Cernunnos
Journeyman Pro
Dunlop have come up with a range of equipment Harking back to their classic 65 of old when dunlop used to offer decent equipment & the best balls on the market.
Aparently Dunlop came up with the "65" monica after Sir Henry Cotton played what at the time was refered to as "The perfect round" back in 1934 in the second round of The Open Championship. So the 65 ball was born. Its been used by Player, Seve & Jacklin to name but three.
I've certainly been a fan of the Dunlop Cabretta leather glove & their 65 range of golf gloves impressed me too. Though that is a side issue & not the focus of this review
I've yet to be convinced about them having improved the rest of their equipment but I decided to as a bit of a traditionalist with a foot in both bunkers to give the new range of Dunlop 65 balls a go. To see if these balls deserved a place in the modern game
They come in very retro packaging, wrapped up like some sort of Dark chocolate Ferrero Rocher. Though its actually a classic idea come up with for golf balls anyway years ago. And must admit I actually quite like this, the idea you can unwrap each ball individually, you have a litte sticky label on each litte package. My only reservation here is I need to unwrap them to put my logo on them with my sharpie marker, so none of these balls had my usual logo on this week, but it wasn't going to be a problem as I was certainly going to be the only player out there using a "65" ball in our group of 20 players.
First impressions are also very good. The ball feels soft & almost tacky to the touch. It actually feels like your club is going to grab hold of the ball & give you the spin control you want, you feel its going to give you putter control you desire & need.
And indeed it does.
I put this ball to very good use this week at Celtic Manor & the ball excelled itself on both courses & particularly on the Montgomerie course where my putting feel for the pace of the greens was exceptional. This ball breeds confidence.
Now the 65 is not the softest ball on the market, but for the rrp or & especially what I paid for this ball its actually a lot nicer than balls even twice, or three times what I paid. And certainly a lot softer & more responsive than most of what the market has to offer imo.
But its not just in the putting war that this ball wins. Its nice off all the clubs. You will not get a windproof ball with this Dunlop "65" ball, as you can shape it & it'll tell you when you've put a less than perfect strike on it through impact with its flight path. And its certainly giving me more distance than some, though not all balls I've used recently. It may not be the super dooper Srixon Z Star or The Bridgestone B330RX, but I bought mine for a third of the price of those beauties & its not all that far short of the performance. Infact its frighteningly close in feel properties to both those examples.
This ball is no DDH or LoCo.
These Dunlop "65" balls are a proper ball, with proper respectable performance & feel. It almost seems to be a pity to let this little secret out as this is only going to be a limited run of ball so the commerative packaging. The back of the box claims :"This Commemerative box contains the latest chapter in the Dunlop 65's storied history. A thoroughly modern ball designed for today's game. The new Dunlop 65 features a large soft core & advanced dimple pattern to provide today's golfer with noticably longer distance & softer feel from tee to green."
Well most claims some manufacturers state need to be taken with a pinch of salt but largely yes I'll go with what is claimed here. Its not the longest ball on the market but I feel its is certainly up there in the more than respectable examples. Never mind tee to green I'd say tee to hole. I'd say this ball saved me half a dozen putts during a round because I felt I could putt with it & get inside that magic distance more often than not.
Just as it seems a pity to have to share this little secret,it also seems a pity not to recommend something classy & classic producing modern performance with an air of yesteryear. I really hope Dunlop decide to continue producing this new ball, because after two full rounds I am hooked on it right from the first drive.
I shall be getting myself boxes of these when I find them in the shops from now on.
Aparently Dunlop came up with the "65" monica after Sir Henry Cotton played what at the time was refered to as "The perfect round" back in 1934 in the second round of The Open Championship. So the 65 ball was born. Its been used by Player, Seve & Jacklin to name but three.
I've certainly been a fan of the Dunlop Cabretta leather glove & their 65 range of golf gloves impressed me too. Though that is a side issue & not the focus of this review
I've yet to be convinced about them having improved the rest of their equipment but I decided to as a bit of a traditionalist with a foot in both bunkers to give the new range of Dunlop 65 balls a go. To see if these balls deserved a place in the modern game
They come in very retro packaging, wrapped up like some sort of Dark chocolate Ferrero Rocher. Though its actually a classic idea come up with for golf balls anyway years ago. And must admit I actually quite like this, the idea you can unwrap each ball individually, you have a litte sticky label on each litte package. My only reservation here is I need to unwrap them to put my logo on them with my sharpie marker, so none of these balls had my usual logo on this week, but it wasn't going to be a problem as I was certainly going to be the only player out there using a "65" ball in our group of 20 players.
First impressions are also very good. The ball feels soft & almost tacky to the touch. It actually feels like your club is going to grab hold of the ball & give you the spin control you want, you feel its going to give you putter control you desire & need.
And indeed it does.
I put this ball to very good use this week at Celtic Manor & the ball excelled itself on both courses & particularly on the Montgomerie course where my putting feel for the pace of the greens was exceptional. This ball breeds confidence.
Now the 65 is not the softest ball on the market, but for the rrp or & especially what I paid for this ball its actually a lot nicer than balls even twice, or three times what I paid. And certainly a lot softer & more responsive than most of what the market has to offer imo.
But its not just in the putting war that this ball wins. Its nice off all the clubs. You will not get a windproof ball with this Dunlop "65" ball, as you can shape it & it'll tell you when you've put a less than perfect strike on it through impact with its flight path. And its certainly giving me more distance than some, though not all balls I've used recently. It may not be the super dooper Srixon Z Star or The Bridgestone B330RX, but I bought mine for a third of the price of those beauties & its not all that far short of the performance. Infact its frighteningly close in feel properties to both those examples.
This ball is no DDH or LoCo.
These Dunlop "65" balls are a proper ball, with proper respectable performance & feel. It almost seems to be a pity to let this little secret out as this is only going to be a limited run of ball so the commerative packaging. The back of the box claims :"This Commemerative box contains the latest chapter in the Dunlop 65's storied history. A thoroughly modern ball designed for today's game. The new Dunlop 65 features a large soft core & advanced dimple pattern to provide today's golfer with noticably longer distance & softer feel from tee to green."
Well most claims some manufacturers state need to be taken with a pinch of salt but largely yes I'll go with what is claimed here. Its not the longest ball on the market but I feel its is certainly up there in the more than respectable examples. Never mind tee to green I'd say tee to hole. I'd say this ball saved me half a dozen putts during a round because I felt I could putt with it & get inside that magic distance more often than not.
Just as it seems a pity to have to share this little secret,it also seems a pity not to recommend something classy & classic producing modern performance with an air of yesteryear. I really hope Dunlop decide to continue producing this new ball, because after two full rounds I am hooked on it right from the first drive.
I shall be getting myself boxes of these when I find them in the shops from now on.
