth, I found the regular Pro V1 to be almost the same ball as the AVX in the fitting (the V1 had a bit higher flight and a bit more spin, but still pretty close to the AVX) and on course I've switched between the AVX and Pro V1 during the same round and didn't notice a difference.  So, for me, if the 2024 AVX doesn't work out, I'll just play the Pro V1.

[grochol17]

For all of you looking for a review, I had a chance to play 18 this weekend with the 2024 AVX.  The tl;dr version of my review is: 🤷‍♂️

 

I played in a scramble on a fairly short course in cold, windy, soft conditions and didn't have a chance to hit side-by-side shots with the new and old AVX, so I can't really tell a whole lot about the new ball.  The first picture below shows the 24 ball on the left and the 22 ball on the right.  It is hard to tell in the photo, but the 24 is a tiny bit shinier and the script looks oh so slightly different.

 

On course, the flight with my driver seemed to be pretty flat and, with the irons, the ball seemed to hold its line pretty well into the wind.  I had one 3w get away from me when I turned it over a bit into a stiff wind.  Other than that, there wasn't a lot of left/right movement that was obviously due to the wind. 

 

I was guessing at distances all day, so I have no idea if the 24 ball is longer or shorter than the 22, but I didn't hit any shots that ended up unexpectedly long or short, so I can say that the 22 and 24 are probably close to each other in terms of distance. 

 

The greens especially were really soft, so I can't say much about short game spin, but again I didn't see anything unexpected, so that is good. 

 

As for durability of the new cover, my results we confusing... I played one ball for 6+ holes before a tee shot landed on the cart path and I had to take it out of play.  That ball is shown in the second photo (with the red dots).  Even though I hit some trees, multiple 54* wedge shots, and one skulled PW, there was only one mark on the ball, the little dark "line" just above center (you can see some of the road rash on the left side of the ball).  The other ball I played for the rest of the round and you can see a small fish gill on the ball.  Weirdly, that came from a well struck 9i on a par 3.  I don't tee the ball up with my irons, just set it up on a nice bit of grass, so it is possible that I got some sand on the ball (or my club face) without realizing it, which led to the scuff.  I kept playing that ball for another 9 holes, and didn't see any performance issues or additional scuffing problems.  There was a small one (similar to the one on the first ball) that came from hitting a 54* off of hard pan.  I finished the round with an aggressive flighted PW that spun back 10-12 feet to tap in distance, but didn't leave a mark on the ball. 

 

After typing this all out, my new tl;dr review is that, due to conditions, this wasn't the best test of the 24 AVX, but it isn't obviously different in performance or durability compared to the 22 AVX. 

 

 

 

 

[Locked]

isn't the alignment mark completely new on the AVX?  I didn't think the 22 had the same mark so that's a fairly easy way to differentiate the old from the new no?

[grochol17]

1 hour ago, Locked said:

isn't the alignment mark completely new on the AVX?  I didn't think the 22 had the same mark so that's a fairly easy way to differentiate the old from the new no?

 

Yes, the side stamps are completely different, which is why I didn't bother including a photo.

[monks66]

18 hours ago, grochol17 said:

For all of you looking for a review, I had a chance to play 18 this weekend with the 2024 AVX.  The tl;dr version of my review is: 🤷‍♂️

 

I played in a scramble on a fairly short course in cold, windy, soft conditions and didn't have a chance to hit side-by-side shots with the new and old AVX, so I can't really tell a whole lot about the new ball.  The first picture below shows the 24 ball on the left and the 22 ball on the right.  It is hard to tell in the photo, but the 24 is a tiny bit shinier and the script looks oh so slightly different.

 

On course, the flight with my driver seemed to be pretty flat and, with the irons, the ball seemed to hold its line pretty well into the wind.  I had one 3w get away from me when I turned it over a bit into a stiff wind.  Other than that, there wasn't a lot of left/right movement that was obviously due to the wind. 

 

I was guessing at distances all day, so I have no idea if the 24 ball is longer or shorter than the 22, but I didn't hit any shots that ended up unexpectedly long or short, so I can say that the 22 and 24 are probably close to each other in terms of distance. 

 

The greens especially were really soft, so I can't say much about short game spin, but again I didn't see anything unexpected, so that is good. 

 

As for durability of the new cover, my results we confusing... I played one ball for 6+ holes before a tee shot landed on the cart path and I had to take it out of play.  That ball is shown in the second photo (with the red dots).  Even though I hit some trees, multiple 54* wedge shots, and one skulled PW, there was only one mark on the ball, the little dark "line" just above center (you can see some of the road rash on the left side of the ball).  The other ball I played for the rest of the round and you can see a small fish gill on the ball.  Weirdly, that came from a well struck 9i on a par 3.  I don't tee the ball up with my irons, just set it up on a nice bit of grass, so it is possible that I got some sand on the ball (or my club face) without realizing it, which led to the scuff.  I kept playing that ball for another 9 holes, and didn't see any performance issues or additional scuffing problems.  There was a small one (similar to the one on the first ball) that came from hitting a 54* off of hard pan.  I finished the round with an aggressive flighted PW that spun back 10-12 feet to tap in distance, but didn't leave a mark on the ball. 

 

After typing this all out, my new tl;dr review is that, due to conditions, this wasn't the best test of the 24 AVX, but it isn't obviously different in performance or durability compared to the 22 AVX. 

 

 

 

 

So I guess you coul;dnt tell if it was softer then the 22?

[grochol17]

22 minutes ago, monks66 said:

So I guess you coul;dnt tell if it was softer then the 22?

 

I think I posted before that I did a side-by-side in my house hitting some putts and chips.  Putting, the 24 definitely feels softer.  Chipping, maybe the 24 was a tiny bit softer, but I think if I did a blind test I wouldn't be able to tell them apart.  I didn't get to do any side-by-side on the course, so I don't know how the feels would compare on full swings, but my guess is that they'd end up feeling pretty much the same in a blind test.

[luckypolk]

Had a Titleist fitting today for irons and long game. I tried the previous AVX last winter. I felt distances were same between it and ProV1 but the ProV1 was the clear winner on green side spin. I didn't see a big change in trajectory between the two. During the fitting today, we were able to find some pretty big gains with the clubs but then he started switching out the ProV1 with the new AVX. I originally gained almost 10 yards with the irons with the ProV1. When he threw in the AVX, it was closer to 15 yards across the board consistently. Same was true on woods and driver. AVX was longer across all clubs. He gave me a handful to go test on the course because he agreed that green side spin was lacking on the previous version. Something to note, we were talking about price point and the new cover. He said going to the new cover process was purposeful as that was how they were able to increase green side spin. I'm going to play this weekend so I'll report back once I'm able to run them through the motions. If the short game spin is improved though, I'll be in a new ball this year for sure. The gains were crazy througout the rest of the bag.

[lazyjc4]

Had some credit to spend at 2nd Swing, so I've got two dozen of the new balls coming, along with a dozen of the old to compare side-by-side.  Honestly, I don't expect too drastic of a difference.  I get similar results from AVX's and ProVI's, aside from what is more important to me, the AVX seems to curve less off the driver.  If the new ball continues that trend, I'll continue to play it. 

[AusGolf22]

23 hours ago, luckypolk said:

Had a Titleist fitting today for irons and long game. I tried the previous AVX last winter. I felt distances were same between it and ProV1 but the ProV1 was the clear winner on green side spin. I didn't see a big change in trajectory between the two. During the fitting today, we were able to find some pretty big gains with the clubs but then he started switching out the ProV1 with the new AVX. I originally gained almost 10 yards with the irons with the ProV1. When he threw in the AVX, it was closer to 15 yards across the board consistently. Same was true on woods and driver. AVX was longer across all clubs. He gave me a handful to go test on the course because he agreed that green side spin was lacking on the previous version. Something to note, we were talking about price point and the new cover. He said going to the new cover process was purposeful as that was how they were able to increase green side spin. I'm going to play this weekend so I'll report back once I'm able to run them through the motions. If the short game spin is improved though, I'll be in a new ball this year for sure. The gains were crazy througout the rest of the bag.

Sounds very promising - keen to hear the on-course report! 

[Tinkerer]

Tried a sleeve yesterday, our greens are usually not that receptive, it was a little cooler last night, I got more green side spin with the new AVX. The ball is soft, especially off the putter. It’s certainly as long as the prior version, it felt a few yards longer off the irons. My ball flight generally is high, lowering that for more distance is a winner for me if it stops OK on the green. Will put one of these in play in comp over the weekend. 

[54CW]

Curious how the AVX compares to the Triad. I liked the Triad a lot but lost distance in my testing. V1X was too spinny for me. I played Tour BX 80% of last season and my Father’s Day stash is running low. Curious about trying Pro V1 or AVX. Driver SS is up from 105ish to 108 -113mph since speed training and many lessons last year. (I am also curious about Velocity for max distance but I’ll save that for another day.)

Edited February 8 by 54CW

[Red4282]

On 1/29/2024 at 2:09 PM, flushem said:

I found a stray Tour Speed in almost new condition and played full round 18 yesterday.  I was impressed with durability of the ball as it went in bunkers 3 times and few bounces on concrete cart path.   If 24 AVX has the same durable TPU cover, I would not be disappointed with durability.  

I bought a dozen Tour Speed to try this winter as the course has been soft and I got sick of wedges sucking back 20 feet. Ive been impressed with the performance as well. Its like the perfect compromise between a prov1 and avx. Holding power, drop and stop, but not excessive. However I totally destroyed one ball hitting a path. I was shocked at how bad the damage was. Im thinking of just buying up a couple dozen to play when its soft and windy. Can easily be had for under $30.

On 1/29/2024 at 4:56 PM, ShakeyT said:

As a long time Tour Speed player, I'm not a fan of Titleist replacing it with a "cheaper" tour ball. Oh well, looks like I'm moving full time to the Mizuno RB Max. In my testing, it was very similar to the Tour Speed anyway. 

I may have to try the RB max as well.