Non scientific ball evaluation - Snell MTB BLACK, Vice Pro, Tour B RX, Pearl Pure Pro

[jjfcpa]

This was just a quick little evaluation using the following balls. All done indoor or at a practice green that I use quite often.

Snell MTB Black

Vice Pro

Bridgestone Tour B RX

Pearl Pure Pro

 

All graded on a score of 1 - 10 (10 = best)

Feel - chipping - MTB Black 9, Vice Pro 9, B RX 9, Pure Pro 6

Feel - putting - MTB Black 8, Vice Pro 9, B RX 9, Pure Pro 7

Feel - full swing - MTB Black 7, Vice Pro 9, B RX 9, Pure Pro 6

Backspin on short chips (less than 10 yards) - MTB Black 8, Vice Pro 9, B RX 7, Pure Pro 8

Backspin on longer chips (20 yards) - MTB Black 8, Vice Pro 9, B RX 7, Pure Pro 7

Distance Control on 15 foot putts - MTB Black 8, Vice Pro 8, B RX 8, Pure Pro 7

Overall performance - MTB Black 8, Vice Pro 8.5, B RX 8, Pure Pro 7

I have used the MTB Black and B RX interchangeably for the last year and a half, and recently purchased some of the Pearl Pure Pro. I really don't like the feel of the Pure Pro at all. I also decided to try the Vice Pro and found it to be a little better than the MTB Black and B RX. I have not played a round with the Vice Pro in the past but will put it in play the next time I play a round in 3 days. I really like the way it feels and if it can perform on the course as well as it feels, then it will be a keeper.

[RainShadow]

I found the Snell MTB Black to be 1/2 club short off my Irons Vs. Chrome Soft.

They also are a bit clicky to me, but I really favor softer feeling balls like the CS, FG Tour, TP5 and ProV1

BS RXS is OK, but lack the same feedback, just my opinion, I could still play them, but they are overpriced....

Only hit the Vice pro once or twice when I've found them in a bucket on the range....now wow factor.

[jjfcpa]

I know what you mean about the MTB Black being clicky, but I kind of like that about it. The Vice Pro are as well but a little bit more muted click.

 

I did some more short game stuff today with the Vice Pro and the Tour B RX and I'm liking the results with the Vice more and more. I play my next round on Thursday so I'm going to only play the Vice and see how it goes.

[jjfcpa]

I received some Oncore Elixir's and decided to compare them to the Vice Pro. Keep in mind that I can't find much difference between the Vice Pro and Snell MTB-Black. I can play these balls interchangeably and if I were blindfolded, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Indoor, maybe I could tell the difference because the MTB Black is a little more clicky than the Vice Pro.

 

The Elixir's are definitely a softer feeling ball but not to the point that you lose all feedback from your strikes. Distance wise, they are probably on par with any of them. They also seemed to have similar performance when hitting into the green. Checked up nicely and no unnecessary roll out, although you could control this with your shot.

 

The Elixir's also feel really nice off the putter and seem to roll just a bit further than any of the others when struck with the same amount of force. I know this is really hard to judge but I have been putting in my basement all winter and I know precisely how hard to hit the ball for a 15 yard putt. This also helped on the course because I found that I was getting much closer to the hole on longer putts. Who doesn't like that?

 

The only ball that I would not play is the Pearl. I'm going to play the Elixir for a few more rounds and see if it deserves to stay in the bag.

[North Butte]

My non-scientific results on balls I've tried over the past few years only has three categories.

Balls that work better than most: Pro V1x, AVX, B330, TP5

Balls that work OK for me but nothing special: Chrome Soft, K-Sig (4pc), Snell MTB, B330S

Balls I did not like at all: Snell MTB Red, K-Sig (3pc)

 

P.S. I suspect a few others would work fine but I've not played them enough to really say: Pro V1, Maxfli Tour X, may be forgetting some others.

[jjfcpa]

> @"North Butte" said:

> My non-scientific results on balls I've tried over the past few years only has three categories.

> Balls that work better than most: Pro V1x, AVX, B330, TP5

> Balls that work OK for me but nothing special: Chrome Soft, K-Sig (4pc), Snell MTB, B330S

> Balls I did not like at all: Snell MTB Red, K-Sig (3pc)

>

> P.S. I suspect a few others would work fine but I've not played them enough to really say: Pro V1, Maxfli Tour X, may be forgetting some others.

 

Have you tried the Vice Pro or Oncore Elixir? I've played the ProV1 and AVX and they did not do a lot for me. Don't get me wrong, the ProV1x is a good ball, but the price kind of drove me away. I just felt like I was paying their staffers instead of just paying for the ball. Also really like the Bridgestone Tour B RX, but again, I think the Snell, Vice, and Oncore are just as good and not as expensive. Of course, I don't lose as many balls as I used to and I rotate a ball every couple of rounds whether it still looks playable or not. I donate these to the First Tee.