For tourny play practise I played a local course today one almost down the street from where i live and it's liturally across the street from the driving range where i get lessons and train etc...
I am in a process of course management training where I'll play the same 9 holes back to back trying to play them excactly the same shot for shot to record the results and just to get a general idea of how the outcome of the hole could possibly be different and due to what factors and what margin of difference...
for example teeing off at a par 5 with a 3w aiming for a spot far left of the fairway as close to the shoulder as possible, landing there sets up another full straight 3W shot to get it on the green and putt for eagle...
when tee shot was a slight mishit and the ball landed centre fairway there is a greenside bunker right where the next shot will land and if aimed to the left of the bunker the ball will roll across the side of the green into another bunker...
If the tee shot missed to the left then the ball would be in a good 1" thick rough and getting it to the green with a 3W is nearly impossible well for me it is aniway...
But the point of my whole long story is I bought my trusted titleist pro v1's before i started my first 9, and had the typical debate with myself whether i should buy the pro v1 or the pro v1x... Because I've played with the pro v1x only once before and I had a killer round shot 69 and everything just went great that day, but since then my shots were never quite as good with the pro v1x as opposed to the pro v1...
So i thought maybe it was just perfect coincidence that the pro v1x just worked for me that round that day (was extremely cold at the 1st tee off and quite hot when i turned at halfway) and that course, aaand then i think but what would've happened if I just played the pro v 1 that day, would i have scored lower??
So this was as an ideal opportunity one could have to solve this mistery and believe me it's been breaking my head on which ball would be most benificial for me.
So i decided to make this course management practise session a multi purpose round and then test pro v 1 the 1st time through the back 9holes and the pro v1x the second time through the back 9 holes...
So driving off the tee, on that particular par 5 with my 3W, there was a noticeable difference in feel ,launch angle ,sound and ball flight...
The Pro v1 launched slightly higher than my normal driving range ball trajectory and made a perfect curve, went up untill itit peak and then started decending. It's the perfect flight that suites my game as I want to get my ball up as fast as possible and not have a slow long launch..
Where the pro v1x initially launched very low and then shoots up untill it reaches it's peak then decends at a similar angle as the pro v1 ... If there were any trees remotely near me straight ahead I'm sure i would've hit them with the Pro v1x but not with the Pro v1
The sound of the pro v1 is well for a lack of the words to explain it, the sound is like golf porn for blind people, doesnt sound like you smacked a ping pong ball nor a very hard ball like the nike rzn black, yet louder than any of the callaway balls so its just that perfect pitch for my ear...
The pro v1x , well very very close to identical, but its like shooting a 9mm pistol(pro v1) and then the same 9mm pistol with a silencer attached (pro v1x) sound wise both lovely but i prefer the pro v1...
there was quite a difference in feel of the ball coming off the 3W but nothing to choose one over the other since both felt soft and controlled.
the pro v1x just felt a slight bit more than hitting a rubber ball opposed to a golf ball.. at this point i should probably mention that trackman tested my 3W swing speed is between 124,6 and 127,7 mph... so it makes sence why the pro v1x reacted the way it did thus far...
the one thing that did surprise me though, was that my shot with the pro v 1x went a good 5 metres (16.4ft) further than my pro v 1 shot... it could've been that the ball was exposed to less wind during its launch I'm not sure but i know for a fact i hit both shot almost exactly the same and both balls were as far left of the fairway as my plan was...
so that hole played almost to the gameplan excactly the same both times through, reached the green in 2, and 2 putted for birdie, On the green though the pro V1x didn't suit my putting style or what I'm used to as what the pro v1 does... i tended to stroke the pro v 1x a lot slower not intentionally of course than i do with the pro v1...
On that par 5 i had similar lies on the green and to an added advantage for the pro v1x i knew where i just putted from and the strengh for that lie earlier that day with the pro v1... yet I left the pro v1 x putt the same distance short of the hole as the pro v1 went passed... which for me is disappointing to do in a putt since i gave that stroke zero chance of holing out...
Then later on in second time through those 9 holes i made the same mistake i did earlier and had the excact same mishit and my ball landed identically as it did earlier with the pro v1, which i had a laugh at because i was so proud of my consistency in playing the same 9 holes in almost an identical manner etc, but hitting mishits identically just popped my bubble...
that lie was on 1st cut rough nothing terrible, at the bottom of a steepish slope then there is a devil of a bunker and then the green starts with the pin conveniently as you would imagine as close to the edge of the green as possible...
Earlier that day I used my 50° ○○ cleavland wedge with a very open clubface and basically a full swing at the ball focussing on cutting the ball for a flop shot with hopefully slight backspin, the pro v1 shot went beyond my expectations, went high dropped soft and rolled away from the pin but for not even a second and then it settled...
but the pro v1x which i was quite positive would get that back spin because i found the Pro v1x spins beautifully around the green and chipping flop pitching is great fun with the pro v1x...
With the pro v1 I'll say i have to controll the ball, and the pro v1x the controll comes effortlessly...
So did that shot and i wanted to jump in the air out of joy when i saw the almost identical launch of the ball as it did earlier (honestly felt proud to pull that shot off twice because normally I would rather not risk it and play safe onto the green even if it would cost me a long 2 putt) aniway so i waited anxiously for the ball to drop and then see the difference, but i was surprised at what happened, the ball landed a slight bit harder and bounced once on the green but towards the pin so i did hit some backspin but then when it landed again it suddenly released and started rolling away from the pin quite a distance resulting in the first hole where I lost a shot between the 2 rounds...
And the over the next few holes I started realising that on the approach shots anything from my lob wedge up untill my 9I the Pro v1X would almost release twice as much on the green as the Pro v1 did resulting in me having to putt much further and I already had trouble putting the Pro V1X the same distance with a certain stroke as i would get the Pro v1 to roll...
And with that i concluded testing over, I had a very clear Favourite and thus winner in ball that I would prefer playing for my type of game...
Both balls are quality and both are confidence boosting balls.
If the pro shop had only had pro v1x and then the whole range off balls from other brands like Callaway Chrome and even The Srixon Z-Star, I would play the Pro V1X no doubt...
For me Titleist ProV1 in fact IS the #1 golf ball, and the Titleist ProV1X a very close #2!!
