Titliest GranZ

There has been some hype recently about the hot new Titleist ball from Japan that can be found on ebay and some golfsmith stores around the country. It's called the Titleist GranZ, and it's touted as the Japanese Pro V1. I, like many others, enjoy trying new and unique equipment, so I picked up a dozen of these at the Golfsmith store in Clearwater, FL to try them out.

They were $15/dozen, and considering their $88US retail in Japan, that is a damn good deal. There are two versions, the gold and silver. The only difference being that the gold version has an alignment arrow printed on it. They also featured high numbers (5,6,7,8), which I like. They were sold in bulk, so you save by not paying for the nice packaging. The fact that they were sold out of a large bin beside a bin of Callaway Big Bertha balls should have been a clue...

Because whoever said this ball is a Japanese Pro V1 is either lying or has no idea what they are talking about. This ball has a hard cover and doesn't at all play like the Pro V1. Although the feel of the cover is firm, on full shots they feel soft, likey due to a soft core. This ball flies high and straight. I noticed a bit more distance, but it was hard to verify due to the windy conditions I was playing in. Even with a high ball flight it bores through the wind nicely. Where this ball differentiates itself from the Pro V1 is around the greens. Its hard cover and low spin characteristics make it very difficult to generate spin around the greens. It simply isn't a high spin ball. It feels firm on chips and putts, and after switching from the Pro V1 to this ball I ran my first 3 or 4 putts way by the hole as a result. I didn't like the way this ball felt around the greens at all.

The bottom line is, if you want a high flying, low spinning ball that feels soft, this might be a good one to try. It plays very much like the DT solo, not like the Pro V1. If you play a bump and run type of game or on a very soft course, this ball might give you some more distance and a softer full shot feel. Overall, it's most decidedly NOT a Japanese version of the Pro V1, but a good ball nevertheless, and a great value at $15/dozen. Stay away from the crazy ebay auctions selling this ball for $100! Check out golfsmith stores to grab these up before they go away...

Just bought a dozen today..for some reason, according to the golf salesman, they were selling like hotcakes.  There are 2 dozen left..should I go buy the rest?  Never tried them, but he said they are in-between the NXT and PV1.  If they are as soft as the Srixon Soft Feel, perhaps I should buy the remaining 2 dozen.  They were going for $19.99/doz.  They look cool though with that pearl-lescent shine.

The Titleist vg3 is Japan's ProV1.  I play them quite a bit, they drive like the nxt but have the spin on greens like a ProV. They also have blue pearl-lescent shine.