July 30, 2010 – Bill Pennington of the New York Times in his article in the On Par blog titled The Right Ball Can Be as Important as the Right Club writes about Paula Creamer’s recent U.S. Open win and her change in golf balls from the pink Precept Lady 180 IQ to the Bridgestone Tour B330-RX. The article only discusses swing speed as the main factor in determining the right ball. What it fails to address is that the right golf ball for your game is a combination of fitting for your ball speed, launch angle and spin as well as your on-course preferences off the tee, in the fairway and on the green. This approach, used by GolfBallSelector.com, provides for a more comprehensive ball fitting.
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July 7, 2010 – Doug Ferguson reports in Golfweek that Tiger Woods has switched to a new golf ball. The new version of the Nike One Tour has a slightly harder cover and spins less than the previous version that Woods was using. Woods’ distance off the tee has increased in recent weeks and this could be the reason why.
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October 14, 2009 – Jennifer Gardner, Equipment Editor for the Golf Press Association recently wrote an article in The Tour Van on choosing the right golf ball when competing in a foursomes match where two golfers play alternate shot using the same golf ball. The article contains quotes from several touring professionals that participated in the recent President’s Cup matches. Viewpoints range from Robert Allenby indicating that this is a significant issue to Anthony Kim indicating that it really doesn’t matter. Interesting. What do you think?
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May 28, 2009 – In its May 2009 issue, Golf Digest introduced its 2009 Hot List for Golf Balls. The article rates golf balls in three price categories (<$22, $22-35, and >$40) while awarding points for each of the following criteria: Performance, Innovation, Feel, Demand, and Value. Twenty-eight golf balls were subjected to player, robot and air-cannon testing. The robot testing results for driver and wedge spin/launch data are plotted for a single profile. The report features golf balls from Bridgestone, Callaway, Nike, Pinnacle, Srixon, TaylorMade, Titleist, Top-Flite, and Wilson.
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February 28, 2008 – E. Michael Johnson of GolfWorld writes an article on golf ball compression indicating that compression is not relevant to consumers these days as it has been in the past. The article goes on to say that today some manufacturers use compression to predict performance while others use it to achieve a certain feel in a ball.
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December 18, 2008 – NewScientist.com reports on a new golf ball patent by Korea’s Seoul National University that features a golf ball design with grooves on its surface rather than dimples. The grooves are arranged so that the ball’s surface is divided into triangles that cover a smaller surface area than dimples. The smaller surface area makes it less likely that a putter will strike the surface in such a way that sends the ball offline at impact. The claimed end result is fewer putting errors.
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December 8, 2008 – Sherman Oaks, CA. GolfBallSelector.com has completed initial testing on the Tour B330-RX.
The Bridgestone Tour B330-RX, introduced this past August, is a 3-piece golf ball construction, which includes a low compression core, ionomer inner cover, and urethane outer cover with 330-dimple pattern.
The Tour B330-RX was bench tested for compression and cover hardness, robotically putter tested and player tested by GolfBallSelector.com using the driver, 6 iron and sand wedge.
The Tour B330-RX will be included in our next scheduled GolfBallSelector.com site release so we do not make any application statements. As with any ball, player preferences and individual launch/spin conditions are paramount in choosing a ball.
Notable Observations
According to Bridgestone, the new Tour B330-RX “is a ball designed specifically for low handicappers who do not have tour-level swing speeds, but want tour-level performance in their short game”. Bridgestone states the Tour B330-RX is “designed for swing speeds between 85-105 mph”.
Our independent testing and performance benchmarking against the 75 other balls in the GolfBallSelector.com testing database (tour and non-tour balls) confirms Bridgestone’s claims that the Tour B330-RX is a low spinning ball off the driver for lower ball speeds, of less than about 125 mph.
Our bench testing also showed that the Tour B330-RX has a compression reading of 85 using the ATTI golf ball compression test device. This is a reading approximately 10 compression points lower than the Titleist Pro V1, 30 points lower than the 2007 version of the Bridgestone Tour B330 and 13 points lower that the Bridgestone e5+.
Both of these factors – low spin off the driver and a lower compression golf ball construction – may then contribute to improved distance and overall performance for some lower ball speed golfers. However, it is very important to note that distance performance of any ball will vary by golfer profile and by the combination of factors, such as ball speed, launch angle, angle of attack and equipment set-up designed to control for spin.
In our testing using a standard 56 degree sand wedge, the Tour B330-RX provides, in general, less spin than a Titleist Pro V1 and significantly less spin than the Nike One Platinum, which is among the highest spinning balls tested to date.
GolfBallSelector.com robotic putter testing indicates that the Tour B330-RX has similar “hotness” off the putter to the Pro V1; and other bench testing reveals that the Tour B330-RX also exhibits similar cover hardness to the Titleist Pro V1.
In summary, the Tour B330-RX shows many strong characteristics the average to low ball speed golfer may seek; and exhibits short game spin and feel characteristics similar to that of a Titleist Pro V1.
GolfBallSelector.com believes that golfers interested in the Tour B330-RX should consider its “best fit” potential for their own game in the context of their own preferences and the trade-offs they are prepared to take for distance, control and feel and according to their own unique ballistics measures of ball speed, launch angle and general spin rate. Learn more at GolfBallSelector.com.
GolfBallSelector.com is the independent resource for information and assistance in selecting the right golf ball for individual players. Through this innovative online golf ball fitting system, golfers set their own game objectives and goals as well as their individual preferences for distance, control and feel attributes in a golf ball to derive individualized rankings of recommended balls, from a database of 75 leading golf balls. Annual Memberships are available for $29.95 and 30-Day Memberships are available for $19.95.
Media Contact:
Gary Esayian
1+646-316-1956
gary.e@golfballselector.com
December 2, 2008 – Nicholas Bakalar of the New York Times in his article titled Scientists Take Swing at Golf Ball’s Dimples writes about ongoing research by scientists at Arizona State University and the University of Maryland where they have created a computer simulation of the way air flow affects a ball’s speed and trajectory.
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October 7, 2008 – Stan Awtrey of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about the new Tour B330-RX golf ball from Bridgestone Golf and its successful debut last month in his article titled Georgia maker’s ball hits the green.
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September 10, 2008 – Dominic Pedler of the Golf International Magazine writes that selecting the right golf ball for your game has reached new levels of sophistication with the rise of independent testing and decision-making software through ball-fitting website GolfBallSelector.com.
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August 15, 2008 – The GolfBallSelector.com Leaderboard tracks the winning balls on the PGA Tour by brand and model.�
Padraig Harrington won the 90th edition of the PGA Championship with a final round 66 to give him his second straight major championship and third major title in 13 months. Harrington, a Wilson staff member, became the first European-born golfer to win the Championship in 78 years, relying once again on a Titleist Pro V1x ball to handle the fast tricky greens at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Harrington held off Sergio Garcia (TaylorMade TP Red LDP) and Ben Curtis (Titleist Pro V1x) with a back nine 32, sinking clutch putts on the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes to seal the win.
Among the Top 19 finishers who tied for 15th or better, Titleist led the way with 9 balls in play, followed by Callaway with 4 balls in play. TaylorMade and Srixon were next with 2 each, and Bridgestone and Nike each had one ball in play among the Top 19.
PGA Championship Top 19 Golf Balls in play, according to GolfBallSelector.com, were:
1 Padraig Harrington Titleist Pro V1x
T2 Sergio Garcia TaylorMade TP Red LDP
T2 Ben Curtis Titleist Pro V1x
T4 Camilo Villegas Titleist Pro V1
T4 Henrik Stenson Srixon Z-UR Series
6 Steve Flesch Srixon Z-URC
T7 Andres Romero Titleist Pro V1x
T7 Phil Mickelson Callaway Tour i
T9 Charlie Wi Titleist Pro V1
T9 Alastair Forsyth Callaway Tour ix
T9 Justin Rose TaylorMade TP Red LDP
T9 Jeey Milkha Singh Titleist Pro V1x
T13 Aaron Baddeley Titleist Pro V1x
T13 Ken Duke Titleist Pro V1
T15 Paul Casey Nike One Platinum
T15 Stuart Appleby Bridgestone Tour B330S
T15 Prayad Marksaeng Callaway Tour ix
T15 Graeme McDowell Callaway Tour ix
T15 David Toms Titleist Pro V1
The PGA Tour Golf Ball Winners (through 36 events), per the GolfBallSelector.com Leaderboard, are:
Titleist – 21 wins
Nike – 10 wins
Callaway – 3 wins
TaylorMade – 2 wins
The GolfBallSelector.com Leaderboard is published by GolfBallTest.org. The RSS feed can be accessed at: GolfBallTest.org RSS Feed.
GolfBallSelector.com is the independent resource for information and assistance in selecting the right golf ball for individual players. Through this innovative online golf ball fitting system, golfers set their own game objectives and goals as well as their individual preferences for distance, control and feel attributes in a golf ball to derive individualized rankings of recommended balls, from a database of 60 leading golf balls. Annual Memberships are available for $29.95 and 30-Day Memberships are available for $19.95.
Media Contact:
Gary Esayian
1+646-316-1956
gary.e@golfballselector.com
July 26, 2008 – James Achenbach of the Golfweek met with Mitch Voges and writes about GolfBallSelector.com in the article Even the golf ball should be a perfect fit. From the article “Several ball manufacturers have devised their own fitting systems, although GolfBallSelector is the largest of a handful of independent fitters”.
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July 22, 2008 – The GolfBallSelector.com Leaderboard tracks the winning balls on the PGA Tour by brand and model.
This past week, Padraig Harrington won the 137th edition of The Open Championship with a final round 69 to give him his second major championship and back-to-back British Open titles. Harrington is a Wilson staff member but relied on a Titleist Pro V1x golf ball to tame the wind and rain at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. Greg Norman put a TaylorMade TP Red into play this week, and the 53-year-old Norman turned back the clock for three rounds before struggling on Sunday in the final group with Harrington. Among the top 15 finishers, Titleist had 7 golf balls in play, followed by Srixon and Nike with 3 each and Callaway with one ball in play.
The top 15 golf balls in play at The Open Championship, according to GolfBallSelector.com, were:
1 Padraig Harrington Titleist Pro V1x
2 Ian Poulter Titleist Pro V1x
T3 Henrik Stenson Srixon Z-UR Series
T3 Greg Norman TaylorMade TP Red LDP
T5 Jim Furyk Srixon Z-URC
T5 a-Chris Wood Titleist Pro V1x
T7 David Howell Titleist Pro V1
T7 Robert Karlsson Titleist Pro V1x
T7 Ernie Els Callaway Tour i
T7 Paul Casey Nike One Platinum
T7 Stephen Ames Nike One Platinum
T7 Steve Stricker Titleist Pro V1
T7 Robert Allenby Srixon Z-UR Series
T7 Anthony Kim Nike One Platinum
T7 Ben Curtis Titleist Pro V1x
The PGA Tour Golf Ball Winners (through 32 events), per the GolfBallSelector.com Leaderboard, are:
Titleist – 17 wins
Nike – 10 wins
Callaway – 3 wins
TaylorMade – 2 wins
The GolfBallSelector.com Leaderboard is published by GolfBallTest.org. The RSS feed can be accessed at: GolfBallTest.org RSS Feed.
GolfBallSelector.com is the independent resource for information and assistance in selecting the right golf ball for individual players. Through this innovative online golf ball fitting system, golfers set their own game objectives and goals as well as their individual preferences for distance, control and feel attributes in a golf ball to derive individualized rankings of recommended balls, from a database of 60 leading golf balls. Annual Memberships are available for $29.95 and 30-Day Memberships are available for $19.95.
Media Contact:
Gary Esayian
1+646-316-1956
gary.e@golfballselector.com
July 1, 2008 – Timothy J. Carroll of the Wall Street Journal visits the United States Golf Association (USGA) headquarters in Far Hills, New Jersey and writes about the testing that is done to keep golf balls within the rules of golf.
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May 22, 2008 – Max Adler of Golf Digest writes about golf balls and the effects of dimples on performance stating “It’s possible the largest performance gains left in golf will come from design improvements made to this basic element”.
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December 31, 2007 – Leith Anderson of The Golf Lab writes about golf ball fitting and GolfBallSelector.com in his Golf Equipment Chronicles column at Golf Today Magazine.
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December 30, 2007 – Gary Trask of GolfObserver.com writes about how GolfBallSelector.com takes golf ball technology to the next level by selecting the right ball to get the maximum performance for your game.
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December 21, 2007 – ESPN.com recently reported that Callaway Golf won a patent infringement case against Acushnet, parent company of Titleist. The lawsuit focused on five golf ball patents where jurors ruled that in four of the five patents Acushnet had infringed upon existing Callaway Golf patents. This is the latest development in a series of lawsuits where the major golf ball manufacturers are battling out in the court of law.
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December 19, 2007 – Golf Magazine recently selected Max Out Golf founder Mitch Voges as one of its 12 “innovators of golf” for his work with GolfBallSelector.com – an innovative and pioneering site that helps golfers select the best golf ball based on their unique profile and game objectives.
The editors at Golf Magazine considered hundreds of worthy candidates and picked the 12 best, including Voges and the GolfBallSelector.com creation. Voges is recognized as “The Maverick” for helping players choose the right golf ball for their unique style rather than simply relying on advertised performance claims by the ball’s manufacturers.
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December 17, 2007 – Golf for Women magazine Senior Editor Stina Sternberg in the January/February 2008 issue writes about the new generation of golf balls with super low compressions and how they are tailor made for a woman’s game.
The article identifies ten new ball offerings from Pinnacle, Bridgestone, Top-Flite, Wilson, Precept, Srixon, Callaway, Titleist, Nike, and Maxfli.
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