One of Titleist’s cult-favorite golf balls is coming back to the retail market, albeit in limited fashion.
The company is releasing the elusive Pro V1 Left Dot, one of its Custom Performance Option (CPO) balls, in a limited run starting later this month.
This will be the second time Titleist has put out a limited release of the Pro V1 Left Dot, after a small batch four years ago sold out almost immediately and quickly started showing up on the secondary market at incredible markups.
A check of eBay on Tuesday morning showed prices for one singular Pro V1 Left Dot golf ball as high as $46 (even used!) and asking prices for a dozen ranging from $200 to $370.
Why such demand for this special Pro V1? Hard to say, but the ball does offer a unique set of characteristics.
The model first showed up in 2013 with professional golfers seeking the same soft feel as the Pro V1, but wanting even lower launch and spin. With Titleist’s CPO program, it is able to create prototype versions of their balls to test what characteristics different players might benefit from that can be later used in the retail versions of Pro V1 and Pro V1x. Titleist says 3 percent of its Tour-level fittings result in a Pro V1 Left Dot recommendation.
The ball offers a unique set of attributes with a lower flight and spin than Pro V1 while retaining the same soft feel and short-game control.
Perhaps the best-known CPO is the Pro V1x Left Dash, which is now available as part of Titleist’s regular retail lineup — with a second-generation version now being played on Tour.
Pro V1 Left Dot directly contributed to eventual retail releases through the use of a high gradient core construction, which helped players “steepen the spin slope,” or, in other words, generate less spin in the long game and more around the greens. High gradient core constructions were first used in the 2023 Pro V1 and Pro V1x releases and again in this past year’s models.
But the original Pro V1 Left Dot remains a staple on the PGA Tour with Titleist saying it makes up 6 percent of its usage. It has been in play for 30 PGA Tour wins, including at the 2018 Masters, won by Patrick Reed. Tony Finau is perhaps the most notable Left Dot user and has won five times with the ball since 2021.
“I’ve always put a lot of spin on the golf ball,” Finau said. “Right away, [Pro V1 Left Dot] caught my eye because of the ball flight. I think if you can control your ball flight, you can control the distance. And it’s been such a reliable ball flight for me from the first time that I hit it… I can count on the golf ball in crosswinds, into the wind, downwind. I know how far the golf ball is going to go.”
