Titleist...Any Good?????

[AlchemyGolf]

I was talking to a guy in the golf business today and he told me that Titleist are in a bit of trouble because they have/are about to lose a massive court case with Callaway over the design of the Pro V1 golf ball.

The losses could cripple the company as its golf ball sales are a very large % of the companys income.

That got me thinking, I dont see hardly anyone using Titleist clubs these days.
Its all Callaway,Ping and Taylormade at my club.

There was a time when at least 1 person in your 4ball was using a set of Titleist clubs!

Please discuss!!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Last weekend. He has a set of AP1's

 

[GB72]

My brother uses and older set of the Phil Mickeleson designed left handed irons (cannot remember the name). Nobody else I know plays Titleist irons but a fair few use their fairway woods.

Speaking to a club pro the other week we were discussing the 2 main brands that he stocks, Titleist and Ping, and his opinion was that Ping offered better deals and better service so he favoured them and plays them himself.

 

[Macster]

See Sig

Suits me Sir.

 

[TonyN]

I am a Titleist woods fan! I am even thinking of replacing my FT-5 with a 907 or 909.

I do beleive Titleist will have to do something special to be THEE ball on tour in a few years. I think its going to be Srixon, or once Callaway has had time to launch a counter attack the new (prov1 patent) Callaway ball will be the most used!

I do hope Titleist dont suffer to dramatically, i really like the brand!

 

[Parmo]

*grabs popcorn for when medwayjon arrives*

I think if Titleist can produce a ball in the same league as the AD333 for the same price then things may change, the PTS and the likes just are not decent balls. The NXT Tour is a good ball just still on the top side of the mid range price wise. The new Z-Star is a great ball, it has enough spin and control with distance yet last longer (player depending) than Pro V1's.

 

[TRS30]

Having recently got a set AP1's can't speak highly enough of them.

My impression was that till recently Titleist aimed for the better player so lost on a large chuck of the world market with no clubs for 15+ handicappers.

Have used Pro 1's for the last couple of years and recent got some of the new ones. Have to say they certainly last longer than the old version and played a full 18 holes with the same ball with very little marks on it.

 

[USER1999]

Most of my kit is Titleist (except my wedges, but I do have a pair of Vokeys too, they just aren't in the bag), and so yes, I always have one person in my 4 ball with Titleist sticks. Lots of my friends use Titleist too. They make good stuff. Personally, I don't like Ping.

One of the issues with Titleist stuff is that they know how to charge. Particualrly true in the past. The new 909s are reasonably priced though, compared to the outgoing 907s. £230 for a 909D2 driver is £70 cheaper than the 907D1 was when I bought mine (and the standard shaft options are better too). Mind you, this is only true in England, as in Florida the 909D2 was $400, which is more like £300.

All the waffle about the ball patents is exactly that. Two companies, both infringing each others patents, and both taking the other to court. The previous case (which Titleist lost) was based on 4 patents that the US patent office subsequently revoked, and so Titleist are back in court to get the original judgement reversed (even though they changed the ball design to be non infringeing). Meanwhile, Cally are having a go about something else. It is like children squabbling in a sand pit.

Don't expect the ProV1 to drop its market percentage any time soon. It is still the best ball, endorsed and played with by the most Pro's. What they use, the average golfer will use too.

Titleist are also taking Bridgestone to court.

Nothing will come out of any of it that will do anyone any good, unless you are a lawyer.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I've got Titleist irons & fairway wood (see sig').
When I bought them it was a toss up between them and some Mizuno's (muscleback model).

 

[brendy]

AP2's here and another of our fourball uses titleist driver and woods. Titleist are still a big company, just check out the pga tour leaderboard each week to see the amount of guys using titleist balls and clubs. Go to titleist.com and have a look at who they have on their playing pros list too.

 

[medwayjon]

*Sitting comfortably parmo?*

I cant ever see Titleist getting into trouble as to be honest, the proV1 is THE ball to play for the majority of tour-pro's and club pro's plus a huge amount of club golfers play proV1's.

I think the court case merry-go-round is a farce and that nothing will come of it TBH.

I know a fair few people who play Titleist Equipment, along with myself on saturday, smudge and MVP both had titleist gear in the bag. When I go on society days there are plenty of Titleist sticks on show also.

In terms of Irons I dont think that anyone makes anything as good as Titleist, their forged irons are an absolute joy to hit, since owning my 1st set of Titleist irons I cant see myself playing anything else.

When in good shape I only play ProV1's as to me, they are the best ball on offer and I have tried loads.

The only club in my bag that isnt titleist is my putter, I love the fairways now I have a bit of consistency back and I am very happy with my spin-milled vokeys in my hands aswell and as for my driver, I think my 907D1 was £249 very well spent.

In terms of the wedge market, I think Titleist have lost some ground but after the vokey domination of this area, manufacturers were always going to "step-up" in this area hence why the market share has shrunk. When you think about it the Mizuno wedges and indeed the Callaway wedges are certainly up there with vokeys.

I think that Titleist do retain customers as people do become attached to the brand, I have for sure, and because of that people will carry on buying Titleist.

There is also a sort of kudos attached to playing Titleist gear so I am told by my pro, he says that people in the know have a sort of respect for the man playing Titleist as he is a conoisseur (sp) of golfing gear, all I know is I liked it, so I played it.

A trend I have noticed is that younger golfers in general tend not to play Titleist, going more for Nike and TM and to a similarly high level, callaway and mizuno. I think that this is because Titleist dont go out of their way to pump big bucks into sponsoring the "young-gun" pro's of the same generation as the young buyers. How many youngsters for examp-le want Nike bats because Tiger has them? Exactly!

The only area I see Titleist not doing it right is marketing, I think that a lot of people dont play titleist as they dont think they can in that the gear is for Cat1 golfers only and the like, a notion which until the launch of the AP1, titleist have done nothing to dispel and even the AP1 is said to be aimed at a highly-skilled golfer.

I know that Titleist arent into GI equipment but if they marketed in a better way, they would be bigger as a whole and if all of a sudden, top young names were playing and advertising Titleist, we may see more youngsters picking up Titleist clubs. Perhaps Rory will be the catalyst for this as a Titleist player, although I believe he is on an equipment sponsorship package as opposed to the full package.

 

[stevek1969]

Love my AP2s had them nearly a year now am considering the 909 driver , 3 wood and rescue to have a full house.Only the big stars use them at my club

 

[mono217]

I like titliest clubs but love there balls.

 

[RGDave]

I like the clubs but I wouldn't buy a set and can't/won't afford the balls, there's better for the money.

Long and short, if they lose their way in the ball market it's over....

 

[John_Findlay]

Titleist woods and wedges for me. I'd get a set of irons too as opposed to my Mizzy MP30's if I could, so no complaints about the company from me.

 

[medwayjon]

Thinking about it, I can t see Titleist getting into financial problems.

They are owned by Acushnet, who also own cobra and footjoy, and I would imagine footjoy alone, in being bar far the number one supplier of shoes & gloves, along with a huge market share in clothing and caps, would be sufficient to carry the Titleist brand.

 

[TonyN]

John, great post but have to say Mizuno irons are as good (if not better) than titleist so as for...

''In terms of Irons I dont think that anyone makes anything as good as Titleist'' This made me a little

 

[andiritchie]

I play Titleist irons,wedges and putter,they are fantastic lovelly soft feel with a classy look.

I not keen on some clubs that look more like a boy racer's car than a iron

I could play the woods as well but dont really want a full matching set

 

[Parmo]

Jon I totally agree, Titleists irons, woods and rescues are great. I think there is a misconception that Titleist kit is only for the better player, I had a 904F4 18* and it was a nightmare unless I slowed my swing speed down, but if custom fitted then I am sure would have been excellent.

Titleist balls are good but I think the cost is only in relation to the amount they throw at pro's, I am sure if most labels did the same as Titleist then the market share would be different. The NXT is a great ball, but it is very close to the AD333 or DX2, the only difference is its a three piece.

The Jr's at my club all play titleist, I have the youngest (10 just turned) with a hcp of 20ish a Z-Star and he came back last weekend and said it was a great ball and lasted a lot longer than his usual Pro v1's!!

A few weeks ago I would never buy anything Titleist but I just bought the X90 bag for good weather and 9 holes, top bag and I will review once used on the course.

 

[MVP]

theres only two brands dare i say trust 1. is titleist
2. mizuno you cannot beat them!callaway and ping haver lost my respect because they release the same [****] with a different badge on it!