2021 MGS Ball Test

[Tarheelvolvo]

The 2021 MGS Ball Test is back!!! \

 

MGS Staff are heading to Arizona next week (July 12-16) for a full week of testing and there will be a LOT of fun interactions with the test team - videos, live chats, etc... More details will be posted here, but here's a quick teaser photo of Tony preparing for the test:

Kidding @Tony Covey MGS  

Let's get pumped and start posting some questions/scenarios for the test team to consider!

 

[ChuckZ]

Flight?  Driver, fairway, hybrid, iron, wedges.....

Spin?  Driver, fairway, hybrid, iron, wedges....

Launch?  Driver, fairway, hybrid, iron, wedges.....

Ball speed? Driver, fairway, hybrid, iron, wedges....

Soft vs hard.......

Typical performance standards for premium golf balls.....guess most would like to know how if comparing balls, how the premium compare to one another, especially against the number one balls (Prov1 and Prov1x).......

   

[BayAreaGolfGuy]

Would love to know how the results from the survey you sent out a few weeks ago has informed the the testing.  Is there anything you will do differently based on MGS reader input?

[ItalGolfer]

definitely interested to see best balls for different swing speed groups too...(hate soft golf balls and always avoid them whenever I can know the compression )

[Pandaman]

Add in some popular mid range - non urethane - balls for comparison. Such as Srixon AD333, Soft Feel, and equivalents from Titleist,etc 

[golfnut3567]

Where in AZ?  Like to drop by say hello?

[Doug Fogel]

In my opinion the Best 2021 golf ball is Bridgestone Bxs. 

[RJDNOKC1]

I HAVE BEEN USING WS DUOSOFT FOR 3 YEARS. WORKS GREAT ON ALL SHOTS. WOULD NEVER PAY MORE $ FOR LESS BALL LIKE PRO V1

OR TP5.

[jayjay0808]

So excited for this test. There has been many new releases this year and can't wait to see how they all stack up to the industry leader... We all know who I am talking about.

[GregGarner]

I'm really hoping for individual ball results. Two years ago, they saw some balls flying offline. So they started #FindItCutIt. Then Ball Lab. I think it should be brought back full circle and when a ball flies offline, you cut it and see what the issues were. I wouldn't want to extrapolate toooo far, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to have a ball that's flagged as "bad" for layer concentricity, for example, now have metrics as to how that "bad" label would affect performance. The next evolution of that would the be 1) float test 2) hit with robot with various orientations of the float test results 3) send to Ball Lab to note performance based on each orientation of the CoG and make overall claim on performance deviation based on cut ball results

Bonus points if Tony isn't allowed to see/know how offline a ball was when he took it back to Ball Lab. Double bonus points if the company logo is covered, though at this point, I'm confident Tony recognizes a ball by its layers (and not just the Taylormades...)

[djdrb]

Would love to see how balls from CLEAR stack up.

[RS_Golf]

Wish we could see wind data, to test out dimple patterns. For example, does the Mizuno rb566v having 566 dimples actually do anything extra compared to the usual ~300 dimple pattern balls? Which current balls actually performance better in the wind with their dimple pattern?

[flushem]

If I may chime in, I look for urethane balls in:

1. dispersion
2. spin 
3. ball flight
4. distance
5. feel

From 2019, my #1 choice was B'stone B RX.  

[Tsecor]

hopefully a robot is being used for consistency purposes......

 

 

[TBT]

Which ball performs best with a massive hangover

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, Tsecor said:

hopefully a robot is being used for consistency purposes......

 

 

yes,  it will be like the last ball test;  they will be using a robot.

[BombAndGouge]

Ball dispersion, distance, and spin numbers through various price levels.

Longest overall ball for scramble drives.

[cnosil]

If you want to watch the excitement, they are live on YouTube:

 

[goaliewales14]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

If you want to watch the excitement, they are live on YouTube:

 

Thanks for throwing this link in!  I was just about to do that!

Interesting watching they've already had a Chrome Soft X go way left.   Also, Tony mentioned something that during the wedge test, they had issues with Trackman not picking up the TM balls unless they turned the logo around.  Curious how that affects other simulators.

[downlowkey]

1 hour ago, goaliewales14 said:

Thanks for throwing this link in!  I was just about to do that!

Interesting watching they've already had a Chrome Soft X go way left.   Also, Tony mentioned something that during the wedge test, they had issues with Trackman not picking up the TM balls unless they turned the logo around.  Curious how that affects other simulators.

I’ve had the live stream on in the background all morning. This test is arguably the most intriguing thing going on the golf space so it’s crazy to me that the viewership is not higher. It would be interesting to know how many industry folks are tuned in.

As you alluded, staff commentary on flight characteristic outliers has been illuminating. Seem to be some pretty wonky results with Callaway and OnCore so far.

It easy to see why a test of this sort is so rare. Look at the resources being devoted - travel, dedicated hitting bay, launch monitors, a robot, a robot operator and (4) MGS staff putting in serious sweat equity. I think it’s fascinating. Considering the substantial resources invested in this round of testing and watching them sending someone out to check the wind when a ball is seriously off line, it seems like throwing a real time wind gauge out there would have been worthwhile.

It’s definitely tight quarters in the bay, I really hope that robot doesn’t tag anyone because I’ve seen several close calls already.