MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the 2022 Titleist AVX. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
About the Titleist AVX
The Titleist AVX is a three-piece ball with a cast urethane cover. The bulk of AVX balls that find their way to the U.S. market are manufactured alongside the Pro V1 franchise at Titleist’s Ball Plant 3 in New Bedford, Mass. It’s the softest ball in Titleist’s premium lineup and has the distinction of being the only non-Pro V1 ball in Titleist’s ball-fitting matrix.
On the performance side, the AVX is a bit of an anomaly. It’s a bit firmer than the majority of balls designed for moderate swing speed golfers. It also flies a bit lower. While that can be problematic for some, it also makes AVX viable for higher swing speed golfers who generate excessive spin.
Compression
On our gauge, the 2022 Titleist AVX has an average compression of 77. That’s one point softer than the 2020 model. Compression targets are likely identical and we’re certainly well within any reasonable manufacturing tolerance.
The list of balls with similar compression includes the 2020 Titleist Tour Speed (78), 2017 OnCore ELXIR (79) and 2020 Callaway Chrome Soft (76).
Diameter and Weight
With roughly a dozen models tested, we haven’t had a single Titleist ball fail to meet the USGA standards for weight and diameter. That continues to be true as all of our 2022 Titleist AVX sample met the USGA requirements for both weight and diameter.
Also of note, 100 percent of the sample met our standard for roundness.
Inspection
Centeredness and Concentricity
With the 2020 AVX, we flagged a single ball as bad due to a layer concentricity issue. This time around, we found no issues. As such, we flagged zero balls as bad during the visual inspection.
Core Consistency
We found no notable issues with core consistency.
Cover
No cover defects were noted.
Titleist AVX – Consistency
In this section, we detail the consistency of the 2022 Titleist AVX. Our consistency metrics provide a measure of how similar the balls in our sample were to one another relative to all of the models we’ve tested to date.
Weight Consistency
- Weight consistency across the sample falls on the high end of the Average range.
- The overall weight of the balls qualifies as average for the industry.
Diameter Consistency
- Diameter consistency for the 2022 Titleist AVX falls in our Good range
- Box 2 was ever-so-slightly smaller on average.
Compression Consistency
- Compression consistency qualifies as Good (above average).
- This is an area where Titleist is typically strong.
- One could nitpick (again) and say that Box 1 was slightly less consistent.
- However, across the entire sample, the compression delta was only seven points, which is above average.
True Price
True Price is how we quantify the quality of a golf ball. It's a projection of what you'd have to spend to ensure you get 12 good balls.
The True Price will always be equal to or greater than the retail price. The greater the difference between the retail price and the True Price, the more you should be concerned about the quality of the ball.
Titleist AVX – Summary
To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
Titleist continues to set the standard for quality and the new AVX is no exception. At $50 a dozen, it’s at the top end of the market but for golfers who place a premium on consistency there is value to be had, I suppose.
The Good
- Another high-quality, consistent urethane offering from Titleist.
- No red flags for any of our quality metrics.
The Bad
- A bit pricey when compared to other balls designed largely for moderate swing speed golfers.
At the time of review, the 2022 Titleist AVX gets an overall grade of 89.
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Josh
5 months agoI love your golf ball testing. Without purchasing any of the expensive equipment you use, are there any inexpensive ways to test for ball quality such as roundness/balance or other important variables?
Syd
5 months agoWhy aren’t you doing/including the flotation test (saline dense water) to see if the balls are out of balance as was tested on Utube by a USA golfer. It should be a No Brainer!
Personal opinion – you guys come across as Titleist “Fan Boys” as you haven’t bothered to include the said test!
At least give the test a go, what have you got to lose?
Tony Covey
5 months agoAhhh, I miss the days of decency when people could ask a question without casting aspersions.
Anyway…I’m sure the epson salt test does sound like a no-brainer to anyone who doesn’t fundamentally understand the approach we take with ball lab and those who don’t understand the complexity involved. Let me run you through it.
Let’s go all the way back to the beginning. When I had the idea for ball lab, I reached out to a literal handful of ball manufacturers and had extensive (hours upon hours) of conversations with a 3rd party expert who, in addition to holding the patent on the compression gauge we used, has helped design testing labs for overseas factories (as well as a USA-based manufacturer who isn’t around anymore). At no point in any of those conversations did the Epson salt test come up.
As readers have asked the question, we’ve looked into it a bit. It’s not something we plan to implement.
Again…looking at how we do everything else inside ball lab:
At every step, we’re able to ensure repeatability. We store balls in controlled conditions during the testing process. We have a weight of known mass that we use to verify our scale is accurate. We have a tight tolerance calibration ball for our diameter gauge and a calibration block for our compression gauge.
So anyway, what we’ve learned is that the primary issue with the epson salt test is repeatability. While mixing salt and water sounds simple, you’re actually talking about chemistry. The density of the mixture with vary the results. The volume of salt…the chemistry of the water itself ambient conditions all of it matters. Every seemingly insignificant thing is a factor. It’s fine as a one-off, but when you’re making ongoing comparisons, the setup needs to be exactly the same today as it was last week as it was one year ago…as it was the year before that. Again, it’s a simple test so long as precision and repeatability don’t matter. That’s not an option in Ball Lab.
JonYQM
4 months agoThe saline test sounds unscientific, to say the least. As far as Titleist fan boys… I don’t need MGS to tell me they make the most consistent, reliable balls. I play Vice Pro Plus because it’s a better deal, the ball works well for me and I beat them up in my home GC3 simulator.
The ball lab is the closest thing we have to an unbiased brand-agnostic test in the industry. Go troll somewhere else.
RC
5 months agoI’m impressed with the quality control because these balls cost enough to make that matter. True value is something that gives you the feeling that you’re paying for what you get. I play the AVX, and I just got the box with the word “new” prominently displayed, but my arrows don’t look like the ones in the picture. That’s a little concerning, especially since I got mine from the Titleist website! Anyway, don’t buy into the theory that they roll out so much. I play most of my shots “along the ground” when I can, and the AVX checks up on me sometimes when I don’t want it to. It may have more roll than the other two (PV1 and PV1x), but it’s got plenty of greenside spin if you put the right (or wrong in my case) swing on it.
Terry
5 months agoThanks again Tony. – great info. I feel like the poster child for Titleist balls as they seem to do and behave exactly as described with my swing. The Pro V1x is firmer, higher flying, Pro V1 slightly softer and midflight, and AVX is lower flight and softer feel. They behave around the greens as described in marketing materials. Any would work, but I play the Pro V1x as I need the driver height based on my swing. For everything else, they may be too high but that helps with stopping power in my opinion.
Landy
5 months agoHello MSG thank you for your reviews but I find these more of a Quality Assurance review than a performance review.
Wish you would add distances, spin and other key factors to compared to others in the same category or price point.
Lou
5 months agoI agree. Most balls, among the Bug OEM’s, are pretty well made. It’s how they perform that separates the great, the good, the fair and the poor. I play the Titleist Tour Speed and it performs great but Tony’s Ball Lab has it ranked as one of the worst balls ever. He has it worse than a Pinnacle Range ball. Based on performance this is utter nonsense. Performance is the #1 factor and Ball Lab ignores that. So I, basically, ignore Ball Lab.
Alan
5 months agoLou, I also agree , more performance data would help me decide to try these balls.
Tony Covey
5 months agoThe entire point of ball lab is to quantify the quality/consistency of golf balls. We do robot testing every couple of years to fill in the performance details. In my opinion, it is a bit of a horse/cart situation. Fundamentally, it doesn’t matter what the performance specification of a golf ball is if the manufacturer is unable to deliver that spec consistently. When the quality isn’t consistent, the performance won’t be either.
Pete A
5 months agoCompletely agree Lou. Quality is a factor but more importantly I want to know how it performs and the type of player it is designed for. Also, how it compare to competitors.
Steve S
5 months agoI’ve been following these ball tests from the beginning and appreciate the information. Led me to the Maxfli Tours as my best choice for performance/value/quality. A thought occurred to me about your tests. Is there a reason you don’t do the salt/epsom water balance test? Might show issues the rest of your tests might miss.
Dick Read
5 months ago$50??? Why so many different models, all in similar price range (high). Understand they meet different requirements for players. But how much different, significant at 15 -20 handicap? Sure, at 0 -+5 or pro level, a different ball can make big difference. But this not devloped for that level.
Seems to me designing, developing then producing all these different lines drive up prices across all lines..
Ok, off soapbox. Thanks for all the great info and advice.
DadofSlayerKing
5 months agoI switched to the AVX from the TP5X after a driver fitting. It has a more penetrating flight (versus the high fly balls I used to hit) and my dispersion pattern is much tighter. It’s lowered my spin rate of the driver and amazing with the irons or around the greens. Never cared for Titleist balls but this AVX made me a convert.
Jonathan
5 months agoTitleist agian demonstrates how controlling your manufacturing process in house yields better quality over all in the final result. I may not like the price, but you are a5 least getting value for your purchase!
Hopp
5 months agoOne of my favorite balls, when I can get it at the non full retoail price. I have had good luck with these balls, for both driving distance and putting. The strange thing is I like this ball along with the Chrome Soft X LS balls, both are different but for some reason, both work well for me.
Golfinnut
5 months agoWhile being fit for Titleist balls, I was in between an AVX & Pro V1. So my decision came down to a bit more distance off the tee with the AVX … OR …. more spin around the green with the V1. So right now I’m sticking with the V1 for that added stopping power around the green. Especially on faster greens, since the AVX has a lot more roll out, they should work better on shaggy, uncut, slow greens.
I venture to say I’ll have a few sleeves of each in the bag & decide once I get to the course I’m playing that day based on the condition of the fairways & greens.
Ray
5 months agoI’m 63 and been playing 47 years. your information you share is very helpful. I do find interesting the compression since i grew up with either 90 or 100 compression balls. I like to experiment with different balls that’s just me. I have noticed event though the prices have risen I also found I can play one ball for more than 18 holes as long as I don’t hit cart part, etc. Keep up the good work!!