Golf Ball Recommendation

I'm new to this site, but there seems to be a lot of good info. I'm looking for a ball recommendation. Driver speed is 95-100. I'd like a ball that is pretty straight off the tee, but has some spin on approach shots, and feels very soft on the putter (I play an old anser with no insert). I like the Srixon X-URS and am looking forward to the Bridgestone 330 RX. Is my driver speed too slow for pro v1/v1x? How about mid-priced balls? Any insight would be appreciated!

Your driver speed is close to mine, but the overall criteria you're looking for is very... generic. Everyone ultimately wants a ball that flies like snot off the driver, and spins back to the cup like Michael Jackson moonwalking on a waxed floor. All while having the soft feel of pocket full of jello.

I've done a lot of ball testing this summer, between rounds, greenside experimenting, some Vector Launch Monitor research and just a lot of playing.... oh, and I'm a member of Golfballselector.com and tweak there quite often....... maybe too much, but a fun site. (subscription fee though)

Here's what I found:

Titleist ProV1x. I don't think I have the swingspeed for this ball. I think you ultimately should be 105 or better. I'm at about 100. However, it still has respectable driver forgiveness (not awesome) while giving me very soft short game play, and fantastic spin on the greens. All you need is a decent wedge and a clean lie.

TM LDP Red/Black. These do fly with driver. Black reacts better to wedge play, but red feels better. If I could combine these two balls into one ball (impossible, I realize) this would be the best of both worlds for me. But hey, I'll still look out for an LDP 'orange'.. :jester:

Z-urs This is a darn fine ball, and underestimated IMHO. It just doesn't do any one thing super duper well for me.

Cally IX. I'm not a huge Cally ball fan, but this thing bombs off the tee and forgives you like Grandma's apple pie. She'll slice or pull, but I find this to be very long and straight... You could take this one home to meet mom (nice on the greens) and still find her sexy enough to date (drives like a mule).

NIKE ONE Black. Great ball when my swing is on. I know a few pro's who play this ball very well. It seems to be very close to 'perfect' for me, I just find it's not my ball. I've tried to love this ball... I bomb others longer, keep others straighter off the tee, while getting a softer feel elsewhere as well. When the wife's out of town, this is the ball I might fool around with, until I wake up next to her.. then I'm outta there. Still best NIKE ONE Black yet, IMHO.

'Medium' Priced/Tour style balls:

NXT Tour. This is really close to the perfect ball for a 90-105 MPH swing speed. But still buttery on greens. Does not have the super spin that some guys like though (which is fine by me).

Nike Ignite Ball. Another super underrated ball. I think the biggest thing this ball is lacking is proper marketing. Really. It does a lot of things really well and especially for the price. But the name 'Ignite' has about as much buzz associated with it as 'Chia Pet'. A super, discount performer that needs a face lift. (Look at what Top Flite did with the Gamer/D2... marketing bonanza at work)

There's a lot of good stuff out there. Maybe something I've written will help you out. The new Bstone looks promising, but aside from the discount line, I've only tried the B-330 and didn't get enough out of it (probably lack of swingspeed).

Your driver speed is close to mine, but the overall criteria you're looking for is very... generic. Everyone ultimately wants a ball that flies like snot off the driver, and spins back to the cup like Michael Jackson moonwalking on a waxed floor. All while having the soft feel of pocket full of jello.

 

I've done a lot of ball testing this summer, between rounds, greenside experimenting, some Vector Launch Monitor research and just a lot of playing.... oh, and I'm a member of Golfballselector.com and tweak there quite often....... maybe too much, but a fun site. (subscription fee though)

 

Here's what I found:

 

Titleist ProV1x. I don't think I have the swingspeed for this ball. I think you ultimately should be 105 or better. I'm at about 100. However, it still has respectable driver forgiveness (not awesome) while giving me very soft short game play, and fantastic spin on the greens. All you need is a decent wedge and a clean lie.

 

TM LDP Red/Black. These do fly with driver. Black reacts better to wedge play, but red feels better. If I could combine these two balls into one ball (impossible, I realize) this would be the best of both worlds for me. But hey, I'll still look out for an LDP 'orange'.. :jester:

 

Z-urs This is a darn fine ball, and underestimated IMHO. It just doesn't do any one thing super duper well for me.

 

Cally IX. I'm not a huge Cally ball fan, but this thing bombs off the tee and forgives you like Grandma's apple pie. She'll slice or pull, but I find this to be very long and straight... You could take this one home to meet mom (nice on the greens) and still find her sexy enough to date (drives like a mule).

 

NIKE ONE Black. Great ball when my swing is on. I know a few pro's who play this ball very well. It seems to be very close to 'perfect' for me, I just find it's not my ball. I've tried to love this ball... I bomb others longer, keep others straighter off the tee, while getting a softer feel elsewhere as well. When the wife's out of town, this is the ball I might fool around with, until I wake up next to her.. then I'm outta there. Still best NIKE ONE Black yet, IMHO.

 

'Medium' Priced/Tour style balls:

 

 

NXT Tour. This is really close to the perfect ball for a 90-105 MPH swing speed. But still buttery on greens. Does not have the super spin that some guys like though (which is fine by me).

 

Nike Ignite Ball. Another super underrated ball. I think the biggest thing this ball is lacking is proper marketing. Really. It does a lot of things really well and especially for the price. But the name 'Ignite' has about as much buzz associated with it as 'Chia Pet'. A super, discount performer that needs a face lift. (Look at what Top Flite did with the Gamer/D2... marketing bonanza at work)

 

There's a lot of good stuff out there. Maybe something I've written will help you out. The new Bstone looks promising, but aside from the discount line, I've only tried the B-330 and didn't get enough out of it (probably lack of swingspeed).

Great post. The only thing I'd add (just to confuse things a little more) is that the B330S is a fantastic ball for that swingspeed and up and is relatively soft. I'm hoping these go on sale when the new ones come out, but then I'm still waiting for the HX Tour 56's to come down by more than $5 and that still hasn't happened even with the much delayed release of the Tour i. On the cheaper side of things, depending on how much spin you're looking for you might want to try the Bridgestone e5+ (lots) or the Srixon AD333 (not so much spin but an otherwise great ball).

Thanks, this was very helpful.