Bridgestone BX with a • ???

[dre72]

Grabbed some BX’s while I was at my club today and when I went to mark them I noticed the logo had a • between BX.    Am I reading something into it?   Any one seen this before?  Picture is of brand new BX’s out of different boxes, both the new 2022 version.  Every ball in the dozen has the • in the logo.  

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by dre72

[belh22]

Hmmmm 

[Fairways_and_Greens]

Nice tonneau cover

[hammergolf]

Never seen that before.

[Jc0]

16 hours ago, dre72 said:

Grabbed some BX’s while I was at my club today and when I went to mark them I noticed the logo had a • between BX.    Am I reading something into it?   Any one seen this before?  Picture is of brand new BX’s out of different boxes, both the new 2022 version.  Every ball in the dozen has the • in the logo.  

 

 

They probably changed some thing around the manufacturing or materials that forced them to get reapproved as a new ball. Callaway had something similar a few years back on the chrome soft and they added a diamond to the marking, but it was the same ball.

[dre72]

1 hour ago, Jc0 said:

 

They probably changed some thing around the manufacturing or materials that forced them to get reapproved as a new ball. Callaway had something similar a few years back on the chrome soft and they added a diamond to the marking, but it was the same ball.

Interesting, quite possibly the answer.    So, if (and we don’t know if that is correct) I were to use these two ball in the same round of an amateur event with the one ball rule in effect, would this be a breach of that rule? 

[Jc0]

23 minutes ago, dre72 said:

Interesting, quite possibly the answer.    So, if (and we don’t know if that is correct) I were to use these two ball in the same round of an amateur event with the one ball rule in effect, would this be a breach of that rule? 

Yes. By usga conformance they are different balls so you would be violating the one ball rule.

[dre72]

2 minutes ago, Jc0 said:

Yes. By usga conformance they are different balls so you would be violating the one ball rule.

Thats what i was thinking, BStone should make players aware of this

[elwhippy]

Most interesting. A tour issue batch sneaked into retail.

[slappy78]

Just received four dozen, all have the dot. Have not hit any to compare

[belh22]

That’s Interesting wonder if there’s any difference

[hammergolf]

Wonder if this is a running change to the current ball. I’ve played b’stone for years and have never seen or heard of any “tour only” versions. Just looked at the usga conforming list and it seems there are many dot versions.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by hammergolf

[dre72]

2 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Wonder if this is a running change to the current ball. I’ve played b’stone for years and have never seen or heard of any “tour only” versions. Just looked at the usga conforming list and it seems there are many dot versions.

 

 

I saw that also.   I called Bstone Friday, they are supposed to call me back Monday 

[hammergolf]

42 minutes ago, dre72 said:

I saw that also.   I called Bstone Friday, they are supposed to call me back Monday 

Now that I see the tour only balls, it makes sense that they advertise Freddie playing RXS and Lexi playing RX. They aren’t the retail versions obviously.

[belh22]

Very anxious about the dot. Would love if they were making a lower spin version or this was it 

[Evanwill10]

Following for a verdict. 

[nitram]

Interested as well

[storm319]

This does not necessarily mean that there was a change to the actual ball. Could be that they submitted multiple stamps to have as backups in case one is found to be non-conforming (the USGA does random checks on retail samples from time to time) or they could have changed the stamp when submitting the annual renewal. 

[dre72]

Finally got an answer from BStone today.   I went back and forth with a rep a couple times asking questions etc...    According to the rep who contacted an engineer for info, the 

"dot " ball is the new reformulated 2022 BX ball.  She said they changed something with the cover and had to resubmit for USGA approval.  She couldn't (or wouldn't) go into what the change was or how it made the ball react differently.

 

[Jc0]

I bet this was a change due to supply chain issues. They probably changed an ingredient because they couldn't source something and the new ingredient is slightly different which forces the ball to have to be reapproved.

 

I wouldn't expect any change in performance. The goal of a change like this is to keep the same design and performance with the new material. 

[Fairways_and_Greens]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:26 AM, dre72 said:

Finally got an answer from BStone today.   I went back and forth with a rep a couple times asking questions etc...    According to the rep who contacted an engineer for info, the 

"dot " ball is the new reformulated 2022 BX ball.  She said they changed something with the cover and had to resubmit for USGA approval.  She couldn't (or wouldn't) go into what the change was or how it made the ball react differently.

 

That seems about right. Here is the differences between the balls that I found. Caveat here is I'm no Iron Byron. I won't go into feel because both balls feel the same. With the exception of short pitches, the B.X seemed to launch just a touch lower, and spin a touch more.

 

With a 60 degree SM8, I found the balls to spin within 100 RPM. The difference is much more likely me than the ball.

 

Here is a partial 54 SM8.

 

Full ZX7 Wedge

 

Full ZX7 7 Iron

 

TSR2 Driver

[dre72]

1 hour ago, Fairways_and_Greens said:

That seems about right. Here is the differences between the balls that I found. Caveat here is I'm no Iron Byron. I won't go into feel because both balls feel the same. With the exception of short pitches, the B.X seemed to launch just a touch lower, and spin a touch more.

 

With a 60 degree SM8, I found the balls to spin within 100 RPM. The difference is much more likely me than the ball.

 

Here is a partial 54 SM8.

 

Full ZX7 Wedge

 

Full ZX7 7 Iron

 

TSR2 Driver

Good info!   Thanks!

[Fairways_and_Greens]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:26 AM, dre72 said:

Finally got an answer from BStone today.   I went back and forth with a rep a couple times asking questions etc...    According to the rep who contacted an engineer for info, the 

"dot " ball is the new reformulated 2022 BX ball.  She said they changed something with the cover and had to resubmit for USGA approval.  She couldn't (or wouldn't) go into what the change was or how it made the ball react differently.

 

Interestingly enough, my dot ball’s cover cracked already. It’s unreasonable to expect any ball not to eventually crack being hit into a screen, but the regular balls have lasted much longer with no problems. The crack seems to only be in the outermost layer. 

[ReidE5]

4 hours ago, Fairways_and_Greens said:

Interestingly enough, my dot ball’s cover cracked already. It’s unreasonable to expect any ball not to eventually crack being hit into a screen, but the regular balls have lasted much longer with no problems. The crack seems to only be in the outermost layer. 

Thats definitely strange.  Ive seen tons of balls wear down to almost having no dimples left from hitting against a screen for so long.

[kasting333]

On 1/6/2023 at 3:36 PM, Fairways_and_Greens said:

Interestingly enough, my dot ball’s cover cracked already. It’s unreasonable to expect any ball not to eventually crack being hit into a screen, but the regular balls have lasted much longer with no problems. The crack seems to only be in the outermost layer. /cdn-cgi/mirage/404105cadf4a5444e772eafdc4b6c30205455c0e294657c9421d9b92becfdfed/1280/cdn-cgi/mirage/404105cadf4a5444e772eafdc4b6c30205455c0e294657c9421d9b92becfdfed/1280/https://wrxcdn.golfwrx.com/uploads/monthly_2023_01/1A874A86-BFE7-4CF9-B311-3D5D1F9B7313.jpeg.da5b425b5be619afaf4203fb4abfb030.jpeg

I had a tour b x crack just like that during a round last year. I still think it’s just a fluke bc I’ve never had it happen since 

[Drewhill44]

Just picked up a new dozen of the 2022 BX and the side stamp is the B (Dot) X.  The data above is showing more spin and shorter distances.  Anyone noticing a similar difference in performance? 

[Fairways_and_Greens]

On 3/14/2023 at 6:23 AM, Drewhill44 said:

Just picked up a new dozen of the 2022 BX and the side stamp is the B (Dot) X.  The data above is showing more spin and shorter distances.  Anyone noticing a similar difference in performance? 

I noticed the same. I like the dot better. I have Srixon irons, so a little more spin is welcome. 

[JourneyToBreak80]

Have a box of these and will be playing them tomorrow. I enjoyed the few I tested. Hope the cover durability isn't too bad, this isn't the first time I've heard of the 22 version having durability issues though. I switched from the Z Star for this reason. 

 

May play the Chrome Soft X or just pony back up to the ProV1X, the price increase kinda sucks though haha.

[cw1209]

So is the B•X the only version offered right now? Or can you still buy the 2022 BX ball, and there are two slightly different versions of the same ball on the market? Just bought a box and received the dot version. Curious if this is a supply chain issue with materials, or if this is a prototype with some tweaks they are planning for the 2024 update. 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by cw1209

[Drewhill44]

                           Looks like Bridgestone applied a new sticker over the original sticker to the boxes of the B•X balls.  The new sticker says “Reformulated Mantle”.  

Edited March 27, 2023 by Drewhill44