2021 Golf Ball Test

[The Pearl]

2 minutes ago, Nessism said:

 

375 yard par 4.  GolfWRX'er bashes their drive 320 which leaves 55.  An everyday occurrence for people here. 

 

Shame on me.

[nsxguy]

25 minutes ago, The Pearl said:

 

I didn't say it was not important, I am simply questioning how often a good player has a 50 yd. pitch?  And I did put the exception as being a par 5.

 

No good player is going to have a 50 yd pitch on a Par 4 or a Par 3 unless they have made a grave error.   High handicappers are certainly a different story, but for those folks, urethane ball wedge spin is probably way down the list of concerns.  

 

My friend, you're right. You didn't say it wasn't important. And it didn't sound like you were "questioning it".

 

You said you could "make a case that the 50/55 yd pitch test is pretty useless".

 

And now you mention "good players". I confess I didn't read the Ball Test so I don't know this - was it only for good players ?

 

Clearly the higher the handicapper the more they'll be faced with this very shot - and yes, I'll admit that the higher the handicapper the less likely the ball will be a big help, but still,,,,,,,

 

As for very accomplished players, as NR suggested, the closer one gets to a par 5, the more likely a good birdie chance. That chance comes from controlling the golf ball on partial swings.

 

As has been claimed on this site, and since I've gone to it, proven it to myself, closer to the green equals more make-able putts so even laying up closer on a par 5 matters.

 

Tour pros mishit irons and often have partial wedges in that range. Add to that the now in vogue drive-able ( and hybrid-able LOL) par 4s,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[cardigan]

It's a little interesting that for their "top recommendations" they include three DTC options for high speed swings but no DTC balls make their cut for mid and slow swing speeds.

[NRJyzr]

10 minutes ago, Nessism said:

 

375 yard par 4.  GolfWRX'er bashes their drive 320 which leaves 55.  An everyday occurrence for people here. 

 

I see a surprising number of instances like this in my course's Men's Club.  

 

Maybe it's the hockey influence here in Minnesota...

 

edited to add:  just over 900 feet elevation.

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by NRJyzr

[gioreeko]

1 hour ago, storm319 said:

 

The test 8 iron they used had a loft of 34* which could be around the same loft as a 6 or 7 iron in a more traditionally lofted set. 

 

With that said, mid-high 70's mph mid iron does seem high for someone only swinging their driver 85 mph.

the mid speed driver swing speed was 100mph

[gioreeko]

2 hours ago, The Pearl said:

I think you can make a case that the 50/55 yd pitch test is pretty useless.  How many of these shots does the average golfer, let alone good golfer have in a round.  Other than perhaps a 3rd shot on a par 5, I can't think of many scenarios assuming a golfer is playing the proper tees.

 

Greenside spin and fitting that spin to your chipping technique is far more important I am guessing.

50 yards doesn't always mean 50 yards short.  Missing left or right with a huge green often leaves a 50 yard pitch to the hole

[arbeck]

The 50 yard pitch is important because that's a speed where you aren't interacting with anything but the cover and the first layer of the ball. On longer shots, you start interacting with the core or second mantle. They wanted to test the covers of the balls and that's a good distance to do that. For a test you actually want to go with the highest speed that only tests the cover. Why? Because speed equals spin. If there is a 5% difference between the balls and you are doing a 10 yard chip where they spin at 3000 the differences will be harder to find in the noise than they will be at a 50 yard shot with the spin around 7000.

[Georgie Z]

On 7/29/2021 at 1:08 PM, North Butte said:

It's remarkable the amount of complaints the first MGS robot test generated. In many cases it's the same people who base their own ball choices on some indoor numbers from hitting into a net that someone posts in a YouTube video. They see a fairly well done, very thorough test of the majority of the balls on the market and start nitpicking it to death about only having two swing speeds or not hitting deliberate slices and hooks or whatever they can dream up. Really? 

 

That particular test and the similar but slightly less comprehensive one that UK magazine did a few months later provide so much more and better information than anything else out there isn't not even funny. If they can also add in actual trajectory data they'll be getting pretty close to a definitive test IMHO. 

 

Anyone who wants to dismiss the MGS stuff ought to try and go compare any half-dozen models of golf ball even half as carefully as was done in that test and report back to us how easy it was. 

Some people just like to complain about everything. It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re just upset their ball didn’t get a good review.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Georgie Z

[rkelso184]

On 8/17/2021 at 8:11 AM, tyorke1 said:

I am confused , into the wind is this saying a chrome soft will be better than a pro v x especially for iron shots . I am a high spin iron player . What ball would be the best?

Titleist Tour Speed, Chrome soft X, If you can stand a hard ball Left Dash Pro v1

[gioreeko]

10 hours ago, cardigan said:

It's a little interesting that for their "top recommendations" they include three DTC options for high speed swings but no DTC balls make their cut for mid and slow swing speeds.

Wrong, they recommended the Snell MTB black

[gioreeko]

10 hours ago, cardigan said:

It's a little interesting that for their "top recommendations" they include three DTC options for high speed swings but no DTC balls make their cut for mid and slow swing speeds.

double posted, sorry

Edited August 19, 2021 by gioreeko
double posted

[Rocky Ball-boa]

If you animals drive the price up by making it more popular after this test, I swear to god...

 

                      // Every current Tour B XS player

[cardigan]

9 hours ago, gioreeko said:

Wrong, they recommended the Snell MTB black

You are correct.  Snell MTB Black recommended for mid swing speed "balanced performance".  No DTC for slow swing speeds.

[scotty_2987]

On 8/17/2021 at 11:04 AM, The Pearl said:

Spend all my time with the "slow" swing speed data.  The Vice Pro Plus is the pretty big winner here in terms of performance and price.  

This is what I see as well. If I’m reading the charts correctly it has one of the highest ball speeds in almost every category. 

[cardigan]

15 minutes ago, scotty_2987 said:

This is what I see as well. If I’m reading the charts correctly it has one of the highest ball speeds in almost every category. 

I was looking at the same thing.  On the fence about whether or not to go out and grab a dozen of the lime to see if I like them.  Even if I liked them after trying a dozen, I don't think I'd buy more until they were available again in bulk online.  The TXG review was informative but my swing speed (slow but not measured) is not in that range, even when he dials it back some.

[scotty_2987]

54 minutes ago, cardigan said:

I was looking at the same thing.  On the fence about whether or not to go out and grab a dozen of the lime to see if I like them.  Even if I liked them after trying a dozen, I don't think I'd buy more until they were available again in bulk online.  The TXG review was informative but my swing speed (slow but not measured) is not in that range, even when he dials it back some.

They sell them at my local Walmart now so I picked up a dozen to try. I’ll try them out this weekend. I’ve been playing the left dash and really like it other then the really firm feel. If the Pro Plus plays similarly to the left dash with a softer feel it would be my perfect ball. 

[BirdieBob]

Will be keeping my three dozen left dash Titleist PV1x balls for a while.

[DLiver]

I found this video interesting. No one talks much about manufacturing consistency. This video came to mind when I tried the MTB ball a while back. I had one MTB ball that I couldn't keep on the planet.

 

[gioreeko]

2 hours ago, DLiver said:

I found this video interesting. No one talks much about manufacturing consistency. This video came to mind when I tried the MTB ball a while back. I had one MTB ball that I couldn't keep on the planet.

 

seems like you would've lost it after one hit, no?

[gsxrdn]

Is anyone disappointed at the MGS golf ball review? So much tease but such a disappointment. 

[pallmall]

On 8/17/2021 at 11:15 PM, Jeff58 said:

It’s the opposite -

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705816306415

 

If you follow the link, it will eventually allow you to download or view the entire article.

 

 

On 8/18/2021 at 3:51 AM, Fairways_and_Greens said:

Dean Snell disagrees with you. https://www.snellgolf.com/blogs/news/dimple-patterns-and-their-flight-effect

 

"If you have a higher spinning ball, you would look to make the dimples a little deeper, to help keep the flight down. For lower spinning balls, the dimples are typically a bit shallower to help the ball fly higher and stay in the air."

 

I couldn't get to the article, it's behind a paywall.

I think Mr. Snell is correct on the statement, but have to be based on the assumption that all things being the same (dimple diameter, dimple position), except the dimple depth. In that scenario, shallower dimples=higher trajectory, deeper dimples=lower trajectory.

The study Jeff58 posted, if I read it correctly, is to find the good combinations for a dimple design with less drag. Therefore, more variables they can change to achieve the goal.

[bluedot]

13 hours ago, DLiver said:

I found this video interesting. No one talks much about manufacturing consistency. This video came to mind when I tried the MTB ball a while back. I had one MTB ball that I couldn't keep on the planet.

 

This was my concern as well. I used the MTB-x for a year or so, and really liked both the ball and the price, but stopped after I had several over that time that just behaved “oddly”.   I start every round with a new ball, and every now and then I would have one that just sort of knuckled off the driver.  For lack of a better comparison, it looked like a worn out range ball in flight, except without the distance loss.  And I had one that just went crazy long off the driver; no other way to say it.  

[gioreeko]

10 hours ago, gsxrdn said:

Is anyone disappointed at the MGS golf ball review? So much tease but such a disappointment. 

not me, loved it. Very thorough. Only thing that had me a little concerned was the driver spin on the 115mph driver. Averaged around 3k, which is really high for that SS. Not sure if they had a neutral AOA, but seems a little high.

[gioreeko]

4 hours ago, bluedot said:

This was my concern as well. I used the MTB-x for a year or so, and really liked both the ball and the price, but stopped after I had several over that time that just behaved “oddly”.   I start every round with a new ball, and every now and then I would have one that just sort of knuckled off the driver.  For lack of a better comparison, it looked like a worn out range ball in flight, except without the distance loss.  And I had one that just went crazy long off the driver; no other way to say it.  

That's odd, I've been using the MTB-X for almost a year now, and it's one of the most consistent balls I've ever used. That ball, and now the left dash ProV1, are my go to balls now.

[ShowMe]

10 hours ago, gsxrdn said:

Is anyone disappointed at the MGS golf ball review? So much tease but such a disappointment. 

Looking at the carry distances achieved given the swing speed, I can only deduce that PXG juiced the launch monitor to make their clubs look good.

 

'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” - Sherlock Homes'

 

Or maybe their clubs really ARE that good.  Hmmm...

[NoTalentLefty]

And I fall into the low 90s category with driver . What ball do I use? The 85 or 100 ball ? 

[nsxguy]

12 minutes ago, ShowMe said:

Looking at the carry distances achieved given the swing speed, I can only deduce that PXG juiced the launch monitor to make their clubs look good.

 

'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” - Sherlock Homes'

 

Or maybe their clubs really ARE that good.  Hmmm...

 

How does a manufacturer juice a launch monitor in a robot test conducted by a golf site ?

 

And btw, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle simply rephrased a 13th century principle - Occam's Razor.

[ShowMe]

7 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

How does a manufacturer juice a launch monitor in a robot test conducted by a golf site ?

 

And btw, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle simply rephrased a 13th century principle - Occam's Razor.

Elementary, my dear Watson, how many people do you know who swing their 8 iron 77mph and hit it 159 yards in the air?  😏  

[nsxguy]

5 minutes ago, ShowMe said:

Elementary, my dear Watson, how many people do you know who swing their 8 iron 77mph and hit it 159 yards in the air?  😏  

 

None. But while I agree(d?) with your skepticism about that 8 iron you didn't answer my question.

 

Or am I left with only my your assumptions ? 

[ShowMe]

Just now, nsxguy said:

 

None. But while I agree(d?) with your skepticism about that 8 iron you didn't answer my question.

 

Or am I left with only my your assumptions ? 

Like I said, my dear Watson, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”  Hence, they must have juiced the monitor to produce that distance.  Improbable, yes.  Impossible, no.

 

Do you get it, my dear boy?  Unless you have another theory as to how that carry distance happened?  Do share, my boy.  🤨