Joining the Dots

In 2014, Titleist introduced a (low) spin-off of its best-selling Pro-V1 ball.

Called the ‘Pro-V1 Left Dot’, the three-piece ball featured a high-gradient core that was softer in the center and got firmer towards the outside, an ionomeric casing layer designed to increase speed and help lower the ball’s spin-rate, and a spherically-tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design.

Together, this highly engineered combination of larger core, faster casing, and improved aerodynamics created a flat, piercing ball flight while the soft, cast urethane elastomer cover ensured impressive greenside spin.

The company made the Left Dot (positioned between the Pro-V1 and AVX in terms of performance – flies lower than Pro-V1 but creates more greenside spin than AVX) ) available only to its stable of Tour players who used the Left Dot to collect 30 Tour victories, including Henrik Stenson’s at the 2016 Open Championship and Patrick Reed’s at the 2018 Masters, over the next few years.

In September 2021, limited quantities were made available to the public and they sold out quickly, earning the Left Dot cult-like status. Occasionally, they would appear on auction sites and go for five or six times what they had sold for in stores.
On Tuesday morning (September 23rd), the Left Dot will be available again, with Titleist restricting buyers to two dozen per person. It’s likely to sell out even quicker than it did four years ago, which means that as soon as you’ve read this, you need to visit titleist.com to have any hope of snagging some.

Though the Left Dot is identified as the ideal choice in only 3% of Titleist’s Tour-level fittings, elements of its construction have been used in the evolution of the Pro-V1 and Pro-V1x. Specifically, the design of the Left Dot’s core had a major impact on the last two generations of its parent models.

News of the Left Dot’s temporary return to retail comes a couple of weeks after another Titleist Custom Performance Option (CPO) was introduced to the PGA Tour. Appearing for the first time in 2018, the Left Dash was built for players wanting to launch the ball high with low-spin and, thus, maximize carry distance – players like Bryson DeChambeau who used it to win the 2024 U.S. Open. With a compression of 102, it is noticeably firmer than the Pro-V1x, which is firmer than the Pro-V1.

The Left Dash’s PGA Tour debut (Procore Championship) suggests that it, too, will be available to the public before long. Once it does make it to market, Titleist expects the Left Dash to be the best fit for about double the number of golfers most-suited to the Left Dot.

Left Dot – $55/dozen
titleist.com