MGS Golf Ball Test

[sixcat]

5 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Just waaaaaaaaay too many variables with a "used" ball. Did it sit at the bottom of a lake, river or steam? Did the previous player keep them in the garage with sub zero or 100+ temps? Did it bounce off a tree, several times? And of course since it is lost, maybe it was out of spec to begin with.  With so many excellent new balls for sale at sub $30 prices it just seems like a no brainer to buy new. Especially last years balls that work just as well this year as they did last year. 

I think it was Sam in the live chat yesterday that said something to the effect of "why play a junk ball when Kirkland Signatures are $12 a dozen!"  They may not be the best ball on the market but they are certainly better than something dredged off the bottom of a lake and likely cheaper to boot.

[bens197]

If you’re a 115 person, which ball are you choosing?


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Bought 3 dozen of Elixr

[StrokerAce]

~100 mph ss

just bought the Tour B X...went through the online fitting tool on the Bridgestone site and that's what they recommended.

Try it!
https://www.bridgestonegolf.com/en-us/find-my-ball/ball-selector-tool

Make sure you fill out all of your specs.

[StrokerAce]

16 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

Anyone ever buy from "golfio" ?

They have the Bridgestone Tour B X on sale for 38.99 and w/20% off coupon it goes to 31.99 w/free shipping.

Sounds like a great deal.

https://express.google.com/u/0/product/13358854282126785180_17076934078406015357_105613595?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=tu_prop&utm_content=eid-lsjeuxoeqt&gtim=CLTdz5Oj_sfwuQEQg4GplPKT1IXiARiw4csSIgNVU0Qo4MaM5wUwm5KuMg&utm_campaign=105613595&gclid=CjwKCAjwqqrmBRAAEiwAdpDXtA_u9GJ7Y6Af2JnEYMactD8YJUCVMdG9Sg9gv9AJHrArEYoRHHUvQRoCSNwQAvD_BwE

Figured I'd go for it...what the heck.

[z1ggy16]

The MTB-X obviously looks great but I'm already a pretty high spin player (spin a full 54* around 11-12k, strike dependent of course) so I think it's a bit overkill for spin. I was fit into TP5X but honestly the ProV1X looks like it's possibly more consistent/accurate.

 

Never tried Bstone before, but if it's good enough for Tiger...

[perseveringgolfer]

5 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

~100 mph ss

just bought the Tour B X...went through the online fitting tool on the Bridgestone site and that's what they recommended.

Try it!
https://www.bridgestonegolf.com/en-us/find-my-ball/ball-selector-tool

Make sure you fill out all of your specs.

just did and added Trackman numbers I remember from an older fitting- recommended Tour B RX all the way down. I dont know if that's suitable or not- I'll check re MGS stats and maybe buy a sleeve to trial.

[Duffer_E]

So, the next logical step, IMHO, is to test the difference between brand new balls of one model (i.e. Titleist ProV1), and refurbished balls of the same model (and don't forget to test the different rated refurbished balls, i.e. 5A, 4A, 3A, etc). Especially if you look at the sidebar in the MW Ball page about pond balls -- I've seen videos where the people who own/run used ball companies get a good portion of their balls from dredging ponds!

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, z1ggy16 said:

What implications does the test have on the used golf ball market? I almost always buy my supply off balls off Lost Golf Balls, but now I am really considering avoiding them and just ponying up the $$ for new balls. If brand new stuff can randomly fly 10 yards off line due to out of round, bad dimples, etc... then there's just no way a used ball, whether it's been hit 40 times before and cleaned up or it sat in a lake for 3 days, can be better than brand new.

I really wonder how many shots that has cost me over the past few seasons.

 

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Probably not much. The avg Joe weekend golfer isn’t reading this study and making decisions based on it.

as for shots you would need to do a side by side comparison for several rounds.

1 hour ago, jjfcpa said:

What ball would you play if you were in the 90 mph range with a  driver?

 

Anything in the top two categories. Test several on the course on the same day to see what works best for you

[00sportsman]

41 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

~100 mph ss

just bought the Tour B X...went through the online fitting tool on the Bridgestone site and that's what they recommended.

Try it!
https://www.bridgestonegolf.com/en-us/find-my-ball/ball-selector-tool

Make sure you fill out all of your specs.

I had done it before and had been "fit" into the e12 soft twice.  This time I messed with the settings and basically discovered if my current gamer, which happens to be the Wilson Duo Soft, is a surlyn cover then it insists on fitting me into the e12.  As soon as I changed my current ball to the Callaway Chrome Soft X, of which I do have a few in my bag, it immediately decided that I was a Tour B RX guy.  The only change that got me from the e12 to the Tour B RX was changing to a urethane ball as my current ball.

For what it's worth. . .

[StrokerAce]

1 minute ago, 00sportsman said:

I had done it before and had been "fit" into the e12 soft twice.  This time I messed with the settings and basically discovered if my current gamer, which happens to be the Wilson Duo Soft, is a surlyn cover then it insists on fitting me into the e12.  As soon as I changed my current ball to the Callaway Chrome Soft X, of which I do have a few in my bag, it immediately decided that I was a Tour B RX guy.  The only change that got me from the e12 to the Tour B RX was changing to a urethane ball as my current ball.

For what it's worth. . .

Haha....sounds like even machine algorithms have confirmation bias. 

 

But seriously - if you ever get a chance to do an in person ball fitting it is pretty cool.  I'm not sure a computer algorithm can decide the best ball for you... I bought it cause I have played Bridgestone in the past and liked them and this is one I wanted to try and it was a good price.  Would have bought it even if it recommended something different.

[PMookie]

I'm going to play the Pro V1x, MTB-X and Tour B X and see what I prefer.  Played the Pro V1x earlier in the week, played the Tour B X last night.  The MTB-X is supposed to arrive today.  I can't tell them apart but I will keep comparing.  I assume that's common among average players with certain balls testing so close in the MGS report. 
I don't do a lot of "practicing" in the traditional sense of the word.  I prefer to play at least 9 holes on a daily basis.  Having played the Pro V1x and the Tour B X on the course this week, both "hopped and stopped" with wedges quite nicely and I could have placed a beach towel over the pitches around the green with each ball. 
I have a feeling this isn't going to be an easy decision.  But if I can't tell the difference between the MTB-X and the other two, I will save myself $20 a box.  We will see when they get here today.
Edit to add; with the modern ball, I believe it's time to replace the SeeMore Brass Blade.  That brassy "ting" is annoying!

I’m super curious of the distance differences off driver, and dispersion. MTB-X was way long, but erratic in the test. My TP5X was longer off 7 iron, but wayward as well. Plus, my access to TP5X at cheaper prices seems to have disappeared!!!


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[z1ggy16]

15 minutes ago, PMookie said:

I’m super curious of the distance differences off driver, and dispersion. MTB-X was way long, but erratic in the test. My TP5X was longer off 7 iron, but wayward as well. Plus, my access to TP5X at cheaper prices seems to have disappeared!!!


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I'll be curious to see this users results, too, as I'm in the same boat. About to toss all my used balls in my short game shag bag and buy a dozen ProV1Xs, B X's and then maybe place an order for a dozen MTB-X's. The wildness of the MTB-X on paper looks a little alarming... but I wonder how this would really affect scores. Average offline of 8 yards doesn't bug me too much because that's still a fairway ball, it's the whopping 20yards of std dev. I think I did read they used a 2sigma value but still.. that's almost 3 times more than ProV1X and the shot area is much larger, too.

 

Did they say how large each sample size was? If 1 out of 500 Snell balls flew wildly offline, that's much different than 1 in 10 or 20 (which IMO is unacceptable, even if it's 10 yards longer than a ProV1X).

Edited May 2, 2019 by z1ggy16

[txgolfjunkie]

19 minutes ago, z1ggy16 said:

I'll be curious to see this users results, too, as I'm in the same boat. About to toss all my used balls in my short game shag bag and buy a dozen ProV1Xs, B X's and then maybe place an order for a dozen MTB-X's. The wildness of the MTB-X on paper looks alarming... but I wonder how this would really affect scores.

 

Did they say how large each sample size was? If 1 out of 500 Snell balls flew wildly offline, that's much different than 1 in 10 or 20 (which IMO is unacceptable, even if it's 10 yards longer than a ProV1X).

Here's why I won't touch the MTB-x...

Lets say you have 10 shots off the driver at 115mph and they average out to 9 yards offline (9 yds left of the target line), like the MTB-X. Nine yards isn't that bad...until you factor in the standard deviation. The standard deviation for the 10 shots is 21.5 yards...that means that 68% (let's call it 70% so 7 out of 10 shots) were spread out between 43 yards from that 9 yards left of the target line. That means 7 balls were scattered somewhere between 21.5 yards left of the offline average and others were scattered 21.5 yards to the right of the offline average. Let me say that again...43 yards between 7 shots. That's massive. And those other 3 shots that fell outside of the standard deviation? Even further out. I have a feeling the MTB-X were the balls that Tony was dropping F bombs when they saw them stray so far offline on a perfect swing, hit dead square on the club face. I don't see the infatuation with those golf balls other than raw, yet inconsistent, distance...and a savings of $10/dozen that will likely be offset by losing those golf balls OB or in the water.  

[z1ggy16]

7 minutes ago, txgolfjunkie said:

Here's why I won't touch the MTB-x...

Lets say you have 10 shots off the driver at 115mph and they average out to 9 yards offline (9 yds left of the target line), like the MTB-X. Nine yards isn't that bad...until you factor in the standard deviation. The standard deviation for the 10 shots is 21.5 yards...that means that 68% (let's call it 70% so 7 out of 10 shots) were spread out between 43 yards from that 9 yards left of the target line. That means 7 balls were scattered somewhere between 21.5 yards left of the offline average and others were scattered 21.5 yards to the right of the offline average. Let me say that again...43 yards between 7 shots. That's massive. And those other 3 shots that fell outside of the standard deviation? Even further out. I have a feeling the MTB-X were the balls that Tony was dropping F bombs when they saw them stray so far offline on a perfect swing, hit dead square on the club face. I don't see the infatuation with those golf balls other than raw, yet inconsistent, distance...and a savings of $10/dozen that will likely be offset by losing those golf balls OB or in the water.  

Could have sworn I read one of the MGS guys say they did the stats such they had 85% confidence interval, not 68%.

 

Either way that would still mean like half the shots could possible end up 30 yards left of target even with a perfect strike. Now... just have the face 3 or 4 degrees shut and that puppy is in the next county. Yeah, I hear ya.

 

 

[yungkory]

39 minutes ago, PMookie said:

I’m super curious of the distance differences off driver, and dispersion. MTB-X was way long, but erratic in the test. My TP5X was longer off 7 iron, but wayward as well. Plus, my access to TP5X at cheaper prices seems to have disappeared!!!


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I've been playing the TP5x exclusively for a few months now and have a decent grasp of the performance I get out of it. I still have 3 dozen left but the way I've been playing, that might not last very long. Maybe we should all post testing results of the balls we're trying due to the 2019 Buyer's Guide data?

• Your gamer ball and SS
• Ball you chose to test against your gamer
• What you are looking for from a ball that you weren't getting
• What the raw data suggested you should expect from the new ball (i.e. more launch, less spin, etc.) and maybe how you extracted the data to apply to yourself? Especially if you are a tweener like (probably) most of us are.
• Was it true?

[GolfSpy_APH]

4 hours ago, jjfcpa said:

I noticed this and, in fact, in my only comparison, it looks like the perfect fit for me... so I ordered some using their promotional $ 25 a dozen price.  They arrive on Friday (tomorrow) and I'll be using them on Saturday.  I'll let you know how they compare to my current gamer Bridgestone Tour B RX.  

Awesome! I am going to go see what the local shop sells them for first before I get them online. It's a good deal, but the 45us shipping to Canada hurts big time!

[sixcat]

I will report back with what I find but it wont be until I have confidently made a decision.  As I stated earlier, if I can't distinguish between the MTB-X and a higher priced ball, why pay the higher price?  But if the MTB-X flies all over the place, I wont hesitate to say so.

For the record, check out Dennis Paulson's Twitter feed from the past couple days referring to the MTB-X.  He posted a number of times in recent days referring to the MGS test results and giving his unconditional support for the MTB-X.  If a former Tour player can't find fault with the MTB-X, I'm not expecting to myself.

In regards to @yungkory Driver swing speed is ~113 with an average carry distance of 270.  Current gamer has been the Staff Duo Spin for a couple of years.  Will be testing against MTB-X, Tour B X and Pro V1x.  I need more spin and control from 150 yards and in, especially 50 yards and in.  The data suggests I need to play a low spin ball with the driver with higher spin off the wedges, hence the choices I have made.  Also, the GM at my club (who I trust implicitly) helped me come to my decision. He has been begging me to ditch the Staff Duo Spin for two years.  We played yesterday afternoon together where I used the Tour B X.  I also buy into what the MGS guys suggested yesterday during the live chat.  Softer balls actually benefit players with higher swing speeds rather than the players they are marketed toward.  I guess that's why I didn't see a massive loss in distance with the Staff Duo Spin.  But it is still junk around the greens.

My kids are teenagers and self-sufficient.  I have the time to play more golf, therefore my game is rounding back into a familiar form to the mid 00's.  Especially now that my daughter plays on the middle school golf team.  I literally play every day it isn't storming.    

 

[Will_Mac]

If you’re a 115 person, which ball are you choosing?


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Despite their wide Shot Area during the test with driver, I've found the Mizuno RB Tour to be fantastic off the tee. They've also held their line into and across winds, very, very well. As to irons, wedges and putter, they've just been fantastic for me overall. 3 birds and an eagle yesterday during a skins match, I sure do like them.

Compared to other current releases, I like them considerably more than the TP5x, CS and XV.

But...

I'm no dummy, I'm more than willing to explore other options. Just received a dozen Tour B XS today and a sleeve of the MTBx is on the way.

[forerightgolfer]

4 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Just waaaaaaaaay too many variables with a "used" ball. Did it sit at the bottom of a lake, river or steam? Did the previous player keep them in the garage with sub zero or 100+ temps? Did it bounce off a tree, several times? And of course since it is lost, maybe it was out of spec to begin with.  With so many excellent new balls for sale at sub $30 prices it just seems like a no brainer to buy new. Especially last years balls that work just as well this year as they did last year. 

I'm just about out of my stash of "new" golf balls (many varieties received as gifts over the last year) so I'll be buying soon. I'm cheap (well, I have limited golf $) so ProV1's are not going to work. I was looking at getting a bucket of used for basically $1/ball, but as the boys at HQ pointed out yesterday in their YouTube feed, $1/ball for Kirklands!!!!! I'm not sure that I'm going this way, but knowing that's an option will keep me out of the used market.

[forerightgolfer]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

Haha....sounds like even machine algorithms have confirmation bias. 

 

But seriously - if you ever get a chance to do an in person ball fitting it is pretty cool.  I'm not sure a computer algorithm can decide the best ball for you... I bought it cause I have played Bridgestone in the past and liked them and this is one I wanted to try and it was a good price.  Would have bought it even if it recommended something different.

Seeing this and hearing the HQ guys talk about fitting a ball to the irons and a driver to the ball.... where do I go to get a golf ball fitting?

[RickyBobby_PR]

Just now, forerightgolfer said:

Seeing this and hearing the HQ guys talk about fitting a ball to the irons and a driver to the ball.... where do I go to get a golf ball fitting?

Look at the manufacturers websites those that do ball fittings will have them listed most of the time. TM, Srixon and Titleist all have in person ball fittings and Bridgestone does it will

[jjfcpa]

5 hours ago, bens197 said:

 

Bought 3 dozen of Elixr

 

As did I.  At $ 25 a dozen, I couldn't go wrong.  Special promotion.

[jjfcpa]

4 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Probably not much. The avg Joe weekend golfer isn’t reading this study and making decisions based on it.

as for shots you would need to do a side by side comparison for several rounds.

Anything in the top two categories. Test several on the course on the same day to see what works best for you

Well, I tried the Tour B X and it feels a little too firm for me.  Played the Vice Pro today and it felt and played very well.  Unfortunately, the driver was not working for me, but everything else seemed pretty good.

[Thin2win]

All,

Who doesn't love numbers and  theory crafting which ball might be amazing?! I think I have already dropped 3 strokes off my score just reading this article. 

So, I took a not so random collection of the balls from this test, 18 of them in total. And played with Excel today to calculate, weight and score them based on my preferences. Since I'm just over 100mph ss I averaged out all data for that speed. I'll attached a Google Docs link for anyone who really wants to dig through what I did, and how I weighted categories, and which categories I decided mattered to me.

Wow, some huge surprises and some expected results. If you want more particulars, checkout the doc or let me know, but as to not bore the rest of you.

Top 5 balls with no significant difference between them: V1x, Vice Pro, Bridgestone B XS, Mizuno RB Tour X(!), TaylorMade TP5

Worst 5: Bridgestone B RX, ChromeSoft, Maxfli Tour, TaylorMade TP5X, and I added the Tour Soft as a throw in, it was the worst. 

All said and done, I'll probably switch to the Vice Pro after my current ball pool is diminished. I do have a few dozen 4 Piece KSigs still, and a collection of MTB X. Those will all be fine, but when I get through all them. The Vice Pro and the B XS have me the most intrigued. And the price of the Vice Pro is a significant plus. 

I was surprised that the TP5 was one of the best, and the TP5x was only better than the only Surlyn ball in the test group. 

MGS Ball Test 100 MPH swing speed Google Doc

Side note, Blue cells are 1 Std Dev better than average, green is better than average, Yellow is worse than average, Red is 1 Std Dev worse than average. 

Cheers all. 

[PMookie]

I've been playing the TP5x exclusively for a few months now and have a decent grasp of the performance I get out of it. I still have 3 dozen left but the way I've been playing, that might not last very long. Maybe we should all post testing results of the balls we're trying due to the 2019 Buyer's Guide data?

• Your gamer ball and SS
• Ball you chose to test against your gamer
• What you are looking for from a ball that you weren't getting
• What the raw data suggested you should expect from the new ball (i.e. more launch, less spin, etc.) and maybe how you extracted the data to apply to yourself? Especially if you are a tweener like (probably) most of us are.
• Was it true?

I have four dozen....


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[PMookie]

I've been playing the TP5x exclusively for a few months now and have a decent grasp of the performance I get out of it. I still have 3 dozen left but the way I've been playing, that might not last very long. Maybe we should all post testing results of the balls we're trying due to the 2019 Buyer's Guide data?

• Your gamer ball and SS
• Ball you chose to test against your gamer
• What you are looking for from a ball that you weren't getting
• What the raw data suggested you should expect from the new ball (i.e. more launch, less spin, etc.) and maybe how you extracted the data to apply to yourself? Especially if you are a tweener like (probably) most of us are.
• Was it true?

Are you seeing an issue with accuracy?


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[icantbebigwill]

34 minutes ago, Thin2win said:

All,

Who doesn't love numbers and  theory crafting which ball might be amazing?! I think I have already dropped 3 strokes off my score just reading this article. 

So, I took a not so random collection of the balls from this test, 18 of them in total. And played with Excel today to calculate, weight and score them based on my preferences. Since I'm just over 100mph ss I averaged out all data for that speed. I'll attached a Google Docs link for anyone who really wants to dig through what I did, and how I weighted categories, and which categories I decided mattered to me.

Wow, some huge surprises and some expected results. If you want more particulars, checkout the doc or let me know, but as to not bore the rest of you.

Top 5 balls with no significant difference between them: V1x, Vice Pro, Bridgestone B XS, Mizuno RB Tour X(!), TaylorMade TP5

Worst 5: Bridgestone B RX, ChromeSoft, Maxfli Tour, TaylorMade TP5X, and I added the Tour Soft as a throw in, it was the worst. 

All said and done, I'll probably switch to the Vice Pro after my current ball pool is diminished. I do have a few dozen 4 Piece KSigs still, and a collection of MTB X. Those will all be fine, but when I get through all them. The Vice Pro and the B XS have me the most intrigued. And the price of the Vice Pro is a significant plus. 

I was surprised that the TP5 was one of the best, and the TP5x was only better than the only Surlyn ball in the test group. 

MGS Ball Test 100 MPH swing speed Google Doc

Side note, Blue cells are 1 Std Dev better than average, green is better than average, Yellow is worse than average, Red is 1 Std Dev worse than average. 

Cheers all. 

Looks like we had very similar weighting and metrics we were after. I also ended up going Vice Pro. The Bridgestone XS came out on top for me, but when factoring price the Vice Pro was just too good.

[silver & black]

My head is spinning with all the numbers, data and input from everyone. I have no desire to sift through the mountain of info and opinions about golf balls. At the end of the day, I believe there probably is some difference in them. I believe what MGS has found in the testing. However... I don't think I care that much.

I will just continue to use the ball I'm using (TP5 X at the moment). If I decide to go back to Pro V1's.... I will, and not worry or fret over any tiny little whit of "what might be if" I played this ball over that ball. At 59 years of age.... closer to 60, I don't think the ball really matters that much to my success in the game. If you just play a decent ball (all of the major players), I really don't think you can go wrong.

I do appreciate the effort that MGS put into this. It was quite enlightening.... especially the light shined on the soft vs. firm balls.

Edited May 2, 2019 by silver & black

[txgolfjunkie]

If anyone wants a copy of my live spreadsheet for the 115mph swing speed, here's a screen shot of what it looks like. You just input your own weighting between the driver, 7 iron and wedge and then select your priorities in golf ball characteristics:

Once you update your desires in a golf ball, it automatically pulls the new rating and you can sort by the total column to get your new top choice. Just DM me your email address and I'll send you a copy. 

Here's an example of the backup data which goes off pure ranking. There are a few categories where there's not much difference between the best and worst, and you can just adjust your ball characteristics accordingly, like on wedge ball speed where there was maybe a 1.5 mph difference between the fastest and slowest. 

[Kor.A.Door]

25 minutes ago, txgolfjunkie said:

If anyone wants a copy of my live spreadsheet for the 115mph swing speed, here's a screen shot of what it looks like. You just input your own weighting between the driver, 7 iron and wedge and then select your priorities in golf ball characteristics:

Once you update your desires in a golf ball, it automatically pulls the new rating and you can sort by the total column to get your new top choice. Just DM me your email address and I'll send you a copy. 

Here's an example of the backup data which goes off pure ranking. There are a few categories where there's not much difference between the best and worst, and you can just adjust your ball characteristics accordingly, like on wedge ball speed where there was maybe a 1.5 mph difference between the fastest and slowest. 

So basically I can manipulate this data to make what ever Ball I prefer to be #1. How else are you going to show the Cut Blue as the number 1 in your example. He only way this works is if you run the test blind. Give a value to each ball name. Then move the ball name to a different sheet. Out in the numbers you want, and let the spreadsheet find your ball, which will a value, then go check the sheet to see which ball was chosen. If you can see the ball name, you can manipulate any of the numbers to show whatever you want.