Four GolfWRXers got the trip of a lifetime to the Titleist Research and Development Center at Manchester Lane in Acushnet, Massachusetts.

The Manchester Lane facility serves as the company’s golf ball development and validation center. The complex focuses on refining testing methodologies and maintaining quality standards while supporting ongoing research. Beyond its primary function as a testing ground for Titleist’s golf ball lineup, the facility also houses a Tour Fitting Center that provides high-end ball and club fitting services.

In addition to touring this world-class facility, members were fit for Titleist golf balls, learned about the company’s AIM technology, and more.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes into a Titleist golf ball fitting, you’ll want to check out the video overview of their time in Massachusetts.

The four lucky WRXers were:

• @hwwong
• @etodd
• @DooZ
• @cbrwn425

In addition to their starring roles in the video above (and more to come), the WRXers of course sounded off about their Manchester Lane experiences in the forums. A few of their many words, below.

@hwwong

I think I was most surprised at how thoroughly Titleist does things. I heard a couple times, that they may not be first, but they’re going to make darn sure the product they put out actually performs how they want it. It plays into their 2 year release cycle – they want to have ample time to make absolutely sure what they’re working on is correct. This also extends to how they verify everything too. The develop testing plans and processes to validate any assumption or performance characteristic they’re trying to accomplish. Then they develop more processes and testing to validate those validation LOL. By the time the product reaches the market, I think it’s safe to say, it’s going to do what they say it’s going to do.

Second, it’s clear they care about golfers. In a world that’s overrun with quarterly earnings, annual goals, and immediate gratification, it was so refreshing to hear thing’s like “just make sure you get the right people, the numbers don’t matter.” Or “no, that product isn’t ready yet, let’s do some more testing.” Titleist goal is simply to help golfers perform and play at their best – that’s what drives everything they do from top to bottom.

Third, and I’m not just saying this.. I trust my Titleist golf ball. I have been a long time user – simply because I never really found the need to switch. I had always heard rumors that Titleist balls were higher QC, higher quality, etc. but now, having seen it, I believe it. And it’s well known, no one else is producing golf balls the way Titleist is. Let me reiterate – THE TESTING. It’s borderline obsessive and likely excessive.

All in all what an awesome 2 days. All just for being an internet golf nerd. Can’t wait to go back to Manchester Lane.

A few morsels from @etodd

To start the day, we had a shuttle swing by the hotel at about 8am to bring us over to the Titleist Performance Center at Manchester Lane. The entrance to ML truly is magical. The drive-in has its own “magnolia lane” feel to it, and then a beautiful patch of green just pops out of nowhere. Unfortunately we drew the short straw and had a rainy day ahead of us, but we made the most of it, and so did Titleist! We were welcomed by a few more members of the Titleist team, and had a few minutes to settle in/roll some putts with a few Scotty’s in the lobby before we started our ball fittings. I won’t give too much info about their process, as WRX also had media on site to film our experience, but I did so happen to fit into the ball that I’m currently playing – ProV1. Which at least gives me a little confidence in my game over the past few months.

I tend to like a softer feel off the face, especially with irons/wedges/putter, and also struggle with excess wood spin like I mentioned in a previous post in this thread, and the ProV1 fits the bill. That’s why I have played it, and that’s why I will continue to play it. And my numbers backed it up.

After our ball fittings, we then went into a full ML tour with Mrs. Karen Gray+Team from Titleist who showed us around the new ML buildings. This included the indoor welcome/putting area, the fitting bays where we did our ball fittings, a small gym, the FootJoy fit lab, conference rooms, the R&D/ball testing building, the 100 yard putting green (yes… 100 yards), and the short game fitting area. Tons of little extras too. The ProV1 timeline, Iron Byron, etc.

@crbwn

Due to the rain we did everything inside in the fitting bays and they had everything Titleist you could think of or ever want to hit. @etodd was first up in the ball fitting so I got loose on the other bay where they generously loaded up Bethpage Black for us. After getting loose with my clubs it was time to try out some of theirs and first up was the U505 1 iron. It’s a beefy boy that I have no business being anywhere near by man did it feel good. The went through I think every iron model they make and was impressed by everything. Then it was my turn for the ball fitting, like everyone else we started with inputting some data into the app focused on handicap, course conditions, and current set up with what shots are hit with each club. We then hit half wedges, full pitching wedges, 7 iron and finished with driver. As the only not currently playing a Titleist ball I didn’t really know what I would fit into and ended up in the ProV1X, I struggle with launching the ball high enough and generating enough spin and I’m confident after working with Brian that this ball change will help a ton with that. After that is was back to the sim and playing alternate shot with etodd while @hwwong @DooZ did their ball fittings. Once everyone was finished up we met Karen and she took us through a tour of the facility starting with the main building and then moving over to the testing side. We could only take pictures in the hallway but the robots and launch monitors they have set up were really impressive.

Of course one of the coolest this is the perfectly flat 100 yard putting green, Karen told us how they laser it to make sure it stays flat and how they will adjust sections of it to test for different green conditions. Just like everyone else we met Karen was great and answered all of our questions with passion and enthusiasm. After the tour they took us over to the short game fitting area for a presentation on their AIM technology where they did just say how using an alignment line improves putting accuracy by 35% they showed us how they collected the thousands upon thousands of data points to back it up. They had a demonstration set up that displayed the putting window from a few feet and the difference between using and not using the alignment line. With line you can expect 9/10 putts made and with out 7/10, this accuracy only becomes more important the farther away the initial putt is, could be the difference between a 4 foot and an 18 inch putt.

Check out the thread for more.