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New Duo Urethane


Chris O.

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While meeting with our area Wilson Staff rep this past weekend, he gave me a couple two ball packs of the new Duo Urethane. For those of you out there that enjoyed hitting the Duo or the Duo Spin this season, you are going to LOVE this ball. And if you tried those two balls and wanted just a little bit more out of the ball, you might want to give this a try when it comes out. 

 

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I will say, when the rep. was giving me the run down on the ball I was a little skeptical. The first thing he said was that this was the ball he's going to play next year...I can't help to think to myself "great...that's his sales pitch to try and get this ball in our bags". I probably shouldn't think that, but I can't help it, that's just how I think around reps. I like that it has a urethane cover, but again I was skeptical because the FG Tour ball that I have tried in the past had one of the least durable covers ever. The compression is 55 which brings it in as one of the softest urethane cover balls on the market. That low of a compression makes me think I'm going to lose distance off the tee, like what happened when playing the regular Duo. But all of this aside, I was excited to get out and test it. And my goodness was I surprised by the testing.

 

A little background on my game right now...I am coming off of ACL reconstruction from earlier this summer and I'm just now getting comfortable with my swing again. I've been playing for about a month now but I'm still a little nervous throwing my weight onto my front side, so sometimes I hit this stupid block/cut/banana slice. Anyway, my warm up bucket was a lot of that. By the end I finally got it semi under control. As you probably could have guessed, on the first tee I get up and just put an atrocious swing on the ball. I was pleasantly surprised by the feel off the face considering where the ball made contact. I was even more surprised that the ball still ended up on the right side of the fairway. Short but straight-ish. So for the next four holes I only played the Duo-U. I wanted to get used to the feel of the ball and in a little more of a groove before I started side by side testing. With no surprise on those holes I was a little shorter off the tee from where I usually am. But I didn't notice a whole lot of change in distance with my irons. The two biggest area's I was very pleased with was the "straightness" off the tee and how well the ball played around the green. I could chip around the green as if I had a high end tour ball. I was completely shocked by that. My first few chips, I left well short of the hole because it responded so well. And to be honest with you, I'm not one to put a lot of spin on the ball green side. Full swing shots I do okay, but green side, not a lot.

 

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This is on the 15th tee...the ball on the right is the one I had been playing, the other is a new one. 

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Once I got in a little groove I decided to start playing two balls side by side. My usual gamer is the Taylormade Tour Preferred X so I threw one down and started the testing. HOLY CRAP was there a huge difference in feel. I guess I just never really paid attention to how different balls feel off the face, but this was substantial. Also the side spin on the TP X was noticeably different. Now understand that my swing varies from swing to swing, but I tried to slow it down a hair just to make sure I could be as "consistent" as possible. As far as off the tee, the TP X was hands down further than the Duo-U. Like 10-15 yards further most of the time. But, the Duo-U was so much straighter than the TP X I would be okay with that. If you don't have a problem keeping it straight off the tee and have a high swing speed, the choice would be the TP X. But if you're like me and need a little help keeping it straight and don't mind sacrificing a little distance, the Duo-U might be looking into. As far as iron shots, I really didn't notice that much of a difference with distance, workability, or spin. Same goes for green side chips and pitches. I really played the Duo-U just like I would my TP X or any other tour ball I've used. Now as for my durability, again I was very pleased with the results. I used the same Duo-U for 16 holes until it parted ways with me into someones backyard. There were no huge gashes out of the cover that I have previously had with Wilson Staff balls. 

 

Now to wrap things up...overall I was very happy with the way that the Duo-U performed. It was straight off the tee and performed well around the green. And after only 3 or 4 holes of side by side testing, I ended up just playing out the round with the Duo-U. I loved the soft feel off the face and how straight it flies off the tee. If you don't like that soft feel, it's not the ball for you. I'll continue playing these balls out until i lose them all, also I was selected to test the Snell golf ball, so I'm excited to test them side by side along with the TP X.

 

Unfortunately they won't be for sale until the end of January when the rest of their new stuff comes out. I do believe they are going to price it around the price of the ChromeSoft and try and tap into that market space. 

 

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I also found a little bit of a soft spot in the fairway...

Driver:  :ping-small: G30 9*

 

Irons:  :callaway-small:  X-Forged 3-PW

 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX 2.0 52*

                :ping-small:  Glide 58*

 

Putter:   :taylormade-small: Itsy-Bitsy Spider

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Nice review, I love the pics particularly the one of the plugged ball, that's what everyone has looked like at my course since early July. :) 

 

As an FYI there are a couple of statements that you make that would seem to fly in the face about what we've learned about golf ball performance from other sources.   You may wish to check out the Quo Vadis Golf Ball thread - it's great reading - the respondent to all of the questions is an if not the expert on golf ball design.  If this new Duo is 10-15 yards shorter than the Taylor Made I would suggest that you are finding more fairways because its shorter and not because of less spin. Generally speaking spin and or lack of loss angle are the distance killers for the driver.  Regardless of why you are experiencing what I have and what Titleist claims, pro line balls are a bit longer off the driver than the mid range priced balls.  Two piece cheapies are the longest but have very little else going for them.

 

Thanks for the review and best wishes on your recovery.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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Nice review, I love the pics particularly the one of the plugged ball, that's what everyone has looked like at my course since early July. :)

 

As an FYI there are a couple of statements that you make that would seem to fly in the face about what we've learned about golf ball performance from other sources. You may wish to check out the Quo Vadis Golf Ball thread - it's great reading - the respondent to all of the questions is an if not the expert on golf ball design. If this new Duo is 10-15 yards shorter than the Taylor Made I would suggest that you are finding more fairways because its shorter and not because of less spin. Generally speaking spin and or lack of loss angle are the distance killers for the driver. Regardless of why you are experiencing what I have and what Titleist claims, pro line balls are a bit longer off the driver than the mid range priced balls. Two piece cheapies are the longest but have very little else going for them.

 

Thanks for the review and best wishes on your recovery.

I apologize for that. I shouldn't have made assumptions on why the performance of the two balls were different cause frankly I don't know much about ball tech. I should have just said what I saw on the course and left out the why. So sorry for that.

 

Also thanks for pointing me towards that thread. I'm like 5 or 6 pages in now and learning more about it.

Driver:  :ping-small: G30 9*

 

Irons:  :callaway-small:  X-Forged 3-PW

 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX 2.0 52*

                :ping-small:  Glide 58*

 

Putter:   :taylormade-small: Itsy-Bitsy Spider

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Awesome write-up Chris!  I gamed the DUOSpin for much of the year and really enjoyed hitting it.  Same ball, a little firmer with a urethane cover should be VERY interesting!  I'll see if I can get any info out of Wilson on it.  Thanks!!!

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
Follow @golfspybarbajo

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Great review Chris. The ball thread is a good one. We can all learn something new about golf every day.

Driver -  :taylormade-small: M1 9.5* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 70X

Fairway -   :taylormade-small: M1 5W 19* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 70X

Hybrids -   :ping-small: G25 4H 23*

Irons -  :mizuno-small: JPX 850 Forged 4-PW w/ Nippon N.S. Pro 1150S

Wedges - :mizuno-small: S5 50*07, 54*12, 58*12 w/ Nippon N.S. Pro 1150S

Putter - Oddyssey Metal-X #7 w/ SuperStroke Pistol GT 2.0

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Nice review-super excited to try these. Loved the original DUO, and i didn't notice much if any distance loss, in fact they seemed to be pretty long for me... My swing varies wildly, but when it's on i have been known to hit 300+ yards. Never got a chance to try DUO spin but there's still time on that front... Also have been super impressed with top flite's gamer tour, especially at $35 for two dozen from golf galaxy.

WITB: 

Adams 9064LS 9.5* (until I cracked the face)

Adams Super LS 17*

Adams XTD Ti 23*

Wilson Staff Ci7 4-PW

Adams wedges: 52/7 56/13 60/7

Wilson Staff Infinite Southside putter/Odyssey DualForce 660 putter

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  • 1 month later...

Pretty excited about this golf ball and want to compare it to the Chrome Soft and the new softer Taylormade Project A.

That will be a great comparison......please share with us when you get the chance.

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a 2 ball trail pack of the Duo U.  I have used it some on short shots and tested vs the chrome soft and new project A.  The Duo U checks faster than the CS and it was hard to tell the difference vs the PA.  Hit mostly 40 yard shots on testing.  Wasn't swinging well with the driver so didn't hit any drives.  I was impressed with the results that I got from the 40 yard shots.  I can put good spin on the ball and the cover showed no signs of wedge marks.  I love the yellow CS in the winter so I am very interested to see what the Duo U has to offer when it is released.Hopefully Wilson makes the Duo U in yellow.

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Interesting. I love the Chrome Soft a lot and plan to give the Project (a) a test before long. Sounds to me like I might enjoy the new Duo-U.

Thanks for the update 2010.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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I have a 2 ball trail pack of the Duo U.  I have used it some on short shots and tested vs the chrome soft and new project A.  The Duo U checks faster than the CS and it was hard to tell the difference vs the PA.  Hit mostly 40 yard shots on testing.  Wasn't swinging well with the driver so didn't hit any drives.  I was impressed with the results that I got from the 40 yard shots.  I can put good spin on the ball and the cover showed no signs of wedge marks.  I love the yellow CS in the winter so I am very interested to see what the Duo U has to offer when it is released.Hopefully Wilson makes the Duo U in yellow.

 

The Duo U has a cast urethane cover which, according to Dean Snell, is very difficult and expensive to add pigment.  The CS is a thermoplastic urethane and color can be added.  I don't think you will be seeing a yellow Duo U.

 

Check out the following thread for lots of discussion on golf balls:

 

http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/13666-quo-vadis-golf-ball/page-1

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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If we have a chemist in the house, I could use a lesson on urethane.

In my day, balata was standard and surlyn was the new deal. We didn't have urethane.

Now, I seem to pay extra for Top Flite Gamer Tours over regular Top Flite Gamers because I get urethane instead of something called ionomer. Might be a silly thing to do, because I have no idea what either of those materials is.

 

 

 

 

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Kenny, you are correct.  I saw the same thing from Snell.  We can hope right?!

 

Plaid, you are welcome.

 

So, I was able to get back out yesterday (Friday) and put the Duo U against the TM Project A for more testing.

From 60 yards I was able to get the Duo U to hop and back up a little.  The Project A hopped and stopped.  The difference could have been from the wedge still having a tiny bit of grass on it from the first shot.  It was pretty wet out on the course.  IMO it will come down to price.  Both balls at right there together in distance.  Duo U feels softer than the Project A off the clubs, (compression difference).  Cover durability is the same, no advantage to either ball.  My wedge is PM grind 58 degree. 

Hope this helps.  If anyone has any questions just let me know. 

Thanks.

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Anyone interested in this ball should really keep an eye on the Forum in mid-January.  You'll be very excited... :rolleyes:  :rolleyes:

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
Follow @golfspybarbajo

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The specs sound like the perfect ball to me. Low compression with a urethane cover sounds great. Rumors about the price have it at $35 dozen. Personally, Im happy paying $20 dozen for MG C4's. They work great for me and the price can't be beat, but the lower compression should add some yards.

WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Price is $37.99 a dozen.  I have tried the Duo U vs Project A vs Chrome Soft.  Here is my final testing thoughts.  Duo U is the softest.  Distance, spin and cover durability are about the same for all 3 balls.  No advantage to one or the other brand.  The only place all 3 fall short vs the high end tour balls is the 30 yard or so shot.  My money ball is Srixon Z Star XV.  Thing stops like a dropped cat. So does the new 2016 TM TPX. 

The Duo U, CS, Project A all roll out farther on the 30 yard shot vs high end tour balls.  The difference is several feet.  Between these 3 balls, my opinion is the winner is the Project A.  It's $34.99 a dozen, so a few buck cheaper.  But if you like yellow, you will have to stick with the CS.  The other 2 will not come in yellow. 

 

deejaid is right, the MG C4 is impressive for $20 a dozen.  In my testing its right there with the pro V and Srixon XV, but once again no yellow.

 

Just my thoughts.

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