Blind Ball Testing Review Thread

[Griff]

Well, I got to thinking if I am doing all I can to test this ball off the putter. I went to the garage and started to setup a MacGyver type swing machine using clamps and my sawhorses. I almost got it to work, it's just not steady enough for testing purposes. If I had a piece of conduit with a larger diameter it would have worked. Point of this is to get the putter to make the same swing on the ball every time and measure the distances. It's gravity driven, I bring the putter back the same distance every time and let it go. Even if I get it to work consistently I'm not sure it is appreciably different than me rolling 5 footers over and over. But, my machine would completely remove the operator. Hope I can get it to work.

 

[War Eagle]

Well, I got to thinking if I am doing all I can to test this ball off the putter. I went to the garage and started to setup a MacGyver type swing machine using clamps and my sawhorses. I almost got it to work, it's just not steady enough for testing purposes. If I had a piece of conduit with a larger diameter it would have worked. Point of this is to get the putter to make the same swing on the ball every time and measure the distances. It's gravity driven, I bring the putter back the same distance every time and let it go. Even if I get it to work consistently I'm not sure it is appreciably different than me rolling 5 footers over and over. But, my machine would completely remove the operator. Hope I can get it to work.

I must say that would definitely be taking the testing to a new level!


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[TRyan]

Well, I got to thinking if I am doing all I can to test this ball off the putter. I went to the garage and started to setup a MacGyver type swing machine using clamps and my sawhorses. I almost got it to work, it's just not steady enough for testing purposes. If I had a piece of conduit with a larger diameter it would have worked. Point of this is to get the putter to make the same swing on the ball every time and measure the distances. It's gravity driven, I bring the putter back the same distance every time and let it go. Even if I get it to work consistently I'm not sure it is appreciably different than me rolling 5 footers over and over. But, my machine would completely remove the operator. Hope I can get it to work.

That would be unreal! Good luck

 

[scrubs]

Anybody have/could fashion a stimpmeter? Seems that might give some info on the relative roll-out of balls. Obviously, it doesn't factor in the impact of the putter, though.

 

[mdbuschsr]

I would disagree. It's definitely shorter off the driver and yet my irons are the same. No doubt about it. Off the putter as I said I'm not going to blame the ball. I stink at putting so my stroke is always going to be a little inconsistent. I will however go out and get some putter tape as that is a good idea. I will video the results

You're not going to actually post video of that horrible stroke are you? JK

The reviews have been fantastic guys. The putting woes are a bit weird, but not everyone is suffering through them. The added iron length seems almost universal, yet driver/FW/hybrid length is a bit hit and miss. It's definitely been an interesting read.

 

[War Eagle]

You're not going to actually post video of that horrible stroke are you? JK

The reviews have been fantastic guys. The putting woes are a bit weird, but not everyone is suffering through them. The added iron length seems almost universal, yet driver/FW/hybrid length is a bit hit and miss. It's definitely been an interesting read.

I continue to see good length off the irons, more so than normal for me. As far as the putting goes, putting is such a mental thing, who knows. But I really do feel that this ball feels heavier than most others. Again, it could all be in my head.

 

[Griff]

Have a chance to get out in a couple hours. Shootout between E6 and mystery ball. Will be interesting to shoot each ball side by side.

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Well, I got to thinking if I am doing all I can to test this ball off the putter. I went to the garage and started to setup a MacGyver type swing machine using clamps and my sawhorses. I almost got it to work, it's just not steady enough for testing purposes. If I had a piece of conduit with a larger diameter it would have worked. Point of this is to get the putter to make the same swing on the ball every time and measure the distances. It's gravity driven, I bring the putter back the same distance every time and let it go. Even if I get it to work consistently I'm not sure it is appreciably different than me rolling 5 footers over and over. But, my machine would completely remove the operator. Hope I can get it to work.

I thought about doing something like that too....really don't even need a putter...you could use a long piece of wood that could be designed to hit both balls at the exact same time!!

 

[Griff]

I thought about doing something like that too....really don't even need a putter...you could use a long piece of wood that could be designed to hit both balls at the exact same time!!

That may work as well. I got mine to work a little better, but it's not all that stable. I'm not sure of the benefits of getting mine to work. It would be neat to say I pulled it off, but I'm not sure the results would be worth the continued effort. Putting it on the back burner for now.

The wood would be nice because I would be dealing with 90 degree angles not 71 degree angles. :bulgy-eyes:

 

[Br1an_g]

so do we know when we find out what these are?

 

[War Eagle]

so do we know when we find out what these are?

JB said earlier in the week that it wasnt going to be this week. I am sure sometime after the Morgan Cup we will all find out.

 

[TripleBogieTim]

so do we know when we find out what these are?

I'm thinking it might come out in the September newsletter which would be week after next.

Just got back from Golf Galaxy....grabbed me a dozen Q-stars to compare to the mystery ball during tomorrow's round. I haven't hit the Q-star yet so I am looking forward to it. Ill have reviews up tomorrow afternoon.

 

[DawgDaddy]

I played this morning with the mystery ball, and hit only it to get my thoughts focused only on it. 1st thing on my mind is I do not tend to leave this ball short on putts, I don't know if I adjusted to it almost immediately or if it putts almost he same as my preferred ball the B330-RX, but I don't have the shorts that I am reading about in the thread. 2nd thing is I believe I too am getting maybe a half club more distance with the irons, not as much as some have posted, but I do see the ball going a little longer. 3rd the woods are definitely no shorter than with my preferred ball, but I am not seeing any appreciable distance increase either. 4th I have no trouble working the ball with a cut or draw at all, the draw wants to turn into a hook at times, but that it the operator not the ball. 5th the sound is still very pleasing to me and I like the solid click sound I hear it make. 6th I am able to stop this ball with very little roll out if I play the low spinning shot to hit, skip and stop, that is a shot I enjoy using when within 30 yards of the pin. 7th I hope this ball comes in optic yellow, that is something I really miss while I have been testing this ball.
So with 5 rounds under my belt with these balls I still have 4 left, 3 are in mint condition as I have played the ball I gamed today for 3 full rounds now and it is starting to show it's age, and has one pretty good scuff. I will now bag it and use it only on water holes in case of a mishit.

Here are pictures of the ball after 3 rounds, the scuff is on the top of the ball in the 1st picture.

Spoiler

The scuff is in the middle of the ball in this picture, I had marked my ball with a cross using the THP crosshair divot repair tool, as luck would have it the scuff is directly in the middle of the lines, I washed off as much of the sharpie as I could

Spoiler

 

[Griff]

No ball could save me today. Crappiest day of the year by far. One of those days you don't even want to think about golf for awhile. Getting over it, but man it was bad. Lost 3 E6s and 2 test balls. Decided to stop hitting the test ball as there was a good chance I would lose them all in one round. Down to 3. At least I figured out what I was doing wrong when I hit the 9th. My lazy OTT move was the culprit. Made really bad decisions around the green as well. Couple pin placements were cruel jokes. No excuses though, just a bad day of golf.

The test ball did quite well when I made halfway decent contact. I was able to make a birdie when my 8 iron into a green stuck and backed up 6 feet. The green is sloped back to front so that played a part in the shot. Made a nice 15 footer to finish the hole. I do like how the test ball rolls on the green. Other than that I can't say anything else positive. It was all on me today, not the equipment.

 

[War Eagle]

I played this morning with the mystery ball, and hit only it to get my thoughts focused only on it. 1st thing on my mind is I do not tend to leave this ball short on putts, I don't know if I adjusted to it almost immediately or if it putts almost he same as my preferred ball the B330-RX, but I don't have the shorts that I am reading about in the thread. 2nd thing is I believe I too am getting maybe a half club more distance with the irons, not as much as some have posted, but I do see the ball going a little longer. 3rd the woods are definitely no shorter than with my preferred ball, but I am not seeing any appreciable distance increase either. 4th I have no trouble working the ball with a cut or draw at all, the draw wants to turn into a hook at times, but that it the operator not the ball. 5th the sound is still very pleasing to me and I like the solid click sound I hear it make. 6th I am able to stop this ball with very little roll out if I play the low spinning shot to hit, skip and stop, that is a shot I enjoy using when within 30 yards of the pin. 7th I hope this ball comes in optic yellow, that is something I really miss while I have been testing this ball.
So with 5 rounds under my belt with these balls I still have 4 left, 3 are in mint condition as I have played the ball I gamed today for 3 full rounds now and it is starting to show it's age, and has one pretty good scuff. I will now bag it and use it only on water holes in case of a mishit.

Nice write up DD! As far as the putting goes, I had the issue with leaving it short when I first started testing it out. Having played with the ball for about 4 weeks now, I have not had any issues with that. Not sure if I have just gotten adjusted to it or what, but I love the way it rolls.

On my initial post, I talked about the added length I saw off my irons. I think some people thought I was crazy. But I am still seeing that distance, and glad to see others as well. As far as hybrids, woods and Driver, same distance as my regular ball.

As far as short game, this ball flat out works for me. I can get it to check up when needed, but if I hit a shot for it to roll out, it does as well.

I only have 3 of these guys left, 2 are mint, 1 is still in playing shape.

 

[liquidrage]

I'm down to 3 balls left after yesterday's rain filled outing. I played it along with a Q-STAR, though I hit the Q-STAR more due to it being replaceable. Losing a ball in the 1st cut is annoying but after about 10 minutes of solid searching (there was no one behind us thanks to the weather) just had to give up.

Distance wise the balls were similar and seemed to yield similar amount of spins off the irons and wedges. My driver was erratic on the front and solid on the back but I would say the Q-STAR's a little more forgiving on the side spin off the driver. Once I got it worked out and had a nice swing thought in my head though both were fine and gave similar distances.

I'm not going to post my thoughts around the green from yesterday yet. Weather permitting I want to get a few hours putting and chipping with just the mystery ball tomorrow before I against play it alongside a Q-STAR in the afternoon.

 

[Bullfrog]

Played another 9 with these tonight since my trip to take my daughter back fell thru till tomorrow night. Ball X performed Great again. I still continue to get about 10-15 yards further out in the fairway with it. Ball X off my irons too were another 10 yrds or so longer. I am still getting about 6-8 feet roll out on my approach shots and 3-4 on chip shots. But lately I have been just trying to chip with a roll out closer to the hole instead of flopping. Since flopping doesn't really work out for me as well. I did manage to take 3 pictures of Ball X. I have 2 of them left still and both balls have about 4 rounds each on them. So here is a picture of one. It still looks new except for my markings and frog are almost worn off. I have even reapplied them once. But other than that both balls have no visible marks at all!

As you can see it has held up nicely. With what seems to be a few more rounds left in them. Even with me using my blades and hitting down they have no skin tears at all like my TM TP BLACK would have after just a few holes. SORRY

I am really enjoying this golf ball! AND CAN'T WAIT TO BUY SOME MORE!! THANKS THP AND MYSTERY BALL MAKER FOR OPENING MY EYES TO A BETTER BALL FOR MY GAME THAN THE TM TP BLACK!!!:twist:

 

[mikedean441]

wow cant believe how well those are holding up frog, my E6 after just 1 round today took a BEATING

 

[Griff]

Played another 9 with these tonight since my trip to take my daughter back fell thru till tomorrow night. Ball X performed Great again. I still continue to get about 10-15 yards further out in the fairway with it. Ball X off my irons too were another 10 yrds or so longer. I am still getting about 6-8 feet roll out on my approach shots and 3-4 on chip shots. But lately I have been just trying to chip with a roll out closer to the hole instead of flopping. Since flopping doesn't really work out for me as well. I did manage to take 3 pictures of Ball X. I have 2 of them left still and both balls have about 4 rounds each on them. So here is a picture of one. It still looks new except for my markings and frog are almost worn off. I have even reapplied them once. But other than that both balls have no visible marks at all!

As you can see it has held up nicely. With what seems to be a few more rounds left in them. Even with me using my blades and hitting down they have no skin tears at all like my TM TP BLACK would have after just a few holes. SORRY

I am really enjoying this golf ball! AND CAN'T WAIT TO BUY SOME MORE!! THANKS THP AND MYSTERY BALL MAKER FOR OPENING MY EYES TO A BETTER BALL FOR MY GAME THAN THE TM TP BLACK!!!:twist:

Nice. The only ball that has a scuff is the ball I abused with my 60 wedge. I'm fairly certain this ball is better than the E6 for my game. I notice more tour ball characteristics than recreational ball characteristics.

 

[BamBooBender]

Great writes ups testers! Great pics too! I have to admit though, that I'm pretty sure now what ball this is, or at least who makes it. Not going to say though, don't want to spoil the mystery/fun, plus I could be wrong. At any rate, maybe this round of blind ball ball testing could open some eyes to something new, maybe even my my old, and sometimes cynical, eyes.

 

[Griff]

Great writes ups testers! Great pics too! I have to admit though, that I'm pretty sure now what ball this is, or at least who makes it. Not going to say though, don't want to spoil the mystery/fun, plus I could be wrong. At any rate, maybe this round of blind ball ball testing could open some eyes to something new, maybe even my my old, and sometimes cynical, eyes.

With ya there about who makes this ball. I can honestly say I haven't been dwelling on the who. That's the beauty of this test.

 

[Howzat]

I actually think I would prefer not to know who makes the ball or what the characteristics of the ball are supposed to be. I understand it will never happen but I like the idea of not knowing. It has been really nice just playing the ball without knowing beforehand if it is a "tour" level ball or a distance ball and not having an expectation about how the golf ball will perform. It has forced me to worry more about my swing and shot making vs. the ball I am playing as I have tried to put a consistent shot on the balls I have hit side by side. I think the next time out I will just play Ball X and see what kind of score I can put up vs. my averages this year.

 

[CharlieMoy]

It looks like a bridgestone to me...

 

[thedue]

Too bad I'm out of these, I played well with them and could use the help in todays state tourny. I too am pretty sure which ball it is and may just go pick some up for today, but doubt they will have the same mojo as the original unmarked ones, lol.

 

[War Eagle]

Too bad I'm out of these, I played well with them and could use the help in todays state tourny. I too am pretty sure which ball it is and may just go pick some up for today, but doubt they will have the same mojo as the original unmarked ones, lol.

The ghost white golf ball definitely has some mojo, that's for sure.

Just won't look the same with logos on it, etc.


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