Titleist Pro V1 2023 Golf Balls Review

The 2023 Titleist Pro V1 golf ball uses an improved core for more distance and consistency.

Introduced on Tour last September, the 2023 Titleist Pro V1 – arguably the best golf ball in the game – had been in development since the end of 2021.

Titleist‘s design brief was to lower long-game spin while maintaining spin levels around the greens and they say the new model, and the new Pro V1x, are “demonstrably better” than the 2021 Pro V1 and Pro V1x thanks to a new high-gradient core design.

The reimagined core in the three-piece Titleist Pro V1 is built to be firmer on the outside and progressively softer on the inside. This promotes fast speeds, low long-game spin and tighter dispersion while maintaining high levels of greenside spin.

The new core designs are inspired by the brand’s custom Pro V1 Left Dot and Pro V1x Left Dash, which both use high gradient cores and are the choice of several players on tour.

If it ain’t broke

Several of the key innovations from Titleist’s 2021 iteration remain in the 2023 model, with the cast thermoset urethane cover, the tetrahedral dimple design, and the speed-amplifying high-flex casing layer,

The urethane cover on the Pro V1 is created by mixing two components, with the liquid urethane cast into Titleist-manufactured cavities to form the appropriate dimple pattern into the cover. Titleist say the precise timing and temperature are integral to the consistency of golf’s No.1 ball.

The 388-dimple design was a huge change in the 2021 ball and, unsurprisingly, that remains on the new model to optimize aerodynamics. The casing works with the new core to reduce excess long-game spin, while combining with the cover to create greenside spin.

Key Tech

As well as being one of the best tour golf balls, Pro V1 is among the favorite balls for club golfers. But how is the 2023 model better than previous generations?

High Gradient Core Design

An all-new, reimagined core in the new Pro V1 is built to be firmer on the outside and progressively softer on the inside, which promotes fast speeds and low long game spin. The new cores take inspiration from the popular Pro V1 Left Dot and Pro V1x Left Dash – both of which feature high gradient cores and are the choice of several players on professional tours.

Speed Amplifying High-Flex Casing Layer

The casing layer interacts with the high gradient cores to further neutralize excess spin while combining with the soft cast urethane cover to provide unparalleled greenside spin and control.

Cast Thermoset Urethane Cover

The urethane cover on the Titleist Pro V1 utilizes a proprietary thermoset process. Two separate components are mixed, and the liquid urethane is cast into Titleist-manufactured cavities which form the appropriate dimple pattern into the cover. The precise timing of the curing process and temperature are integral to the consistency of the urethane and the performance of the ball.

Spherically-tiled Tetrahedral Dimple Designs

With a 388-dimple design on the Pro V1, the golf balls have optimized aerodynamics to fly consistently and far.

What Titleist say about the Pro V1 and Pro V1x

Mike Madson, Titleist’s Senior Director Golf Ball Research and Engineering

“We’re looking for consistency in every element of golf ball construction, from the aerodynamics down to the core.

“We always want the ball flying in the same window regardless of how it’s oriented, and we want the ball to produce consistent launch, spin, and speed on every shot.

“Consistency means when a golfer tees up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, every properly executed shot they make is going to deliver the performance they expect and the performance they trust.”

Frederick Waddell, Titleist’s Director of Golf Ball Product Management

“For a Titleist golf ball to be new, it must be better. For us to call it a new Pro V1, it needs to be demonstrably better than the prior generation.

“We go through a rigorous testing and validation process to ensure the performance improvements developed by our world-class R&D team are recognized by the golfer when they put it in play and experience the product.”

Scottie Scheffler, Masters Champion and Titleist staff player

“First thing I’ll always do is take them to the short game area. For me, that’s always the most important.

“From there I’ll go to the range and just look at numbers, carry, stuff like that. I’ll then go out on the course and just start hitting shots. So same thing I do in the short game area, have a few of my [old] ball, have a few of the new ball and just try and hit the same shot and see how the ball reacts, see what it does in the wind and just go from there.

One shot that I’m always practicing is when I take some off of it. I need to see that it’s still the same [distance] gaps between my full shot and when I’m taking some off of it.

“When I’m practicing on the driving range, if I have a little mishit or if a shot doesn’t feel right…I usually have a really good feel for how far it actually carried. If my stock wedge is 140 and I’m trying to hit at 135, and maybe I catch a little bit off and I’m like, ‘man that really feels like 132,’ if it goes that distance, that’s really important to me. And that gives me a lot of faith in what that golf ball’s going to do.”

Will Zalatoris, PGA Tour star and Titleist staff player

“The golf ball is the engine of everything I do equipment-wise. So, the big thing that I look for whenever I’m testing balls, is ‘Does it do exactly what I think it’s going to do?’

“When I switched to the [2023 Pro V1x], it had the exact same reactions around the greens, I actually gained a little bit of distance with the driver and it was actually better through the wind.

“My dispersion also went from maybe a five, six-yard loss to a one, two or three – the change was a no-brainer.”

Who uses Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls?

Titleist’s flagship balls were played by all four Major winners in 2022, with Scottie Scheffler using the Pro V1 for his victory at the Masters and as he rose to No.1 in the world. Former World No.1 Justin Thomas used the Pro V1x as he lifted his second PGA Championship before Matt Fitzpatrick secured his maiden Major at the US Open with the Pro V1x. And there was another Grand Slam success for the Pro V1x at The 150th Open, where Cameron Smith sealed the Claret Jug.

On the PGA and DP World Tours, it’s more a case of who doesn’t use a Pro V1 or Pro V1x. Some of the biggest names include Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Max Homa, Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Seamus Power and Sungjae Im.

Which Titleist golf ball should I play?

With three different Pro V1 golf balls and eight balls targeting different standards of player in their 2023 family, it’s tough to know which Titliest ball is right for your game.

If you want to play the No.1 ball in golf then the Pro V1 is the softer ball and offers the best combination of distance, spin, and feel with a penetrating flight.

Pro V1x flies higher and spins more with irons and wedges, while still offering low spin on longer shots.

Pro V1x Left Dash is designed for players seeking a high flight similar to Pro V1x with dramatically lower full-swing spin and firmer feel.

It’s also worth considering the Titleist AVX, which is a medium compression ball for players seeking a durable premium option that feels softer than the Pro V1.

Titleist Pro V1 availability

The 2023 Pro V1 and Pro V1x are available in white and yellow. The white balls are available in numbers 1-4, 5-8 and matching double digits from 00-99. The yellow ball is available in 1-4 only.

The white balls are available from February 3, 2023, with the yellow balls available from February 17. They all have an RRP of £50 / $54.99 per dozen, meaning Titleist have kept the price the same as the 2021 model

Robot test data and verdict: Titleist Pro V1

Driver 85mph Swing	Titleist Pro V1
Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º)	123.8 / 13.5
Backspin (RPM)	2,513
Carry (YDS)	191.2
Driver 100mph Swing
Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º)	144.8 / 12.4
Backspin (RPM)	2,519
Carry (YDS)	239.8
Driver 115mph Swing
Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º)	165.9 / 11.2
Backspin (RPM)	2,066
Carry (YDS)	278.1
7-Iron
Ball speed (MPH) / Launch angle (º)	107.5 / 20.7
Backspin (RPM)	5,594
Height (YDS)	31.2
Descent angle (º)	44.8
Carry (YDS)	152
Wedge
Backspin (RPM)	7,691
Shot area (SQ YDS)	10.1
Carry (YDS)	104
Average Shot Area
Averaged over driver, 7-iron and PW	17.6 SQ YDS (2)

VERDICT: Titleist Pro V1 (2023)

The Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the balls every direct-to-consumer brand started out to grab market share from, as thanks to the huge marketing budgets and player sponsorship deals involved competitors knew there was a massive opportunity for comparable urethane-covered balls to steal market share at half the cost. This year’s results (we didn’t test direct-to-consumer models last year) show it’s perfectly possible for direct-to-consumer brands to make rival balls the Pro V1, but very few truly outperform it.         

The Pro V1 is no longer the most expensive ball we’ve tested, it always has been before, but at 23p per yard (and £4.58 per ball) that title goes to the 2024 Callaway Chrome Tour/Tour X and Chrome Soft, where the Pro V1 is ever so slightly cheaper at 21p a yard. Averaged over all five test situations the Pro V1 was our 2nd most accurate ball, interestingly though the shot area with the wedge was bigger than average, with only four other balls producing a larger dispersion area. In terms of consistency of ball speed, backspin, and carry distance the Pro V1 on average ranked 14th out of 24, whereas the Pro V1x was positioned 8^th,

You’ll need to put a real premium on a softer feel or lower more penetrating ball flight to choose this model as your favorite Titleist ball. Our data shows the Pro V1x is faster, longer (at the 100 and 115 mph driver speeds it’s designed for), and spins more with both a wedge (4.6%) and iron (4.3%), all traits that most club golfers would want from their premium golf ball choice.  

Titleist Pro V1

RRP £50 per dozen | VIEW UK OFFER | $54.99 per dozen | VIEW US OFFER

Construction Three-piece ball

Cover Cast urethane elastomer

Colours White, yellow

Availability White – Numbers 1-4, 5-8, 00-99. Yellow – Numbers 1-4 only.

First released: February 3, 2023

www.titleist.co.uk