Titleist’s AVX golf ball fits a very important niche in the market.
Players who want to play great golf and want to play a urethane cover golf ball, but may not have the speed to get the most out of one of Titleist’s tour balls such as the Pro V1 or Pro V1x. With a lower flight and lower spin at the top of the bag, the AVX meets expectations 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 discovered one thing AVX players wanted to improve on: more greenside spin.
“AVX golfers are very clear about why they play AVX. They like the long distance, the low spin on the long game and most of all the soft feel. These players are looking for specific performance characteristics,” said Frederick Waddell, Titleist’s Director of Golf Ball Product Management in a press release. “They also told us that if they could get more of anything with AVX, it would be spin and control in the short game, as long as it doesn’t compromise the other aspects of AVX that they love.”
Not only did the new AVX deliver more greenside spin with a thicker and softer urethane cover, but a new, reformulated core allowed it to be even faster than before.
One thing you’ll hear golf ball engineers talk about when they change the 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.
To give AVX players what they wanted with more greenside spin while maintaining low driver and iron spin, Titleist engineers had to steepen the spin slope.
What they did was make the urethane coating thicker and softer to encourage spin on the green, but if nothing else changed that would also encourage spin off the tee, which they didn’t want.
This is where the AVX’s three-piece construction was crucial, as engineers were able to reformulate the core to be faster and use a thinner casing layer to neutralize the increased spin at the top of the bag.
“These soft-over-hard, hard-over-soft relationships provide true spin performance for all golf ball models,” says Titleist SVP of Golf Ball R&D, Mike Madson. “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 reduces spin as you reach higher speeds, like a driver or hybrid. At AVX we actually use every part of the construction to refine spin and give AVX players exactly what they are looking for with this ball.”
My opinion: Stay true to the AVX niche
Just like Titleist did with the Pro V1x Left Dash and made the “Dash more Dash,” it looks like they also made the “AVX more AVX.”
The AVX is a unique “fountain of youth” ball that works very well with senior golfers looking to regain some of the distance they have lost over the years. When Titleist makes adjustments at pro-ams, they load up AVXs knowing those players will enjoy the distance boost.
While I wouldn’t call it a trade-off, it never ran as much as a Pro V1 or Pro V1x around the greens and that’s not necessarily something that benefits the typical AVX player.
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 stores at the beginning January 21.
Each box of a dozen golf balls costs $49.99.
Do you want to find the best golf balls for your game in 2026? Find a club fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
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