Titleist Golf Balls:  Many Think They're the Best

In many people's minds, Titleist golf balls are superior. On an overall basis, I think there isn't much doubt about which brand of golf balls has the strongest reputation. Titleist balls are the runaway winner, and they have been for years. Naturally, some golf ball companies would contest that statement - Srixon, Bridgestone, Callaway, Nike and so forth.

If knowing what the professionals use has any influence, you'll choose Titleist golf balls, because a huge number of players on the pro tours use the Pro V1 or Pro V1x. For example, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, K.J. Choi, Christie Kerr, Tom Watson and many others play Titleist Pro V1 golf balls. And the list of pros playing Titleist Pro V1x balls is perhaps even more impressive - players like Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter, Steve Stricker, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and many more all play Titleist Pro V1x balls.

The problem has never been their performance. From the top-of-the-line, tour-caliber Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x or Titleist Velocity golf balls, all the way down to the Titleist DT Solo distance ball, Titleist stands at or near the top of their class. Nope, the problem with these golf balls isn't how they behave on the golf course. It's their price.

Price isn't a problem for all golfers. The pros get their golf balls free from whatever company is sponsoring them, so they don't care what they cost. And a number of amateur golfers seem to have the funds available to join country clubs with $50,000 initiation fees and monthly dues of more than $1,000. Others play courses with green fees of $200 or $300. Those amateurs probably don't care much about the cost of golf balls either.

But, a tremendous number of amateurs are concerned about how much they pay for balls. Hundreds of thousands of golfers (if not more) have limited golf budgets. These are the people who join golf courses that don't have initiation fees or high monthly dues. Many of them play at municipal courses and just play daily green fees - and the cheaper the better. Others, like me, join a course that costs less than $2,500 for year-round, unlimited play - including the trail fee for my cart. Some people simply can't afford to pay $45 or $50 for a dozen golf balls. And that's the street price for Titleist Pro V1s and Pro V1xs (their MSRP is $58 per dozen). For those people, those golf balls are a special treat, not an everyday ball. They're just too expensive.

More Affordable Titleist golf balls

Okay, so the top-of-the-line Titleist balls are out of many people's price range. Let's take a look at the next rung down the ladder.

Although they're not tour caliber, the Titleist NXT Tour golf balls and NXT are both very good golf balls. They're also very popular with what I call "avid amateur" players - people who are always working on their game and probably have low- to mid-range handicaps. These two balls don't provide quite the performance that their big brothers do, but it's still quite good, and their prices are lower (their MSRP is $40 per dozen for the NXT Tour and $34 for the NXT). They're probably worth that much, at least for the people who can afford them, but they're still more than what many golfers can afford.

So, where does that leave you if you want to play Titleist golf balls but can't afford the NXT Tour or NXT, much less the Pro V1 or Pro V1x? The last option, and the ball at the bottom rung of the ladder, is the Titleist DT SoLo. It's a distance ball and isn't designed to be used by accomplished players. However, it's very good at maximizing distance for golfers of different skill levels, including high-handicappers. But, at an MSRP of $28 per dozen, it too is priced higher than almost all of its competitors.

In my mind, Titleist golf balls live up to everything we hear about them, both good and bad. Typically, they cost more than their competitors within the same ball category. But everything else about them is very good. Our site includes reviews on all the Titleist golf balls I've mentioned here. Please feel free to read more about them and see if you think Titleist golf balls might be right for you.

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