2026 will be the second year of Titleist’s 25th-anniversary Pro V1. That second year is typically when the majority of Titleist’s competitors take advantage of our familiarity with The #1 Ball in Golf to take a fresh shot at offering compelling alternatives that just might steal your attention and your dollars from Titleist’s flagship offerings.
So, as we creep closer to embargo season and the release of several new tour-level options, we wanted to give you a preview of what you can expect in early 2026.
As is unfortunately often the case, we’ll need to tread lightly as far as the specifics, but we’d still love to hear what new balls you’re most interested in trying.
The mainstream brands
Here’s what we expect from the biggest names in the golf ball category.
Bridgestone
2026 is shaping up to be a transformative year for Bridgestone’s golf ball lineup. The technology story is compelling and with a full rename of the lineup to “VS,” it could create fresh interest in Bridgestone’s four urethane models.
With Tiger on the DL again and Bryson long since off the roster, Bridgestone may have lost a little bit of marketing power but, for what it’s worth, the VS Black looks like a strong performer while the RXS remains an option for golfers seeking urethane performance with softer feel.
As we wait for the new offerings, Bridgestone has discounted the current TOUR B Series.
Callaway
With Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X, and Chrome Soft deep into Year 2, it’s reasonable to expect Callaway will refresh three of its four urethane offerings. The distance-favoring Chrome Tour Triple Diamond won’t hit one year in the market until early next year so while I never say never, I wouldn’t expect a replacement in 2026.
We’re hearing there’s a new performance angle that Callaway hopes will give golfers a reason to take a closer look but Callaway’s challenge remains the same: it needs to make inroads with the better golfer.
Unlike Titleist and TaylorMade, the bulk of Callaway’s ball sales come from sub-tour offerings, namely Supersoft and Chrome Soft. While plans change, I think the company would still like to see the balance of sales tip towards its tour offerings.
Given the market numbers, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that Chrome Tour X is the most underappreciated ball in golf.
Will that change in 2026?
TaylorMade
TaylorMade’s flagship five-piece offerings—TP5 and TP5x—are up for renewal in early 2026. The chatter we’ve heard suggests TaylorMade’s story will be similar to Callaway’s and that could make it difficult for either brand to differentiate itself.
As the only five-layer offering from a major manufacturer, the TP5 lineup is both compelling and ripe with opportunity. That said, TP5 still has a tendency to balloon under some swing conditions and can get spinny.
It’s also true that there are still some quality issues that can lead to the occasional cuckoo ball (we had a few TP5 and TP5x fly significantly offline in our ball test) but with another year of factory ownership under its belt, and with that the opportunity to take full control of the manufacturing process, we’re cautiously optimistic about significant improvement.
Like Bridgestone’s flagship offerings, current model TP5 and TP5x have been discounted.
Titleist
The second year of Pro V1 and Pro V1x doesn’t mean there’s nothing on the way from Titleist. The off-year has typically been when Titleist refreshes its Surlyn offerings but with AVX now a staple of the lineup and the long-awaited Left Dash refresh on the way, 2026 is shaping up to be a bit more interesting than it would historically have been.
Odd-numbered years are for the mainstream while even-numbered years (like 2026) appear to be when Titleist services the niche elements of the market. For my money, that’s infinitely more exciting.
Wilson
You can add Wilson’s Staff Model and Staff Model X to the list of underappreciated ball models. The two Foremost offerings have consistently tested well in the lab and with the robot.
Both models are due for a refresh this year and while I think both will be worth trying, Wilson continues to put itself in a tough position with products priced on par (or nearly so) with the market leaders despite its lack of reputation (unwarranted as it may be) in the category.
The other mainstreamers
Both Mizuno and Srixon fully refreshed tour lineups this year. There’s no reason to think either will introduce something new although it’s fair to say that if interest in products like Left Dash and Triple Diamond increase, possibly one or both could introduce a new model.
DTC and house brands
DTC brands are less predictable. It’s also true that other external factors (tariffs) will likely disproportionately impact DTC brands (and anyone else who doesn’t manufacture their balls in the U.S.A.) and that could impact the timing of releases.
Costco/Kirkland
The quietly updated Performance+ is still relatively new to the market. We don’t expect any new releases in 2026—at least not in the first half—but I think I speak for a lot of golfers when I say it sure would be interesting if the wholesaler put another four-piece option on shelves.
Maxfli released a full refresh of the TOUR series in the beginning of 2025. DICK’S (Maxfli’s parent company) has kept its premium balls on a reliable two-year cycle so we’re not expecting a new release in 2026.
OnCore
OnCore is past due to release new versions of both ELIXR and VERO X series. We expected to see the latter earlier this year so we’re reasonably confident we’ll see something new in 2026. Worth a quick mention: the company continues to churn away at Genius smart ball (golf ball with an integrated launch monitor). The Genius ball has been in development for as long as I can remember but some indications suggest it’s getting closer … finally.
Snell
Snell released an updated version of the PRIME 3.0 in late June. It’s not unreasonable to think we’d see those same small tweaks roll into the PRIME 2.0 and the PRIME 4.0. Don’t expect any sort of massive overhaul but we’re optimistic there’s enough in the updates to matter.
Have your say
With an entire retail shelf’s worth of new models on the way, which new models are you most excited to try?
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