Titleist started with a missed putt and an X-ray. In the early 1930s, Phil Young, an MIT graduate who ran a Massachusetts rubber company called Acushnet, blamed a miss on his golf ball, had it X-rayed, and found the core was off-center. That sent him down a path that produced the first Titleist ball in 1935, and the brand has been built on that same obsession with consistency ever since.
We sell a lot of used Titleist gear, and customers ask about the history all the time. Here's the story, kept to what we could verify from Titleist's own history and other reliable sources.
Who was Phil Young?
Phil Young was a Massachusetts businessman and MIT graduate. He co-founded the business that became the Acushnet Process Company in 1910. Its original work had nothing to do with golf. The company reprocessed rubber and made precision molded rubber products.
Young was also a keen amateur golfer, and that's where Titleist comes in.
What happened with the X-ray?
According to Titleist, Young missed a putt during a Sunday match and was sure the ball, not his stroke, was to blame. His playing partner was a friend who ran the X-ray department at a local hospital, so they X-rayed the ball. The core was off-center. When they checked more balls, they found the same kind of inconsistency. An off-center core means a ball that doesn't roll or fly true, which is exactly what you'd want to rule out on a short putt.
The details vary a little depending on who tells it. Titleist's main history page dates the X-ray to 1932, while another Titleist piece puts the missed putt in 1930, and some secondhand accounts describe the friend as a dentist rather than a hospital radiologist. We've gone with Titleist's own version, but the exact year is a bit fuzzy.
How did Acushnet build the first Titleist ball?
Young brought in Fred Bommer, a fellow MIT graduate, rubber specialist and golfer, to run Acushnet's new golf division. The two spent several years working on a ball with a properly centered core and consistent construction. That ball was ready in 1935 and was named Titleist.
The name comes from "titlist," a word for a title holder or champion. The Titleist script that still appears on every ball also dates to 1935. Titleist says it was based on the handwriting of Helen Robinson, a secretary at the company, who wrote the name out on a sheet of paper when executives were looking for a logo.
When did Titleist become the ball the pros played?
It took a while. Titleist turned its attention to professional tournaments in the 1940s, and in 1949 it led the ball count at the U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club for the first time. Titleist now says it has been the most played ball across the worldwide professional tours for more than 75 years.
When did Titleist start making clubs?
Later than most people think. Acushnet bought club maker Golfcraft in a deal completed in 1969, and the first Titleist-branded irons, built on Golfcraft forgings, arrived around 1969 to 1970. The first iron designed in-house by the Titleist team, the AC-108, came in 1972. Titleist's club line grew from there into drivers, fairways, hybrids and the irons we see traded in every week.
Two partnerships in the 1990s shaped what Titleist is today. The company began working with putter designer Scotty Cameron in 1994, and Bob Vokey joined in 1996. His first Titleist project was the 975D driver, and he later focused on the wedges that now carry his name. If you're curious how those lines have evolved, we've written about Vokey SM8, SM9 and SM10 wedges and about buying a used Scotty Cameron.
Who has owned Titleist?
Acushnet, Titleist's parent company, has changed hands a few times:
- 1976: American Brands (later renamed Fortune Brands) bought Acushnet.
- 1996: American Brands acquired Cobra Golf, which was run under the Acushnet umbrella. Cobra was later sold to Puma in 2010.
- 2011: A group led by Fila Korea and Mirae Asset Private Equity agreed to buy Acushnet for about $1.23 billion.
What made the Pro V1 such a big deal?
The Pro V1 debuted on the PGA Tour in October 2000 at the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. That was the first week tour players could use it in competition, and Titleist says 47 players switched to it that week. Billy Andrade won the tournament with it on October 16, 2000.
The Pro V1 used a solid, multi-component construction at a time when most premium tour balls were still wound designs. Demand was strong enough that Titleist moved its retail launch up from a planned March 2001 to December 2000. According to Golf Datatech figures Titleist cited in 2015, it was the best-selling ball in golf for 178 consecutive months at that point.
What does that history mean for buying Titleist today?
The thread running through all of it is consistency. That's the same reason used Titleist clubs hold up well: they're built to tight tolerances, and a well-kept driver or iron set from a few generations back still performs. Our article on the TS2 and TS3 drivers is a good example of an older Titleist that still makes sense. You can see what's on the rack in our used Titleist drivers, each listed individually with exact specs and a 1 to 10 condition grade.
FAQ
Who founded Titleist?
Phil Young, who ran the Acushnet Process Company in Massachusetts. Titleist began as Acushnet's golf ball brand, developed with Fred Bommer.
What year was the first Titleist golf ball made?
1935, after several years of development that began with Young's X-ray discovery in the early 1930s.
What does the name Titleist mean?
It comes from "titlist," meaning a title holder or champion.
Is Titleist owned by Acushnet?
Yes. Titleist is Acushnet's flagship brand, alongside FootJoy, Vokey and Scotty Cameron.
Who won the first tournament with the Pro V1?
Billy Andrade, at the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas in October 2000, the ball's first week on tour.
