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Polara Golf Ball Testing Review Thread

SuperStroke
coolbreeze said:
Nice updates everyone. Interesting that you were seeing an increase in distance Mary.
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I'm not sure what you mean? I haven't posted any testing beyond putting and pitching yet.

I think you have me and GolfChick confused. She posted increase in yardage.
 
MaryC said:
I'm not sure what you mean? I haven't posted any testing beyond putting and pitching yet.

I think you have me and GolfChick confused. She posted increase in yardage.
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You would be correct Mary sorry about that.
 
coolbreeze said:
You would be correct Mary sorry about that.
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No problem. Just got home from a playing lesson with my instructor and we both hit the Polara balls. As soon as I have all my notes together I'll be posting my experiences.
 
Well I was able to get out this morning and play 9 holes with the Polara Balls .
It was 55* with a 9 mph wind out of the North East , but the wind picked up to 20+ .
Off the driver it goes straight but not the distance I normally hit ( 220 -240 ) and it feels harsh with a fairly loud click !
They ( both the 2 piece and 3 piece ) seemed to fly off my Adams V3 hybrids and with a rather loud click , and they do go straight but they do move in the wind , as on the 3rd hole I usually hit a 5 hybrid and I usually draw it behind this one tree guarding the left corner on a dog leg 90* left . You could see it start to draw and it corrected in flight and with the left to right wind took it about 6 yards to the right , but it was in the fairway .

They don't do to bad with little 40-80 yard punch shots either , but the feel is still fairly harsh imo , they wont sit down like a softer ball and I was getting 8-12 yards roll out from where they hit . ( the course and greens are still in dormancy and greens are fairly hard )

Pitching was not a real problem , you just had to compensate for the roll out .
Putting roll is true as I made 3 putts of 15 -25 feet . ( but there was that click of using a harder ball )

I lost 3 of these balls today as 3 holes have water back to back , a par 5 that has water all along the right side , one par 3 140 -180 thats is an island green and another
par 4 with water along the right with an elevated green with the water curving into the front of the green .

I hit into the first water hole and thought I had enough club but came up just a tad short and hit the rocks and bounced into the water .
The par 3 I hit to much club and went over the island green and went splash ! ( they sink just like all the other balls )

The last par 4 with water I hit a solid 5 hybrid down the right side as I usually draw it on this hole and with the left to right wind it took it about 8 yards right into the water . By this time the wind had picked up to 20 mph .
I had no problems getting the ball into the air with any irons either .

With the last ball I had ( only took 4 ) I hit into the wind and they do get knocked down like a normal ball , but they didn't seem to want to go right or left .
All in all these do build confidence in hitting straight shots , as I did line up the arrows on each shot .

Would I play them casually ? No , as I felt they were a bit to harsh feeling for my taste .
Would they benefit a higher handicapper that just wanted to play and have fun ? Yes , by all means these will make the game more enjoyable for just about anyone that struggles with the righty's or lefties !!

Thanks THP and Polara for the opportunity to test these balls .
 
cg13 said:
Lower ball flight should add distance if her normal flight is high.only reason can come up with.


Tapping and talking since 2010.
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Lately with my driver I've been hitting them sky high. But with these balls, i had lower ball flight hence the slight increase in yardage. The most increase was 10 yards.


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I played a few holes with the Polara Ultimate Straight XS today.

Off the Tee: I am still hitting my Pro V1x's longer than the Polara's. The Polara is going dead straight, but I am having some issues with getting it up in the air. It's still going probably on the higher end of a low trajectory, but I am hitting the Pro V1x's 20+ yds farther. I tried teeing off with a 3 wood and both balls were within 5 yds of one another. The course was really soggy and I wasn't getting any roll. I can see the Polara taking a bounce and running on dry fairways. As for carry distance, my Pro V1x outperforms the Polara.

Approach Shots: I had a 148 yd approach on a par 4 that was getting a little help from the wind today. I decided to hit a 3/4 8i with the Pro V1x and the Polara to see which performed better. Both swings felt very similar and I had stuck the Polara about 15' from the pin, while the Pro V1x was around 10' outside that. For a harder ball, the Polara actually does not feel that bad coming off the face of an iron. It definitely feels different than the titleist, but doesn't feel like a rock either. I also hit a few 50-75 yd shots with my SW and was fairly impressed. Most shots were taking one bounce and stopping when struck well.

The Polara seems to act as promised. Off the tee, the ball is going dead straight. I don't like the trajectory, but the balls are finding the fairway. I don't think a serious golfer would game this ball, but guys/girls who don't care about handicaps could definitely have fun with them. If your average "hacker" is used to slicing tee shots, than this ball would definitely provide some help. I plan to play some more golf tomorrow and put the Polara in play again.
 
So today instead of having a lesson inside on the simulator my instructor decided to that since the weather was suppose to be so nice that we would head to the club and play three holes over and over to work on a few things and because he knew I had these balls to test, to give both of some time to hit multiple shots using the Polara balls and our normal balls

First, my impressions and then I'll report on my instructor's experiences

Feel/Sound: These balls still feel like range balls to me. I really was hoping once I started hitting them with my full swing clubs that I wouldn't notice the feel as much but I do. They just don't feel nice to me. They also have a "dead" sound when I hit them flush with my driver and fairway woods and rescue club.

Performance off the driver: I'm currently playing a 13.5 degree driver, which given the instructions should be right in the middle of the wheelhouse for this ball. Also lately, I've been hitting a fade that drifts to a slice on 1 out of every 5 drives. I have to say both the Straight and Straight XS performed absolutely as advertised. Of 20 tee shots with my driver, not one of the Polara balls turned into a slice, even when I tried to slice the ball. Every single drive was in the fairway. Out of the 20 tee shots I hit using my Bridgestone B330-RX, I had 12 shots in the fairway, 2 shots that went left and 8 shots that were slices, far in the right rough. Out of the 20 tee shots I hit using the Titleist NXT Tour, 15 in the fairway and 5 slices. However, with both Polara balls I lost significant distance. The longest drive I hit with the Polara balls (Straight) was 114 yards (Note: we are playing late winter conditions here so there is absolutely NO roll out. It is lift, clean and place right now and in many cases today, it was dig out, clean and place ball but this made measuring carry distance real simple). The longest drive I hit with the Bridgestone was 146 yards and with the Titleist was 155 yards. That is an almost 35 yard loss of distance with the Polara ball. Now, if I was playing the forward tees, this probably wouldn't bother me at all. But, except in really long courses (6300 yds +) I'm no longer playing the forward tees but either the Sr tees or the Member tees, so this loss of 30 yards is significant for my game. Ball flight for the Polara balls was also much lower than with the Bridgestones and Titleist. It was almost a line drive with a few drives. I was teeing it up per the directions and then my normal tee height.

Performance off the Fairway woods and rescue club: Again, the Polara balls performed exactly as advertised, not one of the balls I hit with my 3W or my 4 rescue club drifted right into the right rough. But again, the ball flight was really low almost a worm burner in a few cases (could have been me as I hit those from time to time). Also, I lost about 20 yards off my distance.

Performance off irons: Here is where I didn't notice much loss of distance but the feel of the ball really bugged me the most. I play Mizunos because I love the feel of the ball on my irons and boy oh boy do the Polaras feel like lumps of coal off my clubs. For kicks and giggles, I grabbed the 7i out of my instructor's bag (he is a Nike staff player and has the new VR Pro irons in his bag right now) and hit the Polara balls just to see if it was my feel clubs and while I didn't notice the lump of coal feel but they still felt frozen range balls to me and were clicky sounding. Again, no problems with any fade becoming a slice for me.

There were no real surprises to me in pitching, chipping or putting because the Polara balls played about the same as they did from my earlier reviews.

Now how my instructor liked the ball (yes, I know he isn't an official tester but he was so intrigued by the ball when I told them about them, he wanted to see them and play them) A little about my instructor. My instructor plays mini tours and an odd Nationwide event when he can. He has qualified for the final US Open qualifier three times in the last five years, missing making the US Open in 2009 by 1 stroke. He also is a really good instructor. He works with all his students as if we all are trying to make our games "tour" worthy but also makes sure we are playing with the swings we have at the moment. A really nice mix for me (IMHO).

Of course, he had an awful time with his driver because he is playing an 8.5 driver but he really nailed the Polara XS with my driver. He had them basically cutting the fairway in half with my driver but again lost SIGNIFICANT distance. His average drive with his Nike 20XI is 280 - 290 yards but he was only getting 200 or 220 yards with the Polara ball. He also really hated the sound of the ball on the driver.

He didn't hit the Polara balls with any fairway woods or hybrids but did hit it with his 3i, 5i, 8i and his pitching wedge. Again, surgically dissected the fairway and hit the green exactly where he wanted to with the Polara ball. Even when he tried to duck hook it and right turn slice it, he really REALLY had to force the Polara balls to do it. Again, he didn't like the feel or sound but he didn't lose as much distance as I did.

Both of us left the course feeling that the balls really aren't for us from a feel, way they sound, and the loss of distance on critical places BUT we also both felt that ball performed as advertised and that for someone who either just beginning the game and struggling to keep the ball in play or is a weekend only, playing a fun round that these balls would be welcomed with open hands.

I'm taking a sleeve of each Polara ball with me tomorrow when I drive down to PA to play 18. Depending on conditions and if the course is crowded, I may put them in play again tomorrow.
 
I played 45 at my local course today and used these for the first 18. On thr front, I used the 2 piece balls and the 3 pieces on the back.

Overall - WOW! They definitely work as advertised. Once they are on a line they do NOT stray from it. I hit 10/14 fairways and am usually in the 4/14 area.

I will spare the hole by hole details but provide a review that I believe captures what this ball is all about.

- Low degree driver (9 for me) can be used off an elevated tee box very successfully.
- 3 wood off the teel on a uphill or flat hole is recommended. I actually hit my 3 wood further than my driver with both balls. As others have stated - these balls like loft off the tee!
- The sound is definitely different than what you are used to. Was real pingy to me and noticeably different than a normal ball we would play.
- Around and on the greens I had good true roll with decent feel. I was actually pleasantly surprised on the greens with them.
- The balls did not check up on the greens as much as I would have liked - performed like a typical distance ball in my opinion.
- These balls ROLL very well off the tee shots. I hit 1 terrible tee shot that should have been 150 total at best and ended up at about 200 (uphill as well).

Overall - I would not play these daily because of conformity/rules & feel but I think they would be a tremendous asset to your weekend golfer struggling to break 100 that is not trying to build a handicap.
 
Went out for my first 9 holes with the Polara Ultimate Straight. I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical at first, although very excited to see what they could do. I played two balls, the Ultimate Straight XS and my current Pro V1x.


Off the tee
First off, the "instruction sheet" that comes with the balls suggests hitting off the tee with a club that has a loft greater than 10.5*. My highest lofted driver is a 10* so I figured I'd give it a fair shot off the first tee. Immediately I noticed that it did go straight down the intended line, although with a noticeably lower ball flight compared to my Pro V1x. When I got to the ball, it was about 20 shorter than the V1x, but it was also right in the middle of the fairway, whereas the V1x was off in the right rough.

After the first hole I began using only my 3w off the tee for the Polara. This seemed to help with the distance, which I believe benefits from a tremendous amount of rollout. Up to 60 yards of rollout on some of my tee shots!

Often times, upon walking up to the ball, the hemisphere, or "aiming arrow", would still be oriented straight down the middle, indicating that it not only flies straight, but continues to roll straight after it lands.

Overall I hit a very exciting 5 out of 6 fairways off the tee with the Ultimate Straight XS (3/7 for the ProV) . One Polara tee shot (the most exciting for myself) isn't counted in the totals because I was able to cut a dogleg-left to a 250 yard green. I aimed right for the middle of the green, and that's where it ended up! The Pro V1x flew a bit further, but landed to the right of the green, as is my usual shot

From the fairway / rough
From the fairway, if I re-aimed the ball, I had excellent accuracy as the ball flew right where the arrow was pointed. Usually with my mid to short irons I'll get a bit of a draw on my shots, but the Polara was dead straight. Judging the proper club was the toughest part, as I flew the ball a bit shorter than normal, but seemed to get that extra bit of rollout that compensated for it. I was definitely better off playing it short and allowing for some roll on to our still-frozen greens as opposed to going pin-seeking.

If I did not re-aim the ball in the fairway, but played it as it lied, I saw about a 5-10 yard drop in club distance, including a modest rollout. I also started to see my little draw again.

I had a friend playing with me using a regular Ultimate Straight, and he was able to get the hang of the distance much better than I was. He stuck several approach shots within 10 feet. He was definitely a believer.

Putting with the Polara did feel a bit clicky at first, but once I got used to it the ball then seemed to perform normally on the green. No "drunken weaving" like I thought it might have!

Realistically, this ball isn't something that I would change to on a permanent basis. I need a conforming ball. But, that being said, I definitely think that this ball delivers what it promises. I do imagine that it will be a valuable ball come scramble season. If guys can use non-conforming distance balls for these goofy scrambles, then why not stick 'em close with an aiming ball, too? I would buy an occasional box of Polara's for that reason alone.

I will continue to play these until I lose 'em all, so be on the lookout for more updates!
 
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So today I didnt hit the ball well but I did try the polara a few times.

First off the ball is a nice ball however I would never purchase this because I will be playing in stroke play tournaments where the ball is illegal and I like to practice with what I play.

HOWEVER if you dont plan on playing in tournaments then this is the ball for you if definitely corrects some of the ball flight. I let me parents hit them and they love the slice the ball a good 25 yds with the miss. With the Polara they not only hit it further but hit both drivers and irons dead straight. They still align themselves wrong but this ball is impressive.

So you ask yourself a question

1) Do I plan on being competitive in Stroke Play events

if you say no the polara is a must.
 
SW FLA reporting live from a delay at the 7th tee at Links of Naples, the Polara straight is delivering as advertised thus far tonight. More details later tonight on your most trusted source of equipment news THP.


insert witty sig line here. Tapatalk
 
Well I took these out on the course today for a little testing. Being that it was my first round of the year I thought using this ball at times would really let me see if they work as advertised.

Off the tee - stats don't lie on this one, 6 of 6. The first one was a low line drive but the others were better. I didn't think that the distance was up to par with my Bridestone e6, however this was the straightest ball I have ever hit. As long as I had it teed up, it didn't matter what kind of swing I put on it. The ball would fly out towards the target and then seemingly nose dive down in to the fairway. At one point I looked at golf4life and said, "Man using these things is basically cheating."

From the fairway - a few times a realigned the ball and it performed well. I remember one shot where I have just a touch over 200 yards to the green so I took a 3h and fired, sure enough the ball was on line and landed nicely on the green. When the arrow was not pointing at the target it acts like a normal ball only shorter in distance.

Around the green - I think it spins just as much as any other ball with an ionomer cover. The best short game shot I had with it was about a 25 yard bunker shot to a raised green. I hit it good and then I heard g4l yell, "man you should have seen that check up like that!"

Putting - performed like any other ball, I thought it sounded a little clicky but that didn't bother me. The different dimples didn't seem to affect the role of the ball on the greens at all.

If you are someone that really struggles with accuracy off the tee and you are just out playing with friends or flyin solo, these are a good option. As it has been mentioned, they are a non-conforming ball so you can't use them in tournament play.
 
Nice DDec! I had a similar experience with the spin of these balls.

ddec0418 said:
Well I took these out on the course today for a little testing. Being that it was my first round of the year I thought using this ball at times would really let me see if they work as advertised.

Off the tee - stats don't lie on this one, 6 of 6. The first one was a low line drive but the others were better. I didn't think that the distance was up to par with my Bridestone e6, however this was the straightest ball I have ever hit. As long as I had it teed up, it didn't matter what kind of swing I put on it. The ball would fly out towards the target and then seemingly nose dive down in to the fairway. At one point I looked at golf4life and said, "Man using these things is basically cheating."

From the fairway - a few times a realigned the ball and it performed well. I remember one shot where I have just a touch over 200 yards to the green so I took a 3h and fired, sure enough the ball was on line and landed nicely on the green. When the arrow was not pointing at the target it acts like a normal ball only shorter in distance.

Around the green - I think it spins just as much as any other ball with an ionomer cover. The best short game shot I had with it was about a 25 yard bunker shot to a raised green. I hit it good and then I heard g4l yell, "man you should have seen that check up like that!"

Putting - performed like any other ball, I thought it sounded a little clicky but that didn't bother me. The different dimples didn't seem to affect the role of the ball on the greens at all.

If you are someone that really struggles with accuracy off the tee and you are just out playing with friends or flyin solo, these are a good option. As it has been mentioned, they are a non-conforming ball so you can't use them in tournament play.
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Played 18 today with the two Polara golf balls. My home course was still pretty damp (soaked actually) from all the rain this week and cart path only was in full effect. It was also a bit breezy with winds in the teens all day and temp was around 58 f. I started each hole with either a 2 or 3 pc ball and a 330RX for comparison.

Here are my thoughts on this product:

From the tee: Both balls fly straight as advertised. Line up the arrow, swing away, and the ball goes in the direction they are aligned. I had much better results with higher lofted clubs from the tee. A tee shot with my driver (9*) would fly straight, gain altitude, and then suddened take a dive downward. There was no bounce or roll in the fairway today, so what you hit is all you got out of it today....so distance wasn't all that great. Best drive of the day with these was 237 yards from an elevated tee per gps. From the same tee my 330RX flew 253. The three piece ball has a firm feel, but not unpleasant where as the 2 piece is a bit to firm for my taste.

From the fairway: Same story here, they fly straight if aligned properly! The 2 pc feels okay off the hybrids, irons, and wedges. The 3 pc feels much better! Distance ranged about a club shorter for me than the 330RX I would play along side....so 5 - 15 yards shorter depending on the club. Shorter irons and wedges where not off as much. Shots into the green would think about checking up (2pc) and then roll out quite a bit. The 3pc ball would actually grab a bit and roll out much less than the 2 pc, but quite a bit more than the 330RX with the same club. On two holes I dropped both Polara balls at the 100 yard marker and pulled out my Scratch wedge to see if I could back either of these balls up with a full swing. It took a few shots to get the 2pc ball to stop where it landed, but the 3pc will spin back about a foot though! If you change tactics and place the ball so the arrows are perpendicular to your target both of these balls will spin a bit more. I think the more aggressive dimples come into play and help create more grip and spin!

Around the greens: Both balls are firm and playing the shots to roll out is the way to go.

On the green: These roll just like any other distance ball. A firmer feel and bit louder click than the 330RX..but the roll is fine and predictable. No real issues or complaints here.

Overall: For the hacker that is going to play 12 or less times a year with his buddies these are the perfect choice. I don't think I missed a single fairway with these balls today and that will certainly help that same hacker enjoy his round with his friends, with much less hunting for balls in the rough or woods all day because he doesn't have a lot of time to dedicate to his / her game!
 
OK, I played the Polara 3 piece ball on 4 separate holes of my round today with ddec. Overall, I can report that this ball behaved for me much the way its been working for others. I was having a pretty dismal day off the tee, hitting some big old fades. The 4 times I teed off with this ball, it went pretty much dead straight. Not likely those were the 4 only good swings I had off the tee, so I can presume the ball was doing its thing on reducing the sidespin.

1 of my 4 tee shots was to a very small landing area par 4 with my Mashie M3. I hit it about 220 yards of carry (zero roll on these soft fairways), so pretty good overall distance. It sounded and felt a little hard off the face, but I'm used to Srixon Z Star Xs and Pentas and the like. Earlier I had a tight dogleg left hole that I also hit M3 with. This one was a little lower, but it also went bolt straight, cut close to the corner and flew about 200 yards in the air and rolled out some.

My 2 driver shots were straight and surprisingly long, based on some of the other comments I've heard here. I did intentionally tee it higher, drop my right shoulder more to get some lift and let it fly. Both drives carried about 250 to 260 yards in the air and went very straight.

Around the greens, these performed about as well as any non-urethane covered balls I've used. One nice example of this is when I had about a 25 yard chip shot. I used my sand wedge, hit it to about 20 yards in the air, it hit, hopped and checked, and rolled out only about 8 more feet. The sound off the putter was a little clickier than my usual gamers, but wasn't a problem.

Overall, I think these balls perform as they are built to do. They certainly help keep the ball in play off the tee, and if you can get them to launch high enough, I don't think you'll even sacrifice much, if any, distance. I'm pretty sure if I'd played these balls the entire round instead of my usual, my score would have been lower as more than once I was hitting out of the woods and other less than ideal places because of my errant tee shots. One of the guys we were playing with was struggling mightily with a big slice. If I knew him better, I would have offered him one of these balls to try.
 
Played in a club event that was a scramble and took the 2 piece Polara for a spin on a few of the holes. My driver and 3W are set up to launch it pretty low, and I had some concerns given the feedback so far as well as the instructions. Given I was the "A" player and the fact I am pretty long off the tee, I saved the Polara for the shorter Par 4s when we needed one in the fairway, a few approach shots and Par 3s. I hit the Polara on 3 par 4s and the results were pretty consistent. I hit it twice with my 9* driver, and both times I lost significant distance - 50-60 yards - as my ball seemed to nose dive about 210 yds out. The ball did travel straight and I did hit both fairways. I also had the same nose diving with my 3W off the tee and one 3W from the fairway on a Par 5. The 3W from the fairway felt like I should have hooked it, but the ball flew straight as an arrow appearing as if it was knuckling before nosediving 25 yards short of the green. This was somewhat surprising given we only had 220 yards in (wind against) and I can usually carry my 3W 250 yds, but as I said I launch my woods low and I didn't make the best swing/contact here.

Hitting the irons from the fairway was a much different result. Twice I felt like I was in between clubs and turned the arrows facing the hole. On a par 3, I hit my 9 iron 159 yards to 9 feet right at the flag (normal carry is 145-150) and actually won closest to the pin for the event. On another Par 4, I had 148 with a little helping wind and I hit PW to 18-20 left of the hole. I was able to draw this shot so I wound up a little left of the flag. Lining the arrow up I found the ball released a little on the green but nothing more than I would expect for a 2 piece non-urethane covered ball (it worked out well on the Par 3 as the pin was in the back of the green just over a ridge). I played 3 other fairway shots, 2-8Is and a PW, with the arrows perpendicular to the pin and the ball seemed to behave normally but carried just a few yards shorter than expected.

I putted twice with the ball and as expected the ball has a little firmer feel than the Penta or Srixon I play.

In summary, your launch angle really dictates whether or not this ball is for you. I had good/great results with irons, but I was quite surprise with the signicant distance I lost off the tee. The ball does seem to fly straighter than any other ball as advertised. However, after about 8 holes I put the Polara in the bag and stuck with the Penta as I know this ball isn't for me.

I am hoping to get out for 9 holes one day after work this week to put it to further test against the Penta. I surely won't be using this ball in my weekend money game or any club events.
 
Picked up my new R11 this morning and went out for round 2 of the Polara ball testing. Changed the loft setting on the R11 to the highest setting and had much better results distance wise than I did in round one with a lower lofted driver. Other than that, more of the same. This ball performs as advertised. Seems results across the board for testers has basically been the same. Shot 83 today and didn't make a single birdie. Poor putting but certainly no fault of the Polara balls.

I will put a few of these balls im my bag for scrambles as I do believe they can help the golfer who has the extreme lefts or rights. On Wednesday night scrambles at the club I would not hesitiate to hand one of these to the D, E, or F player in our group when we have to play one of their drives if they've been struggling to find fairways. I will also get some for my Dad who plays just to spend on the golf course with us kids 10 times a year or so, and will keep some for a few friends that get out even less. Yes, I am endorsing and condoning use of a NON COMFORMING golf ball. Yikes!:wtf:

I am a little surprised at some of the "purist" posts I've seen in this testing thread. Polara claims their balls are self correcting and will help reduce slices and hooks . I feel that they do exactly that. They say they are non conforming and they are. Doesn't mean they don't have a place on the golf course. Not everyone is going to take lessons to work on ball position, grip, set up, swing plane, etc., etc., etc. I think the Polara is an excellent choice for the casual golfer who wants to find the fairway, plain and simple.

Are they cheating? I don't think so. If you play them during a tournament YOU are cheating. When the "purists" are out playing with their "purist" friends and posting every single round and recording every single shot I'm sure they all play ball the down, no rolling the ball in the fairway, fluffing a lie in the rough and I'm absolutely certain that they have never been given or gave a "gimme putt" unless playing a match play event, and certainly don't play "anything in the leather is good". I'm sure that ALL of your friends, playing partners and other members of your club or home course have NEVER done any of those things either because then they would have to be branded by non conforming PING wedges so everyone would know that they were cheaters and and they would have to walk away from the game in shame and be forever held in contempt.

Nope, no apologies for the rant. No smoke and mirrors from THP or Polara. The balls were sent out and there was no secret as to what they were. No blind testing, plain packaging here. Almost wish that were case as the packaging has had it's critics. I've never purchased golf balls based on the design of the packaging. Maybe Top Flite can outsell Titlesit if they can do some consumer surveys and develop the snazziest graphics ever known in the world of golf ball packaging and have a presentation that makes us grab boxes of their balls without even looking at who makes the balls.

Sorry for that rant. Back to the Polara ball testing and testers. For those who can't or won't play them for whatever reason my suggestion would be to maybe send a note when you sign up for testing with your preferences. "I would like to be a ball tester but only for top tier tour type balls or balls that are USGA approved. I would like to test the new driver but only if it's one of the top three I may have an interest purchasing. I would like to test....." you get it, nuff said.

Polara, thank you being so generous and providing 100 plus dozen golf balls for The Hackers Paradise. I appreciate the opportunity I had to be a tester and I had fun trying to disprove your claim about your self correcting golf balls. I am very happy that I was unable to do so. Seems most advertising these days can sometimes be a little misleading. I will purchase your products as I am confident your golf balls will help my team perform well in events where these balls can be used and when playing with others who would LOVE to be able to find a fairawy.

THP, thank you for working to get products out to your members that we may or not use after testing but at least have a chance to decide based on our own experience with those products or recommendations from other THP'ers. If there was a one time sign up sheet for product testing I would be the first in line to sign up. Send anything my way and I'll give you a report based on on my results, my experience, and give honest feedback. You guys rock.
 
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Took the ball out to the course today (9 holes). Also, I handed my buddy who has a tendency to slice his tee shots one of the balls. He played the 2 piece and I played the XS.

Both of us got straight shots off the tee throughout, except he shanked one. However, I did hit my drive into the trees on the right a couple of times, and one of his drives ended up in the next fairway. However, these were pushes and not slices. I was a little surprised by this. I was consistently drawing with the driver at the range yesterday, so my guess is that I have taught myself to start the ball going right to work a draw, and with Polara, it just keeps going that way without curving back. The fairways here are quite narrow and "tunnel like" with trees on both sides. I would have been fine on a regular course with wider fairways.

No fades or draws with the irons off the tee either. All straight shots. I couldn't really tell any difference from a regular ball in the short game and putting.
 
highscoreinky said:
Picked up my new R11 this morning and went out for round 2 of the Polara ball testing. Changed the loft setting on the R11 to the highest setting and had much better results distance wise than I did in round one with a lower lofted driver. Other than that, more of the same. This ball performs as advertised. Seems results across the board for testers has basically been the same. Shot 83 today and didn't make a single birdie. Poor putting but certainly no fault of the Polara balls.

I will put a few of these balls im my bag for scrambles as I do believe they can help the golfer who has the extreme lefts or rights. On Wednesday night scrambles at the club I would not hesitiate to hand one of these to the D, E, or F player in our group when we have to play one of their drives if they've been struggling to find fairways. I will also get some for my Dad who plays just to spend on the golf course with us kids 10 times a year or so, and will keep some for a few friends that get out even less. Yes, I am endorsing and condoning use of a NON COMFORMING golf ball. Yikes!:wtf:

I am a little surprised at some of the "purist" posts I've seen in this testing thread. Polara claims their balls are self correcting and will help reduce slices and hooks . I feel that they do exactly that. They say they are non conforming and they are. Doesn't mean they don't have a place on the golf course. Not everyone is going to take lessons to work on ball position, grip, set up, swing plane, etc., etc., etc. I think the Polara is an excellent choice for the casual golfer who wants to find the fairway, plain and simple.

Are they cheating? I don't think so. If you play them during a tournament YOU are cheating. When the "purists" are out playing with their "purist" friends and posting every single round and recording every single shot I'm sure they all play ball the down, no rolling the ball in the fairway, fluffing a lie in the rough and I'm absolutely certain that they have never been given or gave a "gimme putt" unless playing a match play event, and certainly don't play "anything in the leather is good". Because if they did any of those things they would be cheaters and would have to walk away from the game in shame and be forever held in contempt.

Nope, no apologies for the rant. No smoke and mirrors from THP or Polara. The balls were sent out and there was no secret as to what they were. No blind testing, plain packaging here. Almost wish that were case as the packaging has had it's critics. I've never purchased golf balls based on the design of the packaging. Maybe Top Flite can outsell Titlesit if they can do some consumer surveys and develop the snazziest graphics ever known in the world of golf ball packaging and have a presentation that makes us grab boxes of their balls without even looking at who makes the balls.

Sorry for that rant. Back to the Polara ball testing and testers. For those who can't or won't play them for whatever reason my suggestion would be to maybe send a note when you sign up for testing with your preferences. "I would like to be a ball tester but only for top tier tour type balls or balls that are USGA approved. I would like to test the new driver but only if it's one of the top three I may have an interest purchasing. I would like to test....." you get it, nuff said.

Polara, thank you being so generous and providing 100 plus dozen golf balls for The Hackers Paradise. I appreciate the opportunity I had to be a tester and I had fun trying to disprove your claim about your self correcting golf balls. I am very happy that I was unable to do so. Seems most advertising these days can sometimes be a little misleading. I will purchase your products as I am confident your golf balls will help my team perform well in events where these balls can be used and when playing with others who would LOVE to be able to find a fairawy.

THP, thank you for working to get products out to your members that we may or not use after testing but at least have a chance to decide based on our own experience with those products or recommendations from other THP'ers. If there was a one time sign up sheet for product testing I would be the first in line to sign up. Send anything my way and I'll give you a report based on on my results, my experience, and give honest feedback. You guys rock.
Click to expand...

lol tell us how you really feel
 
When I received the balls in the mail a few days ago I took them out of the sleeves and immediately noticed difference in dimple pattern compared to all of the other balls I’ve ever played. I read the instructions and the claims made by Polara, and my first thought was, “Bull Crap!” No way was there a ball that could be made to fly straight.

It turned out to be sunny at 60 today, so I was able to get out and play 9 holes. (Course was a little soggy, so that’s about all I could stand.) My neighbor went with me and since Polara and THP gave me a dozen, I asked if he would help me with the test. He was more than willing. Since the course was pretty scarce today, I played three balls. The 2 and 3 piece Polara and an e6.

The Polara ball definitely does what it claims to do. When it came off the face of the club, whether it was a driver or iron, it flew straight. I could see where the ball wanted to head one way, but it held the line and flew straight. It was quite odd to see the ball make the corrections while in flight. It’s almost like it had a knuckle ball effect. (Anyone who has played baseball/softball knows what I’m talking about.) I absolutely could not believe my eyes.

Driver – I first teed off with each of the Polara balls and then my e6. As noted above, when teeing off with the Polara ball I could actually see the ball make the corrections while in flight. I absolutely could not believe my eyes. My neighbor normally plays a fade so I stood behind him as he teed off and to my amazement it didn’t fade that much. It hung out to the left and didn’t come back. Off the tee the distance was a little lacking. My e6 went about 20 yards further on average. I wasn’t too crazy about the feel of the Polara balls off the driver, it kind of felt like a rock.

Iron – The Good - Same results as the driver. If you point the arrow where you want it to go, it’ll go there. Very impressive. The Bad - Distance was also same as the driver. I hit my 8 iron 150 yards and I just couldn’t get either of the Polara’s to go that far. But they went straight, by-golly!

Wedges – Per the instructions, I placed the arrow perpendicular to the hole and fired away. Although I didn’t get the feel that I did with my e6, they did check up nicely.

Chipping/Putting – Other than the feel of the all, I had no problems chipping it. It comes off the face nicely and roles out well. I’m not a fan of the feel off the putter. The Polara’s putted nicely, but the feel just wasn’t there. The difference in dimple pattern didn’t seem to affect the way the ball rolls at all.

Conclusion – The claims that this ball flies straight are true. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. My hat is off to Polara for releasing a ball like this. I’m in the camp that thinks the game of golf should be enjoyed by everyone and some of the rules should be bent until they can learn to make a repeatable stroke. There are plenty of clubs out there that help people get the ball in the air, but they still fight keeping it straight. I think the Polara balls will help those folks enjoy the game while learning. The only thing I didn’t care for was the feel of the ball. It reminded me of the old Top Flight XL200’s. But, I’m sure durability plays a part in this. They help up very nicely. I didn’t have one nick on either one of the balls I played.

Thank you Polara and THP for allowing me to give these a test drive!
 
highscoreinky said:
Picked up my new R11 this morning and went out for round 2 of the Polara ball testing. Changed the loft setting on the R11 to the highest setting and had much better results distance wise than I did in round one with a lower lofted driver. Other than that, more of the same. This ball performs as advertised. Seems results across the board for testers has basically been the same. Shot 83 today and didn't make a single birdie. Poor putting but certainly no fault of the Polara balls.

I will put a few of these balls im my bag for scrambles as I do believe they can help the golfer who has the extreme lefts or rights. On Wednesday night scrambles at the club I would not hesitiate to hand one of these to the D, E, or F player in our group when we have to play one of their drives if they've been struggling to find fairways. I will also get some for my Dad who plays just to spend on the golf course with us kids 10 times a year or so, and will keep some for a few friends that get out even less. Yes, I am endorsing and condoning use of a NON COMFORMING golf ball. Yikes!:wtf:

I am a little surprised at some of the "purist" posts I've seen in this testing thread. Polara claims their balls are self correcting and will help reduce slices and hooks . I feel that they do exactly that. They say they are non conforming and they are. Doesn't mean they don't have a place on the golf course. Not everyone is going to take lessons to work on ball position, grip, set up, swing plane, etc., etc., etc. I think the Polara is an excellent choice for the casual golfer who wants to find the fairway, plain and simple.

Are they cheating? I don't think so. If you play them during a tournament YOU are cheating. When the "purists" are out playing with their "purist" friends and posting every single round and recording every single shot I'm sure they all play ball the down, no rolling the ball in the fairway, fluffing a lie in the rough and I'm absolutely certain that they have never been given or gave a "gimme putt" unless playing a match play event, and certainly don't play "anything in the leather is good". I'm sure that ALL of your friends, playing partners and other members of your club or home course have NEVER done any of those things either because then they would have to be branded by non conforming PING wedges so everyone would know that they were cheaters and and they would have to walk away from the game in shame and be forever held in contempt.

Nope, no apologies for the rant. No smoke and mirrors from THP or Polara. The balls were sent out and there was no secret as to what they were. No blind testing, plain packaging here. Almost wish that were case as the packaging has had it's critics. I've never purchased golf balls based on the design of the packaging. Maybe Top Flite can outsell Titlesit if they can do some consumer surveys and develop the snazziest graphics ever known in the world of golf ball packaging and have a presentation that makes us grab boxes of their balls without even looking at who makes the balls.

Sorry for that rant. Back to the Polara ball testing and testers. For those who can't or won't play them for whatever reason my suggestion would be to maybe send a note when you sign up for testing with your preferences. "I would like to be a ball tester but only for top tier tour type balls or balls that are USGA approved. I would like to test the new driver but only if it's one of the top three I may have an interest purchasing. I would like to test....." you get it, nuff said.

Polara, thank you being so generous and providing 100 plus dozen golf balls for The Hackers Paradise. I appreciate the opportunity I had to be a tester and I had fun trying to disprove your claim about your self correcting golf balls. I am very happy that I was unable to do so. Seems most advertising these days can sometimes be a little misleading. I will purchase your products as I am confident your golf balls will help my team perform well in events where these balls can be used and when playing with others who would LOVE to be able to find a fairawy.

THP, thank you for working to get products out to your members that we may or not use after testing but at least have a chance to decide based on our own experience with those products or recommendations from other THP'ers. If there was a one time sign up sheet for product testing I would be the first in line to sign up. Send anything my way and I'll give you a report based on on my results, my experience, and give honest feedback. You guys rock.
Click to expand...

You know, I liked this write-up. The purpose of being a tester is to TEST what you're sent. Anyone who complains about what they receive clearly doesn't get that part.

Like the above poster said, a huge thank you should be given to Polara and THP for putting on a test of this size. It takes a lot of confidence in your product to do something this big.
 
I think this was a brilliant move by Polara to get the product in the hands of so many people that are committed to golf will give testimony that the product does perform as advertised. I don't think they were taking any chances because they know it works. Some people may not purchase the ball in the future because that is not what they would play, but i don't think they can say it does not work.

I told my dad about Polara ball tonight and he said. I want one to put in my bag and check out. he also said. They will sell a million of them if it works. Well it works.

Thanks again to THP for giving us all a chance to get involved.
 
love reading all these reviews and its getting me so jealous
guess ill be waiting on the mailman tomorrow
 
OK weather should be good for Thursday course should be dry so i can get out and play the Polara . Its about time
 
I played 18 holes yesterday to test the 2 and 3 piece balls .I also tested them against a b330-rx.I found that both the 2 piece and 3 piece balls flew extremely straight 13 out 14 faiways.But i also noticed a great deal of distance lost 20 to 30 yrds short of the b330-rx.Off the irons i only noticed may be a half of club difference.The spin off short irons were not bad but i liked the 3 piece alot better spin and feel.Seems like a good lower end ball 20 dollar range.I also believe that it would b a great ball for a mid to high handicapper that has trouble hitting it straight.
 
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