Today, Titleist officially introduced it’s new highly anticipated premium golf ball: the AVX. The acronym AVX is telling—“an alternative to Pro V1 and Pro V1x.” That explains a lot about the golf ball. Using a high speed, low compression core, Titleist has developed a golf ball that offers lower spin on full shots (especially with irons), while still maintaining great control on chips and pitches. Consider this a golf ball designed for the golfer who launches their driver high on tee shots, but wants the ability to flight shots into greens.
The Story
The AVX story begins with a tour ball some PGA Tour pros have used in recent years called “left dot,” Pro V1. The ball was aimed at dealing with spin golfers were experiencing, especially on their irons, and became a favourite of Justin Thomas.
“There were some who love low spin in a soft golf ball,” says Michael Mahoney, Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball Marketing. “A guy like Justin Thomas, who is one of the highest launch guys on the tour, loved this idea. He’s a guy who hits some of the highest drivers, but said when he was trying to hit a flighted iron he’d launch it too high.”
With that in mind, Titleist experimented with AVX for more than a year, running a test market in several U.S. states in late 2017 and into this year. The result was the company found there was a distinct market it hadn’t tapped in to. “We’ve done test markets, but not in a long time,” says Mahoney. “One of the big takeaways was that we were ultimately attracting Titleist players or players using other products. If they are playing something that isn’t one of our products, then they aren’t finding what they want. Our goal is to offer every golfer a Titleist golf ball. But seeing a high percentage of players using competitive balls tell us they liked this golf ball, and would continue to play it, was very telling.”
Key Technologies
AVX delivers strong distance with irons, Mahoney confirmed, because of its reduced spin. “There will be golfers who come back and say, ‘We got 10 yards more out of this with our irons,’” says Mahoney. “But that’s not something we’re putting on the packaging.”
However, the penetrating flight leads to length, while the soft feel around the greens is maintained.
- The high speed, low compression core technology is the key to both the distance and feel.
- A high-flex casing layer increases speed and controls spin.
- The urethane elastomer cover is designed to promote a soft feel and durability.
- The aerodynamic design delivers a lower trajectory and consistency.
- The ball is made by Titleist at its Ball Plant 3 facility in Massachusetts, where Pro V1 and Pro V1x is manufactured, guaranteeing quality control.
- Offered in white and high-optic yellow.
Who is it for?
Mahoney says the AVX is a modern golf ball for players with modern games. In other words, it is designed for the player who hits towering high drives, but might struggle to control the flight of their irons, a key consideration when playing in windy conditions.
“AVX is for the person who launches sky-high irons, but wants to flight down the irons,” says Mahoney. “The trends in golf ebb and flow and low spin is the thing now. At the same time we’re seeing a lot of high launch drives out of players and we wanted to give them a tool. AVX speaks to optimizing flight for a specific player.”