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Maxfli Tour and Tour X - Official MGS Review - 12/12/2021
Intro
First off I wanted to say thank you to MGS and Maxfli for giving me the opportunity to review the new Tour and Tour X golf balls.  This will be my second review for MGS as I was lucky enough to be selected to review the Hogan VKTR+ hybrid last fall.  I was excited to be chosen for this test as I’ve been curious about the Maxfli Tour options ever since the 2019 version was reviewed in the ball lab and even more so once the 2021 version scored as highly as it did back in September. 
As a 20 handicap golfer, my game is definitely a work in progress.  I’m 41 years old and have been golfing since my teens but never really took it seriously until the last couple years. I try to get out for a round once a week and get to the range to practice a couple times a month when my schedule allows.  I have a driver swing speed that ranges between 95-100 mph and I tend to hit my woods & irons with a mid trajectory and not a lot of spin.  I get a lot of run out on my approaches and have a difficult time holding greens when I can get things together enough to hit them. Fortunately, I’m usually able to recover with my short game which is where playing better golf balls that I can spin helps me out.  The last season or so I’ve been playing the Srixon Z-Star XV mainly because I was able to find them for a great price.
The following are the clubs I'm currently playing with and the smart distances according to Arccos:
 


 
 
First Impression
The Maxfli balls arrived right before Halloween and I was able to open them up and get a first hand look at them that weekend.  My first thoughts were that these don't seem like a house brand golf ball.  The packaging is the same quality as any other name brand golf ball, which is a good thing.  Both the Tour and Tour X boxes have a subtle design with some metallic highlights just like Titleist or Srixon, it looks nice without being flashy or trying too hard.  They have a premium look to them unlike some of the DTC brands (Snell) or the cheap discount brands like Pinnacle.  Overall, I don't think they would look out of place on a retail shelf next to TP5, Chromesoft, etc and my guess is the average golfer (probably non-MGS reader) would have no idea that they are Dick's/Golf Galaxy's in-house brand.



In order to put these golf balls through their paces, I had a few practice putting sessions, some chipping practice, several rounds of on course testing and then hit the balls back to back on a GC2 simulator to determine which was the better fit for me.  
 
Looks & Durability 15 of 15
I find the Maxfli logo on the balls to be simple but good looking.  It definitely has a modern feel to the font which is something I like as I’m not someone who tends to get hung up on tradition.  I also like the alignment aid they print on the ball.  I don’t like making my own line on the ball as I find it slightly distracting and prefer the double lines and arrows printed from the factory.  It’s very similar to what Titleist offers on the “Enhanced Alignment” versions of the Pro V1 & Pro V1x which I have purchased in the past.   I use it on certain putts when I am questioning my line as it forces me to stick with my original read and not second guess myself once standing over the ball.

 
From a durability standpoint, I would say both models were at least above average.  I never damaged one without cause during normal play.  I had at least one occasion where the ball hit a cart path and to my surprise came out relatively unscathed. Below is a photo of a ball that had a serious impact with a tree.  The marks are actual cuts which I didn’t realize at the time but didn’t seem to affect the ball flight during the rest of the round.

Sound & Feel 13 of 15
Sound and feel are two items that MGS has kind of ingrained in my brain to ignore as they really aren’t performance metrics.  Also, being a high handicapper, most of the feedback I get is a direct result of the quality of contact I am making.  Solid shots feel good and when I’m struggling and hitting everything thin and on the toe they feel terrible.  With that qualifier out of the way, I found nothing disagreeable with either ball in this category.  I wouldn’t say either ball is particularly soft and both feel fine on well struck shots and neither is overly clicky.  The Tour is definitely slightly softer than the Tour X which is closer to the Z-Star XV I had been playing.  If I focused intently on this during putting and chips I could feel a small difference in the firmness but nothing that I couldn’t adjust to in a matter of minutes or would stop me from playing either ball.
On-Course Performance 38 of 40
On the course is really the true test of any golf ball and I was pleased with the results of both Maxfli balls.  As I’ve seen recommended in several places I took the approach of working from the green back to the tee with my testing and thus started with some putting at the practice green on my local course and my birdieball mat.  As I mentioned, my typical ball for the last season or so has been the 2019 Srixon Z-Star XV, which I believe is one of the firmest balls out there, and I think it was slightly noticeable with the puter. The Tour X definitely had a similar feel and if I had done the test blind I probably would have had a hard time telling the difference between the two consistently. The Tour was slightly softer but not to the extent that it would ever be a problem or something that I couldn’t adjust to within the first round.
Chips from the rough are something I’m very familiar with as I hit less than 50% of greens while on the course.  In both my practice sessions and my rounds on the course both Maxfli balls performed similarly to my  Z-Star XV gamers and generated enough spin to stop the ball and did so consistently and predictably.  On short chips, the only discernible performance differences seemed to be due to the quality of my ball strike.

Approach and tee shots also had consistent results for me and somewhat to my surprise, the balls  actually performed how the box said they would.  The Tour ball had a lower trajectory than the Tour X and my Z-Star XV.  This was definitely noticeable on a couple drives I hit into the wind and caught low on the face.  They both ballooned on me, but the Tour X was worse and just kept climbing.  Both balls had good stopping power on approaches and I was able to stick a few close and leave myself with makeable putts on several occasions.



My final performance test was to take the balls for a head to head against each other on a GC2 simulator.  My intent was to figure out which one (Tour or Tour X) would be best for my game.  Based on my previous rounds, I went into the simulator session leaning towards the X and I think the results backed that up.  I was able to generate more spin with the X on short pitches (despite the slower swing/ball speed) and the X gave me more spin on the 9 and 7 irons despite some thin shots with the 7.  5 iron and Driver spin were also both very similar although the averages reflect the inconsistency with my ball striking.  My big takeaway was that even with the higher spinning X, I can definitely still hit an optimal spin number with my driver if I can put a good swing on the ball.

 
Miscellaneous 8 of 10
I did an initial inspection of all 2 dozen balls I was sent and all I found were some small blemishes in the paint.  About half the balls were clean and the rest had 1 or 2 small marks.  The worst one is shown below and was similar to what I found on the 2019 ProV1x balls and 2019 Srixon Z-Star XV that I have been playing.  My guess is these won't affect performance as they were about the same size and texture as the small number stampings I found on all of the balls.  Overall I’m deducting 2 points here because of the blemishes.  Although I don’t think performance would be affected, the rate of blemishes seems to be higher than the Titleist that I would consider to be the benchmark on quality considering all of the MGS Ball Lab results.  Take this with a grain of salt as my sample size was rather limited, having only 2 sleeves of the Titleist balls laying around.
Maxfli Tour

 
Pro V1x

 
Z-Star XV

 
Game Bag or Shag Bag? 20 of 20
If there is one thing I can say I’ve learned from MGS it’s that no one should be playing cheap ionomer balls and that there is a urethane ball available for every budget.  This last point is where the Maxfli Tour range appeals to me.  Given the rate at which I lose golf balls I find the performance vs. cost of the Maxfli Tour range to be pretty unbeatable and plan to game the Tour X going forward.  The performance seemed to at least match what I had been playing and being able to pick up 4 dozen for $105 during the BF sale really sealed the deal for me.
Conclusion
Both Maxfli balls met all of my expectations and I plan to start gaming the Tour X going forward.  My own testing tells me the performance at least matches the premium ball I was playing and the MGS Ball Lab results tell me that the quality is there too.  As a high handicapper that loses a couple of balls a round the value is just unbeatable since I can catch these on sale (they always seem to be on sale) for the same price as the cheapest Surlyn options from Titleist, Callaway, etc.  While my game may not be at a level where I can discern the fine differences between these or a Pro V1 or a TP5, I can appreciate that these balls do have better performance than any other options at a comparable price. 
 
Final Score: 94 out of 100

MAXFLI Tour and TOUR X – Official MGS Forum Review by Alf.S (12/2021)
Intro
I’m a 60 year old retiree based out of the central belt in Scotland between Glasgow and Edinburgh conveniently placed for golf, with St Andrews, East Lothian (Muirfield), South Ayrshire (Troon and Turnberry) and Angus (Carnoustie) all with in a 2-hour drive. My home course is parkland and is The West Lothian Golf Club which sits above the Firth of Forth giving views over Fife, all the way down to the Bass Rock and up to the hills of the Trossachs north of Stirling.

I’m a mid-swing speed golfer averaging just below 100mph with my driver and hit a high ball flight with my irons, typical bad shot is a high cut or push. Like most golfers I go through the peaks and troughs of my play, at the moment my strongest part is my short game with my weakest being 160 -100 yds in. But when I’m playing bad it is the driving that is the usual cause.
I play on average 3-4 rounds a week; weekly competition, bounce game with friends and I’ll try and get a couple of rounds by myself when the course is quiet. I have been playing social golf since my early teens but for the last 20 years I have played competitively, I’m currently off 6.7 and my scores usually between 2 to 12 over par, with my best round being a level par 64 at my home course on the Winter setup last year.
My go to ball is the Pro V1 which I have used for the last 10 years. The choice was made mainly through trial and error and going back to the 00s, it was pretty much the premium ball to play and it’s stuck with me. In the last couple of years mostly due to the MyGolf Spy Best Ball reviews I have tried out the alternatives, last year it was the Snell MTB-X for half the season and this year it was the Srixon Z Star XV and Bridgestone Tour BX. In the review I was looking for a low spinning ball for mid swing speed golfers and these 2 seemed to fit the bill.
My work background was microelectronics so I have an analytical mind and am a technophile, any tech I can use to help me I will (within a budget). Skycaddie, Nikon Rangefinder, Arccos, Shot Scope and Mevo are in or have been in my bag over the last couple of years.
To avoid any preconceptions, I’m intentionally not reading the earlier Maxfli reviews and going in with an open mind, but I do have some experience of what I like. The ball must feel and sound good off the face, this to me promotes confidence, next is driving distance and dispersion off the tee, finally it is good spin from the irons. I’m not a particularly good ball striker with my irons and in my head, I don’t think a high spinning ball will improve my game.
First Impressions
From a historical view point I’ve heard of MAXFLI but for the last 20 years it is not a brand I would normally play with or regularly come across in stores or with other players using. If I found one on the course, it will be put in the collection box for the Juniors to use so I’m starting with low expectations.
The testers were given a dozen balls each of the MAXFLI TOUR and the TOUR X.
From the market information on the box you can plainly see they are aligning the balls with industry leaders i.e Tour is the lower spinning, lower trajectory ball aligned with Pro V1 and the Tour X higher spinning higher trajectory ball.

 My plan was to take
·         6 of each and my Gamer to the practise area, with my Flightscope Mevo and hit several clubs to get a feel and comparison of the MAXFLI balls against the gamer.
·         Spend an hour on the green chipping and putting with both balls
·         Do alternate rounds with each ball and confirm the data and observations picked up on the practise area
Unfortunately a couple of things hampered me, I’ve recently agreed to help an old acquaintance out and have been working 2 days a week from home and I tore a calf muscle. When I got out I focused on playing rounds with the ball and targeted to cycle back to the range work at the end.
On a cold autumn day with soft and wet greens I scheduled my first round. I turned up an hour early and took the balls on to the practise putting area. The area allows for you to do some short chips as well as putt. I had six each of the balls plus my gamer and hit different types of chips from 20 yds, with the 3 different balls using my 56° Callaway MD5. I found it hard to find any differentiation between the 3 different types, the TOUR, TOUR X and Pro V1. If pushed the TOUR X sounded a bit flat off the club face but in terms of spin and consistency they were pretty much a muchness. For putting I did the same, hitting putts from 20, 12, 6 and 3 feet looking at pace mainly and found very little difference except again the feel of the TOUR X being a little harsher. Both balls have a triple line for putter alignment but I don’t use the align aid for putting so it didn’t make a lot of difference.

For the first round I used the TOUR for the weekly competition at the club, straight off I felt comfortable with the feel and sound of the ball off the club. My driving was maybe not as long as with my gamer but driving dispersion was really good and my approaches were consistent. It is hard to gauge on soft greens the spin from approaches but I seemed to get a few that checked and spun back.  My putting was the weak point for the round but I put this down to the time of the season rather than the ball.
A very solid round of +2.

The second round was the TOUR X and this didn’t go so well, the sound off the club face was harsher and I immediately noticed the difference in launch, higher and the dispersion wasn’t as good. It was windy conditions that didn’t help but after losing a ball at the 3rd hole I moved back to the TOUR which although not as good as the week before did seem to stabilise my score.
Through November I stuck with the TOUR with a +5 and other respectable scores within my handicap range. My last 2 rounds were back to the Tour X which I persevered with, I was still finding it launching higher than the Tour and but still managed a couple of respectable rounds.
For the final task I took the balls out on to the range with the Flightscope Mevo. Again, I had 6 of each plus 6 Titleist Pro V1 2019 as the control sample. The balls were prepped with silver stickers so the Mevo can give better numbers on spin.

 
I took 3 clubs 8i, 52° Wedge and driver. For the wedge work I found very little difference in the balls which surprised me but with the 8i, there was a difference, the same as I had seen on the course the Tour X launched, flew and spun more that the other 2 balls.

For the driver I have to say I wasn’t hitting it well on the range, so the averages didn’t really show anything but anecdotally the longer balls on the range were the Pro V1 with 216 yds with the Tour next 209 yds and the Tour X a couple of yards behind
Grading
Since I saw a significant difference between the balls, for the grading I’ve graded them separately.
Looks & Durability (Maxfli Tour 13 out of 15 points, Maxfli Tour X 10 out of 15)
On opening the packaging, the first impression is that the ball boxes are eye catching and is what you would expect from a Premium ball supplier.
The packaging design for both the 12 ball
and 3 ball packets

are eye catching and distinctive, what you would expected from a quality ball supplier.
The balls are gloss white and use the industry recognised black for TOUR and red for the higher flight, higher spinning TOUR X. The balls have a “triple track” putter alignment aim, well defined on the balls. My personal preference would be for the TOUR X to have a red dot under the MAXFLI which would make it easier to differentiate between the 2 models.
To put into context on durability it helps to know that at my club we are playing on our Winter layout which means the course is down to a par 64 and 4800 yards and for me that is a lot of irons from 130 yards and in i.e. PW - 60° LW. I also tend to use old wedges in the winter which don’t have the sharpest groves.
I played more rounds with the TOUR (2 balls over 6 rounds) and found this to be very durable and showed very little sign of wear or grazes even after 3 rounds. I hit a tree point blank with a 5i circa 120 mph and the ball showed no damage. The picture on the left shows the only damage I could find on one of the TOUR balls after 3 rounds. The TOUR X on the other hand showed several scuffs after only 12 holes. This is shown on the 2 pictures on the right.

Sound & Feel (Tour 13 out of 15 points, Tour X 11 out of 15)
Both balls urethane covers are firm and resist any ingress. As per my initial First Impression section above I did find the Tour X a flatter harsher sound off the driver. As for irons and putter, to me I heard and felt no discernible difference between the 2 models and the Pro V1. After saying at the beginning sound and feel were important to me in this case neither caused me issue and loss of confidence in hitting the ball through out my bag.
On-Course Performance (Tour 35 out of 40 points, Tour X 30 out of 40 points)
Of the 2 balls I found the on-course performance of the TOUR ball more suited to my game. It’s hard to put down the 2 or 3 good rounds (+2, +6 and +6) I had with the TOUR down to purely the ball but the ball striking and consistency over the piece was as good as my gamer. The TOUR X higher launch and spin didn’t help me, especially in a windy Autumn in Scotland.
Off the tee the distance of both balls was pretty close to my gamer but I did find the TOUR X dispersion worse and more affected by the wind.
With my approaches the higher launch of the Tour X was more pronounced which in the conditions didn’t help my game apart from this both balls compared very well in all other aspects of my game
Miscellaneous (10 out of 10 points)
I do like the aesthetics of the balls and packaging, they both standout with the recent update to both. For me the shipping was excellent, the balls arrived before the US reviewers had received them.
Game Bag or Shag Bag? (Tour 17 out of 20 points, Tour X 13 out of 20 points )
I am always searching for a ball that suits my game and gives me confidence, the MAXFLI TOUR has done this. To become my Gamer it is competing with the incumbent, Pro V1; new kids on the block Bridgestone Tour BX and the Srixon Z Star XV. Ultimately for me it will probably be availability in Europe that means I don’t use it as my Gamer.
For players in the US looking for a lower cost DTC ball that gives like performance to the ProV1 the TOUR is worth a try.
My experience with the TOUR X was not so good, the extra ball height and the durability questionable.
Conclusion
For the last 10-15 years MAXFLI is not a brand I would have ever considered using. It has fallen out of fashion and market awareness in Europe is practically non-existent. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole package and would say that they have succeed in making a DTC ball that is capable of competing in performance with the top brands. The only downside I would highlight is the durability of the Tour X which marked up throughout the review time period.
Final Score: 
For the Maxfli Tour the score is 88/100 and for the Tour X 74/100