News Release

For Immediate Release: June 13, 2008

Headline: Helpful Tip... Pay Attention to Your Ball Choice

The following was developed by Titleist and The Acushnet Company, a proud Patron of the Massachusetts Golf Association.

Choosing the best golf ball for your game is important, because it's the only piece of equipment used for every shot in your round. It is individually based on the personal performance preferences by each golfer.

The best place to be fit for a golf ball is on a golf course. It should take into account the golfer's entire game green-through-tee, and for most golfers, with a priority placed on scoring performance into and around the green. Most golfers are surprised to see and experience how subtle differences in golf ball performance and how improved control can help them lower their score by a stroke or two or more.

Less than a decade ago, most golf balls played on the PGA Tour were a poor fit for the vast majority of amateur golfers. While Tour players benefited from the spin and exceptional soft feel of wound balata golf balls, these were not the best performing for most golfers due to poor durability, and high driver and iron spin. Since most average golfers produce unintentional hook or slice sidespin, playing with a wound balata ball often resulted in excessive sidespin for reduced accuracy and shorter distance. The short game advantage of the scoring spin was not enough to offset the sacrifices in durability, accuracy and distance for most amateurs. Tour players and highly skilled golfers did not suffer the durability or direction sacrifices, and were willing to trade off some driver distance for improved scoring spin. Less than 10% of avid golfers regularly played this type of golf ball at that time.

The golf balls played today on the PGA Tour are, in fact, a good fit for most amateur golfers. Golfers no longer have to trade distance and durability for spin, feel and control into and around the green. Today's solid, multi-layer urethane-covered constructions, like the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x, provide the long game performance of a two-piece distance golf ball and the short game performance of a wound balata golf ball. They are extremely durable, produce low spin on drives to provide straighter and longer shots, and provide high scoring spin for excellent control and short game performance. Both Tour Players and amateur golfers can now play the same ball that provides maximum performance on all types of shots without making sacrifices. Today, over 25% of avid golfers regularly play this type of golf ball.

As an example, most PGA Tour Players when tested on a launch monitor, would hit longer drives with a Surlyn-covered two-piece distance ball than with the Pro V1. However, there are no PGA Tour players who play that type of golf ball because the extra 5 yards or so in driver distance is not worth the sacrifice they would make in other areas of their game, particularly iron targeting and scoring spin.

According to Titleist, golf ball fitting should be conducted from green-to-tee, rather than solely on launch monitor fitting with a driver. Tee shots with a driver represent approximately 14 of the 70, 80 or 90 or more shots of all other types hit per round. Maximizing driver distance with launch monitor testing only demonstrates what golf ball you hit the longest off the tee, and will not necessarily result in lower scores.

In fact, based on extensive research of over 5,000 golfers conducted on titleist.com, over 70% of the respondents identified short game performance as the primary area of the game that would help them achieve lower scores. As a result, most golfers would be best fit by choosing a golf ball primarily based on its performance into and around the green rather than based on driver distance.

If you are like the overwhelming majority of golfers who answer "yes" to the question, "Will the best short game control provide the greatest opportunity to lower your score?", then your best Titleist golf ball choices are either Pro V1 or Pro V1x. The Pro V1 and Pro V1x are solid, multi-layer, urethane elastomer covered golf balls, and provide the best short game control. Both models offer exceptional distance and soft feel along with the scoring spin to improve short game control and help lower scores. Comparing the two models, Pro V1 is softer than Pro V1x, and is Titleist's softest golf ball. The Pro V1x has a lower driver spin than Pro V1 and off the tee, will be a longer ball for most golfers. The most played balls on Tour and in golf are also the best performing golf balls for most golfers.