Justin Thomas could use a Titleist AVX in the upcoming 2024 British Open, but after carefully testing all of Titleist’s premium golf balls, the two-time major winner knows that the Pro V1x offers the ideal blend of speed and spin to help him play his best. However, Davis Thompson, the winner of last week’s John Deere Classic, uses a Pro V1 and 2024 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau opts for the Pro V1x Left Dash.
There are meaningful differences between premium golf balls, and to help players find the one that is most suited for their game, Titleist has developed a new golf ball fitting app to quickly provide a data-driven, personalized golf ball recommendation, regardless of your skill level.
After filling out a brief questionnaire that asks players about their style, the course conditions they tend to face and their golf ball preferences, golfers hit a series of three half-swing wedge shots, three full-swing pitching wedge shots, three 7-irons and three tee shots with a driver using a Titleist Pro V1 ball.
A fitter captures data on each shot using a TrackMan launch monitor, and that data, combined with the golfer’s initial responses, is then fed into a proprietary algorithm that Titleist developed using information from thousands of ball fittings. The system then reveals which Titleist ball — Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash, and AVX — is ideal for the player.
The app requires players to hit three half-wedge, pitching wedge, 7-iron and driver shots using a TrackMan launch monitor. (Titleist)
The four balls are designed to have different playing attributes:
The Pro V1 is a three-piece ball designed to create a mid-trajectory launch off the tee with very high spin around the greens.
The Pro V1x is a four-piece ball that feels firmer, spins more off the tee and flies higher than the Pro V1.
The Pro V1x Left Dash is the firmest feeling Titleist ball and flies high like the Pro V1x, but with less spin.
The AVX is the softest of Titleist’s premium balls, creates the lowest launch off the tee and generates slightly-less greenside spin.
To be clear, the Titleist Golf Ball Fitting App is a tool for fitters and is not designed to be used by golfers themselves. It is designed to harness the power of big data, use information gathered during a 10-15 minute hitting session and rely on the experience of a trained fitter to determine the ideal golf ball for your game.
Check out Golfweek’s list of the best golf balls available to purchase in 2024.
A decade ago, the sight of a non-white golf ball would raise a few eyebrows, but those days are long gone. TaylorMade, one of the largest golf ball makers in the world, predicts its non-white ball sales in 2024 – comprised of balls with stripes, special markings or customized logos – will eclipse traditional white ball sales for the first time.
Golf balls with corporate logos have been popular for decades, but tour pros like Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood compete in PGA Tour events, major championships and Ryder Cups using TaylorMade’s TP5 and TP5x Pix balls that have markings designed to aid in alignment and to reveal how purely you’ve hit your putt. Callaway’s Truvis balls, which are covered in pentagons, have been popular for several years and Srixon’s Divide balls are eye-catching in every weather condition and also help golfers perform better on the greens.
At the same time, manufacturers like Titleist, maker of the Pro V1, and Callaway, maker of the new Chrome Tour, have never made balls to a higher precisely, which means that from ball to ball, consistency is better than ever before.
With such a wide variety of balls on the market, ranging in price from about $22 to around $55 per dozen, finding a ball that matches your game and your budget can be tricky, but Golfweek’s 2024 Golf Ball Guide is here to help. Prioritize what you want from your golf ball (distance, short game spin, soft feel), and then think about a price range you are willing to pay. Keep in mind that if you go down in price, you will likely have to compromise something because the materials that make premium balls perform so well don’t come cheap.
Buy a three-ball sleeve of several different balls, go to the course and see how they perform on chip shots, pitch shots and short approach shots first, then see how they work for you with long irons and woods. The unique way you swing will make each ball play differently, but testing balls on the course will always be the best way to find your perfect golf ball.
Note: Golf balls are often released on two-year product cycles, which means updates are released every two years. For that reason, you will see several 2023 offerings alongside new 2024 putters.
The new AVX provides more greenside spin without sacrificing its low spin and soft feel.
Gear: Titleist AVX golf balls (2024) Price: $49.99 per dozen Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls. Available in White and Yellow. Available: January 24
Who It’s For: Golfers who want a softer feel, lower flight and less spin than a Pro V1 without sacrificing greenside spin.
The Skinny: The updated AVX has a new gradational core and a softer, thicker urethane cover to give it enhanced greenside spin, a lower flight and less spin with long irons.
The Deep Dive: With several premium golf balls in its portfolio, including the top-selling Pro V1 and Pro V1x (which do not change for 2024), Titleist designers and engineers were given very clear instructions when it came to developing an update to the AVX ball. The new alternative to the X and V ball needed to be longer from tee to green, but the bigger task was to make it feel softer while giving it more greenside spin.
To achieve those goals in the new 2024 AVX, Titleist started by making the gradational core – which is extremely soft in the center and gets progressively firmer toward the perimeter – slightly smaller. The 2022 AVX also had a gradational core, but the firmness change in the 2024 ball is more substantial, making it more like a multi-core construction in a single-core ball.
The Titleist AVX ball for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
A firm casing layer (which is the dark ring around the purple core in the photo above) covers the core. That firm material over the soft core is the key to effective energy transfer on wood and long-iron shots. The casing layer also helps to reduce spin when the ball is hit with a less-lofted, more-vertically-faced club like a driver, fairway wood or long iron. The result is more distance with lower spin off the tee and from the fairway with long clubs.
However, on short-iron shots and wedge shots, when the clubhead speed is lower and the impact is made with a more lofted club, the updated AVX’s softer urethane and thicker cover, which is on top of the firm casing layer, can easily be grabbed by the grooves to generate spin. The softer, thicker urethane cover also helps to make the AVX feel softer at impact, even though the ball’s overall compression (80) has not changed.
Knowing that Titleist wanted to keep the AVX’s playing relationship with its other balls about the same, designers knew they needed to give the 2024 AVX a low-spin dimple pattern, but they wanted it to be better than the pattern on the 2022 ball. Ultimately, they chose a quadrilateral dipyramid catenary design (say that five times fast!) that had previously been used in the two-piece, distance-oriented Tour Soft balls. On the 2024 AVX, the cover pattern makes it more stable in the wind.
So where does AVX fit into the Titleist golf ball stable?
AVX spins less off the tee than Pro V1 and Pro V1x
AVX should have a lower launch angle than Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
AVX will feel softer at impact than Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
While the new AVX should generate more greenside spin than its predecessor, the Pro V1 and Pro V1x will spin more around the green and with short irons.
Gear: Titleist TruFeel golf balls (2024) Price: $24.99 per dozen Specs: Two-piece, ionomer-covered golf balls. Available in white, yellow (March) and matte red (May). Available: Jan. 24
Who They’re For: Golfers who want more distance from a budget-friendly ball.
The Skinny: Titleist updated the core and made the cover softer and thicker on the latest version of the TruFeel to give players more distance off the tee and spin around the green from a ball that won’t break the bank.
The Deep Dive: Around the offices in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Titleist golf ball engineers and designers have a saying: “A ball has to earn the script.” That script refers to the flowing Titleist logo.
Balls such as the Pro V1 and Pro V1x, which typically cost about $50 per dozen, do that by delivering elite levels of distance off the tee and spin around the green. However, Titleist balls sold at half that price still need to provide performance and be the best ball Titleist can offer in that lower price range.
The Titleist TruFeel golf ball has a massive core. (Titleist)
The latest version of TruFeel has a newly formulated core that Titleist calls TruTouch. While it is slightly smaller than the core in the previous TruFeel ball, it still helps golfers generate more ball speed for good distance off the tee.
The benefit of going with a smaller core is it allowed Titleist to make the TruFlex cover, which is made from a blend of ionomer and softening polymers, slightly thicker. The softer cover can be grabbed by the grooves of wedges and short irons more easily, so the 2024 TruFeel should give players more greenside spin and control.
Finally, Titleist gave TruFeel an aerodynamic dimple pattern and cover design that helps it create a low, penetrating ball flight for people with moderate swing speeds. The cover design should also help golfers who typically generate excessive spin hit straighter, longer shots.
