2013 Bridgestone e5 Golf Ball Forum Testing Thread
mastapp
New member
JF
New member
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A little gizmo to push a putter head (no shaft) forward at the same speed every time.
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mightyquinn
New member
I played another 18 on Tuesday with the e5 again and still performing great!! It is funny that a couple of you have mentioned about the extra roll out when putting, now that you have mentioned it, I started thinking about it and have noticed the same thing. The ball just seems to roll more than I expect it too even on miss hits with the putter. I really like this ball for everything it does and for the price but the only thing keeping me from seriously considering it is that it doesn't come in yellow!!!
JF
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You can dye them yellow. Runpudrun did a good How To on how you do it, it's really simple. I'd find the thread but I'm on my iPad. Search 'dying golf balls yellow' and see what comes up.
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mightyquinn
New member
rb81
New member
Just picked up a Dozen - this is a big deal for me as I have been a titleist snob for a long time. I plan to make this my first testing write up on THP. Excited to hit the course on Monday...
Jeanthemachine
Earl of Limerick
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I got out again today for 18 holes. It was cold (for Florida), windy and we had some rain.
I am more convinced that I am getting a few more yards with the e5 than I do with the ProV1. The ball feels good with all clubs from driver through putter and reacts well with well struck short irons and chips and pitches.
I shot 80 with one birdie and one three putt but the ball performed well and is still capable of being played for another round.
I am more convinced that I am getting a few more yards with the e5 than I do with the ProV1. The ball feels good with all clubs from driver through putter and reacts well with well struck short irons and chips and pitches.
I shot 80 with one birdie and one three putt but the ball performed well and is still capable of being played for another round.
ducmike
New member
Thanks for all the great reviews. I need to grab a sleeve of the 2013 e5 to try.
I went to the course yesterday to work on my short game. spent and hour practicing chipping, pitching, and flops with a 3 2001 e5 and 3 Pro V1. I really cant tell the difference. The e5 checks up, and rolls out about the same as the Pro V1 for me. The e5 is longer than the Pro V1 off the tee and irons for me too.
I went to the course yesterday to work on my short game. spent and hour practicing chipping, pitching, and flops with a 3 2001 e5 and 3 Pro V1. I really cant tell the difference. The e5 checks up, and rolls out about the same as the Pro V1 for me. The e5 is longer than the Pro V1 off the tee and irons for me too.
mastapp
New member
I got in 9 using this ball. It again performed pretty well. Spun well with the long shots, still had runout issues on shorter chips pitches. Didn't find anything significantly different than my previous testing over the past few weeks. A great ball at the pricepoint. Lots of very good qualities, but still not as good as the 330-RX for my game
mightyquinn
New member
I played the e5 again on Friday and had the worst round yet with this ball, I know most of it was me so I can't totally blame the ball but if you have any flaws in your swing, it will magnify them. I still think it is a great ball for the money for everything that it does. I ended up losing a few of them over 27 holes so I had to put my Callaway Chromes back into play and it seemed to me that I was getting a little more distance with the Chromes than the e5 and they also seemed to jump off the face of the driver too, but I don't have anything scientific to back it up though. I still have one sleeve left so I think I will be saving it until it gets in the 70-80° range before I bring them back out again so I can see how they perform in warm weather!!
Johnny mojo
Mojovated!
Played for the first time in two weeks. Last week was in FL all week with NO CLUBS and it killed me! Anyway, the e5 continues to perform well for me. As was mentioned above, I also think it magnifies certain swing flaws. For example sometimes I tend to cut across the ball. Well, I did that a couple of times today with Mashies and they really showed the side spin that cutting across will cause. I know, I know, don't do that!
Approaches have really been nice. I am now confident that when I strike it properly it will check. Today, on anything from a five iron down, the ball stayed within 3 feet of the pitch mark. I like that.
Te only negative is that I MAY be losing some distance. Could be the temps, could be my swing and it could be the spin though I don't see any ballooning at all. I have not noticed a marked loss of distance in any previous round, so will reserve judgement for a while.
I have heard some say they like these for the money compared to say the Pro V. I can NOT hit the Pro V1 or the 1X off the tee. Just can't compress them. I CAN get pretty similar results off wedges and short irons though with the e5, so for me and for the money, it's darn near a performance ball that I can afford!
T be continued........
J.
Approaches have really been nice. I am now confident that when I strike it properly it will check. Today, on anything from a five iron down, the ball stayed within 3 feet of the pitch mark. I like that.
Te only negative is that I MAY be losing some distance. Could be the temps, could be my swing and it could be the spin though I don't see any ballooning at all. I have not noticed a marked loss of distance in any previous round, so will reserve judgement for a while.
I have heard some say they like these for the money compared to say the Pro V. I can NOT hit the Pro V1 or the 1X off the tee. Just can't compress them. I CAN get pretty similar results off wedges and short irons though with the e5, so for me and for the money, it's darn near a performance ball that I can afford!
T be continued........
J.
JF
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I have an idea for a durability "test." I'll roll different balls off my roof (10' of slope then about a 15' drop) and look at the marks made from the ball hitting the drive way and post up some pictures. Cart paths are known to scuff golf balls!
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
Really look forward to reading what you find out in your testing. Love reading first time reviews.
rb81
New member
Teeing off around 9:30, hoping its a slow day and I can hit a prov 1x and e5 side by side for 18. If not I will game the e5 the whole round.
Tntitans4life
New member
Used the E5 for the first time Friday and shot a personal best 85.. This ball is the goods. Flys far off the irons and soft around the greens. Had my first ever birdie chip in with it, then on a 146 yard par 3 put it withing 3 feet for another birdie. Bridgestone has a winner here
I just got hitting the sim with my driver and 6iron. I put the e5 against a 20xi.
The e5 carried just as far with the 6, and rolled out a few yards longer on the sim. And was a hair shorter carry wise with the driver.
The differences weren't gigantic maybe only 3-5 yards with the driver. It translated in the overall carry a little more. Buy just barely.
Considering that the e5 is a $24 ball and the 20xi is $45+, I don't know if I see the differences to justify the more expensive ball.
The e5 carried just as far with the 6, and rolled out a few yards longer on the sim. And was a hair shorter carry wise with the driver.
The differences weren't gigantic maybe only 3-5 yards with the driver. It translated in the overall carry a little more. Buy just barely.
Considering that the e5 is a $24 ball and the 20xi is $45+, I don't know if I see the differences to justify the more expensive ball.
Franklin51
On the Verge
Let me start off by saying that today was not a great dayfor testing. Wind was blowing a good 20 mph at times and the course was infairly poor shape. The wind was blowing so hard at times I had a 4 iron onlyfly about 110 in one instance. Greens where hard and the grass in the fairwayswas still dormant. Plus most of the issues I had today were the Indian and notthe arrow. I played both the E5 and the RBZu during my round today.
Approach and Chip Shots:
Could not really tell much about approach spin as the greenswere hard as a parking lot and nothing would check up. I had short chips hitand roll completely across the green. Grass in the fairways and around thegreen was lying down and nothing to really hit off of.
Tee Shots:
Both of these balls preformed well off the tee with the E5being a bit longs off the tee for me but not by much. Both do however magnify anymishit like most urethane balls do. This to me was a tossup.
Putting:
I felt the E5 beat out the RBZu here. Just to me felt betteroff the putter and rolled truer to me.
Overall both are good balls from what I could tell today.Like I said early today was not the best day to test. I hope to get out to oneof the better courses here in the coming weeks and give it a fairer try.
Approach and Chip Shots:
Could not really tell much about approach spin as the greenswere hard as a parking lot and nothing would check up. I had short chips hitand roll completely across the green. Grass in the fairways and around thegreen was lying down and nothing to really hit off of.
Tee Shots:
Both of these balls preformed well off the tee with the E5being a bit longs off the tee for me but not by much. Both do however magnify anymishit like most urethane balls do. This to me was a tossup.
Putting:
I felt the E5 beat out the RBZu here. Just to me felt betteroff the putter and rolled truer to me.
Overall both are good balls from what I could tell today.Like I said early today was not the best day to test. I hope to get out to oneof the better courses here in the coming weeks and give it a fairer try.
rb81
New member
First round today with the E5 and have some mixed emotions. First of all let me say that today was not the best and my swing was not consistent enough to draw any final conclusions. Overall I am impressed by the E5, especially considering its price point. I really liked most of what I experienced and will definitely be giving it some more testing over the coming weeks. Take my initial reactions with a grain of salt as there was some Indian problems today and am unsure of how much the bow had to do with anything.
Off the Tee: The E5 performed well off of the tee overall. Well struck balls had a solid penetrating ball flight that resisted ballooning even into some healthy winds today. Like most Urethane covered balls the E5 would magnify any miscues with your swing off the tee (today was a push fade). It seemed to have more side spin issues than the Prov1x I am used to (definitely more than the NXT tour I sometimes game). Distance was great, hit some bombs. I had some carries that were pushing 260 with some roll outs over 300 (thanks to South Texas fairways in February), pretty solid for a guy with ss hovering between 105-110. Overall I was impressed, as long as I didn't butcher it the results were there.
Full Iron Shots: Ball performed well. Felt solid off the face and held the green. Shorter Irons checked and even backed up some. Longer irons would hop and stop. Felt harsh a few time if I mishit the ball, otherwise felt good of the face. I was able to work the ball left and right and played some nice punch shots (another function of my lackluster play today as I generally don't work the ball unless I have to). Overall hard to discern this from other balls I generally play.
Approach and partial wedge shots: Performed well and seemed to generate some solid spin, felt like a tour ball in most circumstances. Had a few that released more than I expected, but some of the greens were fairly firm today. I felt like I had good control the majority of the time. Good feel off of the face, felt confident going after flags. Strong performer overall but I did feel like a few well struck balls didn't check up as well as I am used to.
Pitching and Chipping: Again solid performance.. but still a few questionable roll outs. I felt like I had good touch on most of my pitches and chips, and didn't feel as if the ball held me back. That said there were a few chips were I think there was a few feet more roll out than I expected. Certainly performed closer to a top tier ball than a distance/value ball.
Putting: I have never been a huge stickler for feel off the putter face but the ball felt soft enough to not raise any eyebrows. Held its line well and sunk some decent putts.
Overall: I am thoroughly impressed by the E5, especially given its price point. I want to say I am thoroughly impressed regardless of its price point but am not yet to that point. My only issues with the ball were some errant tee shots that felt like there was more side spin than usual, and the lack of short game spin sporadically. To be completely fair this was a rough day on the course and my swing wasn't consistent enough to develop a full opinion on the ball. Additionally I have been gaming the prov1x for so long I probably need to overcome a certain level of bias and comfort of what i'm used too. I will certainly be testing the ball more and intend to play it exclusively for at least a few more rounds. You could do a lot worse than the E5....but it would be hard to do better at $25 a dozen.
Thanks to everyone at THP for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone....
Off the Tee: The E5 performed well off of the tee overall. Well struck balls had a solid penetrating ball flight that resisted ballooning even into some healthy winds today. Like most Urethane covered balls the E5 would magnify any miscues with your swing off the tee (today was a push fade). It seemed to have more side spin issues than the Prov1x I am used to (definitely more than the NXT tour I sometimes game). Distance was great, hit some bombs. I had some carries that were pushing 260 with some roll outs over 300 (thanks to South Texas fairways in February), pretty solid for a guy with ss hovering between 105-110. Overall I was impressed, as long as I didn't butcher it the results were there.
Full Iron Shots: Ball performed well. Felt solid off the face and held the green. Shorter Irons checked and even backed up some. Longer irons would hop and stop. Felt harsh a few time if I mishit the ball, otherwise felt good of the face. I was able to work the ball left and right and played some nice punch shots (another function of my lackluster play today as I generally don't work the ball unless I have to). Overall hard to discern this from other balls I generally play.
Approach and partial wedge shots: Performed well and seemed to generate some solid spin, felt like a tour ball in most circumstances. Had a few that released more than I expected, but some of the greens were fairly firm today. I felt like I had good control the majority of the time. Good feel off of the face, felt confident going after flags. Strong performer overall but I did feel like a few well struck balls didn't check up as well as I am used to.
Pitching and Chipping: Again solid performance.. but still a few questionable roll outs. I felt like I had good touch on most of my pitches and chips, and didn't feel as if the ball held me back. That said there were a few chips were I think there was a few feet more roll out than I expected. Certainly performed closer to a top tier ball than a distance/value ball.
Putting: I have never been a huge stickler for feel off the putter face but the ball felt soft enough to not raise any eyebrows. Held its line well and sunk some decent putts.
Overall: I am thoroughly impressed by the E5, especially given its price point. I want to say I am thoroughly impressed regardless of its price point but am not yet to that point. My only issues with the ball were some errant tee shots that felt like there was more side spin than usual, and the lack of short game spin sporadically. To be completely fair this was a rough day on the course and my swing wasn't consistent enough to develop a full opinion on the ball. Additionally I have been gaming the prov1x for so long I probably need to overcome a certain level of bias and comfort of what i'm used too. I will certainly be testing the ball more and intend to play it exclusively for at least a few more rounds. You could do a lot worse than the E5....but it would be hard to do better at $25 a dozen.
Thanks to everyone at THP for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone....
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Damaikis
Fairway Finder
I was able to get out and play 36 holes over the past couple of days in wet, windy, and dry conditions. I learned a lot about this ball over those rounds, especially in the area of wind performance. I also lost a few balls so my supply is dwindling down, though I should have adequate time left to get more thoughts on these balls.
First off I would like to talk about the e5’s performance in the wind. The winds were gusting this weekend and though I have been pleased with Bridgestone balls’ performance in the wind in the past, these ones didn’t impress me too much. Off the driver, this ball gives a pretty piercing flight which is good for the wind. The e5 does do a good job of holding its line off the tee even with huge gusts of wind blowing around. This is in large part due to the dual dimples as we have seen out of past Bridgestone offerings. When hitting into the wind, the piercing flight kept it down a bit and made distance loss minimal which is another awesome trait of this ball. If anything, the wind performance off the tee of this ball will keep a few in the bag for windy days.
Off the irons, on the other hand, these balls were like rag dolls up there in the wind. When I was hitting into the wind, I was seeing massive distance loss. The ball would start going up and just keep on going up and up. I was losing over 30 or 40 yards at times when hitting into the wind! The e5 didn’t fare much better in cross winds either off the irons. My shots were getting tossed off-line left and right by a lot. On one particularly windy par 3 I had to aim my tee shot roughly 25-30 yards left of the green and watch the wind take the ball all the way back to a miss right. I think the thing that makes these balls struggle in the wind for me off the irons is the massive amount of spin I generate with these. In my past write-ups I have talked about all the spin I was seeing off the irons with these and up until this weekend that was a good thing. In the wind, however, it seems to be a negative as it makes them very susceptible to movement.
Another thing I took notice of in my past couple of rounds with this ball is the ball flight I am seeing. I have said before that I see a piercing flight off the tee that is slightly lower than what I saw out of the old e5. Lately, I have noticed that on iron shots this ball is getting way up there (another thing that could contribute to trouble in the wind). I hit high, arcing shots off the irons with the 2013 e5 and that also contributes to the stopping power on the greens that I am seeing from iron shots. I love seeing a higher ball flight (except in the wind) as that is what I have been searching for from my irons for a while. Overall, I’m quite happy with the performance of this ball off the irons as it really gives me a lot of what I am looking for.
These past few days have been good for testing out the new e5 and I learned a lot about it the past few rounds. I hope to get out for another round or 2 this weekend and I’ll have more feedback up after that. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them and I’ll get back to you as thoroughly as possible.
First off I would like to talk about the e5’s performance in the wind. The winds were gusting this weekend and though I have been pleased with Bridgestone balls’ performance in the wind in the past, these ones didn’t impress me too much. Off the driver, this ball gives a pretty piercing flight which is good for the wind. The e5 does do a good job of holding its line off the tee even with huge gusts of wind blowing around. This is in large part due to the dual dimples as we have seen out of past Bridgestone offerings. When hitting into the wind, the piercing flight kept it down a bit and made distance loss minimal which is another awesome trait of this ball. If anything, the wind performance off the tee of this ball will keep a few in the bag for windy days.
Off the irons, on the other hand, these balls were like rag dolls up there in the wind. When I was hitting into the wind, I was seeing massive distance loss. The ball would start going up and just keep on going up and up. I was losing over 30 or 40 yards at times when hitting into the wind! The e5 didn’t fare much better in cross winds either off the irons. My shots were getting tossed off-line left and right by a lot. On one particularly windy par 3 I had to aim my tee shot roughly 25-30 yards left of the green and watch the wind take the ball all the way back to a miss right. I think the thing that makes these balls struggle in the wind for me off the irons is the massive amount of spin I generate with these. In my past write-ups I have talked about all the spin I was seeing off the irons with these and up until this weekend that was a good thing. In the wind, however, it seems to be a negative as it makes them very susceptible to movement.
Another thing I took notice of in my past couple of rounds with this ball is the ball flight I am seeing. I have said before that I see a piercing flight off the tee that is slightly lower than what I saw out of the old e5. Lately, I have noticed that on iron shots this ball is getting way up there (another thing that could contribute to trouble in the wind). I hit high, arcing shots off the irons with the 2013 e5 and that also contributes to the stopping power on the greens that I am seeing from iron shots. I love seeing a higher ball flight (except in the wind) as that is what I have been searching for from my irons for a while. Overall, I’m quite happy with the performance of this ball off the irons as it really gives me a lot of what I am looking for.
These past few days have been good for testing out the new e5 and I learned a lot about it the past few rounds. I hope to get out for another round or 2 this weekend and I’ll have more feedback up after that. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them and I’ll get back to you as thoroughly as possible.
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
Congrats on the PB Tntitans4life, nice going.
I agree with blugold on the price point making me think hard about gaming the new e5 full time, the price point with the great performance has me intrigued.
Franklin51, the feel off of the putter face is vitally important to me too buddy.
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts rb81, being as you have a dozen of the e5s' I imagine you will be loving them as you use them more and more. Very good review Charlie, I think your swing speed may be just a touch too fast to get full benefit from the e5, but it does still seem to be doing a pretty good job for you.
I need to get some more thoughts in here myself as I have really been enjoying the e5.
I agree with blugold on the price point making me think hard about gaming the new e5 full time, the price point with the great performance has me intrigued.
Franklin51, the feel off of the putter face is vitally important to me too buddy.
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts rb81, being as you have a dozen of the e5s' I imagine you will be loving them as you use them more and more. Very good review Charlie, I think your swing speed may be just a touch too fast to get full benefit from the e5, but it does still seem to be doing a pretty good job for you.
I need to get some more thoughts in here myself as I have really been enjoying the e5.
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
Here is a link to my last review which has links to my previous full reviews http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...sting-Thread&p=1937739&viewfull=1#post1937739
I still am enjoying playing the e5 and have 8 of my original dozen left, I have given a couple to fellow THPers and lost a couple so not bad so far. I know several of us have said it over and over but I really wish I could get the e5 in an optic yellow offering. I know that I would probably game it 90% of the time if they did.
Driver – I am still seeing very good distance, I am hitting for the same general yardages as I play from with my usual ball, the B330-RX. I also am seeing just as much “workability” as I see with the RX. Very impressive for a ball costing only 60% as much.
Woods/hybrids – Nice solid feel and the ball will get up nicely when it is well struck. The e5 offers very good distance, again very comparable to the RX. I am not playing different clubs with either ball, my game is pretty erratic but I have hit some of the best woods and hybrid shots that I have hit in several years with the e5, it may be that my swing just seems to click with the woods and hybrids when playing the e5.
Irons – I am still getting used to my new Adams Black CB3’s but the e5 seems to mesh very nicely with these irons. When I strike the ball cleanly the flight is very nice, with a good high trajectory and excellent distance for me. The e5 makes a nice solid sound at impact which I find confidence inspiring. They seem to be a louder sounding ball than the RX to me.
Wedges – I am getting very predictable reactions with all wedges and have actually chipped in a few shots from green side with the e5. I feel that the spin is slightly less than the RX but for a player such as myself who only occasionally sees a ball back up the spin is very playable.
Putter – the ball still sounds “hard” off of the putter face but the roll is nothing that I find hard to control, again if you are used to the roll of a RX there should be no adjustment period at all.
Overall I do enjoy the e5 and really plan to keep some in stock for practice rounds and very casual rounds with friends. I hate to keep banging the gong but I would probably game these full time if they came in optic yellow. I whole heartedly recommend these to golfers wishing to play a urethane ball but wishing to keep a little cash in their pockets, Bridgestone has a real winner on their hands with this incarnation of the e5.
I still am enjoying playing the e5 and have 8 of my original dozen left, I have given a couple to fellow THPers and lost a couple so not bad so far. I know several of us have said it over and over but I really wish I could get the e5 in an optic yellow offering. I know that I would probably game it 90% of the time if they did.
Driver – I am still seeing very good distance, I am hitting for the same general yardages as I play from with my usual ball, the B330-RX. I also am seeing just as much “workability” as I see with the RX. Very impressive for a ball costing only 60% as much.
Woods/hybrids – Nice solid feel and the ball will get up nicely when it is well struck. The e5 offers very good distance, again very comparable to the RX. I am not playing different clubs with either ball, my game is pretty erratic but I have hit some of the best woods and hybrid shots that I have hit in several years with the e5, it may be that my swing just seems to click with the woods and hybrids when playing the e5.
Irons – I am still getting used to my new Adams Black CB3’s but the e5 seems to mesh very nicely with these irons. When I strike the ball cleanly the flight is very nice, with a good high trajectory and excellent distance for me. The e5 makes a nice solid sound at impact which I find confidence inspiring. They seem to be a louder sounding ball than the RX to me.
Wedges – I am getting very predictable reactions with all wedges and have actually chipped in a few shots from green side with the e5. I feel that the spin is slightly less than the RX but for a player such as myself who only occasionally sees a ball back up the spin is very playable.
Putter – the ball still sounds “hard” off of the putter face but the roll is nothing that I find hard to control, again if you are used to the roll of a RX there should be no adjustment period at all.
Overall I do enjoy the e5 and really plan to keep some in stock for practice rounds and very casual rounds with friends. I hate to keep banging the gong but I would probably game these full time if they came in optic yellow. I whole heartedly recommend these to golfers wishing to play a urethane ball but wishing to keep a little cash in their pockets, Bridgestone has a real winner on their hands with this incarnation of the e5.
KyleBob
Member
Unfortunately crappy weather (cold, rainy, windy) and crazy work travel has prevented me from getting out much in the past 2 weeks. I was only able to play 9 holes late on Sunday and it was just too cold & windy to do any serious ball testing. Hopefully I'll be able to provide some good feedback next week.
TheCrest4
#UrbanLumberJack
Some great reviews in here guys keep them coming!
I posted in the e7 thread and thought I would do the same here, do you believe that this Bridgestone E series line scuffs up more easily than other companies balls that you have played? Obviously with normal play.
I posted in the e7 thread and thought I would do the same here, do you believe that this Bridgestone E series line scuffs up more easily than other companies balls that you have played? Obviously with normal play.