Titleist Releases 2015 ProV1 and ProV1x

The 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x are on sale now, eighty years after the first Titleist golf ball was produced and almost fifteen years since the dominant model was first introduced in October, 2000. It's been one heck of a successful ride, one based on performance and brand aura with a healthy dose of reverse price appeal ("it's more expensive, therefore it has to be better").

“Golfers often ask us what sets Pro V1 and Pro V1x apart from other golf balls. You can’t just point to one or two things,” said Bill Morgan, Senior Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball R&D. “The difference is everything. We have more people with more experience designing and making golf balls, the largest intellectual property portfolio and the most sophisticated precision manufacturing processes. The 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the culmination of all that knowledge and all of that technology. The original Pro V1 was revolutionary, no question, but we’ve learned a lot in the last 15 years and these new Pro V1 models are the best we’ve ever made.”
 
Since 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x were first introduced on the PGA Tour in October, more than 100 players have put the new models in play around the world – including Jordan Spieth, who played new Pro V1x in back-to-back runaway victories at the Australian Open and Hero World Challenge, winning those events by a combined 16 strokes. Jimmy Walker first put new Pro V1x in play at the PGA Tour’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, where he finished runner-up. The following week, he won the Sony Open in Hawaii by nine shots. Bubba Watson, Padraig Harrington and Charley Hoffman also trusted 2015 Pro V1x to victories soon after the new models were introduced on the worldwide tours.

The 2015 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls feature a new, patented thermoset urethane elastomer cover that the company says delivers more short game spin and control, and softer feel – while maintaining their exceptional distance and flight characteristics, and best-in-class durability. The softer, reformulated cover system improves feel, sound and short game scoring control, Titleist says, providing golfers the confidence and performance to hit it closer to the hole.

“When we set out to improve Pro V1 and Pro V1x, the product development process always starts with asking golfers how we can help them shoot lower scores,” Bohn said. “Since golfers have had such resounding success with Pro V1 and Pro V1x, this time around, they told us, ‘Don’t change much. I love the distance. I love the scoring performance. I love the durability. If you can give me slightly more spin in the short game as well as even softer feel, I’ll take it. I just don’t want to give anything up.’ So that became our design goal.”

The thermoset urethane cover formulation on both Pro V1 and Pro V1x is created by a chemical reaction that takes place during the sophisticated casting process. Liquid materials specifically formulated by Titleist R&D are combined and react to form the solid cover. This urethane is termed “thermoset,” meaning that the cover, once formed, will not re-melt. Most competitive urethane-covered golf balls use a thermoplastic urethane (TPU), supplied by an outside vendor and usually formulated for another non-golf product, which is melted and then reformed to create the cover.

“Thermoset urethane is very difficult to work with, but it gives us complete control of the chemical composition. It’s essentially a little chemical plant right in the mold, compared with using an off-the-shelf material like TPU. This allows us to dial in our desired properties of spin control, softness and durability,” said Michael Sullivan, Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball Product Development. “We do a lot of testing. We test the urethane on the ball and test it off the ball. In fact, we do so much material testing before it even gets onto a golf ball that by the time it does, we have a solid understanding of how it’s going to react. With the new 2015 models, we tested hundreds of formulations. You simply can’t do that with TPU. In the end, our iterative prototyping process ultimately improves performance for golfers.”

“We’re giving golfers everything they’ve previously had in Pro V1 and Pro V1x with some enhancements,” Morgan said. “They’ll get the extraordinary distance and ball flight they’re accustomed to. But they’ll also get a softer cover, which will add more spin control and feel around the greens. The feedback we’ve received on tour and with club professionals and amateurs clearly tells us that players are benefiting from this improved performance.”

New Pro V1 and Pro V1x also are designed to maintain their long-lasting durability. The company says the new urethane cover, combined with the improved paint system that debuted on the 2013 models, keeps Pro V1 and Pro V1x whiter and brighter longer throughout the course of play. The cover and paint system also contributes to an aerodynamically more consistent golf ball.  

“The breakthrough we made in durability with 2013 Pro V1 and Pro V1x really opened up the doors for us in terms of experimentation with our cover formulation. Our urethane is so resilient that as we softened it, we were able to increase short game spin and enhance the feel while maintaining its abrasion resistance,” Morgan said.

Titleist provides two distinct performance options within the 2015 Pro V1 family. Comparatively, Pro V1 has a softer feel, slightly more long game spin and a penetrating trajectory for a shallower angle of descent for more roll. Pro V1x offers a slightly firmer feel, lower long game spin and launches higher with a steeper angle of descent. The company says both Pro V1 and Pro V1x deliver extraordinary distance, the best scoring performance for all golfers, and long lasting durability, yet differ in feel, long game spin and flight.

Pro V1 is a three-piece, multiple component technology with a very soft compression ZG process core, ionomeric casing layer, softer thermoset urethane elastomer cover, and spherically-tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design.  

Pro V1x is a four-piece, multi-component technology with a ZG process dual core, ionomeric casing layer, softer thermoset urethane elastomer cover and spherically-tiled 328 tetrahedral dimple design.

And what about that reverse price appeal I mentioned?  MSRP for a dozen is $62.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Balls of Steel Get USGA OK

Two young entrepreneurs with dreams of improving your golf game just received notice that the USGA has approved their first product, the OnCore Evo Golf Ball. The official notice to the company read,

"Golf balls with rigid cores whose core diameters do not exceed 0.9 inches, such as the OnCore Evo Ball, will be permitted exceptions to the 'traditional and customary form and make' requirement in Rule 1 of Appendix III."

When the USGA's list of approved equipment is published on November 6, the Evo ball will be considered conforming to the Rules of Golf.

"We are thrilled with the USGA's determination that rigid cores such as the OnCore hollow metal-core will be permissible in designing the golf balls of the future," says OnCore's President Bret Blakely. "We have had an enthusiastic reaction to our ball from players of all skill levels. Our objective has always been to help golfers have a better experience and get more enjoyment from the game. We expect that OnCore's products and technology (which are exclusively secured by three U.S. patents) will soon become the trendsetters in the industry."

VP Steve Coulton adds, "One of our dreams is to have young, up and coming tour players using our equipment. With the USGA approval, this dream can become reality, which is really exciting for us."

The company is headquartered in Buffalo, NY and says it is dedicated to improving the lives, scores, and enjoyment of golfers of all skill levels by offering exciting products that live up to the company's tagline - "You Just Became a Better Golfer."

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Balls of Steel

When it comes to golf balls, I've tried plenty of different brands and model, but I keep coming back to the tried-and-true. Recently, though, I played a round with something different and I have to confess it caught my attention.  It's the OnCore EVO, billed as the world's first and only hollow metal core golf ball. These guys are on to something!

I immediately noticed two differences from my normal Pro V1x: the OnCore EVO flew straighter and it came off the irons hotter. I only played one round with the ball and certainly can't claim scientific certainty, but what I saw definitely was not a figment of my imagination.

I can't say that I got much more driver distance, but there was obviously less spin on the ball. My typical ball flight is a draw that starts right and comes back to my aim point. The OnCore EVO, though, would start right but then draw back only about half as much as usual. I kind of like that since it gives me a little better chance of staying in the fairway on holes that call for a fade while still letting me get that extra roll from a draw.

There also was no question that I picked up some distance with my irons, although that was a double-edged sword. I was not only a full club longer in the air (a good thing), but couldn't get the ball to bite on the green (a bad thing), probably because of the reduced spin. Regardless, I could see scores dropping after I get used to the performance characteristics.

What I saw is what the manufacturer promises--gee what a concept! The idea behind the technology is that the hollow core and polymer composite mantle layer shifts the ball's weight to its perimeter, both increasing the Moment of Inertia and reducing spin. I don't know if the USGA has approved it (and suspect they may have some concerns about the MOI), but the OnCore EVO is without question a ball worth trying out.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf