coolbreeze
Aspiring Golferr
B330-S Review
The balls came today and half an hour later I was at the course. I started out with 45 minutes in the short game practice area to get a feel for the balls before heading out to the course. It was 10 degrees celsius here today, raining and windy which I thought was a good test for this ball.
Off the Tee:
I could tell right off the first tee that this ball was higher compression than the Nike One tour I normally play and I saw a lower ball flight than I am used to. The ball feels great off the face of the driver with a great sound and I was seeing an increase of about 5-10 yards with my driver over the Nike. I play a lot of 3 hybrid and 3 wood off the tee and here I thought the B330-S really shined. Great penetrating ball flight, felt smooth off the face and was about 5 yards longer than my nike. The Nike for me can feel really soft off my woods almost feels like it sticks to the face, but the B330-S just flew off the face.
Irons:
Here I saw no great difference in distance or ball flight. When struck well it did exactly what it was supposed to do. I was playing by myself with no groups in front or behind so I was able to hit different shots from the fairway into the green. Fade, draw, low, high this ball did exactly what it supposed to do as a tour ball should. In this area there was no real difference over the Nike One tour which reacts very similar in this area.
Wedges:
This is where the B330-S ball blew the One Tour out of the water. My normal shot with a full wedge with the Nike is hit hop and stop. I dropped some balls right at 100 yards to the flag (3 Nike, 3 B330-S) and took aim at the flag with my 55* to see how each ball reacted. The Nike hit, hopped and stopped every time just like it always does, but all three shots with the B330-S hit, hopped, and came back about 3-4 feet. Wow. On the next hole I did the same thing but at 80 yards for a full 60* wedge. Nike reacted as usual, the B330-S again sucked back about 1 foot. On both tests the B330-S was overall closer to the flag.
Chipping/Pitching:
Both on the course and at the practice green I was seeing much more spin from the B330-S. On chips and flop shots the ball was checking up much more than the Nike and I found I could get much more aggresive and trust that the ball would stop for me. Same thing out of the bunkers, the ball was not running out at all for me, just hit the green and stopped. Pitching I would say both balls reacted about the same and running out similar distances with the B330-S maybe having more spin, but I don't generate a lot of spin pitching at the moment.
Putting:
I was putting today with my Wilson Staff 8876 which has an insert, and the B330-S felt and sounded great off the face. The ball rolled true and distance control was easily found. I find with putting with tour caliber balls is all about the same and is more about the stoke that you put on it. I will say that I normally draw an alignment aid around my golf ball but found no need to as the B330-S logo with the top and bottom lines was more than enough.
Durability:
As said by everyone this ball is unbelievably durable for a urethene covered ball. I played one ball for 18 and it could go another 36 if I don't lose it. I don't lose a lot of balls and generally go though one Nike Tour every 9 holes especially if there was a couple of full wedges and a cart path in there.
Overall:
I had two questions going into this round, one would I like this ball more than the Nike One Tour, and two, if I did would I like it enough to pay $17 more a dozen? Well Bridgestone really knows what they are doing with ball fitting because this was the easily the best ball I have played. It was longer than the Nike, equal off the irons, dominated the short game and was far more durable. Too answer my questions, yes I like this ball more than the Nike, and yes I will gladly pay the asking price especially considering if you don't lose a lot of balls you could make a sleeve last a month.
Thank you very much too THP and Bridgestone for the opportunity to test this great ball.
The balls came today and half an hour later I was at the course. I started out with 45 minutes in the short game practice area to get a feel for the balls before heading out to the course. It was 10 degrees celsius here today, raining and windy which I thought was a good test for this ball.
Off the Tee:
I could tell right off the first tee that this ball was higher compression than the Nike One tour I normally play and I saw a lower ball flight than I am used to. The ball feels great off the face of the driver with a great sound and I was seeing an increase of about 5-10 yards with my driver over the Nike. I play a lot of 3 hybrid and 3 wood off the tee and here I thought the B330-S really shined. Great penetrating ball flight, felt smooth off the face and was about 5 yards longer than my nike. The Nike for me can feel really soft off my woods almost feels like it sticks to the face, but the B330-S just flew off the face.
Irons:
Here I saw no great difference in distance or ball flight. When struck well it did exactly what it was supposed to do. I was playing by myself with no groups in front or behind so I was able to hit different shots from the fairway into the green. Fade, draw, low, high this ball did exactly what it supposed to do as a tour ball should. In this area there was no real difference over the Nike One tour which reacts very similar in this area.
Wedges:
This is where the B330-S ball blew the One Tour out of the water. My normal shot with a full wedge with the Nike is hit hop and stop. I dropped some balls right at 100 yards to the flag (3 Nike, 3 B330-S) and took aim at the flag with my 55* to see how each ball reacted. The Nike hit, hopped and stopped every time just like it always does, but all three shots with the B330-S hit, hopped, and came back about 3-4 feet. Wow. On the next hole I did the same thing but at 80 yards for a full 60* wedge. Nike reacted as usual, the B330-S again sucked back about 1 foot. On both tests the B330-S was overall closer to the flag.
Chipping/Pitching:
Both on the course and at the practice green I was seeing much more spin from the B330-S. On chips and flop shots the ball was checking up much more than the Nike and I found I could get much more aggresive and trust that the ball would stop for me. Same thing out of the bunkers, the ball was not running out at all for me, just hit the green and stopped. Pitching I would say both balls reacted about the same and running out similar distances with the B330-S maybe having more spin, but I don't generate a lot of spin pitching at the moment.
Putting:
I was putting today with my Wilson Staff 8876 which has an insert, and the B330-S felt and sounded great off the face. The ball rolled true and distance control was easily found. I find with putting with tour caliber balls is all about the same and is more about the stoke that you put on it. I will say that I normally draw an alignment aid around my golf ball but found no need to as the B330-S logo with the top and bottom lines was more than enough.
Durability:
As said by everyone this ball is unbelievably durable for a urethene covered ball. I played one ball for 18 and it could go another 36 if I don't lose it. I don't lose a lot of balls and generally go though one Nike Tour every 9 holes especially if there was a couple of full wedges and a cart path in there.
Overall:
I had two questions going into this round, one would I like this ball more than the Nike One Tour, and two, if I did would I like it enough to pay $17 more a dozen? Well Bridgestone really knows what they are doing with ball fitting because this was the easily the best ball I have played. It was longer than the Nike, equal off the irons, dominated the short game and was far more durable. Too answer my questions, yes I like this ball more than the Nike, and yes I will gladly pay the asking price especially considering if you don't lose a lot of balls you could make a sleeve last a month.
Thank you very much too THP and Bridgestone for the opportunity to test this great ball.