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Most Used Ball On Tour

I think I see what you mean. It seems they really want everyone to believe it's easy to play a ProV1 for any game. And I know sometimes regardless of skill you can play it, but that even may be deceiving because there might be a better ball out there. Based off their advertising I almost feel the NXT line is more a punchline than something they take serious. Which is odd because I think a lot of the "titleist" non touring pros could benefit from a ball more suited to their skill level, imo golfers like me.

On your second point... I think the same. I wish some balls would just stay the same. Seems like it's the drive to not be one upped by another company and almost like there is a pressure from the industry (consumers and competitors) to improve. I don't think people understand at times the benefit to having consistancy in their golf ball. I fall into the trap all the time. I would love to see a company just keep a successful ball out there and see how it fares. Even if they change the packaging. But even that could change perception. Aye. Lol.

JB said:
Yoccos,
I agree with most of this. I dont think its necessarily an indication that the new ball is inferior at all. Just maybe not right for that level.

I also always wonder why improve or change. Why not keep the "train rolling".
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do you think Titleist is feeling a little heat from Bridgestone with its success of online/in person ball fittings? I think for a while Titleist didn't even do ball fittings but now they offer it
Yoccos1981 said:
I think I see what you mean. It seems they really want everyone to believe it's easy to play a ProV1 for any game. And I know sometimes regardless of skill you can play it, but that even may be deceiving because there might be a better ball out there. Based off their advertising I almost feel the NXT line is more a punchline than something they take serious. Which is odd because I think a lot of the "titleist" non touring pros could benefit from a ball more suited to their skill level, imo golfers like me.

On your second point... I think the same. I wish some balls would just stay the same. Seems like it's the drive to not be one upped by another company and almost like there is a pressure from the industry (consumers and competitors) to improve. I don't think people understand at times the benefit to having consistancy in their golf ball. I fall into the trap all the time. I would love to see a company just keep a successful ball out there and see how it fares. Even if they change the packaging. But even that could change perception. Aye. Lol.
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I think it must be because they are able to buy them now for $35/doz on clearance sale and they just cant afford the $45.00 price tag.... So we had better stock up while we can. ..:D
 
It does seem wrong to deceive the people like that. I guess for me it has never crossed my mind because I do not play the same ball the pro's do. I can not make it do what they do so I am not pay $$$ to say I play the same ball.
 
JB said:
I thnk you are dead on accurate. I think that as the money and biz side of things changed so did technology and it has made fitting better and finding the right product at all levels better.

Do you believe that sponsorships at this level and winners pools make it vastly different?
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I think the gap between the different tours is much closer nowadays than 10 years ago. Equipment sponsorships are tossed around with much more regularity these days at all levels of professional golf. 10 years ago most guys on the Hooters Tour had no contacts with equipment companies, the sponsorship came from outside agencies. This was the case with me and most guys I played with in tournaments.

Now it seems nearly every guy I've met that plays or has played on the Hooters Tour or Nationwide Tour has some sort of contact with a manufacturer. Many times its just a ball contact, which is probably just so companies like Titleist can advertise having the number one ball on all major tours.
 
You know it feels that way a little bit but I think most of that need for improvement comes from the consumer demand. It's as if the consumer starts to leave lets just say for example a ProV1 for B330S, Titleist says in response, "Hey look.. it's better now.. please come back". But I think every company does that to an extent. I would love for a company to say, "Go try your new ball, Ill see you back in a month and I won't even make you feel bad."

Hanks said:
do you think Titleist is feeling a little heat from Bridgestone with its success of online/in person ball fittings? I think for a while Titleist didn't even do ball fittings but now they offer it
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Yoccos1981 said:
"Hey look.. it's better now.. please come back". But I think every company does that to an extent. I would love for a company to say, "Go try your new ball, Ill see you back in a month and I won't even make you feel bad."
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I agree with you. I dont think this is a Titleist thing, but an every company thing.

I also think it is just the way it is in terms of release dates. Companies are just so used to launching a new ball during that new cycle.
 
Great point on the release cycle. Catch 22 pretty much for the companies. What if though, a company just comes out with the greatest ball, but has to release an upgrade and just kills it. What if some of us have missed that ball for our game already?

JB said:
I agree with you. I dont think this is a Titleist thing, but an every company thing.

I also think it is just the way it is in terms of release dates. Companies are just so used to launching a new ball during that new cycle.
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Yoccos1981 said:
Great point on the release cycle. Catch 22 pretty much for the companies. What if though, a company just comes out with the greatest ball, but has to release an upgrade and just kills it. What if some of us have missed that ball for our game already?
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With all the choices out there now and the awareness for ball fitting, I'm sure you'll find the optimal ball for your game. Technology is improving on a regular basis!
 
availability to that technology has improved as well
lcsmrtn said:
With all the choices out there now and the awareness for ball fitting, I'm sure you'll find the optimal ball for your game. Technology is improving on a regular basis!
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Most definitely, just really fun to think about.

lcsmrtn said:
With all the choices out there now and the awareness for ball fitting, I'm sure you'll find the optimal ball for your game. Technology is improving on a regular basis!
Click to expand...

Hanks said:
availability to that technology has improved as well
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I think it really just has to do with a comfort level, they just like something that they are familiar with, no surprises, Nike said that Vegas was hitting the new 20Xi ball 12 yards longer but still he is gaming the Tour D, I think if its the old saying "if something is not broken dont fix it". Especially since all the new balls supposedly spin the ball more and go higher, but what if the pro is totally satisfied with the spin and ball flight of his current ball? I just think it comes down to them just wanting the predictability of the ball that they have been using.
 
Yoccos1981 said:
I think I see what you mean. It seems they really want everyone to believe it's easy to play a ProV1 for any game. And I know sometimes regardless of skill you can play it, but that even may be deceiving because there might be a better ball out there. Based off their advertising I almost feel the NXT line is more a punchline than something they take serious. Which is odd because I think a lot of the "titleist" non touring pros could benefit from a ball more suited to their skill level, imo golfers like me.

You're right Yoccos, Titlesit has done a great making the masses beleive it's easy to play a Pro V1 for any game. How do I know? It's the most found golf ball at my home course by far. I did a tracking study last year for a bet I made with a friend of mine regarding lost golf balls and most popular brands. Not sure why but I still continue to track the balls I pick up on the course. Number one is Titleist Pro V1. Number two is Titleist Pro V1X. We all hit bad shots but I'm guessing that the majority of those balls that were "lost" until I picked them up were not hit by single digit handicaps. Just a guess, no way for me to verify that. Drink the Kool-Aid.

On your second point... I think the same. I wish some balls would just stay the same. Seems like it's the drive to not be one upped by another company and almost like there is a pressure from the industry (consumers and competitors) to improve. I don't think people understand at times the benefit to having consistancy in their golf ball. I fall into the trap all the time. I would love to see a company just keep a successful ball out there and see how it fares. Even if they change the packaging. But even that could change perception. Aye. Lol.
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I think most companies feel that they have to make changes to stay "fresh". Don't know if change is driven by consumers through their feedback or surveys or whatever or if it's just something done to give us the impression that we're getting a product that is new and improved. Wish our local Target was still set up the way it had been for several years. They added a small section for refridgerated foods and changed every aisle in the place so now I have to hunt down items I used to to be able to walk right up to. So our Target is now new and improved. They put up a sign to make sure we knew that.:bulgy-eyes:
 
Skim alert, but I just had an idea.

What if this is related to the patent infringement lawsuit, where a decision was made that affected any new premium ball composition. That is, perhaps theyve had to stay either within or outside of certain composition combinations with the new ball, and that has led to the new ball being undesirable to the older model for ~50% of their pros. I know that's a little farfetched, but with how big of a lawsuit that was / is, I'm sure the Legal department is leaning on R&D to give them a break.

All that said, I agree JB, something must be going on with the new ball. The comfort factor might be in play with a handful of guys, but it's highly doubtful that over 50% would eschew the numbers for comfort.

Cool topic.
 
JB, Does pay to play fit in anywhere? I know every OEM that makes balls make a ball that will fit just about anyone and the same can be said of drivers, so are the pro's playing a ball or driver because the OEM can fit them to their products while the pro is being paid to play brand X.
Are they buying some of these tour counts?
 
HoosierGolfer said:
JB, Does pay to play fit in anywhere? I know every OEM that makes balls make a ball that will fit just about anyone and the same can be said of drivers, so are the pro's playing a ball or driver because the OEM can fit them to their products while the pro is being paid to play brand X.
Are they buying some of these tour counts?
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Im sure they are buying all the counts. All the company's leading counts are. That does not necessarily make it a lesser product, but its definitely the way it is.

But in this case, Im not sure it matters, because these guys are playing Titleist balls, but many are not playing the current ball and i think that is the bigger question as to why.
 
The want/need of businesses to stay fresh is definitely there. I still get excited when I find a ProV1 and not because I like it lol.

highscoreinky said:
I think most companies feel that they have to make changes to stay "fresh". Don't know if change is driven by consumers through their feedback or surveys or whatever or if it's just something done to give us the impression that we're getting a product that is new and improved. Wish our local Target was still set up the way it had been for several years. They added a small section for refridgerated foods and changed every aisle in the place so now I have to hunt down items I used to to be able to walk right up to. So our Target is now new and improved. They put up a sign to make sure we knew that.:bulgy-eyes:
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Just a little more food for thought on this topic: I would imagine that the R&D departments of these golf companies are going to keep cranking out new products in order to keep their jobs. After all, do you think Titleist would keep paying the R&D guys if they weren't coming out with new (and supposedly improved) balls every so often, even if the ProV 392 was still leading the market in performance and demand? There are lots of R&D and Marketing jobs that depend on these continuous product updates.
 
Another question JB, is are there any major OEM's that you know of that are not paying "pay to play" money or at least very little? I like to think there are pro's playing what they are playing for a reason other than money but that might be a little nieve this day and age.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Another question JB, is are there any major OEM's that you know of that are not paying "pay to play" money or at least very little? I like to think there are pro's playing what they are playing for a reason other than money but that might be a little nieve this day and age.
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Almost all are paying money. Its the nature of the beast.
 
I did really realize this untill i went to my first tournament. Four days at last years Barclays. It seems that top end/the most covered golfers. Every thing they ware and use there getting payed for. Even the grips. At the practice range there is a ball booth for them so they can practice with "there" brand. Bubbas watch thing came up and look at the attention it got. The new No1 with the sun block scarf. Hats ??? yep. Rec golfers tend to put pro players under a micro scope.

Alot of what brings me to this fourm and not others. Is that it seems to me the people here do not look down at us lowly newbies. Do not get into the hopla of big money golf.
 
lcsmrtn said:
With all the choices out there now and the awareness for ball fitting, I'm sure you'll find the optimal ball for your game. Technology is improving on a regular basis!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how it is back east but doing a ball fitting out west is incredibly challanging. Almost all fitters don't offer that service out here nor does Golftec last I chatted with them. Bridgestone comes once a year to 4 stores for about 4 hours per store. 15 min per person and they've done 24 people in day by 4 stores is 96 people a year. That's 96 times better then everyone else but in terms of being an awareness for ball fitting, I'd say that isn't the case as of yet.

I terms of the Titleist, I would also guess it has something to do with the fit for them at high levels as mentioned previously. I can certainly imagine Titleist toning down the V's/Vx's so that more of the above average swinging amateurs can play the ball and thus spend more money on balls. I still think Bridgestone was incredibly smart to create a tour level ball that didn't need a tour level swing to play with. As my generation and the one before me gets older I can see Bridgestone over taking Titleist as being the ball people just pick up off the shelves to play without questioning it as that's what we're slowly being introduced to now.
 
I read in a few places it takes tour pros longer to adjust to a new ball than to new clubs. Seems counter intuitive, but who am I to argue. I don't play Pro-Vs, but my buddy has been raving about the new ball and he is very opinionated.

As far as ball companies coming out with new products, its to try and gain market share and keep existing market share. If you are not being innovative and trying to grow the busines, you will be out of business! I loved the TM TP Red LDPs and refused to switch to the Penta's until I exausted my stash (I bought 10 dozen at the beginning of last year). I started playing the Penta last year, and while its a good ball that I like to play, I also started trying other balls out there to see what is available.
 
ezrider said:
I did really realize this untill i went to my first tournament. Four days at last years Barclays. It seems that top end/the most covered golfers. Every thing they ware and use there getting payed for. Even the grips. At the practice range there is a ball booth for them so they can practice with "there" brand. Bubbas watch thing came up and look at the attention it got. The new No1 with the sun block scarf. Hats ??? yep. Rec golfers tend to put pro players under a micro scope.

Alot of what brings me to this fourm and not others. Is that it seems to me the people here do not look down at us lowly newbies. Do not get into the hopla of big money golf.
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Even a lot of the "middle of the pack" tour pros and pros at the low end of the money list get paid for what they wear, and the clubs and equipment that they play. I believe there are guidelines as to how many sponsor logos they can have on their hat, shirt and bag. I read an article a while back that these endorsements cover their travel and playing expenses. I'm sure the same type of deals exist for Nationwide pros, just at a much lower level. It's advertising, and if golfers are your target demographics its surely an effective and efficient way to market your company.
 
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