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Premium Ball Test / December 2001

GolfTest USA has completed the Premium Ball Test and we are posting the results so that golfers can see how all the balls did in the test. We will also be publishing an article on the Premium Ball Test that will appear in golf magazines in the near future.

There has been a flood of new premium balls on the golf market. GolfTest USA gets many requests for information on all the new balls that have hit the market in the past year. We undertook the daunting task of testing and reviewing the new group of premium balls. Following is the list of balls that were included in the test.

• Maxfli A10
• Nike Tour Accuracy
• Strata Tour Ultimate
• Strata Tour Ultimate 2
• Precept Extra Spin
• TopFlite XL 3000
• Srixon Hi-Brid
• Wilson Staff Balata
• TaylorMade TP Tour
• Volvik 4-Piece Metal

(Just prior to the start of the test Titleist and Callaway contacted GolfTest USA and informed us that they had decided not to participate in the test)

We had 50 average handicap golfers play one round with each of 10 premium balls. After each round was completed the golfers evaluated the performance of each of the balls on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best. The criteria that we had each golfer evaluate are as follow. 1. Distance 2. Control 3. Accuracy 4. Playability 5. Feel 6. Appearance 7. Trajectory 8. Durability and 9. Overall.

We also asked them after they had played all 10 balls to pick what they thought were the top three balls. The balls that received the most 1st place votes were:

TopFlite XL 3000--- 20%; Maxfli A10--- 18% and Srixon Hy-Brid, Strata Tour Ultimate and Nike Tour Accuracy each received 12%

Each ball in the test had some golfers pick it as the best of the group.

The balls that received the most votes in the top three were:

Nike Tour Accuracy--- 42%; Maxfli A10 and TopFlite at 38%; Precept Extra Spin--- 36%: Strata Tour Ultimate and TaylorMade T P Tour at 32%.

The Nike Tour Accuracy finished 1st in 6 of the 9 criteria.

The Strata Tour Ultimate II and the Maxfli A 10 were the only balls to finish in the top 5 in all categories. When it came down to picking the best-rated ball of the group it was very, very close. Only a few hundreds of a percentage point separated the top three balls. Strata Tour Ultimate II edged Nike by .01 of a point and beat Maxfli A10 by .05 of a point. When we looked at the place each ball finished from 10 down to 1 in each category Nike Tour Accuracy edged Strata Tour Ultimate II by one point and Maxfli A10 by 7 points.

It is probably too close to call but we are going to try anyway. After looking at the results from many different angles we were able to agree on the top three balls in the test. GolfTest USA feels that the Nike Tour Accuracy finished # 1 with Strata Tour Ultimate II a very, very close 2nd and Maxfli A10 just a slight bit behind in third. Other balls we felt scored very well were the Precept Extra Spin, TopFlite XL 3000, Strata Tour Ultimate and the Srixon Hy-Brid. In all fairness each ball in the test had its fans and we can say there wasn't a bad ball among the group. 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.

Go to our manufacturer's links page to find out more information about the items in the above category.