A non work-related blog this time, as I
thought I’d share my recent experience of trialling different golf balls. I’ve
always given a lot of thought to which ball to use; I think it’s mad to put a
lot of effort into choosing clubs and a putter, possibly even having them all
custom built, or at the very least custom fitted only to hit every shot with the first ball you find in your bag.
However, at a golfing event at the weekend
I spoke to a Titleist ball specialist who persuaded me to get off my butt and
actually go out and put some balls through their paces. I chose six balls, for
reasons I’ll come on to, and spent a couple of hours on an almost deserted
course seeing how they performed around the green, at short and longer distances
and with my driver.
I made the whole test as objective as
possible and promised myself that I would in future play the ball that scored
highest in my tests. I left price out of the reckoning; golf’s my passion, so
if I have to pay a bit more for better results I’ll do that, but I realise cost
might be a factor for some players choosing a ball so I’ll include all the
performance figures anyway.
I was very surprised at the final outcome,
and immediately purchased a dozen of the “Winning” ball, which was one I would
never have bought based on everything I have read about golf ball selection.
For information, my handicap has fluctuated
between 16 and 19 over the last two years. I have no connection with any golf
equipment manufacturer or with any of the sellers I list below. I just like
golf.
Ball Selection
The six balls I trialled, reasons why and
best price I could find:
|
Ball
|
Reason
|
Best price (Dozen new white)
|
|
Callaway Hex Warbird
|
I was given
them by a rep. at Wentworth
|
£14.90 from www.golfonline.co.uk
|
|
TaylorMade Rocketballz (2013)
|
Changed to them
a couple of months ago because all my clubs are now TaylorMade and they are
performing well so I thought the balls might.
|
£19.99 inc P&P from www.americangolf.co.uk
|
|
Titleist Velocity
|
Given to me by
the Titleist rep. who persuaded me to do this test.
|
£21.99 inc. handling fee from www.golfgeardirect.co.uk/
|
|
Bridgestone e6
|
I’ve played
them for a year because they promise low spin speed and therefore straighter
shots off the driver. Online ball selection sites suggest they are a good
ball for high handicappers
|
£22.74 from eBay store
|
|
Titleist NXT Tour
|
I won them in a
recent competition
|
£28.99 from www.ishop.co.uk
|
|
Titleist Pro v1x
|
Given to me by
the Titleist rep. who persuaded me to do this test.
|
£29 inc. P&P from eBay store
|
The Tests
I hit two of each
model for each test. This was the order I tested in:
1. 10yds chip on
to the green with a 9 iron – common shot for me as my second shot doesn’t hit
the green that often.
2. Chip over bunker on to green with 60ยบ
LW.
3. Full PW from 120yds.
4. Full 5 iron from light rough.
5. Driver off tee.
I excluded “Feel” from the tests because I
don’t have the finesse to appreciate the difference except when I use something
like a Top Flight, which I find so hard it feels like a brick.
Results
For each of the tests I ranked the balls
from 1 to 6, 1 being the best performance, 6 being the poorest. If I hit any
duff shots I excluded them from the results. So, the lower the number, the
better the result.
Chip
to green 9 iron
1. Pro v1x
2. NXT
3. e6
4. Velocity
T5 Rocketballz
T5 Callaway
Not too much difference in performance here
if I’m honest but the top two did seem to get up off the ground more easily and
have a nice, controlled roll to the hole on landing.
I was disappointed to see the Rocketballz –
my current ball of choice – tie for fifth spot.
Chip
over bunker, LW
1. Pro v1x
2. Callaway
3. Velocity
4. e6
5. Rocketballz
6. NXT
I could see all the balls spin in the air
on this test, but the Pro v1x seemed to have that bit more and the landing was
very controlled.
I was disappointed again to see the
Rocketballz perform so poorly and very surprised to see the NXT come out in
last place.
120yds
PW
1. NXT
T2. Rocketballz
T2. e6
4. Velocity
5. Pro v1x
6. Callaway
I was very surprised to see the Pro v1x
come fifth, but this perhaps highlights the weakness of the testing because I
was using a small sample size for each ball.
5I
from light rough
T1. Pro v1x
T1. Rocketballz
3. Velocity
4. e6
5. Callaway
6. NXT
The Pro v1x and the Rocketballz got up
really well and flew straightest of all the balls on test.
Driver
I hit the balls more often with the driver
than anything else because my scoring stats show that if I get a bad drive away
I tend to score badly. This is contrary to Titleist’s argument that “You only
use the driver 14 times a round so you should choose a ball that performs best
round the greens” but I’ve collected my stats over a long period of time
(years!) so I know my drive is important.
1. Pro v1x
T2. Callaway
T2. Velocity
T4. NXT
T4. e6
6. Rocketballz
Even Titleist admit that there is only
about 5yds difference off the driver between their longest ball and the
shortest, but when I hit shots off the sweet spot the Pro v1x positively zinged
off the face and was straighter and longer than anything else I hit. I’d expect
the Callaway to do well when I hit it well because it’s a harder ball and I was
shocked to see the e6 and Rocketballz score at the bottom.
Overall, there wasn’t too much between
first and sixth place when I struck the ball well; the acid test will be when I
play a few rounds when inevitably there will be some poor drives – it’s all a
matter of how bad the result when I don’t hit it off the sweet spot.
Aggregation
I added up the scores for close and middle
distance to give me a little more information on which to base my choice of
ball for this Saturday’s monthly medal. Remember, the lower the number the
better the result:
Close
(pitch and chip)
Pro v1x – 2
Velocity – 7
Callaway – 7
e6 – 7
NXT – 8
Rocketballz – 10
Middle
distance (PW & 5I)
Rocketballz – 3
Pro v1x – 6
e6 – 6
Velocity – 7
NXT – 7
Callaway – 11
Next, I added up the total scores for all the
tests:
Pro v1x - 9
Velocity – 16
e6 - 17
NXT - 19
Rocketballz – 19
Callaway - 20
Conclusion
The sample size – two of each model for
each test except the driver - was quite small, which makes results less
reliable. On another day if I were swinging the club better or worse I might
have recorded different results.
Nothing I’ve written is intended to suggest
that anyone else will achieve the same results, or to recommend a ball to
anyone else; it’s just what I found. It’s also surprisingly time-consuming and
less surprising to know that it’s not easy to find a time to do all this on the
course without making a nuisance of yourself. I deliberately picked early
evening when the weather was grey so the course would be quiet and I only had
to call three people through in two hours.
If I take the results as pretty reliable
for me it’s fairly clear that I like the Rocketballz primarily because of what
I achieve with it for my second (and third!) shots on each hole. I frequently
leave the green scratching my head in wonderment how I managed to be so close
to the green in two and still walk off with a poor score. Perhaps the performance of the Rocketballz in this test go some way
to explain that, and vindicate Titleist’s view.
I was genuinely shocked at the performance
of the Pro v1x for my short game. I’ve always thought it was a ridiculous
argument that a ball Tiger Woods uses (OK, I know he uses the Pro v1) could
possible be the right ball for a high handicapper but the tests suggest
otherwise.
So long as the Pro v1x doesn’t punish my
off-centre drives more than any of the other balls I ought to be able to score
better with it because of its superior performance round the green.
I started this test with no expectations of
the Callaway and the NXT because they were only included because I was given
them. I expected the e6 and the Rocketballz to perform well because all the
research I had done told me they were good balls for my handicap and game. I
expected the Velocity and Pro v1x to be erratic for anything other than round
the green because of their spin speeds.
I consciously tried to avoid keeping a
running score as I did each test because I didn’t want early results to
influence the way I approached later tests. In the event, when I did total it
all up, I was genuinely surprised to discover the Pro v1x had performed so
well. Only time will tell of course, but I’ve bought a dozen to see what
happens to my stats.
As I said earlier, I’m not recommending any
ball to anyone, or making claims that these tests were in any way scientific,
but I recorded them in case people were interested. I’d really like to hear
what people think and if you have done any of this kind of testing of your own.
