2026 will be the second year of Titleist’s 25th anniversary For V1. The second year is usually when most Titleist competitors benefit from our familiarity with it The number 1 golf ball to take a fresh shot at offering compelling alternatives that might just steal your attention and your dollars from Titleist’s flagship offerings.
So as we approach embargo season and the release of some new tournament-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 have to go easy on the specifics, but we’d still love to hear which new balls you’re most interested in trying out.
Major brands
Here’s what we expect from the biggest names in the golf ball category.
Bridgestone
2026 will be a transformative year for Bridgestone’s golf ball lineup. The history of the technology is compelling, and with a complete renaming of the line to “VS,” it could generate new interest in Bridgestone’s four urethane models.
With Tiger on the DL again and Bryson long off the roster, Bridgestone may have lost a bit of marketing power, but, for what it’s worth, the VS Black looks like a solid performer while RXS remains an option for players looking for softer-feeling urethane performance.
While we await the new offerings, Bridgestone has gone mainstream TOUR B Series.
Callaway
with Tour in Chrome, Chrome X tourAND Soft chrome deep into Year 2, it’s reasonable to expect Callaway to refresh three of its four urethane offerings. Favorable distance Triple Diamond of the Chrome Tour it won’t be out for a year 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 players a reason to take a closer look, but Callaway’s challenge remains the same: he has to make tackles with the best player.
Unlike Titleist and TaylorMade, most of Callaway’s ball sales come from sub-tournament offerings, namely Supersoft AND Soft chrome. While plans change, I think the company would still like to see the balance of sales towards its tour offerings.
Given the market numbers, there is a reasonable argument for doing so Chrome X tour is the most underrated ball in golf.
Will this change in 2026?
TaylorMade
TaylorMade’s top five-piece offerings—TP5 AND TP5x—are due for renewal in early 2026. The chatter we’ve heard suggests that TaylorMade’s history will be similar to Callaway’s, and that could make it difficult for either brand to distinguish itself.
As the only five-layer offering from a major manufacturer, the TP5 lineup is both compelling and ripe with opportunity. That said, the TP5 still has a tendency to balloon in some swing conditions and can get spinnery.
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 noticeably offline in our ball test), but with another year of factory ownership and this opportunity to take full control of the manufacturing process, we’re cautiously optimistic for significant improvements.
Like Bridgestone’s flagship offerings, the current model TP5 AND TP5x are discounted.
Titleist
The second year of For V1 AND Pro V1x doesn’t mean there isn’t anything on the way from Titleist. The off year has usually been when Titleist refreshes its Surlyn offerings, but with AVX now a lineup staple and highly anticipated Left dash refreshes on the road, 2026 is looking to be a bit more interesting than it would have been historically.
Odd-numbered years are for the mainstream, while even-numbered years (like 2026) seem to be when Titleist caters to niche market elements. For my money, that’s infinitely more exciting.
Wilson
You can add Wilson’s Staff Model AND Model X staff on the list of underrated ball models. The two main 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 a try, Wilson continues to put itself in a difficult position with products priced on par (or nearly so) with the market leaders, despite its lack of reputation (however unjustified) in the category.
The other leaders
both Mizuno AND Srixon Tour lines completely refreshed this year. There’s no reason to think it will introduce anything new, although it’s fair to say that if interest in products like Left Dash and Triple Diamond pick up, perhaps 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) are likely to disproportionately affect DTC brands (and anyone else who doesn’t make their balls in the US) and that could affect 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 the shelves.
Maxfli released a complete refresh of the TOUR series in early 2025. DICK’S (Maxfli’s parent company) has kept its premium ball on a reliable two-year cycle, so we don’t expect a new release in 2026.
OnCore
OnCore has passed due to the release of new versions of both ELIX AND TRUE series. We expected to see the latter earlier this year, so we’re pretty sure we’ll see something new in 2026. Worth a quick note: the company continues to move away from the Genius smart ball (golf ball with a built-in 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 at the end of June. It’s not unreasonable to think we’ll see the same minor changes made to it PRIME 2.0 AND PRIME 4.0. Don’t expect any kind of massive overhaul, but we’re optimistic that there are plenty in the way of important updates.
Have your say
With an entire retail shelf of new designs on the way, which new designs are you most excited to try?
Post 2026 will be a buzz for golf balls. Here’s what you can expect. appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
