Titleist Ball Plant Tour
Charlottesville
April 20, 2022
On Monday I visited the Titleist Ball Plant 3 for a tour. It was the first day of tours since March 2020. I had a blast - as a golfer, an engineer and as an MBA.
No cameras are allowed in the facility — Titleist is very protective of its process and technology. This plant makes Pro V1, Pro V1x and AVX balls. These are not the balls of our youth that consisted of a rubber ball filled with a liquid, wound with electric and wrapped in a balata cover that you could cut with a poorly struck iron. These balls consist of several layers of special materials (synthetic rubber is a key component) that are optimized for distance, control, feel and durability.
Fred Young started Titleist in 1935 to produce more consistent golf balls than were available at the time. Mr Young was both a golfer and owned a rubber company so he was in good position to leap into the golf ball market. Since 1935, all Titleist balls are xrayed to assure they meet Titleist standards.
The production process is highly automated although there is a decent amount of human interaction. In the final steps of the process, technicians wear hairnets, gowns and gloves to avoid introducing any foreign substances. The engineer in me loved all the automation. The MBA in me was surprised that so much equipment was out of service — some was being maintained, other looked to be down because they weren’t producing a full capacity of balls.
The tour took almost 90 minutes so we saw a lot. I’d definitely do it again if I were in the Boston area.
Some photos that I was allowed to take:
From 2013
From 2018:
they should focus on the cover, i know that they seem to be a smile magnet for some reason when i use them 🤣