Behind the Scenes: 2016 Team Titleist Ultimate Experience

By Rick V., Team Titleist Staff On 10 November 2016 Balls Video Clubs

The 2016 Team Titleist Ultimate Experience began...
The 2016 Team Titleist Ultimate Experience began at Titleist Ball Plant 3, where Jeremy Schmidt (left) and brother Dustin (right) came behind the scenes to see how we make the #1 ball in golf.1/31
The Schmidts were greeted by Bill Frye, Titleist’s...
The Schmidts were greeted by Bill Frye, Titleist’s Vice President of Golf Ball Operations, who shared some insights about manufacturing Pro V1 and Pro V1x before sending them on a tour of the facility.2/31
Titleist’s Rob Schoening was kind enough to take a...
Titleist’s Rob Schoening was kind enough to take a break from his duties as Manager of Product and Inventory Control at Ball Plant 3 and serve as Tour Guide for the morning. After a quick visit to the Mixing Room, Rob took Jeremy and Dustin down to the ground floor, where the raw ingredients of the golf ball core are mixed into batches and rolled out into sheets of core material. You can tell from the aqua color that this material will eventually be formed into cores for Pro V1 golf balls.3/31
Once the core material has been cooled and...
Once the core material has been cooled and conditioned, it is fed into an extruder machine, which squeezes the material into a long cylindrical tube. This material is then sliced, forming cylindrical rods called core pre-forms or core preps. 4/31
The Schmidts exhibit amazing listening skills!
The Schmidts exhibit amazing listening skills!5/31
And who could blame them with so much cool stuff...
And who could blame them with so much cool stuff to learn about?6/31
The core preps are loaded onto trays and then fed...
The core preps are loaded onto trays and then fed into mold presses, where they’re cooked under pressure to create …7/31
… cores, the engine of the Pro V1 golf ball.
… cores, the engine of the Pro V1 golf ball.8/31
The molded cores are stored in large basket totes...
The molded cores are stored in large basket totes where they cool before they go through a thermoplastic injection molding process that applies an ionomeric casing layer around the core.9/31
On the way to cover casting operations, Rob,...
On the way to cover casting operations, Rob, Jeremy and Dustin walked on a floor that features all the different sidestamps that have appeared on Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls since the first Pro V1 was introduced in 2001.10/31
Before the urethane cover is molded, the core...
Before the urethane cover is molded, the core undergoes a plasma discharge process that ensures that the urethane material adheres properly to the ionomer casing layer.11/31
The urethane cover has been molded, but several...
The urethane cover has been molded, but several steps still remain …12/31
… starting with a wardrobe change …
… starting with a wardrobe change …13/31
… before the tour group heads into paint...
… before the tour group heads into paint operations.14/31
The balls receive a coat of white primer paint.
The balls receive a coat of white primer paint.15/31
After drying, the painted golf balls head to...
After drying, the painted golf balls head to stamping for the play number …16/31
… sidestamp …
… sidestamp …17/31
… and the Titleist Script.
… and the Titleist Script.18/31
A very enjoyable and educational experience for...
A very enjoyable and educational experience for all of us who got to tag along with Rob. 19/31
Next up, we shuttled the Schmidts from New Bedford...
Next up, we shuttled the Schmidts from New Bedford to Acushnet, MA. After a quick turn down a residential street, the road bends and the pines give way to …20/31
… Titleist’s Manchester Lane Test Facility.
… Titleist’s Manchester Lane Test Facility.21/31
Jeremy and Dustin started off by visiting the bays...
Jeremy and Dustin started off by visiting the bays where we conduct testing with robotic hitters and they felt right at home once they saw the poster of Titleist Brand Ambassador and fellow Wisconsin native Steve Stricker.22/31
After a quick warm-up, the brothers got to work.
After a quick warm-up, the brothers got to work.23/31
Jeremy received a complete Tour Fitting from...
Jeremy received a complete Tour Fitting from Titleist expert fitter Chris O’Rourke … 24/31
… while Dustin got dialed in under the expert eye...
… while Dustin got dialed in under the expert eye of Karen Gray, Titleist’s Supervisor of Player Research.25/31
Did we mention Jeremy and Dustin are originally...
Did we mention Jeremy and Dustin are originally from Wisconsin?26/31
The numbers don’t lie. Team Titleist Manager, Mike...
The numbers don’t lie. Team Titleist Manager, Mike DePaolo liked how this driver and shaft combination performed for Dustin just as much as Karen did.27/31
After finding the right golf ball, driver, fairway...
After finding the right golf ball, driver, fairway metals, hybrids and irons, the fitting moved to the short game area at Manchester Lane to find the right combination of Vokey SM6 wedges to complete the fittings.28/31
The right lofts and sole grinds can make all the...
The right lofts and sole grinds can make all the difference.29/31
Just what we like to see …
Just what we like to see …30/31
… smiles all around at the end of the day.
… smiles all around at the end of the day.31/31

"Since I got here, my jaw has been on the ground."

This is how Team Titleist member Jeremy Schmidt described his visit to Titleist, as he took a quick breather during his Tour Fitting session at our Manchester Lane Test Facility.

Jeremy and his brother Dustin were the Grand Prize Winners in this year's Team Titleist Ultimate Experience and their fittings capped a whirlwind trip to Massachusetts in which the brothers visited Titleist's headquarters, received a VIP tour of Ball Plant 3 (where we manufacture Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls) and experienced the Tour treatment as they were custom fit, tee-to-green for brand new bags of Titleist clubs.

We joined the guys for all of the excitement and we’ve shared some of the highlights from their trip in the photo gallery above.

Congratulations again to Jeremy and Dustin! It was great getting to know you both and we wish you all the best with your new gear.

Thank you to all of the Team Titleist members who entered the sweepstakes. It was a privilege to read all the thoughtful and heart-felt submissions.

Stay tuned, as we'll have many more exciting opportunities coming up in the future.

BONUS COVERAGE:

Jeremy won us over with the touching essay he submitted for this year's Ultimate Experience Sweepstakes. The essay captured Jeremy's humor, his passion for golf, the way the game has brought his family closer and the gratitude Jeremy and Dustin both feel towards Mel "Mopsy" Wuethrich, a local golf pro and driving range owner who gave the young Schmidts their start in the game.

We wanted to hear more about Jeremy and Dustin's wonder years, so we mounted a camera on the dash of our car as we took the guys to Ball Plant 3. Take a ride with us in the video below and enjoy some great storytelling from Jeremy and Dustin as they paint a portrait of Mopsy and share how it felt to win the Team Titleist Ultimate Experience.

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