J13's WITB: Update- FUJIKURA AXIOM

[J13]

Also will be dropping another update in regards to driver. Ran an experiment and lets say the Cobra is no more

[QuigleyDU]

Hmm. I am guessing one of two.

 

Sim max or tour edge pro..

[Rosco1216]

I’m guessing g410LST?

[Obsessed]

same - G410LST, flat setting...

[J13]

You guys are good haha. I'm hoping to play Thursday and or friday so by end of week i'll know whats staying and whats going.

 

 

[blev2]

Got an eye on this

[J13]

Playing tomorrow weather permitting. It will be soft as the rain has been off and on all week but I’ll still get to see what’s what.

[J13]

And the winner is:

Ping G410 LST 9* w/ Fujikura Ventus Black 7X45.25"Tipped 1/2"D4 SW

Cobra Xtreme - Great Great head but after hitting the SIM i realized how much i was leaving on the table due to spin. I tried to be ok with it but eventually it broke my spirit and I had to chase more distance. Tried the SIM head with the RIPX and Tensei Orange and it was either feast or famine. To be honest it's another great head but i got impatient and was tired of trying to figure out the magic formula. Enter Ping

Ping - I'm a big Ping fan and always seem to hit their drivers well. FWY woods are terrible for me but drivers always perform. G410LST was the perfect compromise between the Xtreme and SIM. The best part is the flat setting and movable perimeter weight (16g). The ability to remove left shots without changing loft and face angle is extremely helpful.

Ventus Black vs RIPX - Both low spin and anti left. RIPX is lower spinning and has more of a heft to it even though the weight isn't all that different. Ventus won out in the end simply due to feel and dispersion. My misses were better and my smash numbers were more consistent. Basically the Ventus was more efficient for me so it was an easy choice. If you want super low spin then RIPX is amazing but I would recommend you go a little lighter due to the hefty feeling.

 

Ventus Black - It feels great, very uniform but active. I also had a Blue 6X tipped 1.5" at one point that was also a great shaft but the weight was too light for me so i had to part ways with it. I also wanted something with less spin that I didn't have to tip a ton so the Black fit the bill perfectly.

 

[QuigleyDU]

What did you do with your gold Ventus?

[J_Tizzle]

The G410 LST is one of the best drivers I've ever hit. I was told by a local fitter that if you do nothing but hit on a sim for distance, the TM SIM will win out, but if he fitted someone and let them go play 36 holes with that and a Ping, they'd walk away with the Ping every time.

[J13]

Gave it to a friend of mine as he hit is amazingly well. Technically still mine i guess but i won't use it so he can use it as long as he wants.

G410 LST is a great head no doubt. It fits a lot of players and offers quite a bit of forgiveness. SIM (especially stock setup) is a launch monitor queen. I added a heavier weight in back with lighter in front and it was MUCH better. In the end it wasn't as consistent as the G410.

[J13]

Glad to see this made it over lol.  Look forward to seeing new features once the board really gets going.

 

In the meantime testing continues!

[ProjectX_Mizuno]

Did you ever test the G410 Plus? I keep hearing that the plus is just a couple hundred RPMs higher spin than the LST with a touch more forgiveness. 

[cota0429]

Ventus black feel pretty good tipped 1/2? I have one coming.  For which driver... that I don’t know yet lol 

[J13]

On 8/19/2020 at 8:07 PM, ProjectX_Mizuno said:

Did you ever test the G410 Plus? I keep hearing that the plus is just a couple hundred RPMs higher spin than the LST with a touch more forgiveness. 

 

I had a G410 Plus and really liked it and what you said is exactly what i saw between the two drivers.

 

 

9 hours ago, cota0429 said:

Ventus black feel pretty good tipped 1/2? I have one coming.  For which driver... that I don’t know yet lol 

 

Ventus black feels great. I actually have another one on the way to play around with and tip a little more to see how it stacks up. I'll report back with what i find

[osubuckeyes691]

I searched "xtreme" in this thread to try to find it but never saw actual numbers. 

 

Do you happen to have spin rate comparisons between the Xtreme, SIM, and now 410LST?

[J13]

On 8/24/2020 at 3:19 PM, osubuckeyes691 said:

I searched "xtreme" in this thread to try to find it but never saw actual numbers. 

 

Do you happen to have spin rate comparisons between the Xtreme, SIM, and now 410LST?

 

 

I don't typically post numbers (used to) as they created more hard then good.  I never hit all 3 of those side by side at the same time on LM but I have hit them all on LM's.

 

SIM - averaged around 2200 

LST - Averages around 2400-2500

Xtreme - Averaged around 2500 (keep in mind I had a lighter weight in the rear and added melt to the front of the driver in my shop). 

[vakaviti]

Did you test the g410 with the RIP X? 

 

Im looking at getting the G410 LST with either ventus black 6x or nemesys 65x but might also throw in the aldila ripx 65TX as a contender

[J13]

On 8/27/2020 at 4:15 AM, vakaviti said:

Did you test the g410 with the RIP X? 

 

Im looking at getting the G410 LST with either ventus black 6x or nemesys 65x but might also throw in the aldila ripx 65TX as a contender

 

I didn't get a chance to.  My friend has the RIP X and loves it in his SIM but I ordered my G410LST with the Ventus black and it was love at first sight.    RIP X would look killer in a G410.

[J13]

Time to switch balls - 2020 Ball test has begun!

 

Been playin the Srixon XV for quite a few years but moving on due to QC control issues that I’m just tired of seeing.  I’ve reached out to Srixon on several occasions with nothing but an offer for some free balls.  In any case it’s time to move on and find me a new ball.

 

Testing:  I will do 100% of my testing on course which for me is where it matters.  

 

My test clubs are:

54* wedge

7 iron

4 iron

Driver

 

What I’m looking for - a slightly softer feeling ball that keeps spin in check and has great durability. 

 

 

On the menu:

 

Taylormade TP5/X

Callaway CSX

Titleist Prov1/X

Bridgeston Tour B X

SNELL MTB Black and X

 

 

Obviously I can’t test every ball each time I’m out but here’s from the first round of testing.  

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by J13

[Rosco1216]

Tour B X. I played one ball for 63 straight holes.

[J13]

1 hour ago, Rosco1216 said:

Tour B X. I played one ball for 63 straight holes.

 

 

Bridgestone makes a great ball and Tour B X is a contender.

[J13]

Before i get into what i saw I want to let everyone know how i will determine a winner.  I'm a + hcp player and i know what i want and need from a golf ball.  All testing is on the course hitting real shots from various yardages which i outlined above.  Basically, I like to keep it simple and not over complicate things. 

 

Here's how its going to go: First round of testing will have a winner and that ball will move to the finals.  Round 2 testing will also have a winner.  The two winners will face off in a head to head battle on the course hitting various shots over 3 testing rounds.  Those rounds consist of playing some holes like a normal round of golf and some holes where i drop 2 balls each down and hit my desired shot.  

 

First to be tested:

SNELL MTB Black

SNELL MTB X

TM TP5X

Titleist Prov1x

 

 

Reminder the Srixon is just being used as my baseline.  So after several days of testing on course from tee to green here's my quick rundown:

 

SNELL MTB Black - Really good ball, feels soft compared to my srixon xv and performs great in all area's of testing.  Ball flight a little higher than i'm used to but just slightly.  Over spinning was not an issue like i thought it might be off the driver.  Overall it's a high quality golf ball.

 

SNELL MTB X - For whatever reason I didn't hit this ball well.  It was weird and not the balls fault.  It's kinda like you have a club in your bag and you hit a few weird shots with it and you decide it's gotta go because it has the bad juju on it.  I think i got some cursed MTB X ?   But sound is a little higher/louder and it definitely flies off the face.  Just wasn't for me

 

TM TP5X - Great ball all around and has a softer feel.  Launch was a little higher than my XV and noticed lower spin off the driver (aka more distance).  Around the green it performed well and i had no problems getting it to check up.  I'm not a huge fan of backing balls up 10ft even though it looks cool.  I prefer to play shots that 2 hop and stop around the green and prefer it just hit's and stops on approach shots from the fairway.   

 

Titleist Prov1x - Great ball that performs well.  Lower ball flight compared to Tp5x but similar in a lot of ways with how it performs.  

 

 

 

The winner of this round is the Taylormade TP5X and it will go to the finals.  It performed great and did everything i asked of it.  What really helped separate it from the pack was it's performance into the wind.  It was easily the best in this category off the tee and shots into greens.  It has a softer feel than the XV and the durability is much better.  Spin wise it's on the lower side but i really like that about it.  I already hit a high ball so the last thing i want is a high spinny ball landing on a green and spinning back 15ft.  I'm not a pga tour player that plays shots 10ft past the pin so they can suck it back under the hole. 

 

Next up:

Callaway Chrome Soft X

Bridgestone Tour B X

Taylormade Tp5

Titleist Prov1

 

 

[J13]

Since i'm getting pm's about it i'll drop it here

 

Distance : TP5X and MTB X were the longest balls in the test off driver and pretty much all around

Spin - Prov1x spun most 

Feel - MTB Black was the softest feeling ball out of the group

 

[FAbb]

I'm very interested to see how testing goes with the second group, since you're mixing in the two top dog "non X" model balls.  I played the X version of whatever ball I was in for years, but switched to the Pro V1 last year.  Outside of feel, I found the TP5 to not perform nearly as well as the V1, particularly in wind.  I've toyed around with the idea of jumping back on something like the TP5X or Tour BX though.

[PureDivots]

2020 TP5X durability was not the same as the original for me and for that reason I switched to the Pro V1 plus I wanted a touch more spin in the irons. Interested to see what you think of the Pro V1 compared to TP5x.

[J13]

6 hours ago, FAbb said:

I'm very interested to see how testing goes with the second group, since you're mixing in the two top dog "non X" model balls.  I played the X version of whatever ball I was in for years, but switched to the Pro V1 last year.  Outside of feel, I found the TP5 to not perform nearly as well as the V1, particularly in wind.  I've toyed around with the idea of jumping back on something like the TP5X or Tour BX though.

 

 

Yeah i'm interested as well.  I haven't done ball testing like this in a few years so it's kinda fun to see how different balls react.  

 

5 hours ago, DaltonSTL said:

2020 TP5X durability was not the same as the original for me and for that reason I switched to the Pro V1 plus I wanted a touch more spin in the irons. Interested to see what you think of the Pro V1 compared to TP5x.

 

 

So far i've had no issues at all with the TP5X with durability especially compared to the Srixon XV.  The XV seam kept showing up and i put some gouges in the ball.  Honestly anything will be a step up from that at this point.  Prov1 is coming up and I think it will fair better than Prov1x.

[PureDivots]

6 minutes ago, J13 said:

 

 

Yeah i'm interested as well.  I haven't done ball testing like this in a few years so it's kinda fun to see how different balls react.  

 

 

 

So far i've had no issues at all with the TP5X with durability especially compared to the Srixon XV.  The XV seam kept showing up and i put some gouges in the ball.  Honestly anything will be a step up from that at this point.  Prov1 is coming up and I think it will fair better than Prov1x.

 Prov1x is crazy high spin but firmer compression wise compared to V1 which I like. TP5x is sort of the best of both worlds in terms of spin and firm compression as it atleast feels firmer than V1. If you like TP5x and you can get your hands on them for a resonable price ProV1x Left Dash is worth a try.

Edited September 8, 2020 by DaltonSTL

[J13]

Heard nothing but good things about the Left dash but I don’t have a hookup for titleist and my club doesn’t carry them so it makes it harder to test.  I know some who’ve tried tp5x vs left dash and they said they are very similar in spin and launch but Tp5x is softer and not as loud.  You have that experience ?

[PureDivots]

1 hour ago, J13 said:

Heard nothing but good things about the Left dash but I don’t have a hookup for titleist and my club doesn’t carry them so it makes it harder to test.  I know some who’ve tried tp5x vs left dash and they said they are very similar in spin and launch but Tp5x is softer and not as loud.  You have that experience ?

From what I have seen and the little play time I have they are TP5x but firmer. Spin and launch pretty much the same.