I know this is going to shock everyone, but this is a great ball. I've been fooling around with a lot of mid-price balls the last few years, because for reasons I cannot explain, I got away from ordering used balls from an online retailer I came across 3 years ago or so. I went back to check them out recently, and they had the 2007 Pro V1's and the x's for $24.95 a dozen, so I gave the new Pro V1's a try. Then I remembered reading in GOLF Magazine recently their "Best Ball for You" issue, and I remember reading that not only was the x-ball longer (which I knew), but their testing also showed it spun more around the greens than the Pro V1 (in fact, I think it was
the spinniest short-game ball), and that it was also
softer, two things I thought were not true.
So I said heck, I'll give the x-ball a try. I've used them before, probably several years ago, but probably not more than a dozen of them. So here's what I've found since going back:
They are indeed significantly longer than the Pro V1's of the same year (the '07 model is all they have available), like noticeably so. And I know, I know, everyone who tries a new ball says it's longer this, it's longer that - just like new sneakers made you run faster when you were a kid
- but the Pro V1x is without a doubt 10 yards longer off the tee at a minimum. In hitting them side-by-side, they're longer off the irons, too, probably half a club.
What really surprised me is how much better they are around the greens than the Pro V1, which I was under the impression was the superior short-game ball. I hit the half-wedge of my life the other day, about a 45 yarder slightly uphill off a fairway lie. The ball was slightly above my feet, and the green was in the shade, with a sliver of sunlight 5 yards or so before the hole which was my landing spot; I clipped that bad boy perfectly off the grass, it hit right where I pictured it, hopped once and SCREEEEEEEEEEEEETCH - dead stop. Pin high. Three feet.
I don't do that kind of thing. Usually it hits and does something (usually nothing beneficial), but that was pretty darn cool; it was like a pro pitch. The idea that I might actually be able to throw pitches right short of the hole and they might actually stop is pretty encouraging!
And no, they aren't super durable, but that's life. Now that I'm getting them for basically half-price online (and for the same price as the mid-range balls I had been playing), if I scuff one on a wedge or full iron, that's life. I'll take the trade-off.
Anyway, this is now officially
the golf ball of
mr3856a.
Thoughts?