TripleBogieTim
Long lost sheep
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2010
- Messages
- 22,240
- Reaction score
- 47
- Location
- Houston, Texas, United States
- Handicap
- my swing
Bridgestone Tour B330 Ball Testing
Test Dates: 1/18 & 1/19/2014
Conditions: Temperatures in the Mid 60's to Low 70's winds 10-15 MPH, Course slightly damp in some areas
Type of Testing: 2 - 18 Hole rounds at Rio Colorado Golf Course
Initial Thoughts: First off, I won't clutter the thread with more photos of the packaging and the balls since several have already posted those. Once I got the new 2014 Tour B330 in hand, I compared it to a brand new 2012 B330-RXS and the first thing I noticed was it did feel slightly softer when I gave it the "finger nail" test by pressing my finger nail into the cover. Bridgestone has stated that this model has a 6% softer cover for added greenside control. I will also say that this is my 3rd Bridgestone ball testing and I am looking forward to putting the new Hydro Core Model through it's paces.
Testing Plan: My normal gamer is either the B330-RX or The B330-RXS, so I was a little surprised to receive the Tour B330 for testing as my swing speed is just below the 105 mph rating, so to test these balls I put them in play both days side by side with the 2012 model B330-RXS to judge distance, direction, spin and reaction off the putter.
On most holes I was able to hit both balls off the tee and on several holes I was able to play both balls all the way through to the cup.
Driver: I was really unsure what would happen when I put these into play because as I have stated before, I have been fit into the RX line by Bridgestone on several occasions, although not at a "live" ball fitting:
First tee I put the B330 on the tee and made a nice smooth swing...the hole was playing dead into 10+mph wind and what I saw was a mid high ball that just bore through the wind with about a 5 yard draw...the perfect ball flight for me!
I put the RXS on the tee and tried to repeat that swing again....I got a mid high ball that started almost on the same line but then began to balloon slightly...about a 10 yard draw on this one....still a good shot, but it measure 12 yards shorter than the test ball. Over the 2 rounds the test ball seemed to hold it's line better than the RXS, distance wise they were very close...I had shots where I outdrove the test ball with the RXS and vice versa, but overall I would say the test ball seemed slightly longer on average. The thing that really surprised me was that the test ball seemed to feel softer of the face than the lesser compression RXS but that may be subjective.
Overall off the driver, I would prefer the ball flight I was seeing from the test ball....it was slightly lower trajectory and a much tighter dispersion.
Hybrids: I don't play many fairway wood shots on this course, but I do play alot of hybrids. The test ball had a great sound coming off the face of the club and seemed to be "jumping" off the face, The company claims the new Hydro Core provides a softer center for better control and and firmer outer core for faster ball speed, I will say that most shots seemed to be very similar with both balls, but again I liked the tighter flight I saw with the test ball. On hybrid shots into the green the ball seemed to land fairly softly.
Irons: I hit some of the best iron shots that I have seen in months over these 2 rounds, in fact I was over 50% GIR both days which is pretty high for me and I did hit more GIR with the test ball than I did with the RXS. Again off the face the test ball felt great and had a nice sound to it. Stopping power once it hit the green was a little tougher to gage as the course was slightly wet and all shots into the greens were leaving fairly large ball marks and not releasing much at all, so that will be something I have to address in my next review.
Wedges: Nice crisp sound coming off full swings with wedges and the ball danced really well when hitting the greens, but again the greens were wet and I can stop a Top Flite pretty quick on wet greens. Less than full swing shots with the wedges where a thing of beauty....nice controlled ball flight and one hop and stop all day long, again next time out I am hoping for drier conditions to judge greenside spin more accurately.
Putting: The feel of the test ball coming off the face of my Bettinardi was very nice and the ball held it's line perfectly, I will say however that I had to adjust my speed slightly as it seemed that I was getting about 6-18 inches more rollout off the putter on long putts with the test ball, not sure if that is the firmer outer core or just my lousy putting...something I will keep an eye on over the next few round.
Overall: I was very happy with the results of the 2 rounds, the test ball was great off the tee and performed fantastic all the way around. I managed to play 36 holes with the same ball which I am pretty sure is a record for me, I made 5 pars in a row at one point and 4 birdies over the 2 rounds. Both rounds were under 85 which makes me happy. I hope to get at least 2 more rounds in over the weekend and hopefully I can talk more about greenside spin at that point. At this point I would say that Bridgestone has improved upon an already amazing product and I can't wait for them to hit the shelves so I can grab a box of the RX model to put in play as well.
As always please feel free to ask any questions of make any comments.
Thanks to THP and Bridgestone for this incredible opportunity.
Test Dates: 1/18 & 1/19/2014
Conditions: Temperatures in the Mid 60's to Low 70's winds 10-15 MPH, Course slightly damp in some areas
Type of Testing: 2 - 18 Hole rounds at Rio Colorado Golf Course
Initial Thoughts: First off, I won't clutter the thread with more photos of the packaging and the balls since several have already posted those. Once I got the new 2014 Tour B330 in hand, I compared it to a brand new 2012 B330-RXS and the first thing I noticed was it did feel slightly softer when I gave it the "finger nail" test by pressing my finger nail into the cover. Bridgestone has stated that this model has a 6% softer cover for added greenside control. I will also say that this is my 3rd Bridgestone ball testing and I am looking forward to putting the new Hydro Core Model through it's paces.
Testing Plan: My normal gamer is either the B330-RX or The B330-RXS, so I was a little surprised to receive the Tour B330 for testing as my swing speed is just below the 105 mph rating, so to test these balls I put them in play both days side by side with the 2012 model B330-RXS to judge distance, direction, spin and reaction off the putter.
On most holes I was able to hit both balls off the tee and on several holes I was able to play both balls all the way through to the cup.
Driver: I was really unsure what would happen when I put these into play because as I have stated before, I have been fit into the RX line by Bridgestone on several occasions, although not at a "live" ball fitting:
First tee I put the B330 on the tee and made a nice smooth swing...the hole was playing dead into 10+mph wind and what I saw was a mid high ball that just bore through the wind with about a 5 yard draw...the perfect ball flight for me!
I put the RXS on the tee and tried to repeat that swing again....I got a mid high ball that started almost on the same line but then began to balloon slightly...about a 10 yard draw on this one....still a good shot, but it measure 12 yards shorter than the test ball. Over the 2 rounds the test ball seemed to hold it's line better than the RXS, distance wise they were very close...I had shots where I outdrove the test ball with the RXS and vice versa, but overall I would say the test ball seemed slightly longer on average. The thing that really surprised me was that the test ball seemed to feel softer of the face than the lesser compression RXS but that may be subjective.
Overall off the driver, I would prefer the ball flight I was seeing from the test ball....it was slightly lower trajectory and a much tighter dispersion.
Hybrids: I don't play many fairway wood shots on this course, but I do play alot of hybrids. The test ball had a great sound coming off the face of the club and seemed to be "jumping" off the face, The company claims the new Hydro Core provides a softer center for better control and and firmer outer core for faster ball speed, I will say that most shots seemed to be very similar with both balls, but again I liked the tighter flight I saw with the test ball. On hybrid shots into the green the ball seemed to land fairly softly.
Irons: I hit some of the best iron shots that I have seen in months over these 2 rounds, in fact I was over 50% GIR both days which is pretty high for me and I did hit more GIR with the test ball than I did with the RXS. Again off the face the test ball felt great and had a nice sound to it. Stopping power once it hit the green was a little tougher to gage as the course was slightly wet and all shots into the greens were leaving fairly large ball marks and not releasing much at all, so that will be something I have to address in my next review.
Wedges: Nice crisp sound coming off full swings with wedges and the ball danced really well when hitting the greens, but again the greens were wet and I can stop a Top Flite pretty quick on wet greens. Less than full swing shots with the wedges where a thing of beauty....nice controlled ball flight and one hop and stop all day long, again next time out I am hoping for drier conditions to judge greenside spin more accurately.
Putting: The feel of the test ball coming off the face of my Bettinardi was very nice and the ball held it's line perfectly, I will say however that I had to adjust my speed slightly as it seemed that I was getting about 6-18 inches more rollout off the putter on long putts with the test ball, not sure if that is the firmer outer core or just my lousy putting...something I will keep an eye on over the next few round.
Overall: I was very happy with the results of the 2 rounds, the test ball was great off the tee and performed fantastic all the way around. I managed to play 36 holes with the same ball which I am pretty sure is a record for me, I made 5 pars in a row at one point and 4 birdies over the 2 rounds. Both rounds were under 85 which makes me happy. I hope to get at least 2 more rounds in over the weekend and hopefully I can talk more about greenside spin at that point. At this point I would say that Bridgestone has improved upon an already amazing product and I can't wait for them to hit the shelves so I can grab a box of the RX model to put in play as well.
As always please feel free to ask any questions of make any comments.
Thanks to THP and Bridgestone for this incredible opportunity.
