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2014 Bridgestone B330 Golf Balls Review Thread

SuperStroke
Rain and shine

Rain and shine

Responsiveness:

I like to play different shots in the course of play, especially when I am working on my game. The new Hydrocore B330s is more than up to the task. I can bomb it with the driver, spin it with the wedges close to the green and work it with the irons. High, mid or low, the ball does work. I like the fact that I am able to flight the ball low to get out of trouble on one swing and carry a dog leg with the next.

Spin:

I'm seeing serious spin the B330s from the SW to the 7i. Side spin not so much but back spin coming into greens is undeniable. Being able to depend the ball to stop on a dime, or check and release is very comforting. This ball can spin hard or soft, the technique in the swing with dictate.

durability:

i have played this ball with minimal wear and tear. I've played two for 27 holes before the water gods asked for a donation. As much spin as I am seeing with the wedges I really expected more shaving or nicks but gratefully that hasn't happened. Bridgestone has created a durable, responsive, long spin machine and it's name is B330s
 
I'm looking forward to gaming the 330s after reading all the reviews this year. Can't wait to get my hands on them but it will be a few months before I can use them.
 
Tadashi70 said:
It was 50* on Friday and I saw no ill effects
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Hahaha, you are soooo spoiled. 50 ISN'T cold...

I did play in the 30's the other day and I saw no negative effects. Ball played just fine.
 
OK, so I finally got a full round with this ball and I'm ready to do an actual review. Testing was done using a B330-RX, which is a ball that I'm familiar with as it's been my primary gamer for the past few years.

Off the Tee: It was a 60 degree, breezy day here in SE NC, so I was happy to see that what most testers are reporting rang true for me as well. The new B330-RX seems to have better performance in the wind than the previous model. It was long and soft off the tee all day and whether it was just coincidence or confidence helped by the ball, I hit 10 fairways which may be a personal best for me. The 72 year old gentleman that I gave one to a couple weeks ago hit 12 fairways with the RX and was pretty long compared to his normal game. I liked the old RX off the tee, and this one seems to be even better.

Off the Irons: Again, and nice soft feel and the ball did exactly what it was supposed to do. I saw a marginally higher ball flight than usual, but I can't really contribute 100% of that to the ball because I'm going through some swing changes, but my old guy playing companion noted that even with his slow swing speed, he was hitting the ball higher. Again, I liked the old RX and these did not disappoint.

Full Shot Wedges: My game is not stopping the ball in place or pin hunting with a full wedge in my hand. I expect to get some roll-out, even with the previous model RXs. With the new model in hand, it's like a different game with wedges. I actually found myself going up one wedge because I was one hopping and stopping every wedge shot into the green. It's a game I'm not familiar with, but these spin so much on full wedge shots, I found I could get the yardage and pull the club for that yardage instead of aiming slightly short and expecting some roll-out. In my humble opinion, this has been the best spinning ball that I've played off of full wedges (short wedge shots as well). I'm wondering how these would react for a higher spin player and whether they'd have too much spin or have they found some magic formula that works for everyone.

Chipping/Partial Wedge Shots: For me, this was a game changer. I've always been able to put a little spin on those low wedge shots, but still always got a bit of runout. Many times times today I was thinking "Stop/Check/It's off the back" only to watch the ball take a couple small bounces and stop dead. Again, not something I'm used to, but I like it. When it comes to any wedge shot around the green, it's hard to imagine that there's a ball better than this for me. I had a few shots that I "Got Away With" and I attributed that to the ball.

Putting: I'm very picky about the way a ball feels off the putter. I spend a lot of time practicing my putting and it's one of the highlights of my game typically. Yesterday was an off-day for putting for me and I had 35 putts. With the wet and soggy greens, I just could not read the breaks. But the ball performed like it was supposed to. Consistent distance and great feeling off the putter. I have had a lot more time with this ball on the putting green than the course and I can 100% say that yesterday was me and not the ball. I have found this ball in the past 2 weeks to feel nearly identical to the previous model off the putter, which isn't a bad thing at all. The previous model was a great ball on the green, one of my favorites.

Overall Impressions: So far, I'd say that Bridgestone has taken a great ball and made it better for my game. The B330-RX has been my favorite ball for a few years, and the fact that I like the new model more says a lot in itself. I can't find any negatives about it yet. My playing partner has 72 holes on the same ball and while it has a couple of nicks and scratches, he's still playing it and I played the same ball all 18 holes and while it shows wear, there's no signs of damage. The only gripe I had about the previous B330-RX is that if I hit a tree with it, it was pretty much done. This one seems much more durable, as I had a few run ins with trees yesterday. Hey, they're a part of my game now. I was especially happy that I didn't lose a single ball, since I like these so much I want to hold on to them as long as possible. When these are done and gone, this will be my 2014 ball of choice, I believe. I've hit a couple of the other premium offerings and like this one the most so far. There is still one that I haven't gotten my hands on yet, but it would have to be really special to knock this ball out of my bag.
 
I got some more short game work in yesterday with the 330S and I'm really falling in love with the ball. Everything was bump and runs and the B330S just responds so well to the conditions around it, our greens are in winter mode here, they roll them often but sand them a ton and they are screaming fast. Even on sandy greens the ball checks up and releases about 3 ft with a bump and run. I've been using the same 3 balls now for a while and the durability is fine, no digs, scuffs, hangers, or anything else that would inhibit play or performance. I've yet to hit the regular 330 but the reviews on that one have my interest as well. 'It's a winner so far.
 
Nebgolfer said:
Has anyone had any issues with the ball in colder temps? I think it was the Nike RZN balls that people said they didn't respond well to cold, so curious if water in the core impacts performance?
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I played a round in the high 30s/low 40s a few weeks ago and saw nothing notable. There is distance loss but nothing more than I saw from the e5, or anyone else's ball that was playing with me.
 
Canadan said:
It sounds like the entirety of Georgia has been fighting the incredible weather man -- In due time I'm sure hte great reviews will come!

I'd love to hear some early thoughts about the balls as it pertains to putting. Maybe spend some time with them in the living room to see how the sound and feedback differentiates with what you're used to?
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Yes, it was much colder here than we are used to, but today it is 75. Crazy weather.

I have putted the '14 RX along with some other sleeves I had at home, Chrome+ and 2012 B330s. Probably no surprise, but the RX is noticeably softer and quieter off the putter than those two balls, as I perceive it anyway. It is almost like hitting nothing at all with he 14 RX, whereas you get a more noticeable click with the other two. I like the feel.

I am out of '12 RX, but I think the new one might be a little quieter and softer. Will develop this with some on course play this week.
 
Nebgolfer said:
Has anyone had any issues with the ball in colder temps? I think it was the Nike RZN balls that people said they didn't respond well to cold, so curious if water in the core impacts performance?
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None at all on the RX model, If anything I have overestimated the affect of cold in judging it and have been long at times when I did.
 
Nebgolfer said:
Has anyone had any issues with the ball in colder temps? I think it was the Nike RZN balls that people said they didn't respond well to cold, so curious if water in the core impacts performance?
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I also have not had issue's with cold weather. So far I have played it in the high 60's all the way down to low 40's and it was pretty consistent. I also found the same to be true with last years model.
 
Quick observation/note:
I don't know if it's the new grip I learned from the old guy on GC, or the ball, but I have been hitting a TON more fairways off the box.
 
T0AD said:
Quick observation/note:
I don't know if it's the new grip I learned from the old guy on GC, or the ball, but I have been hitting a TON more fairways off the box.
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Me too Mr. T0AD :thumb:
 
This ball has just worked for me as I have posted in my summaries. If it says anything, I just spent my own 44 bucks on another box.

B330RX
 
Played 18 bright and cloudy Sunday morning, I'll post something in detail later, but I really had a nice round where my confidence kept growing. I focused heavily on feel while putting which helped.
 
Going to play a round in better weather tomorrow so I can get a real write-up but wow does the B330-RXS have some stopping power. Hit a PW from 120 today that landed on a downhill and spun back up behind the pitch mark.
 
It was a crazy weekend that ended up yielding no testing time for me, unfortunately. Had kids' birthday parties and a bunch of other crap on Saturday, but it was OK, because the whole family was going out for a practice session before the Superbowl on Sunday. Lo and behold, we're in the truck and headed out there when it starts sprinkling. I'm thinking, it's OK, I just want to do some chipping and putting so I really focus on the B330RX in those areas. By the time we get to the course/range, it's pouring. I don't want to complain, because we've gotten less than an inch of rain so far this year, so we really need it. But I still thought we'd be OK, because we could hit off of mats under the covered practice area. NOPE! All the stations were moved forward onto real grass, which I'd normally be ecstatic about, except that it was raining. We just decided to cut our losses and head back home to get ready for the big game. So...more practice and reporting to come this weekend. I promise!
 
WardF said:
This ball has just worked for me as I have posted in my summaries. If it says anything, I just spent my own 44 bucks on another box.

B330RX
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Actually, that says a lot =)
 
After a brief layoff, first due to weather and then a back issue, I finally had a chance to get in another round with the 2014 Tour B330 ball this past Saturday. I finally lost a test ball today on the 4th hole with a big pull hook OOB.

Item Tested: 2014 Tour B330 Golf Ball
Date and Conditions: Saturday February 1, 2014....Party Cloudy, 72* Winds 15-20 MPH.....Course was slightly damp from recent rains
Testing Plan: Short Game work from 50 yards and in and 18 holes of golf
Comparison ball(s): 2012 B330 RX and 2013 ProV1

I started the day by going to the practice green and working shots from 50 yards and in, I tried to play two types of shots from each position with each of the 3 balls.
a) Fly the ball to the hole and stop it as close as possible
b) Lower trajectory shot designed to take a couple of bounces and check up.

The conditions were slightly damp even on the practice green so stopping any of the balls wasn't a problem with either type of shot. I have a pretty steep angle of attack and don't usually have a problem putting spin on the ball.
All 3 balls performed as expected during this practice/test session and with the conditions it would be hard to say one ball stopped quicker than the other, however I did think the 2014 Tour B330 "felt" softer off the face of the wedge and I seemed to be able to flight it down and make it check after the first bounce.

Results: With the conditions it would be impossible to declare a winner, more testing in drier conditions needs to be done.

18 Holes with comparison shots when possible: I have said in previous reviews that my driver swing speed is low to mid 90's which putts me below the recommended 105+ MPH speed for the Tour B330 balls, however, the new softer core does make it seem like I am able to compress this ball just as easily as I do the RX model from the 2012 line and I get a really tight ball flight from it.

Driver: 13 tee shots taken with the Tour B330, 6 with the ProV1 and 7 with the 2012 B330 RX.
I was 9/13 Fairways with the Tour B330 ball....and all but one of the misses was just off the fairway. This ball holds its line very well into the wind and the ballflight seems very easy to control...most shots were a 5-10 draw which I love!
The comparison balls were ProV1 2/6 FW and The RX was 4/7 FW...so it was a pretty good driving day for me.
Distance wise they all seem pretty comparable....One time the comparison balls would be longer and others it would be the test ball...too close to call
I do prefer the ballflight of the test ball however.

Hybrids/Irons: Again fairly similar results with all three balls, but the 2014 Tour B330 seems to hold it's line in the wind better, I am going to assume that is the result of the "Lower Spin" claim....similar shots with the comparison balls were blow 10+ yards offline on a couple of occasions while the test ball seemed to "bore through" the wind better. Distances again very similar

Wedges: Pretty much the same result from the short game practice from above...pretty similar results from all three balls into the damp greens, however I did have one shot on the 10th hole where I missed the green to the right and had to carry a bunker and try to stop the ball fairly quickly..because of the lie and the shot I attempted to play the really low skid and grab shot....the Prov1 took 3 hops...grabbed and rolled about 5 feet...the RX 2 hops...grabbed and rolled 7 feet and the 2014 test ball....2 hops and stopped almost dead after the second hop. Keep in mind it was the third attempt so it could have been that I just got a better feel for the shot after attempting it 2 times before.

Putter: I like the sound of this ball off the putter...it gets rolling quickly and seems to really hold it's line..it's my favorite of the 3 to putt.

Overall results: So far I think this ball lives up to the claims of easier to compress and straighter ball flight...I am not really seeing distance gains, but I am using the ball recommended for 105+ MPH swing speed, when they are released I will most definitely buy a box of the 2014 RX(S) to put in play and see if there is a difference with a ball more suited for my swing speed.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
This ball holds its line very well into the wind and the ballflight seems very easy to control...
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Nice update. The wind performance was something I noticed about this ball as well. It was noticeably better off the irons and driver than the TaylorMade TP5 I was playing it against.
 
ChristopherKee said:
Nice update. The wind performance was something I noticed about this ball as well. It was noticeably better off the irons and driver than the TaylorMade TP5 I was playing it against.
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Thanks, I really enjoyed your writeup as well. To me the wind performance may be the best part of this ball....living near the coast of Texas, the wind ALWAYS blows, so having a ball that really seems to bore through the wind and not get knocked offline is a major plus.
 
I concur in everyone's findings that the Tour B330 performs exceptionally well in the wind. I never seen or hit a ball before that held its path so well into the wind like the new Tour B330. On one of the days I was testing I was playing with winds between 12 and 18 mph. Its like the wind had little affect on solidly struck shots. Even in the open fairways of the tee. I hit more FIR with this ball in the wind then I did wit the e6 and the maxfli u3
 
Well I lost two balls in the last two days...one I left in the cup not thinking and the other was stolen on a par 3 today by a guy walking his dog.

I've noticed that I seem to be losing a little distance when it is colder outside. Typically 8 iron is 160 carry for me but it is only going 155 with our colder weather.

Has anyone else noticed cold weather affecting the ball more than other balls? I know that generally colder affects distance but it seems like too much for this ball.
 
c0ncept said:
Well I lost two balls in the last two days...one I left in the cup not thinking and the other was stolen on a par 3 today by a guy walking his dog.

I've noticed that I seem to be losing a little distance when it is colder outside. Typically 8 iron is 160 carry for me but it is only going 155 with our colder weather.

Has anyone else noticed cold weather affecting the ball more than other balls? I know that generally colder affects distance but it seems like too much for this ball.
Click to expand...

I haven't really noticed a loss in distance. Truth be told, I'm playing my standard "summer" yardages with irons (7i at 150 for example) without a problem.
 
c0ncept said:
Well I lost two balls in the last two days...one I left in the cup not thinking and the other was stolen on a par 3 today by a guy walking his dog.

I've noticed that I seem to be losing a little distance when it is colder outside. Typically 8 iron is 160 carry for me but it is only going 155 with our colder weather.

Has anyone else noticed cold weather affecting the ball more than other balls? I know that generally colder affects distance but it seems like too much for this ball.
Click to expand...

I have not noticed a loss of distance in the cold. Have you tried this next to another ball, maybe your regular game to see if there is any noticeable difference between the two.
 
c0ncept said:
Well I lost two balls in the last two days...one I left in the cup not thinking and the other was stolen on a par 3 today by a guy walking his dog.

I've noticed that I seem to be losing a little distance when it is colder outside. Typically 8 iron is 160 carry for me but it is only going 155 with our colder weather.

Has anyone else noticed cold weather affecting the ball more than other balls? I know that generally colder affects distance but it seems like too much for this ball.
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed any distance loss in the cooler weather here, they've been brilliantly consistent so far. Could it have just been an off day for you?
 
c0ncept said:
Well I lost two balls in the last two days...one I left in the cup not thinking and the other was stolen on a par 3 today by a guy walking his dog.

I've noticed that I seem to be losing a little distance when it is colder outside. Typically 8 iron is 160 carry for me but it is only going 155 with our colder weather.

Has anyone else noticed cold weather affecting the ball more than other balls? I know that generally colder affects distance but it seems like too much for this ball.
Click to expand...


I haven't noticed distance loss with the B330s in particular. I tend to see most balls lose about a club of distance when the temp is below 40. Other than that, the B330s has been consistent on distance. I think it actually gives me a couple extra yards on tee shots, but I want to keep testing to see if that's correct.
 
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