2013 Bridgestone e5 Golf Ball Forum Testing Thread

Some great reviews in here guys keep them coming!

I posted in the e7 thread and thought I would do the same here, do you believe that this Bridgestone E series line scuffs up more easily than other companies balls that you have played? Obviously with normal play.

i would call this ball EXTREMELY durable. So far it has held up better than the Q-Star, 2012 e6, and the B330RXS for me. The e5's urethane cover is nice and tough. When I catch one perfect like when you almost feel the grooves biting a chunk, I will see a slightly dark mark on the ball, but it just wipes off. I really think this is some of the finish coming off the CB3 irons though.

J.
 
i would call this ball EXTREMELY durable. So far it has held up better than the Q-Star, 2012 e6, and the B330RXS for me. The e5's urethane cover is nice and tough. When I catch one perfect like when you almost feel the grooves biting a chunk, I will see a slightly dark mark on the ball, but it just wipes off. I really think this is some of the finish coming off the CB3 irons though.

J.

The new e5 is possibly the most durable ball I've ever played. I initially played 42 consecutive holes to start the testing (my course has woods that are very open and I was somehow always able to find it) before finally losing that first beauty for good. It hit at least 3 trees and took a few skips down the cart path, and I was shocked at how well it held up, both scuff and color-wise.
 
Some great reviews in here guys keep them coming!

I posted in the e7 thread and thought I would do the same here, do you believe that this Bridgestone E series line scuffs up more easily than other companies balls that you have played? Obviously with normal play.

I have found it easy to actually get in 2+ rounds with the ball if I don't hit any cart paths. It is holding up very well IMO.
 
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I concur with the others about the impressive durability of the e5. And I also concur with DawgDaddy about how it could be a full time gamer if it were offered in yellow.
 
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I got out for another head to head matchup. 9 holes of the new E5 against my current ball the Top Flight Gamer V2.

First the scores were exactly the same and I had very similar rounds with both balls.
Here are my stats and thoughts.

Gamer = score +7/42 , FW hit 43%, GIR 33%, and 19 putts
E5 = score +7/42 , FW hit 57%, GIR 33%, and 16 putts

Driver = I didn't use one. Can't find one I like...

FW Woods = I teed off with these instead of a driver which I don't carry.
Even though I hit one more fairway with the E5 I'm calling this one a tie.
I got similar distances with both balls and I liked the trajectory of each ball as well.
On 2 holes the balls were within 5 yards of each other. And most other holes they were within 10 yards distance wise.
I liked the feel of both of them off the tee as well.


Long irons = I liked both balls here. They both felt pretty good on solid and mis hit shots and I seemed to get similar spin from both.
This was pretty much a tie.

Mid irons = Again I liked the feel of both balls but I got better results and better spin from the E5 on shots from my middle irons.
I'm not really sure why. But I had several with the E5 that just stuck and rolled out a few feet where the gamer rolled out several more feet.
The E5 was the clear winner here.

Short irons = I was off a little but I was kind of suprised here. I thought the E5 would be a clear winner here but I just didn't see it.
Both balls gave me similar spin on all shots inside 100 yards. This was another tie

Putting = I can't really say why but I just felt better putting with the E5. I liked the feel of it better and while I didn't sink any long putts
with it or anything my misses seemed to be closer to the hole. E5 was the clear winner here.

That's all for now but I should be playing either Sat or Sun and I will try and do this matchup again.
Next time as long as I don't lose them I will post a pic to compare the durability of each ball.
 
Playing 18 today and tomorrow, will report back with thoughts. I hope my seeing is more consistent today so I can get a better read on performance.
 
Swing was more consistent today and I have to say I am still on the fence. Good ball not great... Another round tomorrow should have final impressions then. Still fantastic for the price point.
 
Swing was more consistent today and I have to say I am still on the fence. Good ball not great... Another round tomorrow should have final impressions then. Still fantastic for the price point.

I agree, extremely solid choice in the mid price range.
 
2013 Bridgestone e5 Ball Testing

REFERENCE LINKS:

  • Introduction/First-Rounds: CLICK HERE
  • Second/Third Rounds: CLICK HERE
  • Third/Fourth/Fifth Rounds: CLICK HERE

ROUND REACTION(S):

So, I had a streak of weather where I was fortunate enough to get a LOT of golf in with the e5's but did get a little lax on sitting down for another comprehensive update, we shall remedy that right now.

I actually got to see all types of weather in these three rounds, 79* and sunny, 60's and windy, and cold as hell...pretty much ran the gamut. I've been battling the damn tee swing woes still so my tee synopsis will be shorter and sweeter this time. Because of these woes I'm actually down to 3 balls, the solution? Buy another dozen, duh. At this price point and what I've seen so far I didn't even bat an eye at it.

Off the Tee:

So, I've been having some swing/hip issues off the tee with the driver and heeling everything so I really can't say a whole lot there other than when I have caught it in/near the middle of the face I'm not seeing any real accentuated flight due to the spin. Fades still fade, draws still draw, and there really isn't any additional mass movement. This is a good thing.

I have however been punishing tee shots with my 3w and the e5 just goes for me, the distance is pretty much spot on as far as carry goes as I see with the V2's but its definitely longer than the 2012 Q-Star for me. The best part here off the tee is still the dual dimples, I'm a true beleiver in the dual dimples, the WINDY round proved that to me again, it really works in the Oklahoma wind and that can be a blessing for me with what I usually see.

Off the tee, its added spin certainly isn't hurting me, my swing however is another story.

Off the Irons/Wedges:

When I can hold dormant greens with a 5-iron on a hop and 1 foot roll-out, the spin is there form the ureathane cover. The ball just feels really nice off of the irons and wedges when I really trap it well. I was a bit concerned that when it warmed up in the HIGH 70's for the second round that the compression might be an issue, not really though from what I could tell. The ball seemed to compress the same way that it did in the 40* weather for me so the consistency is quite nice to see for sure.

This one is absolutely fun around the greens compared the the 2012 Q-Star and the e6 for me, the urethane cover let me play not only little pitches more aggressively, but also the little bumpers with the UW and the way they rolled out and reacted. Good stuff.

Off the Putter:

To me I see no issues or anything here. The ball gives a good tone off of a milled face as well as an insert for me and I'm still just not seeing the added roll out that some are. Same stroke, same results distance wise as my Q's, V2's, and e6's. But, as a sound guy, so long as it doesn't sound like those TERRIBLE old rock-flites, I'm pretty easy to please off the flatstick personally.

Wear and Tear:

As have been discussed in here a good bit recently, I too cannot get over the durability of these at all. For a urethane cover, they are like mini tanks compared to a LOOOOOOT of urethane balls I've played previously...and even some NON urethane covered balls. Now, a direct shot on a cart path will still do its damage, but even then nothing like I've seen with ProV's or the likes before. Big difference in leaving a small blemish and a crater, small blemishes are good and mean keep on playing!

CLOSING THOUGHTS:


I'm just impressed as heck with these. Honestly, I'm glad I have an excuse to buy another dozen and keep putting them through their paces. At this price point, it is a hell of a ball that would benefit a LOT of golfers IMO if they would swallow their ego and just put them into play. I've also got a few surprises coming with the next dozen so as to have a bit of a shootout because at this point in the testing, I know what my eye is seeing, lest see it compared to others. Very excited for the weather to let me get back to work!
 
Great write up Jman. I went at it from a different direction today. I used a 2012 Q-Star. Weird I know right? My thought here was that I had started trying too hard with the e5 so I wanted to see if anything would change with a ball I know. Results were rather predictable based on past results, but I will say the spin was not there.

I have heard that the 2013 Q-Star has a little more spin, but last years was lacking in my opinion compared to this new e5. I really believe that I ballooned the ball more today too. Distance was pretty much the same off the driver for me and putter there was no difference.

if everything else stays the same, the e5 wins solely due to the extra green side spin. I let a couple get away today simply because they didn't check like the e5 had. I did shoot a great back nine for me...right up until I threw up all over myself while choking. I went double, bogey, birdie, birdie, par, par, par, double and finished with a bogey. Had I pared the last two, woulda had a 79 after 42 on the front. Could have been one of my better recovery back nines, but alas just another choke session. Had a great time though and am still loving the new Scotty.

J.
 
For the crazy nice price point and the greenside spin, the e5 is certainly an eye catcher for me now.
 
For the crazy nice price point and the greenside spin, the e5 is certainly an eye catcher for me now.

I agree with you. I went to the ProV1 last year and never really gave this ball much of a look. Now I can say that my ProV1 days are over. Between this and the RBZu I feel it is crazy to pay twice as much for other balls.
 
I agree with you. I went to the ProV1 last year and never really gave this ball much of a look. Now I can say that my ProV1 days are over. Between this and the RBZu I feel it is crazy to pay twice as much for other balls.

I've overlooked it for 3 years now, just automatically grabbing the e6 as my eSeries ball of choice and pushing the e5 aside because of the thought that "it must be a mediocre ball". So dumb of me.
 
I've overlooked it for 3 years now, just automatically grabbing the e6 as my eSeries ball of choice and pushing the e5 aside because of the thought that "it must be a mediocre ball". So dumb of me.

Right there with you. Gamed the e6 for a bit last year. With all the more affordable options out there (e5, RBZu, Chrome) I just can't see buying 50 a dozen golf balls
 
I've been focusing on the ball with long irons the last few times out. The spin is up there on the irons. It stops as well as anything when struck well. Holding greens withnthemlong irons isn't a problem at all. But in terms of side spin, it's quite high as well. My mid hit is a fade, and this snaps hard when I do that. More so than most other balls I play, including tour level balls.

I honestly don't know much about golf balls. Companies make it seem like a third and fourth layer reduces spin on full swings. This certainly seems to hold true when I play tour level balls. Would this being a two piece ball not keep the spin down as well on full swings and therefore contribute to the higher spin?

Durability is awesome. This is the best urethane cover I've ever used. I've still got five balls left (one sleeve still unused) and the two have about 100 iron swings each on them. Holding up awesome.


THPing on Tapatalk
 
Right there with you. Gamed the e6 for a bit last year. With all the more affordable options out there (e5, RBZu, Chrome) I just can't see buying 50 a dozen golf balls

I just REALLY like seeing all of this AFFORDABLE competition in the golf ball market. A lot.
 
So, I decided to get a sleeve of this ball to test today over 9 holes. Off the tee, I hit mostly slight pushes but when I did fade, this ball did exaggerate it just a bit compared to the e6. I can't judge how it is with chipping just yet because I was chunking my chips today. However, when hitting full wedge shots, this ball only rolled maybe 3-4 feet past where it landed on the greens. With the e6, I saw a lot more roll out compared to the e5. My best shot today was on a 161 yd par 3. The ball landed on the green and rolled about 4 feet leaving me about 5 foot short of the hole. Of course, I 3 putted and made bogey :banghead: .

This ball is durable too. Hit some branches and a cart path but no noticeable scuff on the ball. Played one ball through 9 holes. I'm liking this ball, especially on a course with somewhat wide fairways.
 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts gcruz!

The durability is THE big trend, crazy that its a urethane cover because it can take a true beating.
 
I was really hoping to get some pics to show how durable this ball is. It was going on 27 holes when I lost it in the water. It still looked good though and I would have felt fine playing another round with it. This is one durable ball.
 
I was able to get in another round with the e5’s this past week, shot a respectable 84 in some 10/20 mph winds in wet and muddy conditions. Here are my thoughts on the e5.

Driver – the e5 is actually a very good wind ball. It actually seems to bore through a head wind and held its’ line very well, but if you tried to bend the ball left or right it took off like any other ball hit into the wind. Still getting very good distance even though I was having to lift clean and place after each shot because of the water and mud.

Hybrids/woods – also solid performers in the wind, nice penetrating flight and was able to hold the line very well with each of these. I still seem to hit these clubs solidly more often than any of my others and the e5 is doing everything I could ask.

Irons/wedges – This is where I was having some problems in the wind with the e5, when I hit anything from the 8 iron down to the wedges I was getting some real yard eating results, a one club wind with the gap wedge would be three times shorter than what I would have played with the RX, I really wish I had tried some of those same shots with the RX, but I was actually playing a round and hated to ask about hitting another ball.

Putter – Still love the results of the e5 even though I still find the sound to be somewhat “hard”. I am in somewhat of a putting slump right now, but the ball is doing everything exactly as it should. I need more practice time on the putting green.

Overall I have found the e5 to be a very solid ball all around including when playing in windy conditions. I would recommend it to anyone wishing for the performance of a urethane ball at less than premium ball price.

Here is a link to my last review which will link all the way back to my first one if anyone is wanting to follow my updates. http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?39900-2013-Bridgestone-e5-Golf-Ball-Forum-Testing-Thread&p=1999525&viewfull=1#post1999525
 
Bridgestone 2013 e5 Golf Ball- 18 Holes and Practice Session

Bridgestone 2013 e5 Golf Ball- 18 Holes and Practice Session

I was able to get out this weekend to play 18 holes as well as get a practice session in, and I saw some very good things out of this golf ball. It was dry out there this weekend and there was little to no wind. I lost a couple this weekend, so I am down to my last e5, but if that last one continues to perform like they did for me this weekend, I’ll be picking up another dozen.

It was a bit warmer out this weekend than it has been in weeks past, and I think that the weather is a big factor in terms of how this ball performs. Since getting the e5 into play, I haven’t seen as much greenside spin as I wanted or expected. This weekend, however, I was seeing a good bit more spin than I have in the past. While it was giving me good spin and stopping power, it was still not quite up to matching other 3 and 4 piece urethane golf balls in that category. For the price point it is at, the e5 is a great option if you like to have a lot of spin in your short game. I was seeing a good bot of spin from all lies and conditions whether it was fairway, rough, bunker, wet, dry, or anything else. This ball really impressed me with its greenside performance this weekend. Seeing as nothing else has changed, I think that the change in spin comes from the change in temperature. It didn’t spin nearly as much for me in the cold, but I can’t wait to see how it does come summer time!

Another thing that surprised me about the e5 this weekend was that I picked up a bit of distance off both the driver and irons. I would tend to think that this is also temperature-related, though this ball is still a bit shorter for me than the old e5 or many other golf balls I’ve tried. Despite having a urethane cover, this ball is very straight for me off the tee. Usually when I put a urethane-covered ball in play, I sacrifice some accuracy off the tee, but the e5 gives a very penetrating, straight flight for me off the driver and that led to me hitting 11/14 fairways in my round this weekend. If you like to have short game spin but don’t want to sacrifice accuracy off the tee, I urge you to look into the e5. It could be a game changer.

This ball still spins like a top for me off the irons. Even though I was seeing a low to mid-low ball flight from my irons this weekend, I was still able to rip this ball backwards when I hit the green. At one point on a par 3 this weekend, I hit a 9 iron and spun it back almost 15 feet. I like having a bunch of spin off the irons, though this is a bit much for me to handle. I have to club up now when I’m hitting shorter clubs into the green because I’m afraid of pulling it back too far. If you are one that struggles with iron spin, however, definitely give this ball a try.

The e5 showed me a lot of things this weekend that I hadn’t seen out of it previously, though first and foremost was the greenside spin. This ball is a very solid performer for its price point and I could see these fitting a niche of golfers who struggle with spin perfectly. While this ball isn’t the best fit for me, I still love it for the price point it has and some of the characteristics if shows. I’ll be out on the course again this weekend to play and/or practice, so I’ll be back with another write-up then. If you have any questions or comments post them here and I’ll get back to you as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
 
I got in another 18 today with the new E5. Mainly today I was just trying to see how it reacted in the wind vs other balls. I played and scored off another ball but when the opportunity arose for a good "test" shot I threw a new E5 down and made a shot with it as well.

It's pretty resistant to being blown off course severely. Still moves obviously, at some places on the course there were 20+ MPH winds coming across the fairways. I had one where you tee up in the open from an elevated tee box, shoot between trees for 180ish and then it opens up over a creek to a fairly narrow fairway where the wind will catch it. I was playing a B330 RX, hit my tee shot and it was going beautifully across the two water carries and then it hit the open spot and blew right into the rough just before touching down. Tried the same shot with the E5, similar carry, bit higher flight but when it came into the open area of the fairway it moved less right albeit 5 or so yards short of the RX. This could be due to me subconsciously correcting my alignment left a bit because I'd just made a shot that went too far right or it could be the shallower dimples? Unsure but still a nice result.

The durability still shocks me. On the 590 yard par 5 15th, I reallllly have to get after it from the tee to make GIR on this hole because no matter how you land it, it's a tough/poor shot to take with a hybrid/FW as a second shot due to the landing area/uber expensive houses lining the last 200 yards of the fairway aka don't hook/slice here. I hit the E5 like it owed me money and of course I put too much on it, lost a bit of control and hooked it towards the woods on the left. About 240 out it crashed into a tree and sounded like a gun shot giving me the luckiest bounce I've ever had spinning it back into the middle of the fairway. When I got to the ball, it looked like a huge black splotch on the side but I finished the hole with it for a par. Dropped it in the ball scrubber at 16, 5 swipes later the black splotch from the tree was gone leaving just a little scuff. I planned to take a picture of it but naturally I hit my approach to the green on 18 fat with a LW (I know better than to use that devilish club) and dropped it in the creek just short of the green.

All in all, when I'm not playing the B330 RX, it will be E5 all the way. Distance is still great now that it's warmer, spin is excellent for a 2 piece ball, and the durability is just unmatched.
 
Today was a balmy 70+ degrees outside so I decided to play some golf. Unfortunately, everybody else had the same idea so I was only able to play 12 holes. I played the e5 over 9 holes. Off the tee, I was mostly pushing and pulling but I did have a couple of sweet baby draws which was pretty sweet. I had some issues with this ball with the irons. I seem to be about a club longer when hitting this ball. I over shot all of the par 3s today which was frustrating because I landed on bunkers on all of them and bunker play is probably the weakest part of my game. Again, with the wedges, this ball only took one hop and then stopped when I did manage to hit the greens.

Oops forgot the other 3 holes. I played those using a Pro V1 some poor guy left in the middle of the fairway (it was getting pretty dark) the last time I played. I really liked it. I was afraid it was going to mess with my ball flight but I didn't really see that. However, I was only able to play it over 3 holes as I hit the cart path on the 3rd hole and scuffed it pretty bad. The e5 on the hand survived trees, cart path, and sand bunkers with barely a scuff mark on it.
 
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I tested these heads up against my ProV1 chipping around the green. I was hole high and 5' off the green 30' from the pin. I used my 56, which is what i usually use. Iwanted to see how the spin measured up. I chipped 30 balls each. IHad 21 good contact chips with ProV1 and 19 with the e5. I chipped 13 inside 5 feet with ProV and 11 with e5. I hope this helps.
 
I have a kitchen remodel going on at home so playing time has been limited.

I played today, a really nice day here in SW Fla., and finally broke 80 for the first time in 2013. I played an e5 that had a round plus on it already and it is starting to show a few scuff marks but I think this ball is remarkably durable for a urethane ball.

The greens were pretty fast today and I had some trouble with my chipping. The balls were not "hop and stop"" the way I like but my technique was no where near what it should be.

I am still pretty happy with this ball and will be happy to buy them when my dozen runs out.
 
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