Titleist - Golf Balls

Golf Balls

Titleist was founded in 1910 by Philip E. Young. Young’s fondness for the sport and his frustration with the performance of golf balls led him to take X-rays of balls to discover most were poorly constructed with off-center cores, inspiring him to produce his own line of golf balls, which would become known as Titleist.

Titleist, a member of the Acushnet family currently produces the following golf balls:

• Titleist Pro V1
• Titleist Pro V1x
• Titleist NXT
• Titleist NXT tour
• Titleist DT SoLo
• Titleist Velocity

The Pro V1 made its debut on the PGA Tour at Las Vegas on October 11, 2000, the first week it was available to the pros. A longtime Titleist user, Billy Andrade, won that first tournament with the new ball. The Pro V1 was available to the public by December. The Pro V1 was a dramatic departure for the brand, which had traditionally used a wound-ball construction (with a liquid-filled core center) for its top-of-the-line golf balls.

Shortly after its introduction the Titleist Pro V1 became the most played ball on the PGA Tour, and three years after Titleist's initial breakthrough with the Pro V1 came the Pro V1x, a ball with 160 fewer dimples. The combination of a larger firmer core a thinner cover and 60 fewer dimples resulted in a ball that retained the same soft feel of the Pro V1 while reducing spin and increasing distance.

In December 2007, Acushnet lost a patent infringement suit brought by Callaway. The following November, Callaway won an injunction in a Delaware court, ruling that sales of the Pro V1 golf balls must be stopped from January 1, 2009, with professionals being able to continue with their use until the end of the year. Acushnet immediately announced that they would be appealing against the decision. Acushnet somewhat redesigned the Pro-V1 during the dispute. On August 14, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the judgment against Acushnet and ordered a new trial. On March 29, 2010; a federal jury ruled in favor of Acushnet (Titleist), and found that the Callaway patents were invalid