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.

The Nike One Platinum is a ball that doesn’t need any introductions. After all, it does its own television promos.

Nike says that the ball:

features a Progressive Density Core with a soft center and a progressively harder outer shell. This provides lower spin off the tee even with its soft outer cover.

The Nike One Platinum is comprised of three layers or covers beyond the core. Each cover of the One Platinum has its own job to do:

  * the inner cover, closest to the core, is designed to reduce spin off the driver
  * the middle cover provides superior mid-iron control
  * the outer cover, softer than the Nike One Gold, promotes incredible feel around the green.

The outer cover also features Nike Golf’s proprietary 408 dimple pattern, the same one used on the Nike One Black. This particular dimple pattern promotes a higher trajectory and more penetrating ball flight through the apex of the ball’s trajectory - it descends at a less steep angle promoting more distance and roll.

The One Platinum is not designed exclusively for drivers over 400cc; its distance off the tee, wind-boring control from the fairway, and responsiveness around the green will match any combination of clubs. However, golfers who have made the move to a larger driver will experience the greatest potential of the One Platinum.

You can get it at Golfsmith:

I found a very interesting looking ball on Saturday while playing at my club. From the hex pattern on the surface, at first I thought it was some sort of mutant Callaway. Pink, it was. And semi-transparent, too.

So, having no shame, I hit it as a second ball for the next three holes (until I put it in the pond on 15).

It wasn’t a bad ball. It flew long enough, and straight. And it had a nice soft feel. It both chipped and putted well.

Of course, when I got home, I couldn’t remember what it said on the ball. So it took me a while to find one on the ‘net.

Turns out it was a Volvik Crystal Rainbow ball And—no surprise here—it’s designed for women.

The ball has a 70 compression and a semi transparent surlyn cover.

I didn’t play it long enought to do a real review. But I can say that I had a generally positive reaction to it (in spite of the girly pink motif).

You can get them at Austads.

Over the winter, I received a surprise package from Maxfli. Inside was a box of their new Black Max Golf Ball with the words “Prototype” on the box (see the photo).

It was then that I knew that The Golf Blogger had arrived. 

I’m sure that the intention was that I try the balls early in the season and then report to you before their official release.

Unfortunately, I live in Michigan. It’s only been in the last couple of weeks that I’ve been able to get out on the course. And now, the ball is out in a regular box:

So I’ve lost my exclusive. But I’ve played the Black Max golfball for five of the seven rounds I’ve gotten in.

And I like it. I get decent distance with it (although I don’t think as much as with my DT SoLos) and it flies straight (I had a round where I hit every fairway). The distance issue is, no doubt due to my slower swing speed. It’s a high end ball for higher swing speeds.

I’ve also been able to get a lot of spin for those wedge shots (ok, except on the nightmare round of last week). It stops on a dime, and I actually backed it up twice.

And—to me—most important of all, I like the way it rolls with my putter.

This last is always the key for me. To be frank, it really doesn’t matter if a ball gives me five or six more yards off the tee; I’m going to be hitting a longer club than most to the green. (No driver-wedge holes for me. Its more driver-seven wood.)

But when I get near the green, my game gets going. And once I get it on the green, my putting will save my round more often than not.

So, for me, a ball’s behavior when putting is critical.

The Black Max has a good feel and it rolls true. I’ve heard that it makes a “different” sound when struck, but being quite deaf, this makes no difference to me at all.

I think that this ball compares very favorably to other high end balls like Titleist’s Pro V. But in the end, I think that you’ve got to have a higher swing speed to take advantage of it.

You can buy the Black Max here.

  I’m interested in what you have to say. Add your own review by clicking on the comments link below.