BY GreG Ball
I
f you're one of the multitude of
golfers who will only trust your
game to the Titleist Pro V1 ball or
its sister Pro V1x, you should
know that there have been fundamen-
tal changes for 2017 – and you may
want to do some field research to deter-
mine which of the two is actually the
better choice for you.
"I think it's important to talk about
what's new with the Pro V1 in particu-
lar for 2017, because it really influences
how you think about choosing between
the two," said Michael Mahoney, Vice
President of Golf Ball Marketing for
The Acushnet Company.
Chief among the changes in the new
generations is length. Whereas the Pro
V1x until this season offered superior
distance, the Pro V1 is now signifi-
cantly longer than it used to be and just
as long as the Pro V1x.
The Pro V1 continues to offer a more
penetrating trajectory than the Pro
V1x's high launch. While both balls are
similar in terms of spin off the tee and
with hybrids and longer irons, the Pro
V1x yields more spin from mid-irons
through the green, and the new Pro V1
has a softer feel due to its lower com-
pression and different construction.
"Golfers may have historically
chosen the Pro V1x because of its
distance characteristics, but that's
not really the case anymore," Ma-
honey said. "The choice ultimately
comes down to three categories –
flight, feel and spin."
Deciding which ball is best for you
is a personal choice and depends a lot
on your game. On the PGA Tour, for in-
stance, 2013 Masters champion Adam
Scott and 2016 British Open winner
Henrik Stenson play the Pro V1, while
two-time major champion Jordan
Spieth and 2016 PGA Championship
winner Jimmy Walker hit the Pro V1x.
Mahoney says the best way to deter-
mine which of the 2017 models best
suits your game is to take them out on
the course and see how each ball reacts
to the same shots, whether it's off the
tee or inside 100 yards. Low handicap-
pers may know enough about their
swings and their typical launch condi-
tions that they can make a decision
without having to test the two models.
"The biggest factor for us is golfer
input. The golfers we talked to loved
Pro V1x for a lot of reasons. Some told
us they'd prefer to be playing a ball
that was softer and had lower flight,
but they didn't want to give up the dis-
tance they were getting," Mahoney
said. "So our task was to keep the at-
tributes the same as far as flight and
feel, but deliver longer distance with
the Pro V1. That really drove us to
make the changes that we did."
.....................................................................
> VIDEO EXTRA! Take a look at the
technology behind the two golf balls.
l
GEAR
OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE
x
SPRING 2017
x
obsports.com
SPLIT DECISION
n PRO V1 VS. PRO V1x: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE – AND WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
