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2014 Bridgestone B330 Golf Balls Review Thread

SuperStroke
Sox Fan said:
Bring your dead horse beating self down to South GA to test your balls! We had high 50s / low 60s dry weather today.
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Heck it got up in the 50's here (Bear Creek Golf Course) today but the greens were all frozen. Even the ponds around the course had ice covering them. Tomorrow I'm heading to Lane Creek with DawgDaddy and a couple more guys. The new Bridgestone balls will be put into play:thumb: Don't rub ya nice climate in because I hear you guys are getting the cold stuff this Tuesday with possible snow down in south Georgia! :D :deadhorse:
 
Today I went out back and worked on green-side chips because I was curious to see how these would perform for shots where touch was key. The setup I have is 5 different holes where I can do fringe chips to pins that go uphill, downhill, left to right and right to left. I also have a chipping patch that allows chipping from 10-25 feet depending on the hole.

I started out with simple low shots that run to the hole and didn't find anything too different from other balls but the B330-RXS balls do seem softer which I like. When I got to the shots where I had to go uphill I was surprised to see that if I put the ball in the air I could actually get it to spin back at me even though it landed about 8 feet away which was cool. I was able to be very aggressive with the chips and actually saw quite a few go in once I figured out the check ups.

When I went back off the green and was hitting the longer chips that is where I noticed the spin difference between the B330-RXS and the Wilson Duo I had been playing. Normally if I try to go to the farthest hole with the Duos I can't even hold the green because there is only about 2 feet after the hole. With the Bridgestones I had balls stopping right after the first hop.

These balls have somehow found a way to be straight off the tee but still spin when I want them to when going after pins. Confidence is a big part of golf and so far I have been confident that these balls will perform every shot.
 
Nice write up c0ncept.
 
Ole Gray said:
Heck it got up in the 50's here (Bear Creek Golf Course) today but the greens were all frozen. Even the ponds around the course had ice covering them. Tomorrow I'm heading to Lane Creek with DawgDaddy and a couple more guys. The new Bridgestone balls will be put into play:thumb: Don't rub ya nice climate in because I hear you guys are getting the cold stuff this Tuesday with p:giggle:ossible snow down in south Georgia! :D :deadhorse:
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It will still be warmer than up there though! :smile-big: Unfortunately I will be in Newnan / Carrollton / Atlanta Tues - Thurs so I will be in your climate. Still not as bad as the 14 degree lows and 28 degree highs I endured in Winston-Salem, NC earlier this week. And I will be :golf2:in mid 70s temps next weekend in South GA! :clapp::twist:
 
c0ncept said:
Today I went out back and worked on green-side chips because I was curious to see how these would perform for shots where touch was key. The setup I have is 5 different holes where I can do fringe chips to pins that go uphill, downhill, left to right and right to left. I also have a chipping patch that allows chipping from 10-25 feet depending on the hole.

I started out with simple low shots that run to the hole and didn't find anything too different from other balls but the B330-RXS balls do seem softer which I like. When I got to the shots where I had to go uphill I was surprised to see that if I put the ball in the air I could actually get it to spin back at me even though it landed about 8 feet away which was cool. I was able to be very aggressive with the chips and actually saw quite a few go in once I figured out the check ups.

When I went back off the green and was hitting the longer chips that is where I noticed the spin difference between the B330-RXS and the Wilson Duo I had been playing. Normally if I try to go to the farthest hole with the Duos I can't even hold the green because there is only about 2 feet after the hole. With the Bridgestones I had balls stopping right after the first hop.

These balls have somehow found a way to be straight off the tee but still spin when I want them to when going after pins. Confidence is a big part of golf and so far I have been confident that these balls will perform every shot.
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I fell in love with the drop-n-stop of the Wilson Duo last fall. Hearing your feedback on the RXS is very promising.
 
Ole Gray said:
Same here and what's going on with our Georgia weather :angry:. I went out today to test a sleeve of these and the greens were frozen hard as a rock. I'm going back out tomorrow and hopefully I can put my RX test balls in play for the first time!
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Sox Fan said:
Bring your dead horse beating self down to South GA to test your balls! We had high 50s / low 60s dry weather today.
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I won't even talk about the Mid-70's I tested/played in yesterday, or the mid 60's from this morning. Or maybe I will...
 
d_in_la said:
I won't even talk about the Mid-70's I tested/played in yesterday, or the mid 60's from this morning. Or maybe I will...
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I would certainly be bragging about it!
 
I recieved a late shipment of the new 2014 Bridgestone B330-RX, so first things first, major props to Bridgestone and THP (Morgan you rock), for making this happen. I'm always feel humbled by these opportunities.

The other testers have noted a bunch of things about these balls but I want to take quick moment to touch on the packaging. Not only does it keep the brand-lineage alive, the design is clean and screams "Bridgestone." Well done.

Now on to the testing:

Testing Date: 1.25.2014
Weather: Stunningly pretty, mid 70's afternoon
Course: Penmar 9-hole, Venice, CA

Penmar is a flat, little (less than 2600 yards) course with a nice ocean breeze and the occasional plane lifting off or landing at Santa Monica airport. I've seen some seriously nice jets and even old fighter planes from the fairways of Penmar. That's about the most interesting thing about the course. It is a nice way to get a golf fix without too much challenge. Big ole fairways and short par 4s means you can hit a fair amount of driver, which I did. Not as easy to hit two balls during a round, but for a few holes I tried. Just for you. ;)

Distance:
Driver:At first, I was unimpressed. I was hitting the driver in as I normally do, that is to say some were crushed (for me) others ... not so much. the two holes I went head-to-head and had good swings, I ended up with in 5 yards. So maybe not game changing but certain enought to add a little spice to the trash talk of the round.
Hybrid: On a few holes where I tee off with my 3 or 4 hybrid, I noticed no real difference in 2014 distance from previous experience. I was hitting follow up shots from the same spaces as before.

Feel: No real difference noted, but again, this was the first round.

At this point, I'm going to say that my irons and short games were out to pasture. So much so ... well, let me just say I really enjoyed the weather but not seeing the greens from so many different angles!!

In fact my irons and short game were so bad I played again this morning:


Testing Date: 1.26.2014
weather: Overcast, high 50's to mid 60's
Course: Rancho Park 3-Par 9-hole, Los Angeles, CA

This little Par 3 course is like a little happy place. When my buddies and I were taking up the game, we played these 9 holes over and over and over. On this course I hit everything from LW to 8i, 7i if my back is acting up. The greens can be generous, easy, tiny, diabolical or some mix of all of those. And if you get there early enough, it is a great chance to walk by your self and play multiple balls.

Unfortunately, my swing is a mixed bag and I only had a 5 out of 9 holes where I made similar swings on the 2014 B330-RX and the 2013 version.

Distance:
While the 2014 was longer on a few holes, I wouldn't say with my short irons, 2014's and '2013's were much different in distance.

Stopping Power:
Full Swing: For the most part, again, pretty similar. Not like I'm swinging fast enough to zip the ball back anyways. I will say on a nicely struck ball, the 2014's seemed to "dance" a little more - meaning after the initial hit, the resulting bounces were all around the original, it didn't bounce foreward or side-to-side as much as the 2013 version did. I think I like that.

Partial Swings: I've never been one to check a chip, so I was suprised I was able to get one of the 2014s to do so. Of course, a few holes later, I got a 2013 to behave similarly, if not quite as sharp. High-lofted partial swings were about the same, but again, I think that has more to do with my technique. (The course was also fairly damn as I went out first thing.) I'll need more opportunities to provide something more insightful.

Sand: N/A

Feel:
Mmmm. On the money, the 2014 does feel slightly better - hard to describe, let's just say a slight bit purer. As with any ball, mishits with my old 2006 Big Berthas just felt "bleh," I couldn't tell any differences. I look forward to continued rounds, especially if I pick up an early set of birthday gifts to myself.
 
Quick addition to my review: I don't think I noticed too much of a difference in trajectory except on my hybrids which were slightly lower, but again, I'm willing to blame the archer not the bow or the arrow.
 
Played another 18 today with the RX and I am liking this ball. Still long off every club. I measured several drives and I was very happy with the distance. I tried to monitor ball flight more today, and I still think the RX has a noticeably higher ball flight off the driver. It’s not as noticeable off the irons, but I am seeing a little more height off the driver than a pro v1x or maxfli 4x.
I played a course with firmer greens today, and well stuck shots did just what I was hoping they would. It was fairly windy today, and shots into the wind stopped within a foot or so of their pitch mark, with the wedges and short irons still backing up some. Shots with a helping wind mostly ended up in front of the pitch mark, but not one full shot rolled out more than 2 feet. Very playable.
Durability remains awesome. I now have 36 holes on one ball, and it will be on the first tee next time I play. Before my round, I was putting on the putting green with the ball that had 18 on it, and a new one, and when I went to the first tee, I was having a hard time determining what ball was the one that had 18 holes on it as neither ball had a scuff on it.
 
Bullitt5339 said:
With short chips using the Smart Sole, I did notice a difference. Feel was similar, but again it was cold. Where the big difference came was in the amount of spin I was seeing on short chips. Last year's ball would hit, check and then roll out a little where the 2014 model just one hopped and stopped nearly every time. I did this over and over again because I actually couldn't believe that they could improve an already great ball that much.

I handed one to an old friend of mine who doesn't get much spin on his shortgame shots and had him hit some and after a few shots, he was firing them right at the pin with very minimal runout, something that he doesn't do.

I foresee a lot of lower spin players falling in love with these.
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Glad to hear the new RX has a little more green side spin. I really liked the distance from the 2012 RX, but wanted more stopping power around the green and made the RXS my ball of choice. Now I've got to try both 2014 RX & RXS.

Thanks for the write up.
 
Course / Range: Country Club of Miami – East Course
Stats: Par 70 – 6,409 yards (70.8 / 127)
Date: January 26, 2014
Weather: 79* Sunny
Ball Testing: 2014 Bridgestone B330S

I played 9 holes today with B330S and here's a brief writeup of my findings:

Woods

My best drives today were a mid ball flight with a good amount of roll out. I actually measure one drive at 263 yards which is about 15 yards greater than my average drive. Bridgestone states they have re-engineered the dual mantle design to reduce spin for longer distance, and that was evident today. The B330S feels hot off the face and even though I missed a few fairways the dispersion was pretty good on mishits. Side spin was minimal and I saw a straight to slight draw ball flight with my 3 wood and hybrid off the tee.

Irons

Soft feel at impact was my initial thought on my first full swing. Then I flew the green and thought wow this ball jumps off the clubface. Throughout the 9 holes, I played ½ club longer and it was a consistent high draw which is my typical ball flight. There was one hole where I hit an 8 iron from about 150yds that just felt perfect and the ball mark was within two feet above the ball. I rarely spin it on the green so this is promising. The 330 dual dimple technology is a big advantage knowing your ball flight will follow the intended target line when struck well.

Short Game

This is where the B330S shines and makes us amateurs look good. I continued to see great greenside spin / check & I had no issues hitting chip shots within 10 feet. Specifically, on the last hole I missed the green pin high and my 58* wedge left me within gimme range for par. I love that “clicky” sound on well struck chip shots, too. I struggled with the flat stick today as the greens were firm and fast, and I find the B330S to be very reactive off the putter face. In regards to durability, I played the same ball for the last 6 holes, and it looked good as new with a few grass stains. I still have not seen a scuff mark on this golf ball and that speaks volumes about the enhanced, high quality Urethane material.

I hope to get out for 18 holes next time, and provide a comparison with the Pro V1. Thanks again to Bridgestone and THP for this testing opportunity!!
 
WardF said:
buoyancy = F
They don't float :)
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I hear ya. I did have one casualty today that sunk way too deep and couldn't retrieve it. So sad.
 
I played my first 18 with the 330RX today and came away with some pretty good observations. I didn't play particularly well, which kept me from learning everything I wanted to, but there's still plenty of time (and thankfully, plenty of balls) left for that. As a refresher, my main objective with this test is to see if a "tour" ball will work for my game. I normally play the E6 or Q-Star, because I'm afraid of the additional spin off the tee with most tour balls.

Distance: On the good shots that I hit today, I felt that the distance I got was very good. Basically, I hit all of my clubs the normal distances that I'm used to. I wasn't expecting to see any loss of distance, but wasn't sure if I'd see an increase or not. All in all, pretty comparable, which made me happy.

Driver spin: I'm really happy to report that I did not see any additional side spin over what I normally do. I hit some very nice drives. I also hit a few slices, but none of those were any worse than what I normally see on an errant drive. After a few holes, I was every bit as confident in the B330RX as I am in any other ball I would put into play. Considering the fact that this was my biggest concern going into the test, I feel it's a huge win!

Feel at impact: The feel is equal to or possibly the absolute best I've ever experienced. After a few good shots, I knew that the RX was the right choice for me. I like to feel like I can compress the ball and I definitely got that. The feel with driver was great and, even though I wasn't hitting my irons particularly well, I really liked the way the ball felt with every club in my bag. Even on half wedges and punches, the feel/feedback at impact was excellent.

Trajectory: I played one of my normal courses today, so I'm really familiar with pretty much every shot. As usual, I found myself blocked by trees on several occasions. While that's not great for the score card, it gave me the opportunity to hit a variety of shots. I've got to play low punches with either hybrids or mid-irons when that happens and this ball performed flawlessly. Honestly, I hit some of the best trouble shots I have in quite some time. I was able to keep the ball very low, just by moving it back in my stance. When it got through, I got very nice roll on the fairway. Now that I'm thinking back on the round, this was probably one of the best discoveries of the day. On full shots, I thought the trajectory was really good. Never had it balloon on me, but was able to hit the ball nice and high when I needed to.

Green spin: I'll just say right now, that I don't hit chips and pitches that really check a ton no matter what ball I'm playing. That didn't really change today, but I've been playing more bump-and-run chips lately anyway. I found my way into several bunkers today, though, and the ball performed flawlessly for me. I was pretty much money out of the sand and had some nice up-and-downs. Even a couple of sandy pars! Bunker shots are the pretty much the only greenside shots that I'll get to check up and the ball worked nicely in this area. Now, with short irons and wedges into the greens, I saw great stopping ability. With an E6 or Q-Star, I can get anything from an 8-iron up to stop on the green in most conditions. This ball, I was flat out backing up. One of the best shots I hit today was on a short par 3. It's normally 140 yards, but they had the white tees up where the reds usually are for some reason, and the pin was in front. the result was about 105 yards to the hole. I hit my 52 and gave it a little too much, but the line was good and it's one of the only times I've seen one of my shots hit the green and JUMP backward. That was really cool to see. It came back about 4 feet toward the hole. Luckily, I converted and knocked the downhill 15-footer in for birdie. I was stoked!

Putting: While I'll admit that I'm not super picky about the way a ball feels off the putter, the 330RX is really nice. It rolls perfectly true and has a very nice feel off of my Versa #7. I putted pretty well today and that's all it takes to sell me on any ball. It was predictable and I just got the "feel" for it right away. This is an area that's really subjective, but it just felt natural for me on the green and I was judging everything pretty well for the most part.

(Edit) Durability: forgot to mention this, but durability is on par with the best I've ever seen. Played almost the entire round with one of these. I hit multiple trees and I'm serious, there was not even the slightest scuffing of the cover. Nothing. Throw it in the ball washer and it came out looking brand new no matter what I hurled it at. When you're paying top dollar for a tour level ball, it's really nice to know they're not going to cut every time you put a good wedge shot on them.

Hopefully I can get my game into a little better shape in the next few weeks. I'd really like to see the way this ball reacts with me hitting better irons. But I can tell you that so far, I'm really, really happy with what I've seen. My prior concerns about playing a tour ball have been eliminated and I have zero trepidation putting the B330RX into play. That's pretty cool as far as I'm concerned.
 
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After 3 round with the 2014 B330-RXS, I keep being more and more impressed every time i use this ball.


Distance:


I'm seeing a noticeable gain off the tee with these B330 RXS balls. The thing that is making me love these balls more and more every time i play them is how straight they are off the tee. Even with the 10-15 MPH winds we had today, there wasn't much affect to my ball flight.


Spin:

Off the tee, the spin seems to be non existent, they fly straight and long. Greenside these things are just beast IMO. I'm usually one that plays the Wilson Duo, or E6, Q Star or something of the sort, which I have to allow for a decent bit of rollout with those. With the B330-RXS, i've been able to be very aggressive towards the pin because these balls just one hop and stop for me. They feel great as well, soft and buttery.


Durability:

I've tried my best to hurt the skin on these balls, hitting them off cart paths, railroad ties, and very aggressive wedge shots and they don't seem to be phased. The couple of balls i have used look pretty much like when i pulled them out of the sleeve.


Closing thoughts:

I usually play some of the cheaper balls, but occasionally play the Pro V1x and B330 Series but these new ones seem to just be one step better than previous generations. Maybe its just me playing well while I use them, but lets see if it last. I've only lost 1 so far in 3 rounds so thats good news.
 
This thread has just taken on new meaning. I will enjoy catching up on the latest reviews while on the plane tomorrow.
 
I played my first 18 with the 330RX today. Wow what a crazy day. I also just threw in a new shaft for my driver so I'm sure that had some effect on my
Jeckyl and Hyde type day.

First off, I hit some of the longest BOMBS! of my life today with this ball. I'm sure some of it was roll out due to the hard ground lately but believe me when I say I don't hit
300 yard drives. 290 maybe, sometimes but not often. Today I hit not one but 3 drives over 300. They were 309, 310 and 318! That is unheard of for me.
I know what some of you are thinking. These were not internet bombs, hehe. I measured them with my Neo X GPS watch.
I do live at 4K feet elevation so that helps a little. But still, mad distance for me.

2 of these bombs were on short par 4's measuring about 315 to the middle of the green.

The 310 yarder was right on the front edge of the green. And the 315 yard one was pin high on the right side, just a short chip away.
I somehow managed to par both of them... So not just bombs, but accurate as well.

But that is some serious distance for me folks. If that's how my whole day went then I would never buy another ball again. And this would be my gamer.
But it was just on and off today with this ball. I also had some of the worst hooks I have ever had today. Losing 2 of them, which is unusual for me.
My home course isn't that hard and you can usually recover your bad shots. Again, I had a new shaft in my amp cell today so I'm just getting used to it.
But I normally fade my driver if anything. Very weird day.

But it was back and forth between bomb, bad drive, bomb, bad drive etc...
So more testing to come. I wanted to test this ball against another today and play 2 balls each hole but it was crowded and I got paired
up with a couple.

I do enjoy the feel of this ball off the clubface, including the putter. I hit a really nice shot with my 56 ATV today. Was about 115-120, middle of the green landed a few feet left of the pin and only ended up about 8 feet away.

I look forward to more testing. IF I can dial in my new driver and tone down the mishits while still getting this kind of distance it would be a game changer.
 
ir13 said:
After 3 round with the 2014 B330-RXS, I keep being more and more impressed every time i use this ball.


Distance:


I'm seeing a noticeable gain off the tee with these B330 RXS balls. The thing that is making me love these balls more and more every time i play them is how straight they are off the tee. Even with the 10-15 MPH winds we had today, there wasn't much affect to my ball flight.


Spin:

Off the tee, the spin seems to be non existent, they fly straight and long. Greenside these things are just beast IMO. I'm usually one that plays the Wilson Duo, or E6, Q Star or something of the sort, which I have to allow for a decent bit of rollout with those. With the B330-RXS, i've been able to be very aggressive towards the pin because these balls just one hop and stop for me. They feel great as well, soft and buttery.


Durability:

I've tried my best to hurt the skin on these balls, hitting them off cart paths, railroad ties, and very aggressive wedge shots and they don't seem to be phased. The couple of balls i have used look pretty much like when i pulled them out of the sleeve.


Closing thoughts:

I usually play some of the cheaper balls, but occasionally play the Pro V1x and B330 Series but these new ones seem to just be one step better than previous generations. Maybe its just me playing well while I use them, but lets see if it last. I've only lost 1 so far in 3 rounds so thats good news.
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Nice information, sounds like you had a good day, do you plan on trying them next to another B330 ball?
 
I'm really looking forward to playing the new RXS. I've had pretty good success with it since being fitted. You guys are doing a great job with the reviews so far. I've been silently following along.


Amphibians can Tapatalk... Fear the Frog!
 
Bullitt5339 said:
I took the new B330-RX and the Cleveland Smart Sole to the practice green today to get a good feel for these. I also had last year's model along with me to compare.

With putting, I didn't see much of a difference. You could probably have blindfolded me and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It was a little cold today, so that may change when it warms up. I loved the B330-RX off the putter before, so that's not a bad thing at all.

With short chips using the Smart Sole, I did notice a difference. Feel was similar, but again it was cold. Where the big difference came was in the amount of spin I was seeing on short chips. Last year's ball would hit, check and then roll out a little where the 2014 model just one hopped and stopped nearly every time. I did this over and over again because I actually couldn't believe that they could improve an already great ball that much.

I handed one to an old friend of mine who doesn't get much spin on his shortgame shots and had him hit some and after a few shots, he was firing them right at the pin with very minimal runout, something that he doesn't do.

I foresee a lot of lower spin players falling in love with these.
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There are a few things in this thread that are making me very interested, but the combination of low driver spin and what appears to be more greenside spin is something that I can't ignore.....I can see me picking up some of these to give them a try once I get back out on the course
 
Played another 9 holes yesterday with the B330-RX. My intention was to test against the Callaway SR2 ball. I had one of those left from two balls that ATLGolfer had given me. I did not have my best swing yesterday and was fighting the pulls on most shots. I lost the SR2 on my tee shot on the 4th hole so I only got in a comparison for a few holes. Best to wait until I've gotten some more of those balls and given a more complete test to compare results.

A few comments on the round with the B330-RX:

Hit a very nice 35 yard high pitch shot with my 58° where I had little green to work with in front of the pin. Ball landed and stopped sharply leaving a 10ft putt.

Very windy yesterday and the B330-RX seems to cut through the wind just a bit better than the previous model. On two separate uphill into the wind shots I landed long. One shot was to a middle pin and I landed back of green, the other shot was to a back pin and I landed just off the back. I played both shots 2 clubs longer than the straight yardage as I would have with the '12 B330-RX. With the '14 model it appears I should have only played 1 1/2 club longer.

Even with a pretty horrible swing yesterday I managed 4 pars and did not lose any of the B330-RX, though I did have to rescue one from the water.

Hopeful to get more testing in next Sunday.
 
I also concur that the 2014 RX seems to cut through the wind a little better than the 2012 model. I neglected to mention that in my review Saturday. I was faced with some pretty windy conditions that day.
 
I'm taking a sleeve of the B330 RX out today for my first test run and looking forward to it, to say the least!
 
I played 6 rounds with the B330 Tour RXS and my earlier review remains largely consistent. My main takeaways were as follows:

1- Loss of 5 to 7 yards on the tee ball, played in optimal conditions so I'm confident in this statement
2- Sidespin was up and I saw an exaggeration of my fade. A fade is my preferred ball flight and it was closer to a slice in many instances with this ball.
3- Greenside spin was great, experienced great dancing and check up action off the 54 and 58 degree wedges from the apron, fringe, and sand trap - the ball was a stroke saver in that regard
4- Excellent feel off the putter and a nice true roll.

If I could figure out the tee ball this ball would be a gamer but when compared against the SR2 or Chrome+ there is simply no comparison for me off the tee.
 
NoLine said:
I played 6 rounds with the B330 Tour RXS and my earlier review remains largely consistent. My main takeaways were as follows:

1- Loss of 5 to 7 yards on the tee ball, played in optimal conditions so I'm confident in this statement
2- Sidespin was up and I saw an exaggeration of my fade. A fade is my preferred ball flight and it was closer to a slice in many instances with this ball.
3- Greenside spin was great, experienced great dancing and check up action off the 54 and 58 degree wedges from the apron, fringe, and sand trap - the ball was a stroke saver in that regard
4- Excellent feel off the putter and a nice true roll.

If I could figure out the tee ball this ball would be a gamer but when compared against the SR2 or Chrome+ there is simply no comparison for me off the tee.
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If you're loving the green side spin but losing some distance off the tee, hopefully you get a chance to try the B330-S. Off the tee, its much more similar to the Chrome+ than the RXS (speaking of last year's 330-S at least).
 
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