Vice Golf Balls - 2024 Forum Review

[3Putt4Double]

7 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Anyone had a chance to putt around or give some initial feedback on feel? 

Not other than the living room.. Extremely wet here and rained again last night, but have till Friday off and lessons on Wednesday so more info coming soon

[Mulligan09]

Really looking forward to the test.  Currently play multiply different ball (depends what's on sale), Upgraded to Callaway Edge in the offseason.  Looking to see how they work.  Have a Srixon Driver, Callaway Edge 3,5, 6-9 irons PW, SW and putter

[Lefty11]

I've just added my unboxing review to my placeholder post.  

[Lefty11]

20 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Anyone had a chance to putt around or give some initial feedback on feel? 

I've tested the Vice Air on my putting mat and at the course.  It produces a somewhat muted (a tock) sound when struck.  I use a mallet putter, so the sound may differ with a blade putter.  However, I do enjoy the feel of the ball off the putter.  It feels just right to me - not too hard, not too soft.

 

Edited June 4 by Lefty11
Video not working

[Rob Person]

2 hours ago, Lefty11 said:

I've just added my unboxing review to my placeholder post.  

Love it!  Excited much?

[Lefty11]

56 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Love it!  Excited much?

Thanks!  I’m excited to test them on the course.  ‍ 

[Usmcgyrene]

A big thank you to MGS for naming me as a tester. My name is John and this is my 47th season playing this wonderful game. I'm a former Marine and a combat veteran. Because of my previous career, I've been afforded the opportunity to play all over the world. I particularly loved playing in Japan. Having started back in 1977, I've seen a ton of technology get injected into the game. The equipment is now a far cry from the blades and wood heads that I learned on. I love the new technology because it has certainly kept the game fun for me all these years. My swing is no longer anything like it was in my younger years. I've had multiple spinal fusion surgeries and that has certainly slowed my speed down. The newest technological advances have made it possible for people like me to still be able to enjoy the game. The ball has advanced just as much as any club. They are a far cry from the wound batata balls from back in the day. I'm really looking forward to this test. 

[Skrizan]

Yes! My Pro Air came today just in time for my league play tomorrow and Thursday.  

I opened one of the boxes and thought they looked like they stuck the sleeves in there every which way, usually the sleeve has a side with a windows to see at least some of the ball(s).  But then I realized there was a method to their madness.  With the boxes lined up to see more stats about the balls.

If you read my intro you know I will be comparing these to my Maxfli Tour S.  Both the Vice and the Maxfli have 318 dimple urethane covers.  If there were no markings on the balls I would not be able to tell them apart.  Can you Tell which one is the Vice?:

(Vice is the one on the left)

So it seems any differences in distance, feel, and ball flight will be due to the mantle and core, not the outer skin.  One review mentioned not a lot feedback with mallet putters, which is what I use. This may be true, and probably expected from softer compression balls, but I never had an issue with the Maxfli and could not tell a discernable difference between the Maxfli and Vice. Check out the video below for an audio comparison, although the sound on the video seems highly amplified to what I was hearing while putting. 

I did like the feel of the Vice when putting, similar to the Maxfli, but maybe a little softer.  And the Vice was the second ball in the video and it went in the hole, maybe a sign!

Tomorrow I will do some chipping comparisons to the Maxfli, and play my league round with the Vice Pro Air.

Edited June 5 by Skrizan
318 dimples not 392....

[3Putt4Double]

Just an update, I did have a chance to chip for a few minutes before the good Lord drained his bath water on the course today and I have to say, the Vice Pro has a mean bite on the green.. I'm assuming it's from how "sticky" the ball feels but when u put that spin on it it will almost stop on a dime..will have video/pics later of it but this ball definitely could be a gamer 

Edited June 5 by Bubba1985

[Lefty11]

I've had some on-course limited testing with the Vice Air.  I'll have a brief overview later this evening.  Stay tuned.  

Edited June 5 by Lefty11

[Usmcgyrene]

The vice balls came today. I'll be sending the unboxing shortly

[Usmcgyrene]

So, the balls came today. I'll be working with the vice pro. I've been a previous generation vice pro plus player for awhile. The balls came packaged well in a nice box. There was no filler however, so everything had bounced all over in the box. They're golf balls. No issue at all. I find it funny, however, because they were shipped FedEx. I'm a contractor for the local FedEx. I repair their conveyor systems. I know them well. They very well might have shaken them up to bust my chops. . In my pictures, I have some comparisons to the previous model pro plus. The lime color is exactly the same, as is the Vice logo. The packaging graphics have changed as well as the alignment mark. I like the new alignment mark better than the previous version. I may actually start using it.

[3Putt4Double]

1 hour ago, Usmcgyrene said:

So, the balls came today. I'll be working with the vice pro. I've been a previous generation vice pro plus player for awhile. The balls came packaged well in a nice box. There was no filler however, so everything had bounced all over in the box. They're golf balls. No issue at all. I find it funny, however, because they were shipped FedEx. I'm a contractor for the local FedEx. I repair their conveyor systems. I know them well. They very well might have shaken them up to bust my chops. . In my pictures, I have some comparisons to the previous model pro plus. The lime color is exactly the same, as is the Vice logo. The packaging graphics have changed as well as the alignment mark. I like the new alignment mark better than the previous version. I may actually start using it.

That is a much nicer box than they sent me.. Maybe Vice does read reviews lol

[Lefty11]

I recently played in a four-man best ball tournament. 

As always, I hit the driving range to warm up, only to find my driver swing was unreliable.  Therefore, I used the Vice Pro Air for wedge shots and some iron and hybrid shots.  I plan to test the Pro Air with my driver this weekend, weather permitting.  I alternated between the Vice Air and TP5 balls to better understand the differences in feel.  The Vice was softer due to it's compression, but it still delivered a strong performance for me.  

My playing partners commented on the aesthetics of the Vice Lime and Drip balls, with everyone in the foursome agreeing that the pink drip was the better-looking of the two.

Hybrids: My first shot off the fairway was with a 4 hyrbid (22 degrees).  I loved the softer feel of the ball off the clubface.  I prefer my golf balls to be softer rather than feeling like a rock.  The high trajectory was similar to what I saw from the TP5.  When the Vice Air landed, I gained some extra distance from the roll on the fairway.  One of my playing partners also commented on how easy it was to spot the lime ball in the fairway.  

I hit my 5 hybrid on a 185-yard Par 3, aiming for the left side of the green.  The ball flight was high and easily penetrated through the wind, it landed where I wanted it to.  

Irons: We started the day on a 166 yard - yard Par 3 with a slight right-to-left wind.  I hit a high draw that took two hops and stopped about 12 feet from the pin.  In terms of feel, the ball reminds me of a Chrome Soft.

Wedges:  The short game, is where the ball shines!  Several times during my round, when hitting wedge shots, the ball would stop and drop nicely.

(I hit this beauty from 90 yards out.  Two hops and the ball stopped. Birdie time!)  

Putter: As I mentioned before, the ball has a softer feel off the putter with a subtle "tock" sound.  It's not as soft as a Callaway Supersoft, but not as firm as a TP5.  As I mentioned above it is similar in feel to a Chrome Soft.

I find the alignment aid helps to lineup shots on the tee box.

 

 

 

Edited June 6 by Lefty11

[3Putt4Double]

11 minutes ago, Lefty11 said:

I recently played in a four-man best ball tournament. 

As always, I hit the driving range to warm up, only to find my driver swing was unreliable.  Therefore, I used the Vice Pro Air for wedge shots and some iron and hybrid shots.  I plan to test the Pro Air with my driver this weekend, weather permitting.  I alternated between the Vice Air and TP5 balls to better understand the differences in feel.  The Vice was softer due to it's compression, but it still delivered a strong performance for me.  

 

My playing partners commented on the aesthetics of the Vice Lime and Drip balls, with everyone in the foursome agreeing that the pink drip was the better-looking of the two.

Hybrids: My first shot off the fairway was with a 4 hyrbid (22 degrees).  I loved the softer feel of the ball off the clubface.  I prefer my golf balls to be softer rather than feeling like a rock.  The high trajectory was similar to what I saw from the TP5.  When the Vice Air landed, I gained some extra distance from the roll on the fairway.  One of my playing partners also commented on how easy it was to spot the lime ball in the fairway.  

I hit my 5 hybrid on a 185-yard Par 3, aiming for the left side of the green.  The ball flight was high and easily penetrated through the wind, landed where I wanted it to.  

Irons: We started the day on a 166 yard - yard Par 3 with a slight right-to-left wind.  I hit a high draw that took two hops and stopped about 12 feet from the pin.  In terms of feel, the ball reminds me of a Chrome Soft.

Wedges:  The short game, is where the ball shines!  Several times during my round, when hitting wedge shots, the ball would stop and drop nicely.

(I hit this beauty from 90 yards out.  Two hops and the ball stopped. Birdie time!)  

Putter: As I mentioned before, the ball has a softer feel off the putter with a subtle "tock" sound.  It's not as soft as a Callaway Supersoft, but not as firm as a TP5.  As I mentioned above it is similar in feel to a Chrome Soft.

I find the alignment aid helps to lineup shots on the tee box.

 

 

 

Nice write up @Lefty11!

[Lefty11]

Just now, Bubba1985 said:

Nice write up @Lefty11!

Thank you! 

[Rob Person]

4 hours ago, Lefty11 said:

I recently played in a four-man best ball tournament. 

As always, I hit the driving range to warm up, only to find my driver swing was unreliable.  Therefore, I used the Vice Pro Air for wedge shots and some iron and hybrid shots.  I plan to test the Pro Air with my driver this weekend, weather permitting.  I alternated between the Vice Air and TP5 balls to better understand the differences in feel.  The Vice was softer due to it's compression, but it still delivered a strong performance for me.  

My playing partners commented on the aesthetics of the Vice Lime and Drip balls, with everyone in the foursome agreeing that the pink drip was the better-looking of the two.

Hybrids: My first shot off the fairway was with a 4 hyrbid (22 degrees).  I loved the softer feel of the ball off the clubface.  I prefer my golf balls to be softer rather than feeling like a rock.  The high trajectory was similar to what I saw from the TP5.  When the Vice Air landed, I gained some extra distance from the roll on the fairway.  One of my playing partners also commented on how easy it was to spot the lime ball in the fairway.  

I hit my 5 hybrid on a 185-yard Par 3, aiming for the left side of the green.  The ball flight was high and easily penetrated through the wind, it landed where I wanted it to.  

Irons: We started the day on a 166 yard - yard Par 3 with a slight right-to-left wind.  I hit a high draw that took two hops and stopped about 12 feet from the pin.  In terms of feel, the ball reminds me of a Chrome Soft.

Wedges:  The short game, is where the ball shines!  Several times during my round, when hitting wedge shots, the ball would stop and drop nicely.

(I hit this beauty from 90 yards out.  Two hops and the ball stopped. Birdie time!)  

Putter: As I mentioned before, the ball has a softer feel off the putter with a subtle "tock" sound.  It's not as soft as a Callaway Supersoft, but not as firm as a TP5.  As I mentioned above it is similar in feel to a Chrome Soft.

I find the alignment aid helps to lineup shots on the tee box.

 

 

 

Great pics and first use write up!

[Lefty11]

4 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Great pics and first use write up!

Thank you @Rob Person! 

[Skrizan]

Unfortunately rain rolled in for a couple of hours  and stopped just before my league started yesterday.  So I didn't have the time to do the chipping comparison.  I hit a couple of chips with the Vice Pro Air on the green next to my starting tee box to see if the check-up was as good as I have heard. But I didn't catch ball first and they were lousy chips that rolled well past.  Have to try again today before league.

The rain also put a damper on other testing, as drives had little rollout, and any and all balls were stopping quickly on the soft wet greens.  

With those limitations I will say that I didn't find anything that made me think the Vice has any advantage or any weakness compared to the Maxfli Tour S.  Felt good off the driver, but I was in my usually landing zones.  I hit some good iron shots with my usual distances, and stuck a couple of pitches very close. Putting felt good, though I left too many short with the wet greens, not the ball's fault.

Seemed to be very similar results for me so far, but was only 9 holes.  I did play the whole 9 and 3 extra holes after with the same ball, and other than some discoloration where I hit a tree, the ball is still in mint condition:

 

 

[Lefty11]

30 minutes ago, Skrizan said:

Unfortunately rain rolled in for a couple of hours  and stopped just before my league started yesterday.  So I didn't have the time to do the chipping comparison.  I hit a couple of chips with the Vice Pro Air on the green next to my starting tee box to see if the check-up was as good as I have heard. But I didn't catch ball first and they were lousy chips that rolled well past.  Have to try again today before league.

The rain also put a damper on other testing, as drives had little rollout, and any and all balls were stopping quickly on the soft wet greens.  

With those limitations I will say that I didn't find anything that made me think the Vice has any advantage or any weakness compared to the Maxfli Tour S.  Felt good off the driver, but I was in my usually landing zones.  I hit some good iron shots with my usual distances, and stuck a couple of pitches very close. Putting felt good, though I left too many short with the wet greens, not the ball's fault.

Seemed to be very similar results for me so far, but was only 9 holes.  I did play the whole 9 and 3 extra holes after with the same ball, and other than some discoloration where I hit a tree, the ball is still in mint condition:

 

 

@Skrizan The weather will eventually cooperate.  I hope you have some good results with the Vice Air.  Keep it in the short stuff, my friend!

[3Putt4Double]

I'm in the same boat as @Skrizan.. Tee time at noon but I think it's too wet to really get the info I want.. Might do a little write up about the putting if the greens are good

[Skrizan]

1 hour ago, Lefty11 said:

@Skrizan The weather will eventually cooperate.  I hope you have some good results with the Vice Air.  Keep it in the short stuff, my friend!

Thanks @Lefty11, weather looks good for tonight, stay tuned!

[Green4Spinach]

On 5/27/2024 at 9:35 AM, Green4Spinach said:

Hi everyone.

My name is Jyoti and I’m a relative newbie to golf and MyGolfSpy. I first went on a golf course in November 2023 and I joined the MGS forum in February this year. So being a golf tester is a wholly new activity for me. I so appreciate the opportunity to be a tester of the Vice Drive ball, but the bottom line is this:  I need help to do this job properly and you can help me by asking me the questions you want answered. I cannot be sure that I will be able to answer those questions, but be certain that I will have a real go at this.

I grew up in New Delhi, India and have lived on the edge of London, England for over thirty years. Cricket has been my game and my golfing friends say that I bring a cricket stroke to my golf play. So much to unlearn… If you have seen the picture of me putting before, it is on a post that relates how the ball (looking so good to end up in the hole) ended up as far on the other side of the hole as I was when I hit it. 

My wife and I have two kids in their mid twenties. It was our son who asked me what we were going to play together now that I was no longer playing cricket. His suggestion was golf. I thought that was such a strange suggestion given that neither he nor I had ever played golf. But his point was that we both start from ground zero and learn the game.  Since then my wife has started learning the game too. And my daughter’s husband plays the game. So we are being drawn in as a family, with my daughter the only hold-out.

I don’t have an official handicap as yet, but Shot Scope is estimating something in the region of 28. My driver swing speed ranges from 135-140mph, so I am a good fit to the slow-medium swing speed match with the Vice Drive ball.  I believe the Vice Pro Air could also be a match as a premium ball, and I am hoping to compare a budget ball to a premium ball to see what each brings to a golfer like me. Of course, my main comparator ball is a Mizuno RB566, an ionomer ball I picked as my gamer as it claimed to fly for longer on slower swing speeds.

Shot Scope’s Strokes Gained metric tells me that my short game is my best feature (and my putting, it seems, needs a lot of work). But if you need to know how well the Vice Drive ball spins back when it lands next to the pin, you will have to check somebody else’s review for that kind of detail. I am not conscious that the ball (any ball) has ever spun back when I have played it. So not that good a short game player, Shot Scope.

Of course, I’ll be keen to see how Vice’s claims for the ball stack up in my own experience of it. In the main, they are focused on distance and durability as their points of focus. We’ll see.

The one thing I find interesting with Vice is the availability of balls in different colours. I have never played a red or pink ball, but my wife really likes a red Callaway she found on the course. We play at Sunbury Golf Club and at this time of the year a number of trees release a white fluff that gathers on the ground around them. A number of these trees line the fairways. Just miss the fairway and you can kiss goodbye to your ball in all the white fluff.

So I set up a little experiment. I placed a white ball in the fluff and took a picture. Can you see the ball?

If you found it, congratulations - the small fortune you have invested in white balls is completely safe. If you did not, look again - middle of the picture and down to the bottom. You may need to see the next picture. 

Then I moved to a slightly fluffier area and placed a yellow ball and a red ball next to the white ball, and took another picture. If your eyes are like my 60+ year old eyes, I find the red ball much easier to locate. So I have asked for my test balls to be the Neon Pink variety that Vice offers.

Looking forward to the arrival of the balls.

Sidebar: My Six Lessons in Golf

You have already read my intro to myself for the Vice review. But what I failed to mention in the intro is that I have written up Six Lessons of Modern Golf as my profile on MGS. I don’t actually know how to link to the About Me section of my MGS profile, so I reproduce the text verbatim for anybody that is interested in knowing more. No, this bit has nothing to do with the Vice review, but it will tell you a little bit more about my golfing instincts.

I know this may seem presumptuous  to be following a chap named Ben who came up with five lessons on the modern fundamentals of golf. But - and this is a big but for me - Ben's lessons were modern in the 1950s, and were so good that they did not need to be changed even for the 50th Anniversary edition. But people, this is 2024, and in the interests of sharing what I have learned since getting on the course for the first time in Nov 2023, here are my lessons in golf. Ben came up with five, but I am listing six here. 

For the sake of the integrity of this august site, allow me to state that the lessons that follow were not compiled by me. They were assembled by my kids, after watching me get to grips with the game. 

Lesson #1: Always compliment your partner's swing (for example, "that was just super!") - it seems I am easily impressed when somebody launches the ball and the outcome is not a daisy-cutter.

Lesson #2: A good technique is more important than a good score. [Okay, I get it, kids, my scores are pretty poor right now - you don't get a handicap in the region of 30 without having a bunch of poor scores, but it does seem a tad harsh to make this a fundamental rule...]

Lesson #3: No matter how many times you've played, always claim to be "new to the game." Ouch. 16 rounds Nov '23 to March '24? I feel it is still quite reasonable to describe myself as new to the game. 

Lesson #4: It is recommended that your household buys a new golf club every two weeks. Since we have purchased about 30 clubs since starting out (full sets for my wife and I), I think we have out-performed on this metric. 

Lesson #5: Always remember, no matter how badly you play, it's always possible to get worse. This one is so true. 'Nuff said. 

Lesson #6: Remember the people playing behind you think it's very important that you enter every shot into your golfing app - make sure you do this. I confess that the recent acquisition of a Shot Scope X5 with its automatic shot tracking may make this lesson rather less valuable...

I know that in offering six lessons, I am already one past the expected norm in golfing fundamentals. But in for a penny... Here's my bonus seventh lesson:

Lesson #7: Never forget to call your partner "darling." It helps that most of the time I play with my wife, so this may not be a lesson with universal applicability. 

Do these lessons make sense? Might my golf make progress? Given that these lessons have helped me move from a handicap of around 33 to 28 in five months, I am expecting I could be scratch around Sept 2026, give or take a month...

Feel free to share your most significant lessons. As I hope you can tell, I am keen to learn. 

UNBOXING

Yes, a box has arrived from Vice Golf. It's a brown cardboard box just like millions of other cardboard boxes. 

But turn it upside down and there's more...

So much advice - and such good quality advice at that. I can already feel my handicap lowering as I absorb Vice's inputs. 

If you have read my earlier material, you will know that I picked a Neon Pink ball. So I should not have been surprised by the strongly saturated colours of Vice's packaging. 

The packaging is very clear in laying out its stall about what a golfer can expect from this ball. 

The ball itself is remarkably pink. I am hoping that it achieves what I set out to do in picking a pink ball - maintain a high level of visibility once it lands. Never having played a pink ball before, I am not sure what I will find at the other end of the colour spectrum. 

Of course, my gamer Mizuno will be the main comparator. 

Just laying out the Mizunos and the Vices on the grass show the obvious colour contrast. What's also clear is that Mizuno's use of 566 dimples is distinctively higher than the Vice dimples. Mizuno's intention is to drive the aerodynamic capability of its highly dimpled ball. Will the Vice Drive be different? Both are ionomer balls, but Vice lays claim to more of a distance story than Mizuno. I suspect neither company believes these balls are spin-focused for the greens. 

Let the testing begin. 

 

 

 

 

Just to let anybody who is interested in the Vice Drive ball know that the balls have been delivered and I have added in my unboxing notes to the review.

Edited June 6 by Green4Spinach

[Prodigal Duffer]

On 5/27/2024 at 3:34 AM, Lefty11 said:

Appearance 9/10

 

The Vice website doesn’t do justice to the actual color of these balls!  While I usually play yellow golf balls I am impressed with the green Vice.  Additionally, my daughter helped me pick the pink drip balls, and I must say I prefer them over the lime green!  

 

I have found that the lime green are easier to see in the air than yellow. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the pink drip's visibility.

[Lefty11]

4 hours ago, Prodigal Duffer said:

I have found that the lime green are easier to see in the air than yellow. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the pink drip's visibility.

The lime green glows like a beacon in the night!  I mean that as a compliment.  They contrast the greens and fairways very well.  I plan on using the drip this weekend and I will report back regarding the visibility and overall findings.  Have any of the other testers have anything to share?

[3Putt4Double]

1 minute ago, Lefty11 said:

The lime green glows like a beacon in the night!  I mean that as a compliment.  They contrast the greens and fairways very well.  I plan on using the drip this weekend and I will report back regarding the visibility and overall findings.  Have any of the other testers have anything to share?

I have.. Exciting day of golf for me.. First time ever (and prolly the last) breaking 80! Played the Vice Pro..will def post some feed back later on tonight

[Lefty11]

1 hour ago, Bubba1985 said:

I have.. Exciting day of golf for me.. First time ever (and prolly the last) breaking 80! Played the Vice Pro..will def post some feed back later on tonight

Congrats Bubba1985!  That’s exciting news.  I’m looking forward to your findings.

[3Putt4Double]

24 minutes ago, Lefty11 said:

Congrats Bubba1985!  That’s exciting news.  I’m looking forward to your findings.

I'm not normally that good, and I can't say it was all the ball either..I took a month away from the game and had been just working on fundamentals and it came together today.. Like I said, prolly won't ever happen again but at least it did once!

 

[Green4Spinach]

4 hours ago, Lefty11 said:

The lime green glows like a beacon in the night!  I mean that as a compliment.  They contrast the greens and fairways very well.  I plan on using the drip this weekend and I will report back regarding the visibility and overall findings.  Have any of the other testers have anything to share?

I have wondered about the visibility of a lime green ball once it lands on a fairway. Or in the rough. I am intrigued by your statement that it glows like a beacon. Can you capture this in a picture?

[Green4Spinach]

2 hours ago, Bubba1985 said:

I'm not normally that good, and I can't say it was all the ball either..I took a month away from the game and had been just working on fundamentals and it came together today.. Like I said, prolly won't ever happen again but at least it did once!

 

Excellent stuff. Well done. You have four holes with one putt. I am keen to hear your experience of approach shots and short game with the Vice.