Titleist’s AVX golf ball fits a very important niche in the marketplace.
Players who want to play great golf and play a urethane cover golf ball, but maybe don’t have the speed to maximize one of Titleist’s tour balls like the Pro V1 or Pro V1x. With a lower flight and lower spin at the top end of the bag, the AVX fits the bill while still providing the tour-level feel and greenside performance of a urethane cover ball.
So when Titleist looked at creating the next generation of AVX for 2026, they found out one thing AVX players wanted to improve: more greenside spin.
“AVX golfers are very clear about why they play AVX. They like the long distance, the low long-game spin and especially the soft feel. These players are looking for specific performance attributes,” Titleist’s Director of Golf Ball Product Management, Frederick Waddell, said in a release. “They were also telling us that if they could get more of anything with AVX, it was short-game spin and control, as long as it didn’t compromise the other aspects of AVX that they love.”
Not only did the new AVX deliver on increased greenside spin with a thicker and softer urethane cover, but a new reformulated core also allowed it to be even faster than before.
One thing you’ll hear golf ball engineers talk about when they’re changing characteristics of a golf ball is the “spin slope.” The less a ball spins off the tee and the more around the greens, the steeper the spin slope.
In order to give AVX players want they wanted with more greenside spin while retaining low driver and iron spin, Titleist engineers needed to steepen the spin slope.
What they did was make the urethane cover thicker and softer to boost that greenside spin, but if nothing else changed, that would also boost spin off the tee, which they didn’t want.
This is where the AVX’s three-piece construction was crucial because engineers could reformulate the core to be faster and utlizie a thinner casing layer to cancel out the increased spin at the higher end of the bag.
“These soft-over-hard, hard-over-soft relationships really drive spin performance for all golf ball models,” Titleist SVP of Golf Ball R&D, Mike Madson, said. “A soft cover over a firm casing layer adds spin on shorter shots where the cover plays the biggest role. Then you have a firm casing layer over a softer core, which lowers spin when you get to those higher-speed impacts like a driver or hybrid. With AVX, it’s really every piece of its construction that we’re using to fine-tune spin and give AVX players exactly what they’re looking for with this ball.”
My take: Staying true to the AVX niche
Just like Titleist did with the Pro V1x Left Dash and making the “Dash more Dash,” it seems they’ve made the “AVX more AVX” too.
The AVX is a unique “fountain of youth” ball that really does well with senior golfers looking to regain some distance lost to age. When Titleist is doing fittings at pro-ams, they load up on AVXs knowing those players will enjoy the distance boost.
While I wouldn’t call it a trade-off, it never spun as much as a Pro V1 or Pro V1x around the greens and that’s not necessarily something the typical AVX player benefits from.
Now with a little more spin around the greens, but still that low flight and spin with everything else, the AVX becomes an even more valuable ball for the right players.
Price and Availability
The new 2026 Titleist AVX golf ball will be available in golf shops starting Jan. 21.
Each box of a dozen golf balls will cost $49.99.
Want to find the best golf balls for your game in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
