SRIXON Q Star Golf Balls

I ran across an online video ad the other day for these Srixon Q Star balls. It featured Peter Jacobsen making the argument that a Tour ball will hurt the amateur with its excessive spin. The solution, he says, is the Q Star.

However, when I went shopping for the ball, it looks like it’s still aimed at players who can handle a Tour ball, “designed for mid to high swing speeds.”

Has anyone out there tried this ball?

NIKE Power Distance Long Balls

Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: Long, but as expected, lacking in the short game.

I bought a box of the Nike PD Long on the recommendation of a friend, and at around $16 a dozen, I’ve found them to be an exceptional buy.

As advertised, these balls are long. They’re easily the equal of anything I’ve played, and longer than most. I especially appreciate the low to mid ball flight, which maximizes the carry and roll that I get from the driver. Too often, the amateur level balls I play produce a high ball flight, which results in my drives falling out of the sky and leaving a crater in the fairway. I lose a lot of distance that way. I track my drive distances with my GPS, and over the past two rounds with the Nike PD Longs, I’ve hit four of the longest drives of the summer.

The down side is that there is for me a noticeable loss of stopping power around the greens. I don’t have the game to spin a ball back to the hole, so I try to land it short and roll up. The PD Long has required an adjustment. Once on a green, it rolls farther than other balls I’ve used recently, like the HX Hot and several Bridgestones.

In the past, I’ve had issues with the durability of Nike balls, but I’m not seeing that with the PD Long.  I played an entire round with one recently with only minor scruffs.

The feel of the balls is for me softer than I’d expect from a pure distance ball. I don’t get the stinging feeling that I sometimes get when hitting a distance rock, and it’s responsive to the putter. I’ve putted as well with this as with anything I’ve played recently.

Here are the Nike talking points from their press center:

- Longer distance off the tee and from the fairway.
- Responsive feel off irons.
- Penetrating ball flight and added roll.
Core: High velocity core
Cover: Durable ionomer cover. Low drag, 402 dimple aerodynamics.

I agree with all those points: Longer. Responsive. Penetrating. Roll. Durable.

For the bogey golfer, I think Nike has a good value ball here. I’m getting another box.

MACGREGOR MT Golf Ball

Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: Solid; nothing spectacular, but where else do you get a three piece ball for under $12?

I picket up a box of the Macgregor MT golf balls at my local GolfSmith when I noticed that they were priced at just $11.98. I’ve not read anything about them, but the promise of a three piece ball for under $12 was just too much to pass. And, I was hoping that the MT would turn out to be a hidden gem like the Snake Eyes Tour Perfomance II.

The Macgregor MT is the middle brother of a trio composed of the VIP, MT and DX. The VIP is a much more expensive “pro” ball, while the DX is a two piece distance orb.  The three piece MT is the standard issue low compression core, ionomer cover product. The Macgregor name now is owned by GolfSmith, so this is an in-house product. The clerk at the store said the ball was made by Srixon. (I can’t produce a positive identity on the Snake Eyes; some say it’s a Wilson, others Srixon).

While the Macgregor MT didn’t produce the great results I still get from the SE Tour Performance (I still have a pile of these in boxes in my garage), it was a solid ball. I got just average distance from the ball, but it shone around the greens. In two rounds I’ve played with the ball, I don’t think I’ve ever been more spot on around the greens. It lobs high, lands soft and checks quickly. Yesterday, I darn near holed out four times from off the green (of course, that begs the question of why I miss so many greens in regulation, but that’s another story).

I’m going to give this ball a conditional recommendation. While it’s not a spectacular ball, I don’t think you can go wrong with a three piece ball, produced by a major manufacturer, for under $12.

BRIDGESTONE e7 Ball

I played with a sleeve of the new Bridgestone E7 golf balls today.

Meh.

The E7 is a supposed to be a pure distance ball, but my impression is that it’s 10 - 15 yards shorter off the driver than the Nike One Vapor I played the previous two rounds. And its worlds shorter than the Snake Eyes Tour Performance II (now sadly unavailable).

On the positive side, it’s very, very straight and doesn’t do too badly on spin around the green.

I wonder if they have a money-back guarantee.

TAYLORMADE Penta TP

GolfSmith is offering a deal on the TaylorMade Penta: Buy 2 dozen, get 1 dozen free.

The TaylorMade Penta TP Golf Ball is the first 5-layer tour ball. Each layer is designed to provide optimal performance on every shot. It has the benefits of the TP Black and the TP Red in one ball. This ball is long off every club, has increased short game spin and controlled launch and spin off irons. The Penta is engineered for Tour professionals but is playable for everyone! Additional Features: A urethane cover provides softer feel and a higher spin rate on critical wedge shots within 100 yards The outer mantle delivers optimum spin off short irons to stop the ball quickly on the green without sacrificing distance The middle mantle increases control with mid irons and helps prevent up-shooting, ballooning and falling short of the target The inner mantle promotes a soft feel, a high launch and low spin off long iron shots for incredible distance The core produces faster ball speed, high launch and low spin off driver shots for maximum carry and distance

If anyone out there has tried these, I’d like to know how it plays.

TITLEIST Pro V1

TITLEIST Pro V1X

The ball that changed it all has itself changed. The new Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls most significant changes are in the dimples on the surface. The old Pro V1 had 392 dimples, whereas the new has 352 dimples in five different sizes to provide more surface coverage. The term Titleist uses is “spherically tiled”—think about the construction of a soccer ball for a model. The Pro V1x has gone from 332 dimples to 328 in seven different spherically tiled dimples.

The end result of these is better flight. The Pro V1 looks for a more penetrating ball flight, while the Pro V1x encourages a higher trajectory.

The ball also uses a new manufacturing process that’s supposed to increase the consistency of the core.

SNAKE EYES Tour Performance II

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Amazing price/performance ratio

I stopped by GolfSmith early last week to browse the end-of-season sale items and ran across a display of GolfSmith’s Snake Eyes Tour Performance II balls. I didn’t know anything about them and the information on the box frankly wasn’t really helpful; just the usual marketing speak about a three piece ball, energy transfer, distance and spin. What got me, though, was the price: just $10 a dozen for a three piece ball. I couldn’t pass up a deal like that.

I’ve now played 36 holes with the Snake Eyes Tour Performance balls, and find I really like them. My two rounds playing them (two combined nines over two days, and a single 18) were 79 and 84. I don’t know how much I can attribute to the ball, since a lot seems to me coming together for me right now—my swing has felt really good, I’m putting like a golfing god and the conditions are hard and fast. But on the other hand, it’s cooler and breezy and balls just don’t fly as far under those conditions. So I’m going to at least give the Snake Eyes at least an assist.

The first thing I noticed is that the Snake Eyes are long. Judging from where my tee shots are landing (on a very familiar course), I find that they’re longer than any ball I’ve recently played—perhaps even longer than my beloved Callaway HX Hot. Ball flight off the tee bores nicely, and I’m not seeing the ballooning shots to which I’m prone. I’m also hitting lots of fairways and greens, so there’s not a lot of sidespin.

Around the green, they’re more than adequate for my game. I’ve never been able to get a ball to check up and spin back, so that not a standard to which I’ll hold them. They do, however, stop quickly on the green with shots off mid and short irons. I like the way they putt, too.

Feel is a bit hard to discern because of the cooler weather. They’re surely not as hard as a Pinnacle or standard Top Flite. Neither are they as soft as one of the “soft feel” balls. They’re fine in the cold, and I think they’ll be even better in warmer weather.

Durability hasn’t been an issue. I’ve actually got the balls from the first sleeve I opened and they are not inordinately scruffed.

In short, I really like them. And here’s the bottom line. I’m going back to Golfsmith to buy a hundred dollars worth of these balls. Seriously.