Equipment: Testing new golf balls for Team Titleist

We’d all love the Tour pro treatment now and again, right?

Well, as a member of Team Titleist, sometimes that’s what you get.

Titleist are the over-whelming market leaders when it comes to golf balls and their legendary Pro V1 balls are the most used balls on tours – professional and amateur – around the world.

The way Titleist make and test their balls is quite unique.

They send white prototype boxes out hundreds of tour pros and Team Titleist members in the months leading up to a new ball launch.

Team Titleist is a vibrant community of avid golfers and Titleist fans who share the same passion for the great game of golf, who also get exclusive access to new product.

For example, when the new Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x were launched last year they got feedback from 8,000 amateurs testing the Pro V1 and 6,000 testing the Pro V1x.

Now, as many of you will know, Titleist have two-year product cycles for their metalwoods, irons and golf balls.

And as we had a new Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x last year, the white prototype testing box I received at the end of last year must be some new Titleist performance balls.

This, I think, means new NXT Tour, NXT Tour S, Velocity and DT Solo golf balls.

I’m fairly confident as I can tell by the colour and numbers on the balls.

But we will have to wait and see what they actually are when the new balls are launched.

I spent a bit of time chipping and putting with the new offerings and was very impressed.

Two of the balls in particular felt very soft while the other two were a tad firmer.

I like to use the Titleist Pro V1x as I feel it is the best all round option for my game. It feels great around the greens and performs excellently in all other areas.

But Pro V1s are not cheap and that’s why Titleist have their performance range of balls.

They are for the player who wants the best ball at a particular price point.

I have no doubt that these balls will have a range of technological improvements in their cores and in their covers and I expect the prices to range from about £35 for NXT Tour to about £25 for DT Solo (if that’s what the new balls are).

What I am certain of is that it is cool to be part of the Team Titleist testing process.

Receiving that white box ahead of a launch makes you feel a part of the process and gives you something that not a lot of people will get access too.

It’s a little bit like a DJ who gets his hands on a white-label record months before it gets released into the stores. But we don’t need to go into the details of my mis-spent youth…

We’ll have full details of the new balls when they are launched but in the meantime why not sign up to be a Team Titleist member HERE and maybe you’ll get your hands on a white box of Pro V1s ahead of their launch next year…