While the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls are often regarded as some of the best premium golf balls, there's another model in the Pro V1 franchise that is far less talked about. The 2019 Pro V1x Left Dash, previously only available on tour, was made available to golfers of all abilities in 2019 for £48 per dozen, but for how many is this ball actually suitable and can it truly be considered one of the best golf balls?
The key technology behind this ball, according to Titleist, is a large dual core which is aimed to promote high speeds and low spin. The data retracted from my launch monitor while testing would agree. When comparing this ball off the tee to the ProV1x, the Left Dash was a noticeable 3mph quicker in ball speed and 300rpm (revolutions per minute) less, resulting in a 7 yard gain in carry which, as you can imagine, I was delighted with.
Upon prior research, the Left Dash has been said to sound and feel ‘clicky’ and this was certainly evident. Interestingly, the numbers with a 7 iron were almost identical. The ball definitely felt fast off the face with the irons and driver. While fast ball speeds aren't necessarily a bad thing, when chipping, I noticed that the Left Dash released out a touch more and felt noticeably firmer than the Pro V1x. This was something that also ran true with the putter and I noticed that my pace control was definitely a little off with the Left Dash ball. Perhaps this could be attributed to the fact that I use a softer ball when playing regularly.
The Left Dash has a similar feeling to that of the TaylorMade TP5x and the Srixon Z-Star XV. Both of which have the lower spinning, firmer feeling premium ball of each respective company.
Taking everything into account, Titleist have delivered in what they say this ball will achieve: a high flight, low spin, firmer feeling premium ball. The 2019 Pro V1x Left Dash proved itself strong in all areas of the bag when struck well and with speed and I could certainly see how in windy conditions or playing on softer greens and how this ball could be suit many high speed golfers. The lack of greenside spin and firmer feel off the putter face, would see me opt for a softer, higher spinning ball such as the standard Pro V1x in place of the Left Dash, especially when facing firmer course conditions.
