2013 Bridgestone e7 Golf Ball Forum Testing Thread

Hmm, I play the Precept Laddie X a lot, which is owned by Bridgestone. It's an inexpensive distance ball. I wonder how the new E7 would compare to it.

Nice reviews guys, you've got me interested in trying these.

Back out for more testing this weekend. I got to test the old E7 against the new E7. It was fun. I didn't play as well as I have been. It thawed out a bit and I am not good hitting things out of the mud, but, good testing off the tee.

55[SUP]o[/SUP] F and overcast
Wind 10-15 mph

Off the Tee

I played the 2013 E7 off the tee first on each hole. Marked the new E7 with light blue dots and the 2012 E7 with green dots. I hit five of each off #1 before starting the round to get a ball flight and distance comparison. I alternated 2013 with the 2012 on each of these shots to get a direct comparison. I turned the dots down at address so I would not be thinking about which ball I was hitting at address. Not very scientific, but, trying to compare. The 2013 seemed to fly higher off the tee in every case. As I mentioned, it was thawed and wet today and not much roll out. The second thing I noticed is that the new E7 consistently had more carry distance. I did not hit all 10 balls in the fairway, but, all five of the 2013 balls were further (3 to 5 yds.). I don't know how much dry conditions would have affected the results. It is possible that the 2012 would have had more roll out in dry conditions. Hopefully we will have better conditions before the testing is over.

Now on to the round. Both balls were in the middle on #1. The 2013 was about 3 yards in front. This became a consistent theme I hit 12/14 fairways with both balls. Not the same 12, but, the misses were a mix. One cut right that I started too far right. Good swing bad alignment. This was likely do to my confidence with the E7. It just flies where you aim it. The other 3 misses were my normal over cooked draw into the right rough. The ball was very consistent again. The guys are starting to give me grief. I just tell them they should be playing Bridgestone. My long game is boring, but, I like it that way. The short grass is my friend.

Approaches

I was not so good with my irons today. Ever have a day where your swing is just out of sync. I only hit 4 greens with each ball. I wasn't way off, but, left myself with muddy semi-plugged lies all day. We cleaned balls in the fairway and moved out of obvious casual water, but, still nasty, wet lies did not lead to good scoring. Shot 84 and it felt like a lot of work to keep it under 90. On the plus side, everyone shot poorly, so my team still won. I guess I am spoiled. 2 weeks ago I would have been very happy with 84.

I still feel like the E7 kept it from being worse than it was. I am interested in trying the new E6. I like the extra distance of the E7, but, like the reviews I am seeing from the E6. I like control and consistency, so I am pretty sure the E models are my gamer's from now on. Getting use to the roll out on chips of the E7. I am not playing any soft balls to compare against it. So I can just plan for the roll out. I will say that the 2013 model seems to stop faster than the 2012. I am not sure of that and need to do some better testing on a big green. Just need to hit a bunch of chips with both. I will save that for this week.

On the Green

Both balls rolled well. I did not putt especially well. 31 putts. I put too much pressure on my short game today. No 3 putts, the E7 rolled me right up by the cup. I just wish I would have made a few more of those par savers. Still like the click of the E7 off of wedges and my putter. Both versions have the same sound. I have old ears, so, maybe not exactly the same sound, but, I can't tell the difference. I like it for putting. I like the feedback the click gives. I took out a couple urethane balls, on the putting green, to compare today and the muted sound doesn't give the same feedback.

Conclusion

Still positive about the E7. I guess I am becoming a Bridgestone homer, but, they are earning their stripes. The E7 has been a solid ball for me in the testing. Long, straight, durable and consistent. Hard to complain.

Getting out this week as the snow will melt! Im so psyched to test this ball, if it has any sort of spin, it could be my MC ball.

Phil, dude, you are crushing this review! Great stuff!

I was able to get some testing in on a launch monitor this weekend. The e7 vs the B330s and I have pictures with numbers. Write up coming later today.

My plans to test the e7 today may have been put on hold. Great temp to play, but it's been raining and it's a sloppy dang mess. If I am able to do anything at all today, it will only be chipping and putting, which I don't think is doing any service to this ball and its characteristics.

LargePhil said:

Back out for more testing this weekend. I got to test the old E7 against the new E7. It was fun. I didn't play as well as I have been. It thawed out a bit and I am not good hitting things out of the mud, but, good testing of the tee.

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Big guy you are busting your butt on this testing stuff :clapp:.

Thanks guys. I signed up, got to honor commitments. It is not all bad. Give me an excuse to play golf.

First I want to thank THP and Bridgestone for allowing me to thest the 2013 e7. A bit late to the party but really wanted to gather my thoughts on the ball before writing a review. So here it goes:


Initial Impressions:

Having played the 2012 e6 and e7 balls I was really excited to try the e7 for 2013. The ball felt surprisingly soft for a distance ball. I definitely noticed it to be a tad softer than the 2012 e7. The grey numbers was also a nice touch. So now on to the good stuff

Driver

When I first teed up with the e7 I honestly did not know what to expect. Yeah I had played the e7 but knew this ball was slightly different. To add to that I was gaming the Classic which I had just re shafted with a Kusala White. New shaft and new ball...oh boy...what was I getting myself into. On first strike the ball jumped off the face and had a nice feel to it off the driver. I remember telling Canes113 how nice it felt off the face. I also noticed how straight the ball flight was, TOO straight at times, but who is really going to complain about a ball going straight?! Although this is categorized as a distance ball by no means did it feel like one. Just felt solid and responsive. LONG...that is a word I can easily add to this ball. As stated in my earlier thread I had my 2 longest drives of recent memory with this ball. One drive of 293 and one of 316. This ball flew straighter than an arrow and held its line. Its almost like the ball just did not want to go left or right for me. Don't get me wrong though, I did put a few nasty swings on it and the ball went sailing in to some neighborhoods but that is user error .
Irons

This is where i think the ball becomes noticeably different, IMO, over the 2012 model. The feel off the irons was soft and crisp. I am not playing forged irons right now and can notice the feel off of different balls quite distinctly whith the R9's I am currently gaming. The e7 was surprisingly soft on iron shots. Now as I say "soft" keep in mind I am referring to "distance" balls for review purposes. This is no tour premium ball nor I will be comparing it to such

Approach shots

This is by far the #1 improvement in the e7 line for me. With the 2012 model I noticed on approach shots the ball would just bounce all over the green and give me more roll-out than desired but I took that trade-off to gain the straight flights off the tee. Well not so with the 2013 ball. On every single approach shot that hit the green the ball landed right next to its divot stopping dead in its tracks. This could be a result of the softer cover but this definitely impressed me and was something I was not used to in the 2012 model

Greenside and putts

This is where the "distance ball" comes into play. I did not see nor am I still seeing any check ups with this ball, nor did I expect it too. As others have said in previous posts, when playing this ball you need to take account for that and land your chip/pitch shots sooner than normal to allow for roll-out. With that being said, if you can get used to that, I think this ball does not disappoint on green side chips as the ball provides plenty of feedback in the feel department to adjust for that. In fact, there are some players out there that can actually benefit from some additional roll out as opposed to a ball that checks up and stops quickly. I, for one, am one of those players. The added roll out can be adjusted for and play well in my game although having the ability to check would have been icing on the cake.

Putting the ball had a nice feel to it. A subtle audible click paired with more than adequate feedback allowed me to judge distance nicely. Another big improvement over the 2012 model in the "putter feel" category.

Overall:

The main thing I am noticing with this ball that has me very excited to continue testing it is 1) Long and straight off the tee. TOO straight at times 2) "Stop and Drop" on approach shots and 3) Durability. I didnt mention durability much but I have gamed the 2013 e7 now for a few rounds and can easily attest to using only 3 balls. Not because of wear but because I lost 2 to some errant drives. The ball is remarkably durable. When keeping the ball in play, I have no doubt you can game 1 ball for a few rounds.

Testing Round: Smokerise Golf Club, January 29, 2013

Temperature: Round started in the high 50's and ended at about 70

Weather: Mostly Cloudy, variable winds

Course Conditions: A little wet, somewhat sloppy


I played the e7 this morning with THPer Rusty for a round at Smokerise Golf Club in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I had not played the course before, which made placing the ball rather difficult. (The course has a lot of blind shots and forced carries that are difficult to judge at first.) The course is also narrow in spots (particularly on the front side), which made driving the ball difficult. Nevertheless, I think that I obtained a good feel for the e7's performance.


Tee to Green:

My first tee shot with the e7 was with a 3W on the first hole, which was a shortish (e.g., about 380 yards) par 4 that was framed to appear narrower than it actually was. Bunkers down the left side and trees down the right made the landing area appear to be very narrow, but in reality the trees opened to a fairly accommodating landing area. I hit a very slight fade down the right side of the fairway that landed about a yard off of the fairway. The ball flight was relatively straight and controlled, and the ball seemed to fly a little lower than I am used to seeing.

The feeling at impact was very surprising. I expected a very firm, plasticky feel. While the e7 felt firm, it was not plasticky and in no way resembled the rocks that I am used to feeling with distance balls. While firm, the feeling was very pleasant. Throughout the round, I really enjoyed the feeling of the e7 at impact off of the tee. I also felt like I compressed the e7 more than the B330 that I usually play. I'm not sure if this was actually happening, but this was certainly the feeling, especially on well-struck tee shots.

Interestingly, the closer I was to the hole, the firmer the e7 felt. The e7 certainly felt firmer off of my irons than off of my woods, and it seemed to feel firmer with wedges than with longer irons. I have never experienced a ball that felt progressively firmer like this, but it was a consistent experience throughout the round.

The e7 wants to fly straight, or at least very close to it. Well-struck balls, and even most mishits, stayed very close to their line. (I did have a couple very awful swings where the ball went awry -- I chalk those up as outliers.) The e7 also holds its line very well in the wind. Crosswinds had a little bit of an effect, but it was not substantial. Well-struck shots in particular generate a piercing flight that almost disregards the wind.

I found it difficult to keep the e7 from rolling out on the greens. The greens were pretty receptive, and I was able to hold approach shots with my usual ball (B330) very easily. The e7, though, tended to roll a fair amount. One shot in particular that illustrates this point was an approach with my 54* from about 105 into the wind. Normally, that shot flies high and typically comes to rest within inches of the pitch mark. While I struck this shot very well, the ball rolled 10-12 feet from the pitch mark. Rusty noted that the ball landed on a down slope, which certainly added to the release. Nevertheless, I was pretty surprised at just how much this shot released. The e7 was pretty consistent in that regard.

I also found the e7 very durable. I managed to lose an entire sleeve during the round. (See comments above about the course.) But, the balls really held up while they were in play. Very few scuff marks, even when I hit the e7 into/out of fairway and greenside bunkers. This was not surprising, as I have found that Bridgestone balls tend to hold up better than other brands.


Around the Green:

Admittedly, I struggled quite a bit with the e7 around the green. The ball feels very firm around the green, and I found it difficult to generate spin. Pitch shots would release quite a bit, and even chips had more roll than I was used to seeing. The feeling was not unpleasant, and I am sure that I could get used to the release. But, on this day I really had trouble getting up and down with the ball.

Putting with the e7 is comparable to the B330. This is consistent with my prior short game sessions with the ball. The e7 certainly feels firmer, but it does not seem to roll a significant amount further than my usual ball. I also found that the e7 held its line on well-struck putts. I made a few putts with the e7, which surprised me since I was having difficulty with it around the green.


General Findings:

I did not notice an increase in distance with the e7. Admittedly, I did not have a side-by-side comparison with the e7 and a B330. (We had a group pushing us for most of the day, and multiple-drive holes was simply out of the question.) But, the distance that I was hitting the e7 seemed to be similar than what I am used to seeing with the B330. Perhaps it was a few yards shorter or longer, but it would not be something I would consider to be significant.

The tag line for the e7 is that it is a ball to help you catch up when you are a "club or two" behind your playing partners. While I am not the longest hitter out there, I am typically one of the longer hitters in my group. I was interested to see if the e7 would actually give me another club of distance. I did not experience that today. I'm not sure if I will.

The e7 does seem to fly straighter, particularly on tee shots. I typically hit the B330 pretty straight, but it seemed like the e7 was flying straighter than what I am used to experiencing.

I'm looking forward to putting the e7 in play again, hopefully by the weekend. Thanks again to THP and Bridgestone for this testing opportunity.

Great stuff folks, y'all are doing a great job with your write ups. 'I am enjoying following along.

Had my best nine holes ever yesterday with the e7. From the very first tee shot things were just clicking. I was getting the exact ball blight I wanted off the driver, a nice straight mid ball flight, and my irons and wedges were attacking the pins with a great angle. The green were also softer than they've been all winter and I got almost zero roll out on all approaches. I ended up with 2 birdies, 6 pars and an unfortunate double on a 200 yard par three that I was on the green in reg. I had a four foot downhill par putt that lipped going down and lipped again coming back. All in all it was a great feeling to walk a way with a 36 on a course that I never shoot in the 30's on the front. Bad thing is I regularly shoot 38/39's on the back but had to leave at the turn for work.

That's great to hear Lambro. So I guess you now understand why I had a weird reaction the first time I played the ball on VERY soft greens.

JT723 said:

That's great to hear Lambro. So I guess you now understand why I had a weird reaction the first time I played the ball on VERY soft greens.

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Absolutely. I had multiple shots stop within a foot of pitch mark, when on previous half dozen rounds I could only stop with 56/60.

lambro2 said:

Absolutely. I had multiple shots stop within a foot of pitch mark, when on previous half dozen rounds I could only stop with 56/60.

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That was my exact problem on my last round on much firmer greens where normally I could stop it dead with say 8 iron. I'm glad I'm not alone. Haha. Great round too. Need to save some of that for July!!

These balls are long! Awesome winter ball.




TTing

Nice ball marking there Thainer :thumb:

Love the marking on the e7, Thainer.

Anyone getting out on the course this weekend with the e7?

War Eagle said:

Love the marking on the e7, Thainer.

Anyone getting out on the course this weekend with the e7?

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Looks like were still going to be hovering around the freezing mark this weekend. Next week, we are supposed to get a warm up, which will get me out to the course (providing we don't get any rain/snow again). I can only putt these things so many times in the basement. Which I will add, I do like them off the face of my putter. They don't have a distance ball feel about them. With some distance balls, they feel God awful off the face of the putter and feel like you are trying to putt a rock. These don't feel anything like that. Based on my prior experience with the 2012 e7 ball, Bridgestone does a great job of putting out a distance ball, that doesn't feel like a typical distance ball.

But you don't buy a distance ball to feel great off the putter. You buy them to bomb the crap out of them and keep them in the short stuff. If you get a soft feel green side and on the greens with a distance ball, that is just icing on the cake. Hopefully by this time next week, I will have bombed and hopefully kept them in the short stuff and can chime in there.

Now have 2 rounds on the e7 ball. Both played in similar North Texas January conditions, mild (60's), dormant bermuda, and moderate to high winds. My gamer has been the Taylormade TP3 and both rounds were played with the XHot Driver, 4W, and 3H along with the TM Rocketbladz irons. Impressions to date:

Durability: solid, the ball holds up well even when spending time on surfaces not intended for play! I've noticed no scarring/shredding from the wedge game or short-irons.

Feel: on wedges they are clicky but you don't sacrifice performance in that the ball will check and have limited run out. On iron and wood shots I've noticed no discernible difference in feel from a high-end ball to the e7. On the putter it feels fine and rolls true.

Dispersion: this is where the ball shines, it just holds its line, simply stated. The sidespin with this ball is minimal and I've found myself playing for less of a fade because of it's ability to hold and stay true to a line.

Distance: overall I've been disappointed here, I'm actually shorter off the tee and from the deck. During my past 2 rounds I've hit it side by side with an Callaway HX Hot Pro and the HP has been 7 to 12 yards longer on similarly struck woods and 5 to 7 yards longer on comparable iron shots.

My plan is to give the balls a continued test and see if the distance issue is just a fluke. I'm incredibly impressed by the dispersion tightness that ball is producing and if I can squeeze a few more yards out of it I may be onto something.

I will be at the course tomorrow War.

Round 2. I played 27 holes at a 9 hole par 3 course where I played the 1st 9 with the E7. The ball flew high and straight off the tee. I used my sand wedge on most of the holes from the white tees are 80 to 115 yds. I wanted to see the action of the ball on the green. The greens were soft and so the E7 stuck really well with very little back up. I played the 2nd 9 with my normal ball and same tees and shot 1 stroke better but that had nothing to do with the ball I played. Overall the E7 feels good off the tee flys straight and true. It holds the soft greens fine but would like to see what it does in the summer on firm greens. For those needing a little more distance this ball will be great. I give it an 8 of 10. I plan on hitting the links again on Monday to hit them again.

Pulling up to play an exectuive course now. Gonna take the e7 threw the ringer on short course

Tapping away on my S3

I'm looking for a good cheap winter ball. I used the E7 last year and liked it quite a bit. Maybe I will go purchase a box of these and go HAM

NoLine said:

Dispersion: this is where the ball shines, it just holds its line, simply stated. The sidespin with this ball is minimal and I've found myself playing for less of a fade because of it's ability to hold and stay true to a line.

Distance: overall I've been disappointed here, I'm actually shorter off the tee and from the deck. During my past 2 rounds I've hit it side by side with an Callaway HX Hot Pro and the HP has been 7 to 12 yards longer on similarly struck woods and 5 to 7 yards longer on comparable iron shots.

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NoLine,
I'm getting the same results as far as minimal sidespin and also a lack of distance improvement. I am guessing that in my case I am probably not compressing the ball enough to get maximum distance performance. My swing speed is probably sub-90 more times than not. I've only measured it once and it was 86-90 with 90 being my best.

I do enjoy the consistency and control and I feel like I'm learning a lot from this test. I plan to buy a dozen E6 also to see which ball suits my game the best. Either way I'll probably be playing all Bridgestone balls this year as I have learned so much about them and they have, along with THP, given me this great opportunity.

rangeballs said:

NoLine,
I'm getting the same results as far as minimal sidespin and also a lack of distance improvement. I am guessing that in my case I am probably not compressing the ball enough to get maximum distance performance. My swing speed is probably sub-90 more times than not. I've only measured it once and it was 86-90 with 90 being my best.

I do enjoy the consistency and control and I feel like I'm learning a lot from this test. I plan to buy a dozen E6 also to see which ball suits my game the best. Either way I'll probably be playing all Bridgestone balls this year as I have learned so much about them and they have, along with THP, given me this great opportunity.

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I think Bridgestone has the most complete line of balls of any OEM. I love their cheaper options and their high end model fits me very well also. You can play a Bridgestone for every month of the year