Sugar Golf Balls - 2023 Forum Review

[GolfSpy_APH]

Interested in getting a forum exclusive discount on sugar golf balls? Check out the post above for discount code!

[BallsLeon]

11 hours ago, skraeling said:

Now that the forum is once again showing up for me... updated with my unboxing.  With bonus cat pics... no seriously its totally relevant. 

I don’t know about your cats, but my two cats love to chase golf balls when I’m doing putting practice at home. They are so helpful!

[Madden B]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:50 PM, tbarnes80 said:

First Impressions (9 out of 10)

Okay, so let me walk through my first impressions and unboxing of the Sugar Golf Balls. Have to say thanks for the hat and the towel, they are really nice and I am already using both of them. Everything came very quickly, which is always appreciated. I was notified on Friday that I was selected to review the balls, given a shipping notification on Saturday, had balls in hand on Sunday. That type of speed is awesome so great job on shipping times, that speaks highly of the company and how much they care about getting the product to the customer as quickly as possible. So bonus points!

• Box of Balls – I am a big fan of this presentation of the cube box, it seems way more efficient than the standard box of a dozen balls, so great job there. I like the 3 rows of 9 balls, with the numbering system going 1,2 and 3. I don’t know if you can customize the numbers or if there is a way to change that, but I have a weird thing that I only like to play odd number balls so there is that.
• First Handling of Balls – Right off the bat, I like the feel of the ball in hand. They feel like there is almost like a little film on it, more like the feel of a Callaway Supersoft as opposed the feel of a Chromesoft or ProV1. I opened up new packs of Chromesoft X and ProV1s to hold them all and I pressed my nail into all of them to see how soft they all were. They each feel about the same, from a softness standpoint. And the reflective cover is the same as those other balls, so not too dull and not too shiny. Dimple pattern is a little different from those other balls, but seems really solid. Overall, I am impressed by the look and feel of the balls.
• Graphics and Alignment – I love the alignment on the Sugar, it is a nice, solid line that isn’t too thick (I think that the SuperSoft is too big for my eye, by way of comparison). It sets up really nice to me. And I actually really like the simple Sugar logo. It is a very clean ball and really looks good.

PUTTING TEST

No time to get to the course today, so I did a putting test at my house. I have a couple of different putting mats, that range from 6-15 feet. I put things underneath them to change the slope so they don’t just roll straight, so I tried lots of different putts and rolls. I also switched between several different balls to see how it felt.

RESULTS??? - I have to say I actually really, really like the feel of the ball off the putter face (Scotty Cameron Studio Select Fastback No. 1). It feels exactly like a ProV1, which is very exciting and impressive to me. The Chromesoft is a bit firmer when you putt it and comes off a little hotter so controlling the speed isn’t quite as easy. But after putting for around an hour, I would have no problem at all using the Sugar ball. It rolled straight and true, over and over. I hit my very first 12 putts with it from about 10 feet, and then just kept draining putts. After using it, I absolutely love the alignment line on this ball. For me, it is better than the ProV1 because it is a sold line and better than the SuperSoft. I think that it is on par with the TripleTrack when it comes to alignment, at least to my eye. But overall when it comes to putting, I think that the Sugar ball is awesome and a 10 out of 10, at least on my putting greens at home. I prefer it over the ChromeSoft, Kirkland, TP5, and SuperSoft balls, without question. And I feel like it performs and feels just like a ProV1, so Sugar has certainly hit that claim on the putting surface.

 

 

First Impressions and Putting test are up!

[BallsLeon]

On 7/3/2023 at 11:49 PM, BallsLeon said:

First Impressions (9/10) - 7/12/23
So, it's been about a week since I received a case of the Sugar Pure golf balls, and in that time I've had the chance to play a couple rounds, do some short-game/putting practice, and even get in front of a Trackman for a little bit. Plenty more to be done before the final review, but wanted to share my initial thoughts and impressions!

Shipping was very fast, Sugar has partnered with Amazon Logistics for their shipping so delivery times are comparable to Amazon prime. The case arrived with some bonus swag, a dri-fit style hat and microfiber bag towel, nice! Thank you Sugar! The packaging of the balls themselves is very simple and minimalist, but this is by design. Sugar calls the minimalist packaging out as one of their cost-saving techniques, works for me.

Now that I have the balls in hand, I have to say the design is very pleasing. Other testers have mentioned this as well, but the balls feel "tacky", not a bad thing just an interesting sensation I've not felt with other brands. Perhaps there is something unique about their "Fusion Cover". As far as hitting the ball, the feel is noticeable step up from my budget brand balls, very soft feel. My usual MaxFli StraightFlis now feel like rocks in comparison. Additionally, through the last 27 holes my putting performance has noticeably improved, are the Pure already enhancing my game  (or am I just practicing lol). Performance seems promising, but I really need to more testing before I can say more about that. 

Some thoughts to consider as I continue my testing: Am I getting more distance? Am I getting more spin? Is my slice off the teebox being exaggerated? Will all the balls I've lost find new loving owners? Stay tuned...

Got my First Impressions posted up! 

Also, had a chance to get in front of a Trackman with the balls last night! This gave me a great chance to compare feel between two different brands, and wow... I don't think I can ever go back to my old balls again, they feel like rocks in comparison.

I was also able to collect some data, but... I ended up making my results unusable . My buddy came with me to hit, and my idea was we would both hit 12 balls of two different brands two times each. So, 48 shots per ball with 24 shots by each of us all using 7i. This wasn't very scientific because not only is his swing very different than mine (faster/further), but his 7i is also different than mine. Oh well, lessons learned and next time I go back I'll have a cleaner test.

[BallsLeon]

On 7/3/2023 at 11:47 PM, PhilM75072 said:

CONTINUED....(July 13):

I played my third round with this Sugar Pure ball yesterday. As I become more familiar with how it launches/carries off the driver, and how it reacts on approach shots, my game and score are stable and predictable (see scorecard below). I pull the clubs I would expect to hit, and get the results that I expect time and time again. I have not found anything at this point that would eliminate it for consideration as my "go to", every day ball of choice. One of the things early on that has impressed me most is its durability. I have played all three rounds with the same ball, the ball on the left in the photos, every shot for 54 holes. Other than a scuff mark from an encounter with a cart path on the 16th hole of the first round, one would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between it and the one on the right that has never been hit. The ball I played may be a little duller, the Sharpie mark a little faded, but the stamping, "Sugar" and the number, look exactly the same. There is no "shredding" which often occurs from sand or wedge shots.

 

 

Great update! I wish I could hold on to a ball that long 

[PhilM75072]

1 hour ago, BallsLeon said:

Great update! I wish I could hold on to a ball that long 

Should I go for 72 holes, or is 54 enough to attest to its durability? 

[skraeling]

3 minutes ago, PhilM75072 said:

Should I go for 72 holes, or is 54 enough to attest to its durability? 

Ive very thoroughly tested its ability to hit trees, thats for sure.

[BallsLeon]

@PhilM75072 don't stop now! You're just getting warmed up

[skraeling]

Added quite a bit of playtesting, another round to follow in the next few days.

[Threeputtgame]

Congratulations to those selected to perform the test of Sugar.  Looking forward to seeing how you review this product.

[skraeling]

Updated with a FULL 18 hole playtest now.  Interesting results!

[BallsLeon]

Congrats on breaking 90 @skraeling! That's awesome!

[BallsLeon]

Anyone missing?  Guess it's up to us! Who has the compression tester?

[skraeling]

1 minute ago, BallsLeon said:

Anyone missing?  Guess it's up to us! Who has the compression tester?

I’m gonna say firmer than the B RXS (65ish) but not as firm as a tp5 (90+).  I’d estimate maybe low 80?

Edited July 18, 2023 by skraeling

[GolfSpy_BEN]

In yesterdays round I used a Sugar. As it was irons only, I didn’t get a chance to see how it performs with the driver yet, but I did notice a couple of my approaches hit the green and spun back. This was with 8i, 9i, and PW. I’ve been low key impressed thus far and I’m excited to see how it goes with the woods and wedges. Great job so far fellas, keep up the good work!

[skraeling]

21 hours ago, BallsLeon said:

Congrats on breaking 90 @skraeling! That's awesome!

Just looked at my arccos scorecard.  Did it with 5 penalty strokes too lmao.  

[BallsLeon]

55 minutes ago, skraeling said:

Just looked at my arccos scorecard.  Did it with 5 penalty strokes too lmao.  

That gives me hope for my own game

[skraeling]

2 minutes ago, BallsLeon said:

That gives me hope for my own game

Always hope till that first tee shot, for me anyway.

[Madden B]

So I have had a couple of tournaments in the last week and haven't posted, but I have some really good updates. I am organizing everything and will have a big post going out either tonight or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

[DRLEONARD58]

In yesterdays round I used a Sugar. As it was irons only, I didn’t get a chance to see how it performs with the driver yet, but I did notice a couple of my approaches hit the green and spun back. This was with 8i, 9i, and PW. I’ve been low key impressed thus far and I’m excited to see how it goes with the woods and wedges. Great job so far fellas, keep up the good work!

I noticed this extra back spin too and made it into my update! (Just posted today!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[skraeling]

5 minutes ago, DRLEONARD58 said:

I noticed this extra back spin too and made it into my update! (Just posted today!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed.  The spin is excellent. 

[Madden B]

17 hours ago, DRLEONARD58 said:

I noticed this extra back spin too and made it into my update! (Just posted today!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The spin is nuts, I am blown away around the greens with these balls. I also will talk about that in my update today!

[Madden B]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:50 PM, tbarnes80 said:

7/20 Update (Simulator and Durability Test)

Numbers in the Simulator (18 out of 20)

Okay, time to get into the numbers of this golf ball and how it performs for me. I spent some time in my friend’s simulator and hit 10 shots alternating with a Sugar and a ProV1 with a driver, 3 hybrid, 7 iron, and PW. Now his simulator is a SkyTrak and we didn’t know how to track alternating balls, so we recorded the information and my dad put it all into this spreadsheet to average things out. And I thought that we had done a bunch of pictures and recordings, but nothing saved, which is super frustrating. The only pic I had was my friend's dad before we got the session started, so say hello!

Okay, so if you look at it across the board, the 2 balls were very similar. According to the machine, I do get slightly better carry, speeds, and overall distance but it is pretty close and I think that you really don’t lose much if you are using a Sugar ball. And I like the way the ball feels, it is very similar to the ProV1.

The ball flight was pretty consistent on both balls and my accuracy and closeness to the target were very similar. My go to shot is a small draw and both balls moved about the same and spin rates were very close and consistent. I am really impressed that the Sugar could keep up, it passed the simulator test with flying colors.

Durability Test (10 out of 10)

Now, I did the Rick Shiels test and hit 10 balls out of a bunker vs a ProV1 and they were pretty equally scuffed up. I bladed the heck out of one swing in the bunker and it put a pretty good cut on the ball, so I guess the key is to keep the ball on the fairway and out of trouble and if you do, the Sugar ball is going to last a long time for you. And I did keep the sand on the wedge in between shots, to add some extra measure of scuff to the balls, so here is the video of it:

 

I don’t know what these balls are made of but they have been really, really good for me. I played with one ball for 3 rounds of golf and it has 2 little dings on it, that’s it. I think that I hit some branches on one shot and may have rolled through or barely hit a cart path, but this ball holds up better than any other ball I have played with. I normally would never play a ball for 2 full rounds of golf (sometimes not even 1 full round!), but I was just curious on how long this would last. I am very impressed!

Here are the only 2 marks on the ball after 3 rounds of golf:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Course (Update coming soon)

So I have had a few tournaments in the last couple of weeks and decided to play with the Sugar balls and have really enjoyed using them. My dad and I are working through the write up on them, but here is a putt that my dad recorded, he had this feeling that something good was about to happen!

 

And with that putt, I ended up moving up the leaderboard and finished in the top 4, not bad for never having played that course before! More updates soon, I really am enjoying this ball!

 

7/20 Update, this one has simulator data and durability information.

[BallsLeon]

On 7/3/2023 at 11:49 PM, BallsLeon said:

Weekly Update - 7/21/23
I've been having a ton of success with Sugar Pure in my short game, both chipping and putting. So this week I wanted to try to put that to the test. For comparison, I am using two of the budget brands I have traditionally been using (Maxfli Straightfli and Srixon Soft Feel), Sugar Pure, and what I would assume is Sugar's direct competitor, Maxfli Tour.
What I came up with was this:

• putting on PuttOut matt, with PuttOut trainer
• 6 balls from each brand/make
• two distances: 3ft and 6ft
• 3 rounds per distance, putting 6 of one type of ball in a row
• made putt counts as a return or perfect putt on PuttOut
• measure return distance on made putts (roughly measured in 1/4ft increments)
• perfect putts count as zero distance

The results ended up as follows (full data below):

• 3 Foot Putt
  • Srixon Soft Feel
    • 100% made
    • 0.89ft avg. return distance
  • MaxFli Tour
    • 100% made
    • 1ft avg. return distance
  • MaxFli Straightfli
    • 94.44% made
    • 0.82ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
    • 1 missed putt, left
  • Sugar Pure
    • 100% made
    • 0.81ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
• 6 Foot Putt
  • Srixon Soft Feel
    • 66.67% made
    • 0.88ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
    • 6 missed putts, right
  • Maxfli Tour
    • 77.78% made
    • 0.86ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
    • 4 missed putts, 3 right/1 short
  • Maxfli Straightfli
    • 66.67% made
    • 0.83ft avg. return speed
    • 1 prefect putt
    • 6 missed putts, 3 right/1 left/1 short/1 long
  • Sugar Pure
    • 88.89% made
    • 1ft avg. return distance
    • 2 missed putts, 1 right/1 long
• Total
  • Srixon Soft Feel
    • 83.33% made
    • 0.88ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
    • 6 missed putts, right
  • Maxfli Tour
    • 88.89% made
    • 0.94ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
    • 4 missed putts, 3 right/1 short
  • Maxfli Straightfli
    • 80.56% made
    • 0.83ft avg. return distance
    • 2 perfect putts
    • 7 missed putts, 3 right/2 left/1 short/1 long
  • Sugar Pure
    • 94.44% made
    • 0.90ft avg. return distance
    • 1 perfect putt
    • 2 missed putts, 1 right/1 long

 

Put together an at home competition for myself between Sugar, and a few competitors. I tried to do enough putts that my inconsistencies spread across all the brands, but Sugar seemed to rise to the top. 

[BallsLeon]

Working on an update, but just some thoughts I've been having.

Having a very positive experience with Sugar balls so far, no one ever gets my ball confused with theirs, the feel is leagues better than my old ball(s), and when struck well the balls seem to have a knack for holding greens. The key there being striking the ball well, something I only do a few times a round . I wish I could say that I was seeing a noticeable improvement in my game, but I haven't seen that translate to scoring for me. No fault of Sugar's my game is just a work in progress .

Which leads me to my next thought, if I'm going to lose these like any other ball does it make sense economically? So here's a price comparison:

• Sugar Pure
  • MSRP: $69.95 + $9.95 (shipping) = $79.90/27 balls = $2.96/ball
  • Sale: ($69.95 x 2) + ($9.95 ship - $5 discount) = $144.85/54 balls = $2.68/ball
• Maxfli Tour
  • MSRP: $39.99/12 balls = $3.33/ball
  • Sale: $119.99/48 balls = $2.50/ball
• Maxfli Straightfli
  • MSRP: $24.99/12 balls = $2.08/ball
  • Sale: $59.98/48 balls = $1.24/ball
• Srixon Soft Feel
  • MSRP: $22.99/12 balls = $1.92/ball
  • Sale: $45.98/36 balls = $1.27/ball **Buy two, get one, not currently on going

Being able to pickup the other three brands locally certainly does hurt Sugar here. One thought is, while I do really like the hat they sent, maybe a repeat buyer could credit that ($19.95) value to the box of balls instead. Don't need multiples of this hat. (Though that discount can apply to other apparel they offer.)

[Madden B]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:50 PM, tbarnes80 said:

Alright, 7/27 update for the Spys!

On the Course (18 out of 20)

To test the performance on the course, I played two 18-hole rounds of golf and used 2 golf balls, one ProV1 and one Sugar Pure. I also had my dad playing with me doing the same thing so that we could get his thoughts and comparisons. I played at my home course, Glen Eagle (https://golfgleneagle.com/), from the Blue tees which run 6621 yards, 70.2/123 Slope and Rating. I play here 4-5 days a week and know every inch of this course, so I can usually score pretty well here. Let me get to the details:

Off the Tee –  As you can see, the Sugar Golf Ball performed pretty well off the tee. The distance was always pretty close to the ProV1 and I hit basically the same amount of fairways. I did have some holes where it went further, but overall it was just a couple yards shorter. I don’t think that any accuracy was lost at all with the Sugar ball and the difference in fairways could have just been 1 mediocre swing. Very happy with how the Sugar performs off the tee, nothing to be concerned with at all.

            Winner: ProV1

 

Approach –  I was hitting the ball really well in both rounds and hit a lot of greens in regulation. In fact, the Sugar Pure had 1 more GIR over the course of the 2 rounds. But when it came down to it, the ProV1 was consistently closer to the pin by a couple of feet. We walked off the distance on each hole and averaged them out for the Greens in Regulation only. The shot of the 2 rounds did belong to the Sugar Pure. On #7, a tough uphill Par 3 that was playing around 225 because it was into the wind, I hammered a 3 Hybrid and left it about a foot right of the hole for a nice tap in birdie, it was sweet!

            Winner: ProV1, Slight Edge

 

Ball Flight –  I usually prefer to play a slight draw with my ball flight but did have some shots that required moving the ball the other way. Not sure if it is just a comfort thing because I have played with the ProV1 longer, but I hit the ball consistently closer to the pin and had fewer mishits with it. Both balls are very workable and I don’t feel any hesitation trying to move either of them one way or the other.

            Winner: ProV1, Slight Edge

 

Around the Green –  I don’t know what the Sugar ball is coated with but it spins like crazy around the greens, which I love. I put the ball closer to the pin on average and did get up and down more often with it. I feel like I can take a more aggressive chip with the Sugar ball because I know it will check up quickly and stop. The 2-hop and stop is easier for me to hit with the Sugar than the ProV1, so it comfortably picks up the win here.

            Winner: Sugar Pure

 

Putting –  Had the same number of putts with both balls over the 2 rounds and love the way they both feel. If you blindfolded me, it would be hard for me to know which ball was which because they really do feel the same. They both roll beautifully and I didn’t really have any issues with speed control. I did have two 3-putts with the ProV1 vs. just 1 for the Sugar, so the edge goes ever so slightly to the Sugar Pure, but it was pretty much a statistical tie in every way on the green. And I really like the ball alignment tool on the Sugar, more so than the ProV1. It really suits my eye and makes lining up and hitting the right line easy to do. I guess that I did have slightly further distances with the Sugar, so maybe the means it wins by a little more margin, but either ball is great on the greens.

            Winner: Sugar Pure, Very Slight Edge

 

Scoring –  It is tough to complain about anything when you shoot 1 under of the course of 4 rounds. Seriously, I played great and was incredibly pleased with the way the rounds went. I have to give the slightest of edge to the ProV1 though, as it just came through and won by 3 total strokes. Now that could just be a ball out of bounds or a bad lie here or there, but I really feel comfortable with the Sugar Pure, it was nipping at the heels of the ProV1 both days!

            Winner: ProV1

Overall Thoughts from the Course -

            Hard to say much negative here, I was very pleased with everything the Sugar Ball did. Tee shots flew long and true, my draw was consistent and I did feel like I could work the ball the other way when needed. The Sugar holds greens well and it is awesome on pitch and chip shots, seriously spins like a Tasmanian devil. I LOVE the line on the ball for putting, it is the perfect size for my eye and liking. And while I didn’t beat the ProV1, I feel like it would be able to on any given round. I am totally comfortable playing it.

Thoughts from my Dad’s rounds –

            My dad ended up shooting in the low 80s with all of his rounds but did end up winning with his ChromeSoft balls by 8 total strokes. He is an 11.7 if you are looking for a comparison. He said that he wasn’t as good around the greens with the Sugar but did notice they spin a lot more, which he didn’t quite adjust for because he hasn’t used them and played with them like I have. But Tee-to-Green they were very similar for him, he said he likes the feel of the Sugar ball better with the putter, just felt softer and had a better sound. He said that if he practiced some chipping to get the speeds right, he would be fine using the Sugar ball and doesn’t see a ton of difference in how it performed. The only thing he didn’t love was he felt like there was a weird coating on the ball, which is maybe why they spin and stick so much? But he said that he could get used to the Sugar ball!

Okay, just posted a breakdown of two 18-hole rounds of golf comparing the Sugar Pure to a ProV1, whic is how I decided to test it on the course. Very happy and pleased with the results and how the Sugar Ball handled itself. Take a look!

[Madden B]

Working on my Final Thoughts about the Sugar Golf Ball, should have a post for you by the end of day tomorrow. But I did go play another round with the sugar and shot even par. This is a really nice golf ball, I have been very impressed overall. 

[skraeling]

13 minutes ago, tbarnes80 said:

Working on my Final Thoughts about the Sugar Golf Ball, should have a post for you by the end of day tomorrow. But I did go play another round with the sugar and shot even par. This is a really nice golf ball, I have been very impressed overall. 

Wish they had a color other than white for myself.  I like playing yellow haha.

Still gotta credit to them for being the ball I broke 90 with.

Edited August 2, 2023 by skraeling

[DRLEONARD58]

Final review is going up now! Likely will be some minor tweaks, but the content is there!

[skraeling]

I’ll have my final review up tomorrow.  5hrs on an 18hole round today killed me (cart path only it’s rained every day).  Heat index was over 103ish.   I’m dead tired.