Mizuno RB Tour / RB Tour X

[northstar33]

I've been trying out the RB Tour X and like the feel and spin, was researching the ball and found several claims of terrible durability. Personally I noticed some shallow groove marks after full wedge shots but nothing much more than that. Obviously not as durable as a Pro V1 but doesn't seem too bad.

 

Before I commit to buying any more has anyone else played these balls? Have they perhaps improved the durability of the ball since the first run?

[vintage golfer]

I bought six dozen at $25.00 A dozen and feel that this is an excellent ball, good feel and adequate distance. I have not noticed any durability issues but don`t hit it very hard these days.

[toadstyle]

Really nice ball but durability is an issue in my experience. I gashed one open on a flush iron shot and I’ve never done that on another ball. I don’t swing it very fast. Scuffs and cracks easily. Bought a bunch at $7.50/doz awhile ago so I liked it fine but wouldn’t buy it again for more. As far as I know, they don’t make this ball anymore. 

[hammergolf]

9 minutes ago, toadstyle said:

Really nice ball but durability is an issue in my experience. I gashed one open on a flush iron shot and I’ve never done that on another ball. I don’t swing it very fast. Scuffs and cracks easily. Bought a bunch at $7.50/doz awhile ago so I liked it fine but wouldn’t buy it again for more. As far as I know, they don’t make this ball anymore. 

I thought I remembered reading that the initial batch of balls did have severe durability issues. However they fixed it and the current balls are much more durable. Have a buddy who is a Mizuno guy and he doesn’t seem to have an issue with them. He’s a really low spin guy and the X ball for him has really helped his game.

[craz-e]

Literally just walked off the course after putting the Tour RB through its paces.

I was very impressed over the 18 holes, couple of bunkers hit and one tree, had no issues with durability. Will buy again for sure. It does everything I look for in a premium ball 

[Jetierney13]

My cousin recently bought a dozen of the RB Tour X and he lent me one to try.  After two holes there was a solid crack in the cover.  It is a shame because I really liked the feel and performance of it.  My cousin isn't a very hard swinger anymore and he noticed a similar crack in his ball after about 13-14 holes.  Hopefully they fix durability issues or he just bought a dud dozen because it seemed to perform well!

[Oknows]

Good ball. Both low launch with good spin on irons.  Durability is an issue.  Do get scuffed up.  But, if you can get them for the right price, totally worth it.

[jamcanplay]

Buddy let me try both. 
 

durability was an issue and wasn’t impressed with the feel. I definitely wouldn’t pay for them. 

[ChadL]

I really like the RB TourX ball.  The feel is great and has really good spin for me.  However, they just don't last.  I get gashes in the cover after flush iron shots.  I still buy them though when I find a good deal, which seems to be a regular occurrence.

[craz-e]

18 hours ago, ChadL said:

I really like the RB TourX ball.  The feel is great and has really good spin for me.  However, they just don't last.  I get gashes in the cover after flush iron shots.  I still buy them though when I find a good deal, which seems to be a regular occurrence.

I picked up a couple of boxes of the RB Tour and have to agree with your statement. Great performance but durability seems to be an issue 

[Stetson]

The other site that does testing had data that made me avoid this ball. Short and spiny was the verdict

[arbeck]

Durability was definitely an issue with the first batches. It was supposedly fixed. However, it's nearly impossible to know if the box you are buying came from a bad batch or one of the newer batches. So there is that to consider.

 

The ball also is very spinny. If you need a lot of extra spin, there isn't really a better option save maybe the bridgestone tour bxs. It's a fairly niche ball in the same way that the Pro -V1x is, but the opposite. It isn't a slow ball. Ball speed numbers with it are as good as anything. And anecdotally, the wind performance seems great. But if you hit your driver in a good spin window now, you will lose distance as the spin with it will be higher. However, if you are the kind of golfer who is already using a high lofted driver and still struggling to get spin over 2000RPMs, this might be a godsend to you.

 

The final consideration is the consistency. It didn't score very well for that in the ball lab, but for it's price it's not horrible.

[MattM97]

Picked up a box of the RB Tour, probably still too spinny for me but I needed a cheaper set of ball for knocking the rust off and these were on clearance so why not. One thing I did notice was yon can see the seam on the ball, maybe this will be an issue but if I can get a few rounds out of this box I'll be fine with that. 

[Song Dog]

I put the X in play after a stent away. I do believe the cover has been revamped. Because LOL I thinned 3 shots (54,9,&6i) and not a single mark. I didn’t loose any distance and held the green really well. When I first played them, I loved everything but durability, this is now not seeming to be the case. Gonna keep playing the same ball as long as I can to see how long it lasts or until I loose it.

[ChadL]

45 minutes ago, Song Dog said:

I put the X in play after a stent away. I do believe the cover has been revamped. Because LOL I thinned 3 shots (54,9,&6i) and not a single mark. I didn’t loose any distance and held the green really well. When I first played them, I loved everything but durability, this is now not seeming to be the case. Gonna keep playing the same ball as long as I can to see how long it lasts or until I loose it.

That’s good to hear. The durability that is, not you thinning shots 😃. How was the feel? Did you notice anything different? 

[Song Dog]

17 minutes ago, ChadL said:

That’s good to hear. The durability that is, not you thinning shots 😃. How was the feel? Did you notice anything different? 

What I remember the change hadn’t made the feel different. I guess it was a good time to stand up some for the test  lol but still ticked me off🤦🏻‍♂️ 

[ChadL]

Lmao!!....glad to read the feel wasn’t different enough, or at all, to discern. The X has always felt really good to me. I’m just about through my last dozen I bought sometime ago. I’ll have to look for another and give em a shot.

[MattM97]

Just been putting with the regular Tour in my basement and man that ball is soft. Maybe a little too soft for my liking, the X probably would be better feeling for me but they do spin a lot more which is too much for me. Not planning on making these my new gamer balls just trying them out cause why not. Will have my thoughts this weekend after I actually play it. 

[MattM97]

Got on the course this morning with the RB Tour and the ball performance is quite good. Feels nice, a bit softer but not mushy, didn't spin too much with long irons and I got some distance with these.

 

Short game was nice, wasn't stop on a dime or spin back but a hop or two and stop which is fine for my ability. My favorite part was the feeling off the putter. I had speed control on lock down with these. 

 

Now the elephant in the room, the durability. I guess I got an old box cause 4 balls ended up with gash marks. I think that is the end of my run with these. They're good balls but durability I awful. 

 

I'm not too upset these were on clearance (I wonder why) so they cost me the same as some upper level surlyn balls. But at regular price I'd save a few bucks and buy Srixon. I know they have seam issues but I've had one maybe two in a box and it was very minor. In these Mizuno I had 4 and maybe more. 

 

[Song Dog]

Played same ball again, I thinned it hard with my gap (ball below feet and didn’t stay hooked🤦🏻‍♂️) and smoked a tree today. Yet to see any cover issues. But by golly, she’ll spin on the greens and distance is on par. Love it!

[Song Dog]

The original ball I was playing had right at 30 holes on it before I pushed WAY OB LOL It held up good and I gave it every reason to fail but it didn’t. Right before I pushed my drive, I was inspecting it, thinking how well it was holding up compared to when they first came out. 
It’s distance was good, flight was good, and spin was excellent. IMO it’s a great ball👍🏻

[ChadL]

1 hour ago, Song Dog said:

The original ball I was playing had right at 30 holes on it before I pushed WAY OB LOL It held up good and I gave it every reason to fail but it didn’t. Right before I pushed my drive, I was inspecting it, thinking how well it was holding up compared to when they first came out. 
It’s distance was good, flight was good, and spin was excellent. IMO it’s a great ball👍🏻

I picked up a current dozen, and was hitting a couple on my mat.  Deliberately hitting thin, etc.  The cover is much much better than the previous "generation". Taking one of my boys out golfing tonight so I'll take the new batch of X balls and give em a go.

[blades_are_life]

Just finished nine holes yesterday where I ended up putting an RB + RBx Tour demo box through its paces. I absolutely loved the RB Tour, it had an excellent solid feel when struck, a very clean piercing flight, and nice feel in chipping and on the green. I thought I would end up playing a hole or two with it then switch to testing another manufacturers ball but ended up sticking with it throughout the round because of how enjoyable it was to use. RBx Tour spun way too much for me to seriously use, but in its defense, this is exactly what it is meant to do, so I will give it to a lower swing speed friend the next time I play with her and see what she thinks of it. It felt during the round like the cover was scuffing fairly easily but after cleaning and inspecting it now there is not a noticeable scratch on it at all, which is more than satisfactory durability for my standards. All in all a pleasantly surprising experience that has me seriously considering breaking my "only play balls recovered on the course" rule to seek them out.