I toured Titleist's Pro V1 Ball Plant

Here at Sugarloaf Social Club, we’re all about the “high-low” golf experience. This August, Ian, Sam, and I took a group of 12 members of our community to Massachusetts for the ultimate high-low experience, thanks to the cool folks at Titleist, who continue to be amazing friends.

The High

Our morning started at Titleist’s Manchester Lane Test Facility – sort of a hidden golf paradise tucked into the woods of Acushnet. It’s as pure a setup as you’ll find anywhere: a flawless range, short-game area, and an indoor putting green surrounded by racks of Scotty Cameron putters. There, we rolled some putts and waited for the rest of our Loafers to arrive.

One of the best parts of our gatherings is hearing how far people travel to be a part of them. Ben made the trip from Maine. Corey snagged a last-minute spot off the waitlist and came up from South Carolina. And Matt – also from South Carolina – hopped on a plane to hang with us for the second time this year after coming to our Culver Academies meetup back in June. These are the kinds of adventures that define Sugarloaf: people going way out of their way to share a day chasing a little white ball around a field with friends.

Once everyone was ready to roll, we split into two groups: my group hopped in a van to tour Titleist’s “Ball Plant 3,” while the other group got started on T-Series iron fittings (more on that later!). If your whole golfing life is one long exam, taking a tour of Ball Plant 3 must be something like extra credit – I didn’t even know this was something I could do, but it sure knocked my socks off. 

This is where the Pro V1 and Pro V1x are made. On this particular day, Titleist was running prototype production, which meant no photos or videos allowed – a good sign you’re somewhere special. We walked around the facility and took it all in, from the intense machinery used to manufacture the balls to the smell of fresh, brand-new Pro V1s. We watched the whole process unfold – machinery, materials, and manpower – all the way down to the 100+ quality checks a ball goes through before it reaches a fresh sleeve. At one point, we donned lab coats and hair nets to watch the inspection of the “Titleist” stamp – a moment that made us all laugh and appreciate just how much precision goes into something we take for granted.

I swear this isn’t a Titleist ad, but I left with a whole new appreciation for what goes into a Pro V1. More than 400 employees work in that plant, producing over 300,000 golf balls per day, each one made with care and consistency. They didn’t become the #1 ball in golf by accident!

Back at Manchester Lane, we swapped the lab coats for clubs. I’ve been playing AP1s since 2018, so I was overdue for an upgrade. The Manchester Lane range is immaculate – so much so that a crew of leaf blowers appeared out of nowhere between fittings to tidy up every divot and blade of grass. As for the actual fitting, the technology evolution in the T-Series irons was apparent to me from the very first swing. The feel and sound of the ball contact was shocking – even just seven years can lead to massive changes in golf club technology. I literally said “wow!” when I took that first swing. It didn’t take long for Dan to fit me into T-250s I was comfortable with: the ball launches higher and my misses are tighter. I even picked up a few yards of distance, too! 

Our time at Manchester Lane wrapped up with a demonstration from one of Titleist’s top-secret ball engineers. She showed us the answers to a lot of questions I’ve always had about the golf ball – “what would happen if a ball had no dimples?” and “what if a ball only had dimples on one side?” – plus some questions I did not have but was interested to learn – “what if you changed the size of each dimple by a millionth of a millimeter?”

We said our goodbyes to the fine folks at Titleist, but not without a couple of goodie bags for everyone who came: Titleist party favors, photos from our day, and a sleeve of custom SSC Pro V1s (or Pro V1x, depending on what you play). It’s pretty cool to know that a big OEM like Titleist cares about its customers individually, all the way down to making sure everyone’s bag had their preferred golf ball. It was a beyond-special day full of “highs,” but we weren’t quite done with our adventure!

The “Low”

We all hopped in our cars and made the short drive to Marion Golf Club, affectionately known as “Little Marion” in the golf sicko community. This is the kind of place we love. It’s George Thomas’ first design, and it’s probably the little picture that shows up next to “hidden gem” in the dictionary. It’s public, it’s a nine-holer, it’s affordable, and it’s really, really interesting. What more could you ask for?

Pizza. After a long day of ball plant touring and iron fitting, we needed something to eat, and Marion’s Director of Operations, Will, was ready for us with pizza and cold beer. Clutch! Everybody grabbed a couple of slices and a brew before forming a couple of fivesomes and embarking out on the course.

Little Marion is awesome. This was my first time playing the course, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. We’ve played a lot of hidden gem-type courses this year, and this one is definitely toward the top of the list for me. It’s got tons of charm – interesting land features, a beautiful view of the water, and some sick stone walls that run around the golf course, which make you think just a little bit more about your strategy. The walls come into play on seven of the nine holes if my memory serves me correctly, but perhaps most importantly, they guard each of the three par-threes. Choose your club wisely, or you could get rejected!

This was a really special round of golf for me. Sure, the course is awesome. Something about it made me smile on each hole. But the company – the company was somehow even better! We’re all just golf nerds who love to talk about golf, and what an interesting place to talk shop. We saw some balls hit walls. We had amazing shots. We had bad ones too (it was a long day with a lot of swings!). Everybody was happy, and by golly that is a sign of a heck of a Sugarloaf-y day. 

I consider myself lucky any time I get to swing a golf club, but this was one of those days where I know I was extra lucky. From some truly once-in-a-lifetime moments with Titleist to an awesome emergency nine at Marion, this was a high-low day that was full of highs, and I’m so glad we got to share it with some really cool members of our community. If this all sounds like fun to you, please join us for our next gathering!

Ian, Sam, and I weren’t quite done with our day. We hopped in the car with Jacquelin from Titleist and headed to Cisco Brewers (a Massachusetts staple) in New Bedford for some beers and bites – a perfect end to a pretty rad day. Mad Love, y’all!