TERRE HAUTE — Tiger Woods plays a Nike ball, Phil Mickelson and Annika Sorenstam play Calloway, Jim Furyk plays a Srixon, Fred Couples plays a Bridgestone, Ernie Els plays a Titleist ProVI and Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh play a ProVIx. How do you pick which ball you should play? It’s all very confusing, but due to improvements in technology, it’s getting easier to fit a ball to your game. It might take a lot of trial and error though, so I picked up the May issue of Consumer Reports, which included a rating of golf balls. I’ve often wondered how different brands of balls compared, and now I have Consumer Reports’ expert testing to tell me the ins and outs of golf balls.
There are two basic types of golf balls now, two-piece balls and multi-layer balls, which are 3 or 4-piece. Two-piece balls are best for beginners and intermediate players. They’re usually made for distance more than spin, and they cost a lot less than multi-layer balls. Some examples of 2-piece balls are Nike Power Distance Super Soft, Pinnacle Gold Distance, Titleist NXT, Titleist DT So-Lo, and the Lady Precept.
Three-piece balls are best for experienced players. They’re made to have low spin off the driver to go far, yet have higher spin off the iron shots to allow for back-spin on shots into greens. The core is similar or the same as a two-piece ball, but there is a middle layer that is very thin and made of ionomers. The cover is usually thinner than two-piece balls, allowing the ball to stick to the club face longer on shorter shots, which produces more spin. Examples of three-piece balls are Nike One Black, Calloway HX Tour 56, Titleist ProVI, Maxfli Black Max, Precept PWRDrive, and the Bridgestone Tour B330.
Four-piece balls are made with the strong hitter in mind, or those with faster swing speeds. They have a hard inner core like two and three-piece balls, but that is surrounded by another thinner layer of rubber to soften the feel of the ball. Then comes a layer of ionomer and one of hard plastic. Examples of 4-piece balls are Titleist Pro VIx and the Wilson Staff Tx4Tour (the only two tested by Consumer Reports).
Consumer Reports tested all the balls using a computerized robot, using a driver and an 8-iron. Two swing speeds were used, 90 mph to represent amateurs and 110 mph to represent a professional’s rate. They tracked ball speed, launch angle, and spin off of the club face. When the ball landed, it’s deviation from center was recorded, the distance it carried in the air, plus its total distance, which included the roll after it landed. Factors such as wind and humidity were factored into the results too. Each type of ball was hit 48 times. To get the rating for softness and feel they had to use real people, not the robot, so they enlisted some local teaching professionals. They putted each ball eight times, and scored it on a scale of 1 to 9, hardest to softest.
The Nike One Black, at $41 per dozen, tied for best overall rating with the Nike Power Distance Super Soft, at $14 per dozen. Their scores were 82 out of 100. Both balls were rated excellent for driver distance, but the Nike One had “very good” in the soft feel rating, while the Nike Power Distance, a two-piece ball, had an excellent! Both balls were “very good” for 8-iron accuracy, but the Nike One was rated excellent for driver accuracy and 8-iron spin, while the Power Distance was only rated “very good”. For only $14 a dozen though, it has a lot of good qualities, and Consumer Reports gave it one of their “CR Best Buy” ratings.
I know a lot of people, including many high school golfers, who play the Titleist Pro VI and Pro VIx. Both cost $44 a dozen, but the Pro VI was rated excellent in every category except for 8-iron accuracy, for which it received only a “good” rating. The ProVIx had a “very good” rating for every category but 8-iron spin, in which it had a rating of “excellent”. The high cost was a factor in lowering these balls to numbers 4 and 5 respectively in overall rankings, with scores of 80 and 78.
Besides the Nike Power Distance, the Consumer Report’s Best Buy rating was also given to Pinnacle’s Gold Distance ($13/doz) and its Exception ($19/doz), and Precept’s Lady ($19/doz).
The Titleist So-Lo, Lady Precept, and Pinnacle Exception were considered the best balls for slower swing speeds, which are usually women, seniors, and younger players.
Here’s the main thing to remember about whichever golf ball you use though: you must be aware of how YOU play with that ball. In order to lower you scores, you must know how far you hit each club, and how much spin to expect when hitting short-iron shots. I usually use a Lady Precept, but sometimes I’ll try another ball. I tend to notice a difference in distance for my game. My son, who plays a Titleist ProVI most of the time, notices the biggest difference around the greens with his chipping when he tries another ball. When playing in a competition, you should play with the ball that you have practiced with the most, and are most comfortable with its characteristics.
Quote of the day — “The fun you get from golf is in direct ratio to the effort you don’t put into it.” — Bob Allen.
Jennifer Myers can be reached by email at jfmyers@xsthe.net.
Vigo County golf leagues
Elks Ladies Nine-hole — Low gross: Darby Guglielmetti; Low net: Roxie Price; Low putts: Guglielmetti; Play of the Day: Emma Lou Dodson, Frances Curley, Ginny Shawler, Lucille Merrill; Chip-in: Clarena Matthews; Birdie on No. 8: Guglielmetti.
Paitson’s Roofing Eastside Ladies — Standings: Baesler’s Market 100, Sandy’s Touch of Magic 93, Advanced Chiropractic 92, Mowbray Consulting 79, Turner Coaches 75, Page’s Market 73, Tabco 67, Coaches Corner 61. Low gross: Sandy Siegelin 39; Low net: Carol Mowbray 30: Play of the Day: Mowbray; Chip-ins: Barb Kelley No. 15, Brenda Ellis No. 18, Siegelin No. 13, Faye Lynn King No. 14.
Women’s Tuesday 18-hole — Low gross: Shelva Gaither; Low net: Susan Amerman 73; Play of the Day: Virginia Anderson, low putts; Chip-ins: Beth Lowe No. 11, No. 12 and No. 15, Anderson No. 14.
First Financial Bank Ladies Nine-hole — Standings: Baesler’s 41, VFW 41, Bratt Hospital 39, VFW No. 2 39, Elliott Jewelers 35, Shepard’s Gas 25. Play of the Day: Carol Mowbray; Chip-ins: Hoy No. 11, Handley No. 12, Pestoff No. 13, Newman No. 15, Kelley No. 18.
Terre Haute Savings Bank men — National Division Standings: Bush Restaurant 14, Bogey’s Family Fun Center 139, Lough Bros. 138, Paitson Bros. 135, Pizza Hut 134, T.H. Savings Bank 130, McGuire Excavating 112, SMC 110. Low gross: Fred Myers (Pizza Hut) 37. Low net: Charles Clark (Paitson Bros. 32). American Division standings: VFW No. 972 148, Callahan Funeral Home 142, Heinl’s Flower Shop 138, Pabst Painting 134, Gurman Containers 133, Lee Appraisal Service 125, Poplar Flower Shop 116, Salt of the Earth 108. Low gross: Herschell Allen (Lee Apraisal Service) 35. Low net: Ralph Lee (Lee Appraisal Service).
On & Off the Course
On and off the course: Pick ball that suits your experience, checkbook
- On & Off the Course
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
• Gary R. Wright
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Donna Lynn Strahla Bown
Donna Lynn Strahla Bown passed away early Friday morning, Jan. 25, 2013, with her children by her side.
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‘The Match’ pitting amateurs vs. pros recalled 62 years later
Quote of the Day: “I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.” — Ben Hogan.
Bubba Watson has had a busy fall. Not only did he play all the way to the final round of the FedEx Championships, and in the Ryder Cup, he also played in an event commemorating a very famous match played at Cypress Point in 1956, pitting two of the greatest golf pros at the time against two of the best amateurs.
Come to think of it, all four were some of the best golfers of all time. This year’s event was celebrating The First Tee’s exceeding $100 million in pledges to reach 10 million new young people. It wasn’t televised and kept very quiet; only 225 people were in the gallery.
One of the people in the gallery was Mark Frost, the author of a book titled “The Match,” which is about that match played 62 years ago that was re-enacted in modern terms last week. The pros in 1956 were Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and the amateurs were Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward. It was supposed to have been a private affair, built around a wager by two millionaires, George Coleman and Eddie Lowery. -
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf from the wrong side of the brain
Imagine this scenario: a woman, small in stature (possibly freckled), walks into a hospital emergency room and says, “I have an emergency, I need a doctor quickly!” The admitting nurse, ever trying to be helpful, asks what the emergency is.
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Farmers looking at widely varying yields
Combines will roll through fields this weekend, bringing in the harvest from a summer with nearly no rain.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf debut in London would have been nice
As the Olympics get underway in London this weekend, I was thinking it’s too bad that the Olympic committee decided too late to add golf as one of the sports for this event; instead it will be added to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Getting to Hoosier country’s best golfing venue part of the fun
If you are looking for Indiana’s premier golfing destination, then you should look no further than French Lick.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Indiana's Pete Dye courses worth the drive
You’ve probably heard of the Robert Trent Jones Golf trail throughout Alabama, but you might not be aware that Indiana has its own “Pete Dye Golf Trail” comprised of seven courses.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fathers typically a big influence on golfing sons
Some events fall naturally into place around holidays. The Fourth of July always falls somewhere during Wimbledon, giving all of the Yanks in attendance something to be boisterous about, to the chagrin of their hosts; The Masters often, but not always, ends on Easter Sunday, which is fitting since golfers find it such a reverent occasion.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Memorial just one of many visions of Jack Nicklaus
When Jack Nicklaus was a young man, the golfer he most admired was Bob Jones.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
Golf is not a casual sport, even though it has a term called “casual water.”
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On and off the course: Sycamores seeded sixth heading into MVC golf tourney
It wasn’t too long ago that Indiana State University didn’t even have a women’s golf team.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: A hard ticket to come by
This is the weekend of the Masters Tournament, the first of the four major tournaments.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
It’s not often that anything gets more scary on a golf course than a steep downhill putt, but on some courses around the world, things a little more on the supernatural side might give you a bigger fright!
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
I don’t know if the Golf Channel will show a “Best Shots of 2011” highlight reel, much like ESPN does for baseball or football.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
In 2006, the Ryder Cup was held in Ireland at The K Club in County Kildare.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
Once the major tournaments are over with, what’s there to look forward to in the world of golf?
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
Golf is not a simple game. A golf course is made up of 18 holes, all different. There are par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; they all vary in length and elevation, and each has its own challenges. There can be water hazards, trees, sand bunkers, tall grass, hills, valleys — and then, if that’s not enough, there’s probably wind too.
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
Northern Ireland is only about 5,452 square miles in area and has a population about the same as West Virginia, which is about 1,880,344.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
This is the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open, and this year it’s being played at The Broadmoor, East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
Most people consider the time around Christmas to be the gift-buying season.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper to understand that America is struggling on the economic front. The evidence can be witnessed at the local golf course.
- More On & Off the Course Headlines
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See Lindsay Lohan in Rehab
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