MGS Golf Ball Test

[Kor.A.Door]

I am curious to see what the differences are between the major OEM’s “tour type” higher dollar cost ball. My guess is there will be some differences, but overall the differences will be minor, but who knows, there may be some significant surprises in store for some folks who are brand loyal. 

[cnosil]

I am curious to see what the differences are between the major OEM’s “tour type” higher dollar cost ball. My guess is there will be some differences, but overall the differences will be minor, but who knows, there may be some significant surprises in store for some folks who are brand loyal. 

. Can’t wait to see the results and comments here.

[Brian A]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

Won’t help. I limit myself to keeping found balls that are top tier from the various manufacturers and won’t change that approach no matter what is reported. I don’t personally find that much difference.

Thats different, he'll find a ball in the woods thats probably been in there for 5 months thats stained up and play that....

[Kanoito]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

Won’t help. I limit myself to keeping found balls that are top tier from the various manufacturers and won’t change that approach no matter what is reported. I don’t personally find that much difference.

It would make a difference to me if all I play were new balls. But I game lakeballs mainly, so I'm putting more variables into the equation that it won't even matter.

Still dying to know the results, though!

[MaxEntropy]

Over the last year, I have gamed quite a few balls to help figure out what I wanted out of a ball. I haven't had the need to buy balls in a while because I tested the MTB Red, won a dozen AVX's, and was given a dozen Tour B RX's during the Bridgestone test. Depending on how my day is going, I never let myself lose more than a sleeve per round (once that happens, I dig in to the decent ones I have found during rounds). The only thing that really stands out to me is I LOVED the MTB Red's around the green and the AVX seemed like it was made for me (although I can't part with $48 /dozen). The Tour B RX is a nice all-around ball for me and right now I'm playing Elixers from the free sleeve.

What's the point? 

It's going to be interesting to see the results of this testing and where these balls (or their successors) end up on the chart. I can't always control my swing or what I am doing to a golf ball, but I also want to know that something weird isn't going to happen just because of natural manufacturing variation, so I'm going to want something with very tight dispersion with the robot hitting them, even it means losing some ball speed to get to an acceptable price point for the number of balls I still lose.

Every year I have the intention of doing as Tony suggests - picking a ball and sticking with it, but something always happens to derail my plans.

[txgolfjunkie]

I wish they'd hurry up and post the results so I can try out a couple different balls and then stock up the garage with the best one!

I've got the debit card burning up in my hand...someone take my money already! 

[TSauer]

I wish they'd hurry up and post the results so I can try out a couple different balls and then stock up the garage with the best one!

I'm with you, man. I'm due for a restock, but I'm gonna hold off until I see these results.

[gaussman1]

One thing that I would like to know, and this is probably damn near impossible, is the deviation between one dozen of balls to another from the same manufacturer.

For instance would one dozen of Callaway Chromesoft balls perform better than another dozen Callaway Chromesoft due to tolerances in manufacturing.

I can imagine a core being placed off center in the ball by a few millimeters would cause the ball flight to be offline by more than a few yards.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Or even one ball from another in the same dozen? I'm wondering if that's going to be the ultimate takeway, that there are good ones and bad ones in each box

Sent from my Pixel 3 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[PMookie]

I have four dozen of brand new TP5X sitting in a bag as I wait for the ball test results! I’m digging into my collection of slightly worn balls to keep a supply in my bag at this point. I was thinking about my last two rounds using AVX and I missed some fairways that I didn’t with my higher spinning G400 Max, so I really think that from this aspect alone, I’m going to need a ball to give me more spin off the driver to be straighter. I just want to know if TP5X is the one I need.
Come ON!!!!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[TR1PTIK]

On 4/7/2019 at 8:11 PM, palvord said:

I can imagine a core being placed off center in the ball by a few millimeters would cause the ball flight to be offline by more than a few yards.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I like this idea. Having worked in manufacturing for a while now, it's definitely possible for some companies to lack the capability to ensure consistent performance. That said, the bigger names likely have this under control. For example, Titliest has been using radiography (x-ray) to verify core placement for nearly a century! 

https://www.titleist.com/company/titleist-story

[tony@CIC]

Looks like this is going to be the most anticipated blog ever! 

[newballcoach]

On 4/8/2019 at 12:23 PM, Kor.A.Door said:

I am curious to see what the differences are between the major OEM’s “tour type” higher dollar cost ball. My guess is there will be some differences, but overall the differences will be minor, but who knows, there may be some significant surprises in store for some folks who are brand loyal. 

The fire and brimstone from the brand loyalty crew will be insane. Can you imagine if the "holy grail", the Pro V1 ends up being the shortest or least consistent? Titleist truthers will be leaping up from every corner of the internet tweeting at MGS. I would find it funny, I just don't want the staff to have to deal with it.

[yungkory]

On 4/7/2019 at 3:11 PM, palvord said:

One thing that I would like to know, and this is probably damn near impossible, is the deviation between one dozen of balls to another from the same manufacturer.

For instance would one dozen of Callaway Chromesoft balls perform better than another dozen Callaway Chromesoft due to tolerances in manufacturing.

I can imagine a core being placed off center in the ball by a few millimeters would cause the ball flight to be offline by more than a few yards.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

21 hours ago, gaussman1 said:

Or even one ball from another in the same dozen? I'm wondering if that's going to be the ultimate takeway, that there are good ones and bad ones in each box

Sent from my Pixel 3 using MyGolfSpy mobile app
 

You guys might be in for a treat:

https://twitter.com/GolfSpyT/status/1115672564586745861

[Kor.A.Door]

2 hours ago, newballcoach said:

The fire and brimstone from the brand loyalty crew will be insane. Can you imagine if the "holy grail", the Pro V1 ends up being the shortest or least consistent? Titleist truthers will be leaping up from every corner of the internet tweeting at MGS. I would find it funny, I just don't want the staff to have to deal with it.

Yes, that would be awesome, but having tried most of the top brand golf balls I find that there are subtle differences between each, and the choice comes down to personal preference. So I sort of expect the testing to show the same. It could  be really interesting if the Pro V, TP5, and Chrome softs were middle of the pack in this test. The staff here would need new names if that were the case. This is going to be very interesting in many ways. 

[tony@CIC]

Maybe that's why the report hasn't come out yet - they're building a moat around HQ.


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, tony@CIC said:

Maybe that's why the report hasn't come out yet - they're building a moat around HQ.


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Saw on Twitter that Tony said about 1 to 2 weeks before release.

[newballcoach]

So that gives us more time to speculate. I would imagine things like wedge spin are pretty similar. I'm interested to see the data about which balls are less consistent and shorter. I think there are a bunch of us waiting to make spring purchases based on this test!

As far as consistency and tight tolerances go, I would imagine Titleist, Srixon and Bridgestone are up there. Wouldn't surprise me if Callaway and Taylormade were more all over the map. 

No clue how the little guy golf balls will do. I feel like Snell will hold up a bit, as they are kind of the best regarded direct buy ball. Other ones like cut, oncore, vice, etc. who knows. 

[PMookie]

One thing to remember is that ball manufacturers share factories, so it would be cool to see if the balls that have issues come from the same factories.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[ballplayer002003]

On 4/8/2019 at 2:47 PM, txgolfjunkie said:

I wish they'd hurry up and post the results so I can try out a couple different balls and then stock up the garage with the best one!

I've got the debit card burning up in my hand...someone take my money already! 

I couldn't agree more.  My course has a few demo days coming up this month and they always hand out balls so it would be interesting to see where they stack up.  I have a feeling that Snell may be on top, although I have never tried a Snell ball in my life.  I want to hit a few to see how they feel and spin before I go buy a box or six.  

[xxio]

I would think the softer core balls would compress inconsistently at a 115mph swingspeed.

[jjfcpa]

The new MaxFli Tour balls are supposed to have a line on them showing where the balance point is.  Presumably, this ensures that the ball will rotate without wobble if struck in line with the balance point.  I wonder if Tony could determine if this is really a "thing" or just hype?

[sixcat]

Patiently waiting for this to come out. I have been playing a Staff Duo Spin for years but think a “premium” or urethane ball is in my near future. Losing shots due to lack of control from 150 yards and in. Need more spin, especially closer to the green, without losing distance.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Thin2win]

Very curious about this one too.. The teaser 10 days ago has made this a hard wait. I'm still working through the 12 dozen KSigs I got last year, I might be writing through them for a couple years to come. So I can't say this will spark immediate action on my purchasing.... But... 

[BC_SLC]

6 hours ago, Thin2win said:

Very curious about this one too.. The teaser 10 days ago has made this a hard wait. I'm still working through the 12 dozen KSigs I got last year, I might be writing through them for a couple years to come. So I can't say this will spark immediate action on my purchasing.... But... 

I'm all stocked up too. I would only change if my ball is on the low end and I thought it would make a big difference.

[PMookie]

Loaded my bag with the last of the sleeves of Snell MTB (a couple years old), Oncore Elixr, and TM TP5X (last year’s model), so curious to see how they play vs each other. Gonna be pretty wet if I can even get out to play Mon/Tue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[tony@CIC]

I'm still waiting.......it's been 10 days now. 

[TR1PTIK]

I couldn't wait any longer to restock. Vice had a deal for a free dozen on top of the 5 I usually order. They'll be here Wednesday. Hopefully they fair well enough in the testing to not be a major concern...

[GolfSpy BOS]

any more teasers or is it article time!?  I cannot wait to see what the results of this testing were.

I typically play the Pro V1x, but this time of year I'll try out some of the better balls I've found over the year.

If it's in good shape, feels new, and doesn't look like its sat outside for the whole winter I'll give it a swing.

I currently have: a Snell, a Vice, a Callaway, a Titleist AVX, a Taylormade TP5, and maybe one or two more tour balls to swing.  The Taylormade and Snell felt nice putting the other day.

 

 

[sixcat]

1 hour ago, TR1PTIK said:

I couldn't wait any longer to restock. Vice had a deal for a free dozen on top of the 5 I usually order. They'll be here Wednesday. Hopefully they fair well enough in the testing to not be a major concern...

The Vice Pro and Pro Plus are on my short-list of "premium" balls to test.  Still patiently waiting on the MGS report to come out before ordering anything though.

[TR1PTIK]

44 minutes ago, sixcat said:

The Vice Pro and Pro Plus are on my short-list of "premium" balls to test.  Still patiently waiting on the MGS report to come out before ordering anything though.

I've played both before and love them (the Pro a bit more than the Plus). The Snell MTB Black I currently play is a good ball, but it's just not my preferred feel. I ordered 3 dozen in white and 3 dozen in the neon red - interested in trying a hi-viz option as I often have trouble tracking the ball through the air. I got an email this morning that FedEx will be delivering today!