Martin Hopley
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The Titleist NXT Tour ball has been around for a while now and the 2016 incarnation offers the usual blend of Titleist performance in a ball with an RRP that is a third less than a Pro V1.

Titleist NXT Tour Golf Ball

For some that might be all the information you need, but as always with golf balls it is not quite that simple as we have found out during our recent golf ball interviews with experts such as Matt Hogge at Titleist.

Taking price out of the equation, what is the 2016 NXT Tour ball delivering this time around?

Titleist NXT Tour Tech

This 3-piece ball has a larger dual centre core and within that, the proportion that is the softer centre is 66% larger than the 2014 NXT Tour.

Titleist NXT Tour Core

By increasing the relative size of the softer core in relation to the firmer outer core Titleist is able to make the 2016 NXT Tour spin less and fly a little lower.

Compare this to the softer NXT Tour S ball and you can see how the core construction changes how the ball feels and performs.

Titleist NXT Tour & NXT Tour S

Softness comes in many forms and one of these can be how the cover feels to you and here the ionomer based Fusablend cover provides that soft feel and features the same 302 dimple pattern as before.

The durability of the NXT Tour cover was very good and, short of an attack with new wedge grooves in a bunker that would have scuffed granite, it stood up well to all I could throw at it in a normal round.

Titleist NXT Tour Golf Ball

Spin and soft feel are very player dependent and in terms of feel, the NXT Tour felt very good around the green and was the closest thing to a Titleist Pro V1 for putting.

On chips the feel was maybe not as sharp as Pro V1 and a touch firmer so, for mid to single figure handicappers this will still give you the playability that you require.

Whether this will be the type of ball for you will probably also depend on your swing speed. As you can see here from my stats on SkyTrak, I am around 96 mph with a driver (on a bad day) and the firmer Pro V1 was better for distance than either the NXT Tour or NXT Tour S golf balls.

Titleist NXT Tour Core

However this is at my swing speed, which is probably a little too high for the slightly softer NXT Tour, so if you are in the 90mph range or below then the distances will probably be very similar.

With a set pitching wedge the NXT Tour flew a little higher and a little longer because, like the ProV1x, it uses height to create a steeper landing angle in order to stop quickly on the green.

This is where that firmer feel and softer compression core can have an advantage over a more premium ball, but then of course you still have to chip and putt with it and that is where your trade-off with the better feeling Pro V1 starts to come in.

If we introduce cost back into that trade-off then for some the NXT Tour will be a perfect Pro V1 alternative. Even though the driver distance might be down a little for faster swingers, the gains in your pocket and with the shorter irons will make the Titleist NXT Tour a great choice.

Golfalot Rating: 5 stars
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Titleist NXT Tour 2016 Golf Ball - Product Details

UK Launch01 February 2016
UK Launch RRP£34
USA Launch01 February 2016
Handicap Range
Low
High
GolferMens, Women
Ball Construction3-Piece
SpinMedium
Ball FeelMedium
Colour OptionsWhite
Quantities3, 12
Manufacturer's WebsiteTitleist Website

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User Reviews

JB
September 2017

First time used in competition and first time ever broke 80. Like skelping a bowling ball with the driver and great pace control with putter. Thank you Titleist, as changed to your driver now also from TaylorMade and has been a game changer (4 strokes of handicap in 3 months).

mike
June 2017

For me Pro v1 spin too much off my driver, around the green and short irons they are great. The pro v1 does have a tendency to balloon ( I am NOT a digger) it does have more to do with the ball construction.

This articles data on distance could could not be more wrong, I really have tested the NXT Tour (not the S) and it is consistently longer by more than 10 yards. We put both balls on an Iron Byron type machine with 20 hits on both balls and found the same results consistently. The results are true to the construction of the both balls - NXT TOUR - designed for less spin (including side spin), gets you significantly more distance, with one bounce and stop. Pro v1 and X model --- much more spin and feel. (But much more chance of side spin and ballooning), with back spin on greens with high stimp metre readings, with the Pro v1x spinning less than pro v1.

NXT Tour is a great bang for the buck, Tour players would not sacrifice any significant scoring by using it. But, the marketing is the player in this game.

steve
May 2017

The launch velocity and spin is similar so the distance disparity must be the launch angle.

February 2017

I have been using the NXT Tour exclusively for many years now. Quite frankly you wont get a ball that comes close to it for a mid teen handicap player. Great feel, check up well without that annoying "extra hop" on the green, very acceptable distance from the tee. Honestly, don't pay the extra "Premium" price fro the pro-v balls. If you are around a 10-15 handicap golfer, these top end balls can actually hurt your game. For a good honest, truly, "All Round" ball, you cannot go past the NXT Tour.

September 2016

Tried the new NXT Tour for the 1st time after winning a dozen at a Texas Scramble event. Flew well from the driver face and produced long straight drives. I play with a power fade when playing well and the slightly lower flight gave me the same carry but a little more roll out on the fairway with good control on mid and short irons. Great ball to putt too. Holed several long putts on very long par 4's which gave me a great score. Nett 68. 5th overall in a Gents Open. Good all round performance and very durable too.

August 2016

This is a very good ball. The Pro V range can sometimes spin a little too much around the greens but the NXT Tour will check and then roll about a foot or so. Distance off the tee compare similarly to the Pro V range. Faster swing speeds (100mph+) may get a little more distance out of a Pro V1/Pro V1x but over all very little difference.

The NXT Tour is definitely more durable than the Pro V1/Pro V1x as you can easily get a full round in using the same ball compared to a Pro V1/Pro V1x that needs to be changed at least once over the course of 9 holes.

Definitely two very good balls. If you're still unsure buy a sleeve of nxt tour and and sleeve of Pro V1's(or Pro V1x's) and try each for a full round.

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