Titleist
Encyclopedia
Titleist is a brand name owned by Fila
for golf
equipment and apparel products produced by its subsidiary called the Acushnet Company
, which is headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts
.
Acushnet is best known for its Titleist golf balls. It also produces clubs
and other equipment, apparel and accessories under the brands FootJoy, and Pinnacle in addition to Titleist. On December 8, 2010, Fortune Brands announced that it would soon sell or spin off Titleist and some other brands. It was then announced on May 20th, 2011 that a Korean group associated with Fila Korea, Ltd.
and Mirae Asset Private Equity
would purchase Acushnet for $1.23 billion in cash.
The name Titleist is derived from the word "titlist", which means title holder. Several marketing mottos have been promoted for the Titleist brand, including "The #1 ball in golf", "Serious clubs for serious golfers", "It's not how you mark your golf ball, it's how you mark your Titleist".
family currently produces the following golf balls:
The Pro V1 made its debut on the PGA Tour
at Las Vegas
on October 11, 2000, the first week it was available to the pros. A longtime Titleist user, Billy Andrade
, won that first tournament with the new ball. The Pro V1 was available to the public by December. The Pro V1 was a dramatic departure for the brand, which had traditionally used a wound-ball construction (with a liquid-filled core center) for its top-of-the-line golf balls.
Shortly after its introduction the Titleist Pro V1 became the most played ball on the PGA Tour
, and three years after Titleist's initial breakthrough with the Pro V1 came the Pro V1x, a ball with 60 fewer dimples. The combination of a larger firmer core a thinner cover and 60 fewer dimples resulted in a ball that retained the same soft feel of the Pro V1 while reducing spin and increasing distance.
In December 2007, Acushnet lost a patent
infringement suit brought by Callaway. The following November, Callaway won an injunction in a Delaware
court, ruling that sales of the Pro V1 golf balls must be stopped from January 1, 2009, with professionals being able to continue with their use until the end of the year. Acushnet immediately announced that they would be appealing against the decision. Acushnet somewhat redesigned the Pro-V1 during the dispute. On August 14, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the judgment against Acushnet and ordered a new trial. On March 29, 2010; a federal jury ruled in favor of Acushnet (Titleist), and found that the Callaway patents were invalid
brand).
Current models include:
Drivers: 910D2, 910D3
Fairways and Utilities: 910F, 910F-d, 910H
Irons: AP1 712, AP2 712, CB, MB
Vokey Design Wedges: Spin Milled, Spin Milled C-C, Spin Milled SM4
Scotty Cameron Putters: Studio Select, California, Studio Select Kombi
The Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the most used golf balls on the PGA Tour, European Tour, Japanese Tour, LPGA Tour, Asian Tour, and Nationwide Tour.
First played in the U.S. Open
in 1949, Titleist golf balls are the top-selling golf balls in the United States
.
Titleist products have been referenced in the film Caddyshack
, Tin Cup
, as well as episodes of Beavis and Butt-head
(where it is mispronounced "Tit-lee-ist") and Seinfeld
.
Steve Stricker
Rory McIlroy
Ross Fisher
Zach Johnson
Nick Watney
Geoff Ogilvy
Robert Karlsson
Rickie Fowler
Bo Van Pelt
Adam Scott Tim Clark Ben Crane
Matteo Manassero
Brad Faxon
Kevin Na
Kim Kyung-tae
Michael Sim
Søren Hansen
Bryce Molder
Jason Bohn
Bill Haas
Grégory Bourdy
Marc Leishman
Anders Hansen
Jason Dufner
Jay Haas
Ben Curtis
Kenneth Ferrie
Noh Seung-yul
Andrew Dodt
D.J. Trahan Daisuke Maruyama
Greg Chalmers
Brendon de Jonge
Charley Hoffman
Graham DeLaet
Gary Woodland
Jose Maria Olazabal
Titleist also has a very extensive list of players who endorse their golf ball only, including the following
David Toms
Hunter Mahan
Angel Cabrera
Aaron Baddeley
Mike Weir
DA Points KJ Choi
Fila (company)
Fila is one of the world's largest sportswear manufacturing companies. Founded in 1911 in Italy, Fila has been owned and operated from South Korea since a takeover in 2007. Headed by chairman and CEO Yoon-Soo Yoon, Fila now has offices in 11 countries worldwide....
for golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
equipment and apparel products produced by its subsidiary called the Acushnet Company
Acushnet Company
The Acushnet Company is a subsidiary of the Fortune Brands Corporation that makes golf equipment and golfing apparel.However, Fortune Brands announced on December 8, 2010, that it planned to focus on its liquor business, and would spin off or sell other parts of the company — including home...
, which is headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Acushnet is best known for its Titleist golf balls. It also produces clubs
Golf club (equipment)
A golf club is used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a clubhead. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety of shots; Hybrids that combine design elements of woods and...
and other equipment, apparel and accessories under the brands FootJoy, and Pinnacle in addition to Titleist. On December 8, 2010, Fortune Brands announced that it would soon sell or spin off Titleist and some other brands. It was then announced on May 20th, 2011 that a Korean group associated with Fila Korea, Ltd.
Fila (company)
Fila is one of the world's largest sportswear manufacturing companies. Founded in 1911 in Italy, Fila has been owned and operated from South Korea since a takeover in 2007. Headed by chairman and CEO Yoon-Soo Yoon, Fila now has offices in 11 countries worldwide....
and Mirae Asset Private Equity
Mirae Asset
Mirae Asset Financial GroupMirae Asset Financial Group is a leading independent financial services group in Asia, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. While the group’s core business is asset management, it also provides comprehensive financial services in the areas of wealth management and life...
would purchase Acushnet for $1.23 billion in cash.
The name Titleist is derived from the word "titlist", which means title holder. Several marketing mottos have been promoted for the Titleist brand, including "The #1 ball in golf", "Serious clubs for serious golfers", "It's not how you mark your golf ball, it's how you mark your Titleist".
Golf Balls
Titleist, a member of the AcushnetAcushnet Company
The Acushnet Company is a subsidiary of the Fortune Brands Corporation that makes golf equipment and golfing apparel.However, Fortune Brands announced on December 8, 2010, that it planned to focus on its liquor business, and would spin off or sell other parts of the company — including home...
family currently produces the following golf balls:
- Pro V1 and Pro V1x
- DT SoLo
- NXT Tour and NXT
The Pro V1 made its debut on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
at Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on October 11, 2000, the first week it was available to the pros. A longtime Titleist user, Billy Andrade
Billy Andrade
William Thomas Andrade is an American professional golfer.Andrade was born in Bristol, Rhode Island. He attended Wake Forest University where he helped lead the Demon Deacons to the 1986 NCAA Championship. He played on the U.S. team in the 1987 Walker Cup, and turned professional in the same year...
, won that first tournament with the new ball. The Pro V1 was available to the public by December. The Pro V1 was a dramatic departure for the brand, which had traditionally used a wound-ball construction (with a liquid-filled core center) for its top-of-the-line golf balls.
Shortly after its introduction the Titleist Pro V1 became the most played ball on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
, and three years after Titleist's initial breakthrough with the Pro V1 came the Pro V1x, a ball with 60 fewer dimples. The combination of a larger firmer core a thinner cover and 60 fewer dimples resulted in a ball that retained the same soft feel of the Pro V1 while reducing spin and increasing distance.
In December 2007, Acushnet lost a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
infringement suit brought by Callaway. The following November, Callaway won an injunction in a Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
court, ruling that sales of the Pro V1 golf balls must be stopped from January 1, 2009, with professionals being able to continue with their use until the end of the year. Acushnet immediately announced that they would be appealing against the decision. Acushnet somewhat redesigned the Pro-V1 during the dispute. On August 14, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the judgment against Acushnet and ordered a new trial. On March 29, 2010; a federal jury ruled in favor of Acushnet (Titleist), and found that the Callaway patents were invalid
Golf Clubs
Titleist manufactures a range of woods, irons, wedges (under the Vokey Design brand) and putters (under the Scotty CameronScotty Cameron
Don T. "Scotty" Cameron is an American golf club maker primarily known for marketing putters.Cameron was born in Glendale, California. He later moved to Huntington Beach, where he attended Edison High School. Having started making putters in a machine shop owned by a friend of his father, he later...
brand).
Current models include:
Drivers: 910D2, 910D3
Fairways and Utilities: 910F, 910F-d, 910H
Irons: AP1 712, AP2 712, CB, MB
Vokey Design Wedges: Spin Milled, Spin Milled C-C, Spin Milled SM4
Scotty Cameron Putters: Studio Select, California, Studio Select Kombi
Reputation
Titleist is a respected and popular golf brand, with such players as Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas, Nick Watney, Geoff Ogilvy, and Matteo Manassero under contract. Tiger Woods was also contracted to use Titleist before moving to Nike. When the Nike contract began Woods refused to use the Nike drivers for a long time and continued to use his Titleist one. Up until the 2010 British Open, Woods carried a Titleist putter, but has since switched to a Nike Method putter. However, after the third round, Tiger switched back to his Titleist putter (Scotty Cameron)The Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the most used golf balls on the PGA Tour, European Tour, Japanese Tour, LPGA Tour, Asian Tour, and Nationwide Tour.
First played in the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
in 1949, Titleist golf balls are the top-selling golf balls in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Titleist products have been referenced in the film Caddyshack
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...
, Tin Cup
Tin Cup
Tin Cup is a 1996 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Ron Shelton, and starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo with Cheech Marin and Don Johnson in major supporting roles.-Synopsis:...
, as well as episodes of Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
(where it is mispronounced "Tit-lee-ist") and Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
.
Tour Players
Many tour professional have endorsement deals for Titleist and are contracted to use their equipment, including the following.Steve Stricker
Steve Stricker
Steven Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories...
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer from Holywood in County Down. He has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007...
Ross Fisher
Ross Fisher
Ross Daniel Fisher is an English professional golfer, who plays on the European Tour.Fisher was born in Ascot, Berkshire. His home course is the famous Wentworth Golf Club, Surrey, England, location of the European Tour administrative headquarters. As a child, he attended Charters School, a state...
Zach Johnson
Zach Johnson
Zach Johnson is an American golfer, winner of the 2007 Masters Tournament.Zach Johnson may also refer to:* Zack "Jick" Johnson, one of the creators of Kingdom of Loathing* Zachary Johnson, former drummer for The Fray...
Nick Watney
Nick Watney
Nicholas Alan Watney is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career to date is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship....
Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Charles Ogilvy is an Australian professional golfer. He won the 2006 U.S. Open and has also won three World Golf Championships.-Professional career:...
Robert Karlsson
Robert Karlsson
Robert Karlsson is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and as of 2011 on the PGA Tour.-Career:...
Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler
Rick Yutaka Fowler is an American professional golfer. He was the number one ranked amateur golfer in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008.-Amateur career:...
Bo Van Pelt
Bo Van Pelt
Bo Van Pelt is an American professional golfer who has played on both the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour. He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.Van Pelt was born in Richmond, Indiana...
Adam Scott Tim Clark Ben Crane
Ben Crane
Benjamin McCully Crane is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Crane was born in Portland, Oregon. He was age 5 when his grandfather taught him how to play golf, and he grew up playing at the nearby Portland Golf Club where Ben Hogan won the 1945 Portland Open...
Matteo Manassero
Matteo Manassero
Matteo Manassero is an Italian professional golfer. He is the youngest golfer to win a European Tour event.Manassero was born in Negrar, in the Province of Verona. In 2009, at the age of 16, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship, defeating England's Sam Hutsby in...
Brad Faxon
Brad Faxon
Bradford John Faxon, Jr. is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour.-Early years and amateur career:Faxon was born in Oceanport, New Jersey and raised in Barrington, Rhode Island...
Kevin Na
Kevin Na
Kevin Sangwook Na is a Korean American professional golfer currently playing on the PGA Tour.-Personal life:Na was born in Seoul, South Korea. His family immigrated to the United States when he was eight years old. He turned professional at age 17 in 2001. He later naturalized as an American citizen...
Kim Kyung-tae
Kim Kyung-tae
Kim Kyung-tae is a South Korean golfer. He won several amateur tournaments, including the 2006 Japan Amateur Championship. He turned professional in late 2006 and he won the 2007 Maekyung Open in his second start on the Asian Tour...
Michael Sim
Michael Sim
-Amateur career:Sim was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and moved to Australia when he was 5 years old. He was the top ranked amateur in the world in 2005 having won four titles during the year including the Sunnehanna Amateur, which boasts major winners Ben Crenshaw and Tommy Aaron amongst its list of...
Søren Hansen
Søren Hansen
Søren Hansen is a Danish professional golfer.Hansen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He won the 1997 Danish Amateur Stroke Play Championship and turned professional later that year....
Bryce Molder
Bryce Molder
Bryce Wade Molder is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.-Early life:Molder was born in Harrison, Arkansas and attended public school in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Conway, Arkansas...
Jason Bohn
Jason Bohn
Jason Duehn Bohn is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.Bohn was born in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1995 with a degree in Finance. In 1992, while a sophomore on the Alabama golf team, Bohn was playing in a charity...
Bill Haas
Bill Haas
William Harlan Haas is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and won the 2011 FedEx Cup. He is the son of former PGA Tour player Jay Haas.-Early life:...
Grégory Bourdy
Grégory Bourdy
Grégory Bourdy is a French professional golfer who competes on the European Tour.Bourdy was born in Bordeaux. He turned professional in 2003. His cousin Nicolas Beaufils is also a professional golfer, who has played on the Challenge Tour....
Marc Leishman
Marc Leishman
Marc Leishman is an Australian professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.Leishman was born in Warrnambool, Victoria. He had a very successful amateur career in Australia, winning many junior tournaments. He turned professional in 2005. His victory on the Nationwide Tour at the 2008...
Anders Hansen
Anders Hansen
Anders Rosenberg Hansen is a Danish professional golfer.Hansen was born in Sønderborg, Denmark. He turned professional in 1995...
Jason Dufner
Jason Dufner
Jason Dufner is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.-Early life:Dufner was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He moved to the Washington, D.C. area when he was 11 years old, and then to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida when he was 14. It was there that he started playing golf, and...
Jay Haas
Jay Haas
Jay Dean Haas is an American professional golfer.Haas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Belleville, Illinois. He attended Wake Forest University and was a member of the NCAA Championship team of the middle 1970s with Curtis Strange and Bob Byman that Golf World has called "the...
Ben Curtis
Ben Curtis (golfer)
Ben Clifford Curtis is an American professional golfer best known for winning the 2003 Open Championship.-Early career:Curtis was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Ostrander, Ohio. His family runs the , also in Ostrander...
Kenneth Ferrie
Kenneth Ferrie
Kenneth Ferrie is an English professional golfer.Ferrie was born in Ashington, Northumberland. He won the British Boys Championship in 1996 and made his first appearance in a European Tour event that year as an invitee at his local event, the Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge...
Noh Seung-yul
Noh Seung-yul
Noh Seung-yul is a South Korean professional golfer.Noh turned professional 2007 and successfully negotiated qualifying school for the 2008 Asian Tour. He won the Midea China Classic that season, and was named Asian Tour rookie of the year. In 2010 he won the Maybank Malaysian Open which was...
Andrew Dodt
Andrew Dodt
Andrew Dodt is an Australian professional golfer.Dodt was born in Queensland and learned to play golf from the age of four at Gatton Golf Club, close to where he lived. He was a member of the Golf Australia National Squad and won many high profile amateur tournaments including the 2007 Australian...
D.J. Trahan Daisuke Maruyama
Daisuke Maruyama
is a Japanese professional golfer currently playing on the Japan Golf Tour.-Career:Maruyama was born in Chiba Prefecture and played his first full season on the Japan Golf Tour in 2001. He picked up his first win on Tour in 2005 at the Fujisankei Classic. He also has one victory on the Japan...
Greg Chalmers
Greg Chalmers
Greg J. Chalmers is an Australian professional golfer who has played on both the European Tour and currently the PGA Tour.Chalmers was born in Sydney...
Brendon de Jonge
Brendon de Jonge
Brendon de Jonge is a professional golfer from Zimbabwe. He currently plays on the PGA Tour.-Professional career:De Jonge played on the Nationwide Tour from 2004 to 2006 and 2008. He earned his 2007 PGA Tour card at Q-school. He finished 155th on the money list in 2007, losing his tour card...
Charley Hoffman
Charley Hoffman
Charley Lindley Hoffman is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Hoffman was born in San Diego, California. He won the California State High School Championship in 1994 and 1995, becoming the first two time winner. He qualified three times for the Buick...
Graham DeLaet
Graham DeLaet
Graham DeLaet is a Canadian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, the Canadian Tour and the Sunshine Tour.-Early life:...
Gary Woodland
Gary Woodland
-Early life:Woodland was born in Topeka, Kansas, and attended Shawnee Heights High School in the suburb of Tecumseh. After high school, he attended Washburn University on a basketball scholarship, but left after his freshman year to take up a golf scholarship at University of Kansas...
Jose Maria Olazabal
José María Olazábal
José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:...
Titleist also has a very extensive list of players who endorse their golf ball only, including the following
David Toms
David Toms
David Wayne Toms is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won a total of thirteen events on the PGA Tour including the 2001 PGA Championship...
Hunter Mahan
Hunter Mahan
Hunter Myles Mahan is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Mahan was born in Orange, California. He had a successful amateur career, winning the 1999 5A Texas State High School Golf Championship while attending McKinney High School and the 1999 U.S. Junior...
Angel Cabrera
Angel Cabrera
Ángel Cabrera is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish or in English as "The duck" for his waddling gait. He is a former U.S. Open champion and Masters champion. He is the first Argentine to win either...
Aaron Baddeley
Aaron Baddeley
Aaron John Baddeley is an American-Australian professional golfer. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA and now plays on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship and was raised in Australia from the age of two...
Mike Weir
Mike Weir
Michael Richard Weir, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 2001 and 2005. He is best known for winning the Masters in 2003....
DA Points KJ Choi
External links
- Titleist.com - official site
- PinnacleGolf.com - official site