Bridgestone e12 Contact: Can a Surlyn Ball Spin?

Canadan

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The Bridgestone e12 Contact golf ball came out earlier this year and we have received a number of questions asking about spin on approach shots. Can you hold greens? Does the cover impact approach shots on full swings?



We hopped into the hitting bay in the THP Tech Studio to test it out and see. Watch the video below as we take different scoring irons and take multiple swings and examine the data to see how well this multi-layer surlyn ball with a unique dimple pattern works out.







Does the data in the video above match up with your personal experiences with surlyn covered golf balls? Have you given the new Bridgestone e12 Contact a try before?



One of the often misunderstood aspects of golf balls is that the...

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This was good stuff guys. It dispels a lot of people he stuff out there on surlyn golf balls away from greenside.

The e12 has been in the bag of several of my HS kids this year and it’s been a pleasant surprise to them. It does more than they expect, and off the tee has been a big benefit to their misses.
 
Great stuff Dan. Having tried the e12, I can definitely tell anyone they do hold greens.
 
I picked up a dozen of these and the ERC Soft and hope to get some comparisons between the two when I get my swing straightened out. It's nice to see that there shouldn't be an issue with this on full shots.
 
Impressive demonstration of capabilities of E12 Contact.
 
Seem to have plenty of spin from the #'s.
 
I usually don't put a lot of spin on my wedges so I may not be the best to give input, but I can say for sure that the e12 Contact doesn't have any more roll out than other balls I have played and probably is a lot better than some. For a "distance" type ball I will take that any time!!
 
I'm glad you guys find videos like these helpful. It was certainly a surprise to me that it spun like that on the irons as WELL as the wedges.

Very cool.
This going to come out ungrateful, however I'm not.

I know us "Internet Golfers" always want more however it would have been nice to compare it to Tour Soft or QStar to really accentuate the spin characteristics. Takes the golfer out of it.
 
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I’ve never had problems spinning a surlyn ball on full shots. You can’t really do the low spinner one hop stop wedge shots with them but those opportunities are few and far between for me typically.
 
Nice video. I have found that on full swings they spin fine. It is when you are trying to do touch shots that the firmer cover does not grab and will launch really high.
 
Nice video. I have found that on full swings they spin fine. It is when you are trying to do touch shots that the firmer cover does not grab and will launch really high.
As you get closer to the green is where urethane definitely increases spin. With that said many golfers don’t put too much spin on the ball around the greens, so this could be a pretty good example of how approach shots will not suffer.
 
I do plan on trying this ball at sometime this season. Thanks for the video and breakdown as far as the spin.
 
What was the number of that Bridgestone ball from circa 2010 that was a 2pc with a "urethane" cover and would spin a zillion rpm on full shots but played like a rock around the greens. Was it e5 maybe?

I'd have 8-iron shots sucking back off the greens like Greg Norman at Augusta, even with my puny clubhead speed and inconsistent contact. But then I'd hit a simple bump and run PW shot, land it a couple paces onto the green from 20 yards out and it would race off the back of the green like a Top-Flite.

And that was with a urethane cover, no less.

There were also some extremely soft cover 2pc Surlyn balls back in the days when the very first multilayer urethane designs were coming to market to compete against the Titleist Professional and the last of the Balatas. I think Maxfli had one that was the same, more spin than anyone could ever want off short irons with full swing and even more spin for big hitters. But no spin at all as the clubhead speed came down or on touch shots.

I'm not sure what point Bridgestone, Titleist, Callaway are trying to prove with these Surlyn cover balls they're trying to convince us will spin like a urethane ball. With real multipiece urethane balls on the market at all possible price points nowadays it's a little disingenuous, isn't it?

I mean they're asking $30/dozen for a Surlyn ball which is darned near the cost of name-brand Tour balls with the yearly 4-for-3 deals. Similar pricing for ERC Soft ($35/dozen!!!).
 
As you get closer to the green is where urethane definitely increases spin. With that said many golfers don’t put too much spin on the ball around the greens, so this could be a pretty good example of how approach shots will not suffer.

Totally. For many playing to yardages that offer the ability to play a full swing shot will be better any way. And as we can see, plenty of ability to get it to stop on the green.
 
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As you get closer to the green is where urethane definitely increases spin. With that said many golfers don’t put too much spin on the ball around the greens, so this could be a pretty good example of how approach shots will not suffer.
You played these for almost a full round this weekend didn't you?

I remember plenty of greenside shots that had the right amount of spin for what you were trying to achieve.
 
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Bridgestone really hit a winner with the E12 ball. The distance is good, spin is acceptable, and the price is even better. Good showing here in the video.

On the side, I think @Canadan just needs to talk his wife and move to Nashville. Sell her on all the less traveling back and forth with the THP studio. 😆
 
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Bridgestone really hit a winner with the E12 ball. The distance is good, spin is acceptable, and the price is even better. Good showing here in the video.

On the side, I think @Canadan just needs to talk his wife and move to Nashville. Sell her on all the less traveling back and forth with the THP studio. 😆
Oh trust me, I've tried... How much fun would it be to have a standing live stream every week where I could just hit whatever you guys told me to so you could see direct comparisons?
 
Great video @Canadan, thanks! I don't have access to a launch monitor so it's good to see some numbers. I'm nowhere near the high spin player that you are, but what you showed in the video is consistent with what I'm seeing on-course with the e12 Contact. I've been playing it for about a month and a half (23 rounds) and have been really satisfied with its performance. I haven't had any problem holding greens with it - last round I hit a 112 yard tee shot on a par 3 that stopped just over a foot from the ball mark, and I've had a bunch of approach shots from 120-150 yards that have come to rest within anywhere from 3-8 feet of the ball mark.
 
I absolutely love the e12 contacts! They are the only ball that holds the green for me. I was playing the lady precepts for a while but they'd constantly run through the green. Then, I tried this one out when @Davidhibler did the blind ball testing. I've loved them ever since.
 
i enjoyed this video. out of curiosity what does @Canadan usually see out of his gamer ball with similar clubs?

it would also be cool to take the quad outside and compare a ball like this to a urethane cover "premium" ball to compare greenside performance.
 
Nice video @Canadan i liked the E12 contact when i tested it. Off the irons it felt amazing.
 
Might need to try these puppies out. I shied away from the previous generation design variations of e12, especially in AZ summer conditions. This video speaks directly to my hesitation with it. highlighting that I should give it a fair shot.
 
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