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Spring
Ball Test / 2003
This
year has been a very active year for ball manufacturers.
They have introduced many new balls all with the intent
to obtain the best results for golfers in distance and feel.
This was our most ambitious test to date as we had 16 balls
from ten different manufacturers participate in the test.
The Wilson Staff True Tour Elite was to be in the test but
we received it too late to be included so it will be in
our Fall Ball Test. As has been the case in past tests we
were not able to get Titleist or Callaway to participate.
Also Spalding indicated they would not be sending any of
their new Strata, Ben Hogan or Top Flite balls for the test.
We get many requests from golfers all over the world asking
us to include them in our Ball Tests. We have expressed
our disappointment to Titleist, Callaway and Spalding and
hope that in the future they will reconsider, as the ball
tests that we conduct twice a year are the most popular
tests that we conduct. We believe that if enough golfers
contact Titleist, Callaway and Spalding directly by phone
or email and make their feelings known to them they may
decide that it is in their best interest to participate
in future tests. Please take some time and let them know
what the golfing public wants.
Ball
Test Format
We asked each golfer to play one round with each ball and
to be as fair and consistent as they could be in evaluating
each of the balls. They promised to do their best to put
aside any preconceived biases they may have had regarding
the balls in the test. We understand that golfers can have
good days and bad days but we are confident that by having
60 golfers evaluate each ball that the final average results
are a good indication of how each ball is perceived by golfers.
Here
are the balls that were included in the test:
- Volvik
Crystal 70 Colored
- Volvik
ST 446+
- Synergy
Master
- Srixon
Pro UR
- Dunlop
LoCo Bite
- Precept
Lady Diamond
- Maxfli
Noodle Spin
- Slazenger
Raw Distance Fusion
- Slazenger
Tour Platinum
- Sabre
Cutting Edge
- Wilson
Staff True Velocity
- Nike
TA2/Spn
- Nike
TA2/Lng
- Nike
Power Distance Super Far
- Nike
Power Distance Super Fly
- Nike
Power Distance Super Soft
Following
are some ratings; conclusions and observations GolfTest
USA made using the results obtained from the test.
Distance: The Precept Lady Diamond was
rated as the best ball for distance by a wide margin overall.
The Nike Power Distance Super Far, Wilson True Velocity,
Nike TA2/Lng and Nike TA2/Spn also received high marks for
“Distance”.
Control: Wilson True Velocity and Precept
Lady Diamond tied for the top rating in “Control”.
Also scoring well were the Volvik Crystal 70, Nike TA2/Spn
and the Nike Power Distance Super Fly.
Accuracy: The real “sleeper”
in the test group, the Volvik Crystal 70 came out tops in
“Accuracy”. Right behind were the Wilson True
Velocity, Precept Lady Diamond, Nike TA2/Spn and the Nike
Power Distance Super Soft.
Putting: The Precept Lady Diamond was rated tops
with the Wilson True Velocity close behind. The Volvik Crystal
70, Nike TA2/Spn, Slazenger Raw Distance Fusion and the
Volvik ST446+ received good marks.
Short Game: Go figure, the Nike Power Distance
Super Far was the top rated ball in the “Short Game”.
Tied for second were the Nike TA2/Spn and Precept Lady Diamond.
Wilson True Velocity and Nike Power Distance Super Soft
also did well.
Feel: The Precept Lady Diamond was best
for "feel" by far. Wilson True Velocity and Nike
TA2/Spn scored well as did the Volvik ST 446+ and Nike Power
Distance Super Fly.
Appearance: We can’t quite figure
out how the Nike TA2/Spn “looked” so much better
than any of the other balls but then again we don’t
claim to be practicing psychologists (With three Nike balls
rated in the top five in appearance we do suspect the “swoosh”
may well have mutated into the gene that affects America’s
obsessive interest in sports). Also rated high in “Appearance”
were the Nike TA2/Lng, Nike Power Distance Super Soft, Wilson
True Velocity and Slazenger Tour Platinum.
Durability: The Volvik Crystal 70 was rated
the highest by far in “Durability”(this ball
is virtually impossible to destroy). Slazenger Tour Platinum,
Nike TA2/Spn, Nike TA2/Lng and Wilson True Velocity also
proved to be very durable.
Trajectory: Precept Lady Diamond was rated
tops. Slazenger Tour Platinum, Nike Power Distance Super
Fly, Nike TA2/Spn and Wilson True Velocity also scored high.
Overall: This rating is not an accumulation
or average of the other categories. We asked the testers
to take into account everything they look for and feel is
important to them in a ball and give an overall rating.
It was apparent based on the ratings in the individual categories
that the Precept Lady Diamond, Wilson True Velocity and
Nike TA2/Spn would rate highest overall and that was certainly
the case. Also receiving high "Overall" ratings
were the Nike Power Distance Super Soft, Volvik ST 446+
and Nike Power Distance Super Far.
GolfTest
USA also added up all the ten categories that were rated
for each ball and then we determined what the overall average
rating was for each ball. Using this method, the Wilson
True Velocity and Precept Lady Diamond tied for 1st, the
Nike TA2/Spn was 2nd. Volvik ST 446+, Nike Power Distance
Super Far, Nike TA2/Lng, Slazenger Tour Platinum, Nike Power
Distance Super Fly and Nike Power Distance Super Soft also
had solid ratings overall using this method.
After each tester played and rated all sixteen balls they
picked which balls they thought were the top five in the
test. Interestingly the Volvik Crystal 70, Slazenger Tour
Platinum and Wilson True Velocity were each picked by 15%
of the golfers as their top choice. The Nike TA2/Spn and
Nike TA2/Lng received 10% of the votes while no other ball
got more than 5%. As we might expect the Precept Lady Diamond
was voted in the top five by 50% of the testers but what
surprised us was the Maxfli Noodle Spin also placed in the
top five by 50% of the testers. Also receiving many overall
votes were the Wilson True Velocity, Volvik ST 446+, Nike
TA2/Spn, Slazenger Tour Platinum and Nike Power Distance
Super Soft.
When
all votes were counted from 1st to 5th place (We gave 1
point for 5th place on up to 5 points for a 1st place vote)
the Wilson True Velocity received the most points and the
Precept Lady Diamond was second, the Nike TA2/Spn and Maxfli
Noodle Spin tied for third and the Volvik Crystal 70, Volvik
ST 446+ and Slazenger Tour Platinum had the next highest
number of overall points.
We note that the Wilson True Velocity finished in the top five in each of
the ten categories, which we feel is an amazing feat in and off(should be
of) itself. Wilson balls had not been rated very highly in past tests but
with their new True Velocity they have a real winner. The Volvik Crystal 70
ball was orange and many of the macho man(should be men) cringed when we
told them they had to play it but the feedback was very positive from the
men who remained objective. All the women golfers in the test fell in love
with the Volvik Crystal 70. It comes in several other "shocking" colors and
Volvik has just introduced it in white. As usual Precept's entry the Lady
Diamond did extremely well. Nike had five balls in the test and they all
were well received. It looks like Slazenger is making a strong come back
with their new balls.
We have looked very carefully at all the results from many
different angles and are making this unscientific judgment
and taking the liberty of ranking what we think were the
top balls in this test.
-
Wilson True Velocity
- Precept
Lady Diamond
-
Nike TA2/Spn
-
Volvik ST 446+
-
Slazenger Tour Platinum
We are
leaving it up to golfers to draw their own conclusions as
to how the price of the balls relates to how each ball did
in this test. We welcome your thoughts regarding the results
of this ball test. Please feel free to post your comments
on our "Message Boards".
GolfTest
USA has already received requests from several ball manufacturers
to be included in our “Fall Ball Test”. If you
would like to see a specific ball included that we have
not done to date let us know and equally important let the
ball manufacturer know that you want them to participate
in the GolfTest USA “Fall Ball Test”.
We would like to thank each of the ball manufacturers for
their participation. Without their support and assistance
we would not have been able to conduct this test and bring
the golfing public these results.
| Balls |
Distance |
Control |
Accuracy |
Putting |
Short Game |
Feel |
Appearance |
Durability |
Trajectory |
Overall |
| Maxfli Noodle Spin | 7.40 | 7.55 | 7.50 | 7.40 | 7.45 | 7.45 | 7.65 | 7.80 | 7.55 | 7.55 |
| Slazenger Raw Distance Fusion | 7.85 | 7.50 | 7.45 | 7.65 | 7.35 | 7.40 | 7.85 | 7.80 | 7.35 | 7.50 |
| Nike Power Distance Super Soft | 7.75 | 7.60 | 7.75 | 7.50 | 7.60 | 7.55 | 8.10 | 7.60 | 7.70 | 7.75 |
| Synergy Master | 7.10 | 6.85 | 6.95 | 6.70 | 6.90 | 7.10 | 7.15 | 6.95 | 7.10 | 6.65 |
| Slazenger Tour Platinum | 7.80 | 7.70 | 7.55 | 7.45 | 7.50 | 7.50 | 7.95 | 8.05 | 7.90 | 7.50 |
| Nike TA2/Spn | 8.05 | 7.85 | 7.80 | 7.70 | 7.80 | 7.80 | 8.70 | 8.00 | 7.80 | 7.90 |
| Srixon Pro UR | 7.35 | 7.40 | 7.25 | 6.95 | 7.25 | 7.15 | 7.75 | 7.35 | 7.35 | 7.20 |
| Nike Power Distance Super Fly | 7.95 | 7.70 | 7.50 | 7.55 | 7.45 | 7.65 | 7.85 | 7.85 | 7.80 | 7.55 |
| Dunlop LoCo Bite | 7.45 | 7.50 | 7.65 | 7.60 | 7.55 | 7.55 | 7.75 | 7.70 | 7.50 | 7.55 |
| Nike TA2/Lng | 8.10 | 7.65 | 7.50 | 7.60 | 7.35 | 7.50 | 8.15 | 8.00 | 7.60 | 7.40 |
| Wilson Staff True Velocity | 8.10 | 7.90 | 7.95 | 7.90 | 7.65 | 7.75 | 8.05 | 7.95 | 7.80 | 7.95 |
| Nike Power Distance Super Far | 8.20 | 7.50 | 7.45 | 7.55 | 7.90 | 7.25 | 7.90 | 7.85 | 7.50 | 7.70 |
| Sabre Cutting Edge | 7.10 | 6.95 | 6.80 | 6.75 | 6.75 | 6.55 | 6.95 | 7.05 | 7.25 | 6.90
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| Volvik ST 446+ | 7.95 | 7.55 | 7.75 | 7.65 | 7.55 | 7.70 | 7.65 | 7.75 | 7.70 | 7.70 |
| Precept Lady Diamond | 8.50 | 7.90 | 7.90 | 7.95 | 7.80 | 8.20 | 7.75 | 7.85 | 8.00 | 8.00 |
| Volvik Crystal 70 Colored | 7.20 | 7.85 | 8.00 | 7.70 | 7.55 | 7.10 | 6.60 | 8.30 | 7.70 | 7.45 |
Go to
our manufacturer's links
page to find out more information about the items in the
above category.
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