skraeling

looking forward to providing sarcastic if hopefully useful actual info

Sugar Golf Balls Official MGS Forum Member Review by skraeling (July - XXX, 2023) Introduction: aka the diary of a bogey golfer (on a good day) Well now. Imagine my surprise to see myself selected. My brain almost had not processed that fact thanks to having just gotten back from a scramble in something like a 114* heat index. Once the fog cleared I knew I had some work ahead of me. Hello all, the name is Ryan and I have lived in the greater Saint Louis Missouri area for most of my life at this point. I have worked in a lab since graduating college with my B.S. in Microbiology. Single guy and just in love with this absolutely mental sport. Im not this tired looking usually. Darn holiday weekends. Much more refreshed while on vacation though. How I play: Umm... it depends on the day? Ive played since I was roughly a preteen and then maybe once or twice a year for the past 20+ years. I got conned, well maybe not conned... into joining a golf league and thats really when I became obsessed. Getting fitted for irons, buying other new equipment... becoming a regular in the CHA thread.... The golf league really did speed up my development (and obsession with the sport). I'm pretty routinely in the 90's and usually around low to mid 40's during league of which we only do 9 holes. For the longest time my biggest Achilles was the driver. It can still get wonky at times, but even given my modest ~17hcp I can average somewhere around 245 off the tee. It usually seems to be a rotating of issues for what will plague me that day... 3 putts? Teebox penalties? Fatting irons? Blading chips? My swing speed is somewhat modest though I have not measured it lately. Id say in the 90s for the driver and 80s for the irons? Either way im just a typical average amateur. Sometimes I do things really well and usually have one blow up hole (or round... more on that later) that really nukes a decent score. Testing and Goals: My current gamer ball flips between the Bridgestone Tour B RXS and RX. The RXS of the two feeling slightly softer as its intended to spin more. Given my modest swing speeds I need short game and iron spin. Also I just kind of prefer how a softer balls feels even if data suggests that a higher compression ball would honestly be fine. Frankly I havnt seen that bear out from the data Ive gathered (also while on vacation). Well Ryan... how are you actually gathering data? I use arccos and while its not perfect it does seem to work quite well for tracking and stats. This being a ball test I can utilize my current clubs and get a true apples to apples comparison. I intend to play rounds outside of my golf league (YAY MORE GOLF!) while I determine how this ball plays. My game being what it is, the ball sometimes doesnt matter if I'm not striking whatever round object well. I wont be using any launch monitor data as renting while not expensive... isnt really cheap here. Also I want some real world feels and conditions. This ball is trying to compete with balls exactly like mine so I expect performance on par (badum - tish) with my Bridgestones. If they come close for the price point that Sugar are targeting.. then thats a win. Just wish they had funky colors. I prefer playing yellow balls. No idea why. I had never heard of this company, but I can respect what they are trying to do. UNBORXING: Hey now that the forum is working again for me I think its time to start adding to this... and oh boy do I have stuff to add. All the things arrived in good shape. Well... other than the box I guess. It had an issue right after I opened it. This is fine... I can fix it. TAADAAA. Ok yeah totally not needed but who cares. The towel is standard waffle pattern towel... though I'm not sure Ill be replacing my current one till its totally worn out. Sorry Sugar you kind of lost this round to no fault of your own. My cat however.... loves the towel. Lets just accept its hers now and no one gets hurt. New hotness vs old and busted? Ill post more later woo! Some play testing updates!!! So when these showed up I of course was not on the course. So I checked them against my Tour B RXS balls just a basic weight check right? Every ball I measured was a spot on 1.6oz. I did not perform any concentricity testing but didnt notice anything out of bounds to the naked eye anyway. So of course I did the next best thing by just putting a few indoors just to get a feel. Pretty consistent even for me. The putting feel on these is quite good actually. Never had much in the way of distance control problems with them. A VERY solid 8/10 for me. FIRST PLAY TEST! Well....unfortunately my game decided it need to s*** the bed at the worst possible time. Now... I was somewhat hungover the morning my stupid ass decided to try and play with these... in roughly 100* heat. So.... yeah... this is how it started. It.... never really got much better from there. So I kind of had to scrub this playtest as really... none of the data felt valid. I was just playing too poorly. Could NOT get out of my own way. Sigh. This was the best drive of the day I had.... not great. I average roughly 230/245 off the tee on a competent hit from myself. Fine... ON TO THE NEXT play through. Remember that mojo regainer round I tried? Yeah... it was also a bit of a redemption for the balls. This was nothing to do with how they played and 100% just me being your utterly average golfer who had a bad day. It doesnt matter what magic bullshit marketing a ball promises. If you dont STRIKE THE BALL well... none of the marketing wank matters or the cost for that matter. So I was finally getting my tempo back (also minus a hangover which helped. Some capture highlights from the round. I absolutely domed this ball off my driver crown and top of the face. This is pretty promising for honestly about as bad a mishit as you can get and still gain distance. Low spin perhaps? It went straight so thats all I care about. Not shabby for almost entirely missing the face and the first and ONLY time I got to hit driver on this course. So a sample size of 1... please stand up. You are not the real slim shady. Need to get a few more good strikes to get a good litmus on it still. Ok how about a farther par 3 hole? Ok.... Now it only says 204 but where it hit (the green) and rolled probably 15feet up the hill behind which was QUITE steep. So honestly... it was impressive even by my modest standards. So this being a par 3/4 course mostly par 3... you get to hit a lot of shorter shots. Spin on these? Fantastic. I also EXPECT that from a urethane cover ball as well. Quite like the short wedge spin these can give. Now this is just watching when the ball hits the green and not quantified by any actual number. It reacts similarly to my bridgestones when i strike them well. All for now.. I got another round coming up sunday (a full 18) so I should get some GREAT data then. PLAYTEST UPDATE: Ok sugar… we need to talk. what the actual fork did you put in these. Short game spin is just…. Absurd. I’ve not had balls check up like this ever. sugar? Sorry more like cocaine. not only did I have a good round today. I also broke 90 (@GolfSpy_BNG thanks for the badge btw) for the first time ever using these. Happy coincidence? Possibly. Did they hurt my odds? Nope. Got spin? Pitch mark off an iron not wedge shot. Stopping power eh? even with longer irons green holding is quite good. We had VERY fast greens today. Given being 5”+ under for rain this year…. no issues here gents and ladies now on 17 things got… complicated. had to bail back to the club house. Made it just in time. well… the greens were now water logged to hell. Still managed to finish. Woo. UPDATED 8/4/23 Not much to update, its been quite rainy and or 100* so have not gotten out except for once. Similar story to when I first tried these out, game s*** the bed so I stopped using them and just went to beater balls to hang on to the ones I have left (16 I think). I think final reviews for these come out this weekend so look forward to that. But really Sugar.... can we get a yellow ball or something lime green like Vice does? So much easier to track in the air with contrast. ITS THE FINAL COUNTDO....REVIEW I MEAN. 8/6/23 11 Balls were harmed in the making of this review. Aesthetics (8 out of 10) The ball is well constructed and feels nice in the hands. Sound off the face is pretty standard and feel is on the firm side. The balls are VERY durable. I never use the alignment aid though it is present for those that use it. Overall a competent looking ball. Putting Feel is overall excellent if not one of the best Ive tried out of my many gamers. The Numbers (18 out of 20) The sugar ball compares very favorably to my current gamer ball the Tour B RXS. I noticed it keeping pace with the Bridgestone on both distance and spin rates (visually indicated not launch monitor data). Driving data This was the ball I just happened to be playing the first time I broke 90 during this test. Played several different balls ever couple of holes. First three holes TP5X, next 4 Sugar, last 3 Bridgestone. On The Course (20 out of 20) Off the tee the ball is more than up to the task of providing ample distance. It compared favorably and sometimes better than others I tried both the tp5x, Tour B RXS and RX. No complaints here. Spin around the green is…. Exceptional. This ball will drop like a dime onto any green you can hit. So if you spin the ball too much? This may not be the ball for you as I have no trouble getting it to hop n stop even on partial feel wedge shots. I don’t have the skill level required to “work” a ball (yet). So that aspect I cannot speak to. Flight is high, but that’s more so a product of just my swing and club model choice. This may be one of the more accurate putting balls I have played. Control with it seemed effortless. The Good, the bad, the inbetween (16 out of 20) The good? Price. For this model 69.99 for 27 is pretty dang good. My RXS cost me $4.16 a ball, oof. For the performance these give? $2.59 a ball is a damn steal. Overall performance. GOOD! Zero complaints. The bad? Only white available. I only play funky colors… yellow, or the best ball color ever when I did play them. Vice’s lime green. I get offering more colors would probably break the current cost / ball model they have though. The Inbetween: Overall just kind of another white ball. With a name as unique as Sugar I’d have figured something to visually distinguish it. Im really being nitpicky here as there isn’t much meh about this ball at all. Play it or Trade it? (17 out of 20) I would honestly play these. In fact, I might put them into play for a league round this Tuesday. The price to performance is there in spades. Its why Vice lost me when they started raising prices. They lost what made them worth it. I will probably not however be playing them all that often. I just love yellow golf balls. Conclusion An exceptional standout in the DTC ball market. The price to performance of a urethane ball like this is astounding. I have almost zero complaints with how this ball plays. If you need a competitive urethane ball that will while feeling a little firmer behave to perfection from tee to green? Give these a look. I have a VERY modest swing speed usually only topping out at best low 90s on driver. Irons are in the 70mph to 80’s Id suspect. I had zero issue getting these to spin around the green or with longer iron shots. If an alternative color were available I would game these over my bridgestones. Final Score (79 out of 100) TLDR: An affordable urethane ball with competitive performance from tee to green.

Add in our roughly 60% humidity to that I can deal with AZ heat haha. Gotta say though first time ive ever seen the UV index just listed as EXTRME.

This fall ive committed to actually doing some landscaping in the front... Im already not looking forward to the amount of work this will require. Full retaining wall raised thingy and burying downspout tubes... the whole bit. Neighbor just did his and it looks amazing. Now it SHOULD look good as hes a damn general contractor anyway. Me? Ima bumble **** my way through this and probably take twice as long.

Semi how’d you play / CHA post. Friday charity scramble in conditions that indicated to me that it was not at the golf club of wentzville like I had been originally told it was hosted at again. No no… this was clearly being hosted on the surface of the sun. heat index north of 110* at 530 when we finished. Meaning it was probably hotter during play. given conditions we did manage -4 so I’ll take it. Dad did receive his Xmas 3w early and he was to say the least, shocked. Also really happy. If he could have putted with this thing I think he would have. He struck it very well and gave him the missing range he needed between driver and his 3h.

Suppose I should add on to this. Picked up several Tori Richard’s while I was in Hawaii. Drytech best tech.

So “I” did not buy myself anything. I did however pick my father up a gently used 3w callaway maverick fairway wood. now… this is not without the obsessive observation a scientist is prone to doing. 1. He doesn’t have anything between his 3h (I also got him) and his driver distance wise. 2. We got to play a matched set of callaway mavericks in Hawaii. 3. He liked the 3w AND 5w though he did not have his 3h with him in the set. seriously… these are phenomenal clubs. these were the rental set at the last course we played. Now am I shocked that I did well with them? No. Why? Well they were my VERY close 2nd place finish when I got fitted. anyhow… father figure hit these and we both went “holy crap” these clubs rock. so I being the guy that I am… snapped pics of all relevant data regarding what we actually hit. He gets his new toy tomorrow at the scramble. call it an early Xmas gift. We are in the Midwest so golfing in December isnt an option.

urf.... scramble tomorrow. For a worthy cause... program teaches cpr so yeah... quite a fan as my brother is a paramedic. Hey bro.. I need a refresher. Anyway. Tomorrows forecasted high is ermmmmmmm...... roughly 100* before heat index... which is to be also HIGH. potentially in the 105*+ range. Again this is subject to change given rain and or cloud cover potential. I am however a veteran of this particular charity shindig and its ALWAYS HOT.

Didn’t see this thread so I’ll post my results from my Strata set. this was two years ago. Models available new at the time in October. TM sim2 TM sim2os callaway maverick ping g425 cobra rad speed titleist t300? I ended up hitting the TM and Callaways the best. stock strata 7i. The TM and Callaways for me performed the best. I basically gained distance without losing launch or spin.

You had ONE job sir… one.

Send some rain to the Midwest ya jerks. Stop hoarding it. We are I think more than 5” under what we usually are on average now, maybe worse.

league night last night and I had ONE blowup hole on 18 (we only play 9 on league). Had a big old ocho on the 18 par 5. Just could NOT get out from the trees. Push the drive right. Land pretty close to a tree after clipping it. Cant take a full backswing and trees are in front of me. Try and punch out with a hybrid. Hit tree 30yd in front of me... and it blasts it back to my same tree. this is what pain looks like. Do a tiger woods-esque toe pool cue move thingy like he did from under that bush to put it back ON to the fairway. Finally get it down there and 3 putt lol. Ugh... rough. I did have an eagle putt attempt later that round though (missed). Absolutely scorched a 3w shot 245ish onto a green after a somewhat mediocre 187yd drive (got under it and basically skied the thing). Round ends and we decide to play a few extra holes just to f around. We play 18 AGAIN.... this time Pretty good drive ~245, then take the 3w out and dont quite get all of it so around a 200yd shot but I hit the green with it. I now have a SECOND eagle attempt of the night... so of course I missed it lol. left it short both putts tap in birdies. TLDR: I missed two eagle putts in one night AMA.

oh boy. gonna be a long day this one. usually in to work about 6am. live maybe 30mi from work.... soccer game is tonight at 730... soooooooo im just gonna hang around downtown and kill time till the tailgate starts at 4ish.

Mamala bay. Right across from Pearl.

Well… this course did not disappoint. Unfortunately the back 9 is under construction/reno so we got to play the front twice. first 9 though had a 47, second time a 49. So net 97 with rental clubs on a new course. I’ll take it. Hell of a rental set. These were absolutely phenomenal clubs. Putter was.. good, but I suck putting so it didn’t matter. Can’t beat this view though. I waved. Dunno if they waved back. scenic as heck. Greens were varied and challenging. modern jets are rather quiet. IMG_6030.mov

Good morning once again from the shores of Hawaii. Only one day left here then get to head back to Midwest hell temps. the good news though is I’ll be ending it on a high note and playing mamala bay gc in about 2hrs. This is right across from Pearl. Should be nice. How many penalty strokes is it if you slice it into a 777 or F22?

Side bar: By the time I figured out how to hit a reg flex driver vs me normal stiff. Think I could play either flex really. I’m not gifted with high swing speed at all it’s just what im used to. It’s a LIGHT shaft but called S flex. Mamiya ust helium. Just so light love it. With the ping set I was using (full rental ping set I s*** you not)… it was all reg flex. I will say that 3w in the ping 425 set was just scary good… at least till I got tired haha. Then I couldn’t hit it at all. G425 driver was amusing. I could not for the life of me in reg flex not over draw it. I had to almost cast out to right field to even get something that wouldn’t snap hook. When I finally got that down though… holy s***. Predicable placement. I can see why the G425 driver has the following that it does. The irons were not bad but I didn’t hit them particularly well when I did my fitting a few years ago either. The 60* wedge (a glide 3) was quite fun to use and the g425iron set it’s S wedge (assuming 56*) was an absolute joy to hit out of the sand. my dad I forced to play an entire jpx hot metal set all the way through the woods. Overall really unique opportunity to try premium clubs on a honestly decently hard course.

It’s about money. Always has been. Either both sides realized they could make more of it together instead of the M.A.D. War they had going on, or one of them realized they were going to eventually lose. Maybe both. it’s money that’s it.

Well it never disappoints here playin Kaneohe with my dad. Rental clubs and got paired with one very drunk marine and one very new to golf one so a 5hr round isn’t awful. lost to the dad by one stroke of course. I can’t hit pings for s***. accidentally played a tee farther back than intended so I’ll take my 101 to my dads 100.

Alrighty getting a tee time booked this morning for the marine base Kaneohe. Look forward to shanking balls into some f22s. Sorry government.

Did last time I was here and my heel is okish (hurt it running been sore for a few weeks) so I don’t want to push it that much. Also you have to make reservations now and damn near everywhere else too it seems.

No golf yet, but I’m here another week lol so plenty of time to play some.

Bear creek has really improved lately, its been through a rough bit that past few years.

best part about leaving tomorrow, I still get my golf league day in tonight haha. this is a sickness.