Reengineered to produce more greenside spin, the new Titleist AVX golf ball improves short-game control while maintaining the low long-game spin, exceptional distance and very soft feel that AVX players rely on to play their best.
Recommended for players seeking long distance, low spin and a penetrating flight in the long game along with impressive stopping power into the green and very soft feel. Compared to Pro V1, AVX will fly in a lower window in the long game with lower spin and an even softer feel.
Available in golf shops worldwide from January 21, key advancement to the latest version of the AVX advances include a softer urethane cover, which provides increased short-game spin and control; a faster core formulation to deliver long distance from tee to green with very soft feel; a re-engineered high flex casing layer dials in low spin in the long game; while optimised aerodynamics deliver a low, piercing ball flight off the tee with higher peak flight on mid-iron shots.
INSIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AVX
When Titleist asked AVX players what they would want to see in the next generation model, the consensus answer was increased greenside spin.
“AVX golfers are very clear about why they play AVX,” said Frederick Waddell, Titleist’s Director of Golf Ball Product Management. “They like the long distance, the low long-game spin and especially the soft feel. These players are looking for specific performance attributes. They were also telling us that if they could get more of anything with AVX, it was short-game spin and control, as long as it didn’t compromise the other aspects of AVX that they love.”
To do so, Titleist engineers had to steepen AVX’s ‘spin slope’ – the differential between long-game spin and short-game spin that a golf ball produces. Increasing or decreasing spin at one end of the bag without impacting the other is a difficult task, but AVX’s construction provides Titleist engineers with several pathways to explore in the design process.
“The advantage of AVX is that it’s a three-piece golf ball,” said Mike Madson, Senior Vice President of Titleist Golf Ball R&D. “Having the core, the casing layer and the cover gives you more options to influence performance. Whenever we’re targeting spin, we can look at each piece and consider its dimensions, formulations, hardness, materials. But to really hone in on greenside spin, the cover becomes the focus.”
Increased short-game spin was ultimately unlocked through a new reformulated urethane cover, which is thicker than that of the prior generation. This new cover delivers better spin and control around the greens with an even softer feel. Its thicker dimensions are complemented by a thinner high flex casing layer, which helps dial in spin rates from distance.
The core of new AVX was then reformulated to deliver more speed, which was key in balancing the cover changes and providing the long distance and low long-game spin that AVX players expect.
“These soft-over-hard, hard-over-soft relationships really drive spin performance for all golf ball models,” Madson said. “A soft cover over a firm casing layer adds spin on shorter shots where the cover plays the biggest role. Then you have a firm casing layer over a softer core, which lowers spin when you get to those higher-speed impacts like a driver or hybrid. With AVX, it’s really every piece of its construction that we’re using to fine-tune spin and give AVX players exactly what they’re looking for with this ball.”
Titleist AVX golf balls will be offered in white and high-optic yellow, with an SRP of £44 per dozen.