How Do The Dimples In Golf Balls Affect Their Flight?

Scientific American has the answer.

I’m a big time baseball fan. I had a cousin who played catcher for the Senators in the 1960s, and when they moved from Washington, I switched my loyalties to the Baltimore Orioles. I’m in Michigan, now, but I’m still not quite a Tigers fan.

No matter where you are, though, you can show your loyalties with these Callaway Major League Logo Balls.

Too bad they don’t have the Senators though. (No, the Nationals aren’t the same).

Callaway has released the Hx Tour Golf ball, which Callaway says is golf’s most technologically advanced golf ball.

The company’s press release follows:

I find it amazing the extent to which Titleist golf balls dominate the scene. At the US Open, 100 of 157 players playted Titleist.

What are they doing that the other companies aren’t? It’s clearly not all about the quality of the ball: I think that the Maxfli Black Max is the equal of the Pro V series—and other reviewers agree. And other manufacturers seem to have balls that are the equal of others in the Titleist lineup.

There is something about their durability, though, which is the main reason that I play Titleist. I think they last longer—hitting a tree or cart path is not an automatic death sentence for a Titleist ball. With my budget being limited, durability is a large consideration.

But that can’t be an issue for the pros—who get their balls free.

Anyhow, Titleist has released the following press release, detailing the number of balls played by each major brand at the US Open:

Nike Power Distance 2-Super Soft

Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: A good distance ball with durability issues.

It seems that there are a lot of good golf balls out there for the mid to high handicapper in the $20 to $25 range.

The Nike Power Distance 2 Super Soft is one of them.

I found these balls on sale at a local pro shop the other day, and in the interest of keeping my readers informed, thought I’d give them a try.

I have to admit that my hopes for the ball were’t particularly high. I’d tried some of Nike’s lower end balls in the past and wasn’t really impressed. But these were nicely different.

As implied in the name, the Super Softs are super soft—perhaps the softest feeling I’ve hit. I particularly like the way they come off the putter. They also have good spin off the wedges and gave me good short game distance control. They weren’t stopping on a dime, but they didn’t roll too far after hitting the green, either.

The other thing implied in the name is that these are a distance ball. And they are, indeed long—at least as long as the HX Hots that I reviewed earlier, and definitely longer than the DT SoLos that I usually play.

Try this on for size: My drives usually go about 230 or so. Not long. I played this ball in a tournament a couple of weekends ago, and had five drives in the 260 yard range. On one of the par fours, I was in a peculiar and unfamiliar situation: driver-wedge. (Flubbed the wedge and put it in the water. Took a drop and did the same thing again. Shot six got to the green. Wasted drive).

Now, I was hitting the ball off the tee unusually well, but not enough, I think, to discount the effect of the ball.

I also thought that the ball flight was lower than with the DT SoLo, resulting in more roll on tee shots.

Where the balls fall short, though, and why I gave them a B+ instead of an A is in the durability department. They simply get beat up too quickly for my tastes. A few good crisp wedge shots are enough to scruff up the cover—and if you hit a cart path or tree, they’ll really suffer.

But at the price (under $20 a dozen) I guess you can afford to sacrifice some durability.

Wilson’s high end ball is the TX4

Wilson says its:

For tour players and discerning amateurs who demand the ultimate in workability, the 4-layer Tx4 fits the bill. With a PhD advanced dimple design, a Nano Tech core, and a Fusion layer, all systematically wrapped in a spin-inducing Urethane Elastomer cover, the Tx4 performs so accurately, pins don t stand a chance. 312 flat-bottomed, shallow dimples (Pan Head) rip through the air to create a more stable, high trajectory flight. Nano particles that are infused into the rubber chemistry produce an extremely lively but soft inner core. A performance mantle layer fuels maximum acceleration off the club face and generates higher iron spin rates.. The cover promotes spin, delivers soft, scuff-resistant performance and provides extra control on scoring shots.

You can get it at Golfsmith.com

Top Flites were the first ball that I played. They were ok for a basic ball, but I soon moved onto others that seemed a bit more—upscale. Looking back, I remember that they were hard and not particuarly responsive.

Now, Top Flite has a new line of balls, including the Long and Soft Distance. I’m wondering if anyone out there has any experience with them? Have they improved? Leave a review using the comments link below.