Thoughts on Mid Priced Golf Balls

Onebulldogs · March 23, 2008

Just say no to bad golf balls

If you ever go out to play golf in 30 degree weather on Easter morning, you might find yourself on a deserted course. With only one other twosome on the course, I decided to use my first 2008 round in Connecticut to work on my driver swing and give some midtier balls a good testing. Originally, I planned to hit 3 balls (new e6+, TM Burner, and Top Flite Gamer) off each tee and certain approach shots. After I found a D2 in my bag, it got added to the testing.

Irons: In terms of distance, there wasn’t a hill of beans difference in any of the mid-priced balls.The spin was not tour quality, but very good Gamer spun the most, the D2 the least and prone to flyers.
Feel: All had a good, soft feel in very cold weather. Since I didn’t like the Maxfli Fire, I was surprised by the excellent feel of the TM Burner. All four get an A Grade

Driver: Both the e6+ and Burner were solid performers with nothing to be ashamed of. No significant difference.
The D2 Distance ball lived up to its name. EXPLOSIVE distance led to some 10-20 yard wins over the other three balls. For most drives, the Gamer was the equal of the e6+ and the Burner; however, it really benefited from “perfect” hits. When that happened, it had D2 distance.

Durability: The D2 is a tank . The e6+ and Burner were solid performers. Although it has acceptable durability, the Gamer’s cover was noticeably less durable.

Bottom Line: There was not a loser in the bunch. All four balls do a great job of balancing distance, spin, price and durability. For most golfers, they offer enough performance to make a “tour” ball an unnecessary indulgence. More importantly, nobody should think they have to play a crappy “rock” for any reason.

venturagolfer87 · March 23, 2008

i used the first e6 when it first came out and it did what it said it does which is straighten out ballflight. out of all the midrange balls that i've tried, my favorite would be a tie between the e5+ and the nxt tours.

crazygolfnut · March 27, 2008

I tried the Gamer the other day and found that it has good spin, soft feel and goes the distance. For the $19.99 (Edwin Watts) price it is a great value.