Hopkins Golf Balls - Forum Review

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Hopkins Golf has sent out their new line of balls to selected THP forum members for a round of Forum Review. This thread will serve as a place for the testers to share their long term review and thoughts on the line of balls released from Hopkins Golf.
 
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Hopkins Golf Ball Testing Review

got my package in today! Fast shipping! Thanks.

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Nothing fancy here. Just a plastic bag of golf balls. But if they pass those savings on to the customer I'm down with that.

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I like the looks of this ball. It is a nice clean design IMO. I don't currently use marks on my ball to align my putt but if you do the ones on here look like they would work well right out of the box. Um bag.

One thing I don't like about the minimalistic packaging is I have no idea what kind of ball this is or what kind of characteristics it is supposed to provide on the course.

I only putted around the house but they feel ok to me. I'm not too picky with the putter.
I hit a few with these and then a few with the Q star (what I am playing ATM)
The Q star felt a little softer and the Hopkins ball was a little louder but nothing that bothered me.
More to come.
 
Nice start Aaron! One thing I like about the lack of a box with description is that there will be no preconceived notions about "how" they "should" perform but rather we will hear your raw feedback.

Looking forward to your on course thoughts!
 
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updated 1/14 with first test resuts:

Hopkins VL Golf Balls
As many others have stated the balls arrived in a plain simple zip-lock style plastic bag. Nothing fancy, but this is fine with me. I don’t keep boxes for anything, I almost always unpack the balls, mark them then put them in my bag. All surplus of balls I keep on a shelf in my closet, so it doesn’t matter if they are boxed or in the bag.



Initial impression:
My first thought as I removed a couple balls, is that they are very white, and they cover didn’t feel overly hard. It is a 3-piece ball although it doesn’t state what the cover is made out of, but based on the balls Hopkins said it is designed to compete with Chrome and NXT Tour, I would guess it’s a Urethane cover.
The two balls I had on hand to compare were the Srixon Q-Star and Bridgestone 330 RX. It was definitely whiter than both of those.



Testing:
I had a unusually typical mild day (57 degrees) for January, so I took the opportunity to head to my home course for testing on an actual putting green and short game area.
First up the pitching/chipping area. I tested the three balls on a 10 yard chip, and 30 and 50 yard pitches. I couldn’t go much beyond 50 yards in this area.
10 yard chip:
The balls all performed identically here. Nice soft feeling off the face of my wedge—A Hopkins 52* --for the record. They all had the same initial little check and roll out to the cup.

20 yard pitch:
Again here try as I might to notice a difference, there was nothing noticeable here either. Again a nice soft click type feel from the wedge and the expected bite and roll from such a short shot.


50 yard pitch:
For the first time, I was able to notice a slight difference between the Hopkins and 330 RX. The RX seemed a bit firmer off the face. The Q Star and VL sounded a felt about the same. The green was still saturated from all the rain, so they all pretty much landed very soft, but the shot wasn’t long enough to generate enough club head speed to see which if any was better at hop and stop.

Putting green:
I tested these all on a variety length of putts--5, 15, 25 and 80 feet. Using my SeeMore SB1W putter.
They all felt and sounded very good off the putter on the short and medium length putts. Only on the longest putt was there a slight difference. The 330 RX sounded a bit firmer on the long putt. The Q-Star and VL again sounded and felt the same.

Next week I plan to get on a LM with the Hopkins and compare it to the RX and Chrome for spin and distance numbers, and hopefully on full iron and wedge shots on course if the weather permits.
For me the most important thing about a wedge is the sound/feel off a wedge and putter. The Hopkins VL passed that test with flying colors. I will still like to see it on longer wedge and iron shots to see how it performs on the green from those shots.
 

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Nice start Aaron! One thing I like about the lack of a box with description is that there will be no preconceived notions about "how" they "should" perform but rather we will hear your raw feedback.

Looking forward to your on course thoughts!

I agree with Cookie here and Im guilty too of seeing what the ball "should" do for me. You go to the course with this preconceived notion and I think it sometimes can easily sway your feedback. This I think will help make it more unbiased. Looking forward to the feedback.
 
I have played a couple of rounds with these. I'm just waiting to see if the official tester's views of them are similar to mine.
 
Nice start Aaron! One thing I like about the lack of a box with description is that there will be no preconceived notions about "how" they "should" perform but rather we will hear your raw feedback.

Looking forward to your on course thoughts!

Good point, I never really thought of it that way. I should be able to give these a go tomorrow.
 
Just received my balls. I have to say I like the idea behind the simple packaging. Simple logoed bag with the balls in there. No hype, no gimmicks, just here's the balls.

I regularly game the Bridgestone B330-RXS, so will compare vs those as well as whatever other balls I can get my hands on. I happen to have some NXT Tours, which is one of the direct comparisons they make as far as performance so those will definitely be thrown in for comparison.

My testing plan includes time at the local indoor place which has About Golf simulators, which I've found to be fairly accurate to what I see in actual play, range time at the chipping/putting area, as well as playing out at a couple courses that are playable year round here.

Putted a few here at work real quick and just with a quick few putts it does feel very similar to the NXT tour off the flatstick. I'll do more putting at home tonight and am going to make an appt for the indoor place for tomorrow.
 
I received my dozen Hopkins balls on Friday and spent some time this morning checking them out and comparing them to the current ball I use, the Callaway Hex Chrome. I switch often between the Chrome and the Diablo Tour ball, also from Callaway, since they are less expensive. I do fine much better green side spin with the Chrome, which is what I really need out of a ball right now.

According to the Hopkins website, their balls are comparative to the Callaway Hex Chrome, just less expensive. I believe the Hopkins ball has a surlyn cover while the Chrome has a Urethane cover, so I expect that the Chrome will last longer, but that is obviously yet to be determined.

My first impression comparing to the Chrome are that they feel very different. The Hopkins ball feels harder, while the Chrome is softer and the outer skin is almost "sticky."

Below are some comparison pictures. One thing that I hope will come out in the pictures is that the Hopkins ball is much whiter than the Chrome. I don't know if that is a byproduct of the urethane vs surlyn cover or something else. Not that I really care if one is whiter than another, just an observation.

I plan on getting these out to a local club on Sunday and testing them out around the practice green seeing how greenside spin is. Also trying to figure out what they sound like off of the putter. Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to try and answer them.


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I have played a couple of rounds with these. I'm just waiting to see if the official tester's views of them are similar to mine.

So have I, cant wait to see how everyone else compares these.
 
I received my dozen a couple of days ago, and at first impression was I do like the packaging-especially if it stays that way and savings are passed on to the consumer. It does not matter what they come out of, just how they perform on the course. As Cookie said, I have no idea what these balls are designed to do, what areas of my game they are supposed to improve (I am not sure if it is on their website or not, I have refrained from looking for that very reason).
Now a little background about myself so readers may know how to take my review. I have been "playing" golf for some 25+ years. I use the term loosely as until about 2 years ago I was just going and hitting balls. I decided I wanted to take the game a little more seriously and started setting some goals, and have improved my game by at least 20 or so strokes, but still only play to a mid 20's cap. I have never had any formal lessons/training (some youtube videos and golf magazines prior to that). Until about a year ago, I could always count on a pretty good slice outside of 100 yards-but on the upside I have dealt with many difficult lies so I have learned to play from such. Putting has always been awful (at least 40% of my strokes are with the putter every round). Iron contact is good on good days, and looks like my 7 year old hacking at the ball on bad days.
I switched to the E6 just over a year ago (thanks to THP forums and the Bridgestone online fitting) and am still currently gaming those. That mixed with some tips and self instruction has straightened out my slice to a fade most of the time, but a big slice and snap hook will creep in a few times a round. I am pretty happy at this time with the E6, just wish I could get more bite on the greens, but it helped in the area I thought I needed most of the help-keeping me in the short or at least shorter grass. My sticks range anywhere from a couple of years old (driver, 3h, and putter), to 8+ years (irons and 3 wood), and ping wedges that have to be at least 10 years old. Sorry about the rambling, just want everybody to have a decent feel of where my game is to be able to get useful information from my reviews.

Now to my first thoughts after hitting a few:
I had the balls out last evening in the backyard-doesn't look like much but I have found it works well for fairway simulation and can get up to 75 yard shots. Was using my wedge and staying in the 15-50 yard range. To me they felt nice off of the face, maybe a little softer to me than the E6. On the short shots I could visually see the rotation of the ball and to the naked eye, the hopkins ball seem to have a fair bit more than the E6 (no numbers to quantify just what I think I was seeing).
So initial overall first feeling was good. I am going to the local course today and will give it a go on the chipping and putting green (winds are around 25 mph today so just gonna keep it short today) and will give further feedback this evening on how this goes.

If anything sounds confusing or clarification is desired, do please ask.
And again, thanks to THP and Hopkins golf for this opportunity.
 
You're the first that I've heard that say they feel softer than the E6. I have to say that they're possibly the hardest feeling ball I've ever hit, especially off the putter. I played one side by side with a Taylormade SuperDeep and it felt harder than the TM ball.
 
You're the first that I've heard that say they feel softer than the E6. I have to say that they're possibly the hardest feeling ball I've ever hit, especially off the putter. I played one side by side with a Taylormade SuperDeep and it felt harder than the TM ball.
I will quantify that by saying it could have been that I was just getting better contact than normal with them last night as my swing and shots were feeling nice for me. Will have an update on that feel in a few hours.
 
I tried to play the ball again today to make sure my original thoughts were right. They were. No spin on wedges and felt horrible off the putter.

I threw it in the rough and one of my playing partners picked it up and played 2 holes with it before hitting it the woods on purpose.
 
Hopkins Golf Balls - Forum Review

First off, I want to thank THP and Hopkins Golf for providing me the opportunity to test the VL Pro (VL 3404).

Played a round today at King & Bear @ World Golf Village. First time having some time w/ the Hopkins golf ball.

First impression was that the ball felt much harder than my typical gamers, B330-S. As stated in earlier posts, the ball does not have that sticky cover feel.

Rolled a few puts pre round on the practice green. They felt nice off the putter and rolled well. Did not have my 'a' game today and lost a few balls, including one on 18 that I had played the back nine w/ so I do not have a post round ball to share. However, the cover is extremely durable and did not show any signs of scuffing after multiple wedge/iron shots.

The ball performed well green side, pitch and chip shots rolled out, and full wedge shots had nice stoping power & backspin. The greens at King & Bear were pretty soft but very fast. Lots of rain yesterday softened the course up.

Off the tee is where I struggled most. Typical ball flight is mid trajectory w/ left to right cut, these balls seemed to spin more to the right and lost a few in the drink. When I put a good swing on one, the ball flight and distance was very good.

Overall, the ball is extremely durable but IMO, is missing some feel. Looking forward to spending more time with the ball to provide more input.

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First off, I want to thank THP and Hopkins Golf for providing me the opportunity to test the VL Pro (VL 3404).

Played a round today at King & Bear @ World Golf Village today. First time having some time w/ the Hopkins golf ball.

First impression was that the ball felt much harder than my typical gamers, B330-S. As stated in earlier posts, the ball does not have that sticky cover feel.

Rolled a few puts pre round on the practice green. They felt nice off the putter and rolled well. Did not have my 'a' game today and lost a few balls, including one on 18 that I had played the back nine w/ so I do not have a post round ball to share. However, the cover is extremely durable and did not show any signs of scuffing after multiple wedge/iron shots.

The ball performed well green side, pitch and chip shots rolled out, and full wedge shots had nice stoping power & backspin. The greens at King & Bear were pretty soft but very fast. Lots of rain yesterday softened the course up.

Off the tee is where I struggled most. Typical ball flight is mid trajectory w/ right to left cut, these balls seemed to spin more to the right and lost a few in the drink. When I put a good swing on one, the ball flight and distance was very good.

Overall, the ball is extremely durable but IMO, is missing some feel. Looking forward to spending more time with the ball to provide more input.

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e3ete3yg.jpg

Great initial review! Thanks for sharing, do the dimples on the Hopkins seem a little smaller than your regular gamer?
 
I tried to play the ball again today to make sure my original thoughts were right. They were. No spin on wedges and felt horrible off the putter.

I threw it in the rough and one of my playing partners picked it up and played 2 holes with it before hitting it the woods on purpose.

I disagree w the spin comment. I had plenty of juice on full wedge shots. I think the ball has a hard/durable cover that dampens the fell aspect that some golfers are looking for. My Seemore putter has an insert, what putter are you using?

Also, I would never intentionally hit a ball out of bounds. Was a mulligan taken?
 
I tried to play the ball again today to make sure my original thoughts were right. They were. No spin on wedges and felt horrible off the putter.

I threw it in the rough and one of my playing partners picked it up and played 2 holes with it before hitting it the woods on purpose.


Is this part of the official testing?
 
I disagree w the spin comment. I had plenty of juice on full wedge shots. I think the ball has a hard/durable cover that dampens the fell aspect that some golfers are looking for. My Seemore putter has an insert, what putter are you using?

Also, I would never intentionally hit a ball out of bounds. Was a mulligan taken?

I have an Si3 with an insert. He hit it in after the hole was over. Three people have tried them in my group and no one would play them after a couple holes. I can live with them off the driver and irons, but can't play them around or on the greens.

Anyone who is going to the TM testing this weekend is welcome to the few that I have left to try out.
 
Great reviews guys. I haven't been able to put the Hopkins Balls I purchased into play yet due to the weather.
 
Some very interesting thoughts so far on these. Question for those who are saying they are hard, what temps are you playing these in?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
It was 58 here today when we teed off
 
Just back from range time at the indoor place. Mixed thoughts for the first time out. Performed reasonably well, but was definitely a bit harsh feeling wise. Working on a full write up now.
 
Some very interesting thoughts so far on these. Question for those who are saying they are hard, what temps are you playing these in?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Mid 60's for me. Cold didn't impact my review.
 
Played my first round with these today. I was impressed. Full post coming later.
 
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