Results: 2019 Golf Ball Survey

[David G]

Thank you MyGolfSpy for the 2019 Golf Ball Survey.

For some reason Tony, the editor of the story has decided not to approve my post comment about Direct to Consumer balls, so I'll post it here:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.
"Tony, I’m not sure why you would want to provide miss information about DTC companies listed in your comparison.

A quick Google search will show Oncore has multiple issued patents and patent pending for golf balls and for technology within a golf ball. Their in house engineering team has Douglas DuFaux, a very well known ball expert with over 25+ patents and a world class advanced materials engineer. Their balls are made with their own molds and proprietary dimple pattern, with their patented core ans layered materials. These are also manufactured in the fame factory as 2 of the top balls you have listed here.

Maybe this particular DTC ball company is not just a reseller, marketer and middleman for an Asian ball manufacturer?

Give their balls a try, it seems others on your team seemed to like them very well in previous tests."

 

I personally believe he is way off on his posting about some of the DTC balls.

Thoughts on why he might not approve this or be so hard as to post misinformation about DTC balls?

-D

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by David G

[RickyBobby_PR]

He generalized the DTC market and not saying everyone of them had no patents, etc.

Yes oncore is different from other dtc brands.

as to your comment about tony not approving your comment, I may be wrong since I’m not involved but they use a system to filter out spam and you can see that below where you enter your comment and there is a link to click on that explains how your comment gets processed.

might be a good idea to check that before making your first post as a blast against a mgs staff member

[bens197]

First of all, welcome to the MGS Forum.

The Elixr is a great ball. I’ve played it since the testing was published and I love supporting the local business

I admire the passion in your comments. Do you hold a vested interest in the product?


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[David G]

Thank you for your response, not meant to be a blast, but the article reads as if all DTC balls, except for Snell, which has some explanation, are just middle men

I do not have a vested interest in the company, but Love the Elixir ball personally. For my game its the best all around ball I could find, and that was partially derived from the previous reviews on MGS.

 

-D

Edited November 7, 2019 by David G

[Mr. 82]

I personally thought Tony did a TON of work and effort into his golf ball survey.  I found it thorough and educational.  I'm in the camp that has tried a lot of different DTC balls (Oncore, Snell, Vice, Cut) with mixed results.  Tony's information about how they (generally) are the middle men is  something for me to think about.  I do however have a very positive opinion and experience with Snell.  What a lot of people may or may not realize is that the price you see for Snell's balls online is what you end up paying, inluding any taxes or shipping charges.  And the hand written thank you note on the invoice from Dean Snell himself is that added touch that you just don't get with any other company, at least that I am aware of.  Dean recently spent a lot of time doing an interview with MGS, and it only reinforces my opinion of him as one of the best in the business, as he was very candid and forthcoming about pretty much everything he was asked.

And whenever I plow through all of the existing golf ball stock I have here in the house I will be playing Snell balls.

Beyond all of this, the survey does have me wondering why all golf balls are manufactured in Asia and how come there isn't anything here in North America.  This also has me wondering about Titleist, TaylorMade, Bridgestone and Callaway that have US ball manufacturing plants.  The info in the survey suggested that everything was made overseas.

Ultimately it's about quality and trust in the product.  Titleist continues to separate themselves from everyone else in both regards.  I mean, I would assume there is a reason the tour pros mostly play Titleist balls.  Sure, they are compensated, but if I was playing golf and my living counted on it, I would be playing the best ball out there, no matter how much someone wants to pay me.  Just ask Bubba Watson about that.

I also think it speaks volumes that wherever you see a knock of "ProV1" ball, the ProV1 is always the comparison.  If your product is always the one being compared to I think that says something significant about how good your product is.  It's kind of like when people swear, they usually say, "Jesus Christ", or something like that.  Well, there must be power in that name, since I don't hear anyone screaming, "Oh Buddha!" after a missed shot on the golf course.

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, David G said:

Thank you for your response, not meant to be a blast, but the article reads as if all DTC balls, except for Snell, which has some explanation, are just middle men

I do not have a vested interest in the company, but Love the Elixir ball personally. For my game its the best all around ball I could find, and that was partially derived from the previous reviews on MGS.

 

-D

From the article. It clearly states many, majority, typically. These are all generalization and nothing in there indicates all, every which would be all inclusive. One looking for a fault will find it but Tony is one that is very even keeled and eliminates most biases in his writing.

 

“As golfers may or may not be aware, while the overwhelming majority of Direct to Consumer balls are more accurately characterized as Indirect from the Factoryofferings. The actual design, engineering, and manufacturing are typically done by one of a growing number of ball factories in Asia, while the retailer of record is responsible only for the logo, packaging, and most importantly, the marketing. More often than not, the guys telling those stories are selling a stock factory product, know next to nothing about designing a golf ball, and hold exactly zero patents in the golf ball space. The pitch by many Direct to Consumer ball brands is that they eliminate the middleman. In reality, they are the middleman.“

[storm319]

In reference to Douglas DuFaux, most of his patents are not golf related and the ones that are refer to the hollow metal core design which Oncore no longer produces. 

Oncore’s balls are produced in Taiwan by Foremost who produces balls for a few big OEMs in addition to several DTCs. The 318 dimple pattern and basic construction is the same that was used on the 10 or so DTCs that were party to the Acushnet lawsuit a few years ago (all produced by Foremost).

Does any of this make their ball inferior? Not at all, but it definitely raises questions on how involved they really are in the R&D and manufacturing processes (and if the answer is not very much that is fine as long as they are transparent). Also, not picking on Oncore, there are many DTCs in the same boat (even Snell with the MTB Red given the fact that it was a molded TPU cover which is strange given Dean’s history with cast thermoset urethane and the 336 dimple pattern which was actually Nike’s).

[RickyBobby_PR]

8 hours ago, storm319 said:

In reference to Douglas DuFaux, most of his patents are not golf related and the ones that are refer to the hollow metal core design which Oncore no longer produces. 

Oncore’s balls are produced in Taiwan by Foremost who produces balls for a few big OEMs in addition to several DTCs. The 318 dimple pattern and basic construction is the same that was used on the 10 or so DTCs that were party to the Acushnet lawsuit a few years ago (all produced by Foremost).

Does any of this make their ball inferior? Not at all, but it definitely raises questions on how involved they really are in the R&D and manufacturing processes (and if the answer is not very much that is fine as long as they are transparent). Also, not picking on Oncore, there are many DTCs in the same boat (even Snell with the MTB Red given the fact that it was a molded TPU cover which is strange given Dean’s history with cast thermoset urethane and the 336 dimple pattern which was actually Nike’s).

Oncore does a lot of the design of their balls. Much more so than most dtc brands