Bridgestone e12 Contact: Can a Surlyn Ball Spin?

[Roadrunner]

Good review, Dan. I might have to give e12 Contact a try sometime this summer. Hopefully, they hold greens a bit better than e12 Soft...they were great for distance, but wouldn’t stop at all!

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.

I'll split a box of e12 Contact balls with you. I want to give them a shot too.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it! Another great video showing why it’s important to actually test the ball and get numbers.

 

[oumagic]

I played the e12 Soft a lot last year and I like it in the cooler months in AZ and played the RX in the summer months. To be honest, the only reason I moved away from it was due to my infatuation with Triple Track. I have not tried the e12 Contact but it is on my to-do list.

 

[erock9174]

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!!!).

Agree here totally.
As an avid golf consumer, deals can be had on Tour level urethane balls that bring the cost in line with these if not cheaper. Whether is being a savvy shopper (last years model, BOGO, Coupons, Reward coupons, etc) or Direct to Consumer balls.

Then one might say, well I could get the e12 even cheaper using the same savvy shopping logic. Which is correct, but I would say, let's take an e12 compared to a Supersoft, Soft Feel or Q Star and see if there is really a difference to warrant the price differential. My guess is those balls perform just as well.
Decent height on approach shots that stop them well enough, straighter and adequate distance off the tee and less spin around the greens. The only knock is usually lower compression when it comes to faster swingers...and this is also a lower compression ball.

In my eyes, this is no different than Titleist with the NXT line (now Tour Soft) which has always been labeled a cash grab "premium surlyn" ball on the interwebs.

 

[jdtox]

Really good video. Kind of surprised at the spin numbers if I'm being honest but maybe I shouldn't be. Don't we already know that a surlyn ball will hold greens on full swing shots though? Greenside and finesse shots is where they differ from tour type balls or am I wrong?

Question for @Canadan how did the ball feel compared to your gamer RX?

 

[Smiter]

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.

I compared it head to head in the blind ball review thread on trackman with the Tour Soft, Tour Response, And ERC soft. It held its own at minimum in all categories against them.

Someone with better search-fu than me link it please if you will if it’s not already.

That said I prefer, and my numbers are much better, with their TourB XS or their RX on windy days.

 

[tommyhaka]

Interesting video, but I would have liked it much better if he put the ProV1 stats along with the e12. How would the ProV1 have spun with his same swing, as well as other similar balls?

 

[Stemmy66]

Great video on e12 Contact.... I suspect that similar to other surlyn balls the partial shots are the limitations.... that one hop stop would be difficult

 

[BigMac]

...That said I prefer, and my numbers are much better, with their TourB XS or their RX on windy days.

That shows how different a ball can perform for different golfers. I've played the e12 Contact in wind several times and I really like it's wind performance. It doesn't balloon for me and cuts through it pretty well.

 

[rlefig]

I think I will go out an buy some today as I need some new ones due to my poor round Tuesday. Will compare to the QST tour

 

[Parrot]

I didn’t expect those numbers, even from a player as skilled as Dan is. Once I get through the 4 dozen plus BXS I have, the Contact will get a run.

 

[Jman]

I didn’t expect those numbers, even from a player as skilled as Dan is. Once I get through the 4 dozen plus BXS I have, the Contact will get a run.

Youll enjoy them, greenside is where you’ll notice the most difference, but they’re just a damn good golf ball.

 

[Pops]

Played a round with them in Louisiana good results. Held green nicely on full wedge shots. Greens were receptive from recent rains. Even flighted down 54 and 50 degree wedges only moved a couple feet from pitch mark. Comparing them to the RXS I played yesterday I preferred ball flight from the contact. Ball flight with RXS was insanely high yesterday compared to my normal ball flight. Could have just been an anomaly for that specific round. Will get more comparisons next week. Planning to do some driver testing side by side.

 

[MSEASU]

Good review, Dan. I might have to give e12 Contact a try sometime this summer. Hopefully, they hold greens a bit better than e12 Soft...they were great for distance, but wouldn’t stop at all!

I'll split a box of e12 Contact balls with you. I want to give them a shot too.

I have a box you can have.

 

[gmiller598]

Seeing this information make me want to give the matte red a try if it has sold spin around the greens. Maybe I'll check them out this afternoon if I make a stop at the PGASS.

 

[Badger_Golfer]

Its pretty well-known that surlyn balls spin just fine on full swings but its still never going to spin enough on partial shots. If you think that its going to spin enough on a greenside pitch shot, well, good luck.
Thats an instance where you just need a urethane cover.

 

[Roadrunner]

I have a box you can have.

Sold! I still have one more month on the shelf, but will be at Southern Dunes in June. Thanks!!

 

[tommyhaka]

I am sure it is a very good ball for it's category, ionomer/surlyn, but most golfers need as much green spin they can get. While the e12 excels in straightness and distance, there is a good reason you won't see this ball played on the tour, and even by most lower cap golfers. Today's premium ball are about as good off the tees as the e12, at least this is my experience, and can't be beaten for green spin. Very good premium balls can be gotten at reasonable prices as well. With that being said, I just got a sleeve off a friend and am going to try them 2morrow.

 

[BrianW]

Just when I had committed to only playing urethane you make this video! I have been playing the Q Star Tour after a whole golf life of playing surlyn covered balls. I am really curious to try the Bridgestone E12 Contact. I have found that the Q Star Tour does not punish me off the tee as I was worried about and does seem to check up really well.

 

[erock9174]

Played a round with them in Louisiana good results. Held green nicely on full wedge shots. Greens were receptive from recent rains. Even flighted down 54 and 50 degree wedges only moved a couple feet from pitch mark. Comparing them to the RXS I played yesterday I preferred ball flight from the contact. Ball flight with RXS was insanely high yesterday compared to my normal ball flight. Could have just been an anomaly for that specific round. Will get more comparisons next week. Planning to do some driver testing side by side.

Is the RXS supposed to be higher flying ?
I’m not up to speed on their balls.

 

[Pops]

Is the RXS supposed to be higher flying ?
I’m not up to speed on their balls.

Higher spin than the RX. The RX and RXS are for swing speeds below 105. Ball feels great off club. This was first round outside with the RXS. Bought both models of rx to compare with the contact. 6 iron peak height looked like my normal wedge. 3 wood and driver were exceptionally high compared to my normal ball flight. Need to play a few more rounds with each but as of right now the contact is a great option for my mediocre golf game.

 

[gmiller598]

The one thing I don’t think I understand about these balls is how more face contact leads to straighter flight. I would think a less than stellar swing that imparts side spin would have more side spin due to the increased face contact.

 

[Tandy]

How would the e12 contact compare to the Snell getsum or is there no comparison here?

 

[erock9174]

Higher spin than the RX. The RX and RXS are for swing speeds below 105. Ball feels great off club. This was first round outside with the RXS. Bought both models of rx to compare with the contact. 6 iron peak height looked like my normal wedge. 3 wood and driver were exceptionally high compared to my normal ball flight. Need to play a few more rounds with each but as of right now the contact is a great option for my mediocre golf game.

Cool. I may have to try it. As I’m always looking for a higher flight and more spin. I tried the RX last year and it kinda felt hard to me.

 

[Cruskater]

Tested the e12 contact this weekend at a fairly narrow golf course. My wife won a box on Instagram a few weeks ago and I won a box at a scramble tournament. I putted with it a bit and adjusted to the feel coming from predominantly Vice Pro Plus and Pro V1x's the last few years. It is lighter feeling to me than both of those balls (which for me I generally find some lower compression balls feel too heavy) and rolls true. The cover makes it feel a bit harder than the urethane balls but it is not too far off (I found two old Polara balls from about 8 or 10 years ago when I was learning the game and my buddy gave me a box and those things were hard as rocks around the green). Onto the findings!

With the narrow fairways, I hit mostly long and mid-irons off the tee. I hit a record (for me 10/13 fairways). It seemed like the ball did fly straighter than normal. Feeling wasn't all that bad off the face of the irons. Little click-ier than what I'm used to. In general I flighted them down, but when I did try to hit a higher shot (had to go over the trees once), it ballooned a bit too much and curved offline. Solid into the greens, definitely straighter, even though I pulled a couple (usually a slight fade is normal). It felt ok off the driver even with my swing speed but need more testing. I hit one that faded a bit too much and is hard to tell the distance. I hit a solid high draw with one but the higher it went the more it curved off line. It looked like it was going to be a solid 275-280 yard drive but wound up in the pinestraw about 255. Part of this was my swing, but I do wonder about the spin on higher launched shots. Surprised around the green. Got mid-height pitch shots to check up nicely but my chips and low pitches definitely rolled out waaaay more than normal. Pretty good off the putter. Wound up in 5 bunkers and the ball cover helped up pretty darn well. Only a stinger off a tree put a scuff on the ball. Going to game these some more later this week and might make them a "backup" ball to my Vice balls out in Vegas next week.