One Planer
Global Moderator
Before I start, I'll add a disclaimer that this is my opinion based on my experiences today and may not reflect your own experiences with these balls.
I was supposed to be playing the monthly medal today, but unfortunately due to family commitments, had to give it a miss. The only way I would get a game was if I went at the crack of dawn... So that's what I did. My usual partners were playing the medal at 9.30am, so played alone.
I decided to do a mini ball test of my own just to freshen things up a little.
Decided to compare the Titleist Pro V1 (2012), the Mizuno MP-s and the Bridgestone B330 Tour RX.
I decided to score one ball, but play 3 over the 18 holes. A little naughty but the course was literally empty and no excess damage was caused.
It's the first time I've had the opportunity to try a premium Bridgestone ball so I was very interested to see how it performed compared to my stock ball (Pro V1)
Off the tee
All the balls perform pretty similar off the tee. The Titleist is noticeably softer then the Mizuno and the Bridgestone. The Mizuno and the Bridgestone, on the other hand, do seem to offer more distance than the Titlesist. All the balls had a similar trajectory off the tee peg.
Of the 3 the Titleist and the Bridgestone seems to have the more consistent flight where the Mizuno seems to want to move though the air a lot more, a lot more of the time. Didn't matter whether I hit it the Mizuno first, second or last, it always seemed to turn more during its flight.
Irons
Again, I thought the Titleist was much softer off the face than the other two. All 3 performed pretty well with the irons. The Bridgstone again felt to me a little firmer having been playing the Pro V1 for the last 2 seasons. That said the Bridgestone was consistently longer than the Titleist with the same club. Could this be put down to quality of strike, perhaps, but consistently longer makes it harder to dismiss.
Wedges
This is where I was eager to see how the Bridgestone compared to the other two. I know from previous experience that the Titleist and the Mizuno are very similar when it comes to control with wedges, with the only difference being the Mizuno is a little firmer.
Our 8th green was completely re-laid at the start of the season. As a result it's playing pretty firm. Today, the pin was cut right at the back of the green, only around 3 yards from the fringe. The green slopes from front to back.
First ball in was the scoring ball (Titleist). The ball pitched about a 4ft short of the flag (left) and finished around 4-5ft past the flag. I felt that I didn't strike the ball pretty well, but it still held the green. The Mizuno pitched a little further back and ran out leaving around a 15ft putt. The Bridgestone, I caught as sweet as a nut. The ball pitched about 2ft shy of pin high, but offered very little in the way of spin control and ran to the back of the green into the fringe.
This could have been a combination of the firmness of the green and the slope, however, the Titleist handled the same firmness and slope, with what I felt a poorer contact than the Bridgestone, much better. Stopping much quicker after pitching.
You could probably argue I carried the Bridgestone too far, but after pacing out the roll from the pitch marks, the Titleist would still have held the green from where the Bridgestone pitched.
Chipping
Dead heat here I'm afraid. The only minor difference was the Bridgestone and Mizuno firmness compared to the Titleist.
Putting
Another aspect I was keen to see how the Bridgestone performed. Of the 3 balls, I actually preferred to putt with the Bridgestone. The one criticism I've always had of the Titlesit is that's it's too soft when putting. It's pretty much the same with the Mizuno, albeit the Mizuno is a tad firmer. The Bridgestone offers a good, crisp contact and doesn't make a bad noise as sit comes off the putter face. For me, it's just the right feeling for putting. Neither too soft, nor too hard. A perfect compromise.
Conclusion
From my previous review on the Mizuno MP-S ball, it's a very good alternative to the Pro V1. Fractionally longer than the Titleist, but a tad more spiny in the air.
The Bridgestone I thought was a very good ball. It's the ball I really wanted to play as I've never had the chance. I think I could get used to the firmer feel after a little use. The one thing I'm not so sure I couldn't used to is the compromised control with wedges. The ball just doesn't have the same level of spin compared to the Pro V1. To putt with, the Bridgestone is fantastic. Best of the 3 in my opinion when it comes to putting the ball in the hole.
Overall, all the balls are pretty solid. They all play very similar and offer very similar results albeit with a slightly different feel.
I'm off back out tomorrow morning with just the Bridgestone. I really want to like this ball. It's consistently longer than the Pro V1, equally good to chip with and much better to putt with. Couple to that cheaper to buy per dozen it's a more sensible choice. The Titleist ticks all the boxes though.
If, tomorrow, the Bridgestone performs a little better when hit into greens I could well be swayed. I suppose this time tomorrow I'll have my answer
NB: after all the above I was done in just over 3 hours and clear of the course without holding anyone up
I was supposed to be playing the monthly medal today, but unfortunately due to family commitments, had to give it a miss. The only way I would get a game was if I went at the crack of dawn... So that's what I did. My usual partners were playing the medal at 9.30am, so played alone.
I decided to do a mini ball test of my own just to freshen things up a little.
Decided to compare the Titleist Pro V1 (2012), the Mizuno MP-s and the Bridgestone B330 Tour RX.
I decided to score one ball, but play 3 over the 18 holes. A little naughty but the course was literally empty and no excess damage was caused.
It's the first time I've had the opportunity to try a premium Bridgestone ball so I was very interested to see how it performed compared to my stock ball (Pro V1)
Off the tee
All the balls perform pretty similar off the tee. The Titleist is noticeably softer then the Mizuno and the Bridgestone. The Mizuno and the Bridgestone, on the other hand, do seem to offer more distance than the Titlesist. All the balls had a similar trajectory off the tee peg.
Of the 3 the Titleist and the Bridgestone seems to have the more consistent flight where the Mizuno seems to want to move though the air a lot more, a lot more of the time. Didn't matter whether I hit it the Mizuno first, second or last, it always seemed to turn more during its flight.
Irons
Again, I thought the Titleist was much softer off the face than the other two. All 3 performed pretty well with the irons. The Bridgstone again felt to me a little firmer having been playing the Pro V1 for the last 2 seasons. That said the Bridgestone was consistently longer than the Titleist with the same club. Could this be put down to quality of strike, perhaps, but consistently longer makes it harder to dismiss.
Wedges
This is where I was eager to see how the Bridgestone compared to the other two. I know from previous experience that the Titleist and the Mizuno are very similar when it comes to control with wedges, with the only difference being the Mizuno is a little firmer.
Our 8th green was completely re-laid at the start of the season. As a result it's playing pretty firm. Today, the pin was cut right at the back of the green, only around 3 yards from the fringe. The green slopes from front to back.
First ball in was the scoring ball (Titleist). The ball pitched about a 4ft short of the flag (left) and finished around 4-5ft past the flag. I felt that I didn't strike the ball pretty well, but it still held the green. The Mizuno pitched a little further back and ran out leaving around a 15ft putt. The Bridgestone, I caught as sweet as a nut. The ball pitched about 2ft shy of pin high, but offered very little in the way of spin control and ran to the back of the green into the fringe.
This could have been a combination of the firmness of the green and the slope, however, the Titleist handled the same firmness and slope, with what I felt a poorer contact than the Bridgestone, much better. Stopping much quicker after pitching.
You could probably argue I carried the Bridgestone too far, but after pacing out the roll from the pitch marks, the Titleist would still have held the green from where the Bridgestone pitched.
Chipping
Dead heat here I'm afraid. The only minor difference was the Bridgestone and Mizuno firmness compared to the Titleist.
Putting
Another aspect I was keen to see how the Bridgestone performed. Of the 3 balls, I actually preferred to putt with the Bridgestone. The one criticism I've always had of the Titlesit is that's it's too soft when putting. It's pretty much the same with the Mizuno, albeit the Mizuno is a tad firmer. The Bridgestone offers a good, crisp contact and doesn't make a bad noise as sit comes off the putter face. For me, it's just the right feeling for putting. Neither too soft, nor too hard. A perfect compromise.
Conclusion
From my previous review on the Mizuno MP-S ball, it's a very good alternative to the Pro V1. Fractionally longer than the Titleist, but a tad more spiny in the air.
The Bridgestone I thought was a very good ball. It's the ball I really wanted to play as I've never had the chance. I think I could get used to the firmer feel after a little use. The one thing I'm not so sure I couldn't used to is the compromised control with wedges. The ball just doesn't have the same level of spin compared to the Pro V1. To putt with, the Bridgestone is fantastic. Best of the 3 in my opinion when it comes to putting the ball in the hole.
Overall, all the balls are pretty solid. They all play very similar and offer very similar results albeit with a slightly different feel.
I'm off back out tomorrow morning with just the Bridgestone. I really want to like this ball. It's consistently longer than the Pro V1, equally good to chip with and much better to putt with. Couple to that cheaper to buy per dozen it's a more sensible choice. The Titleist ticks all the boxes though.
If, tomorrow, the Bridgestone performs a little better when hit into greens I could well be swayed. I suppose this time tomorrow I'll have my answer
NB: after all the above I was done in just over 3 hours and clear of the course without holding anyone up
