HOT LIST 2007: TOUR-PERFORMANCE BALLS

Below is the current "Hot List" of tour performance golf balls according to Golf Digest. Enjoy!


TITLEIST PRO V1/PRO V1x

Key technology: Both versions of the market and worldwide tour-use leader are constructed from a polybutadiene core, an ionomer casing and a urethane cover. Pro V1x has 60 fewer dimples than Pro V1 and is designed to spin less.

Panelist Comments: "Most consistent shot dispersion. . . . Felt great coming off the face of every club."

Judges' Verdict: The Pro V1 family continues to dominate, but hold the phone, a new version is coming this spring. The world awaits.

Buy from Ace Golf Balls

BRIDGESTONE B330/B330-S

Key Technology: The company's "speed elasticity" core is gradated, so its hardness increases by 45 percent as you move from the center to the perimeter. The molecular structure of the thermoplastic urethane cover has been strengthened to increase durability on hard wedge shots.

Panelist Comments: "Absolutely loved the ball flight. . . . Pure consistency. . . . B330 felt a little hard coming off the putter."

Judges' Verdict: An exceptional ball. These guys have figured out how to make products other than tires that come to an efficient stop.

CALLAWAY HX TOUR/HX TOUR 56

Key Technology: Reaction Injection molding helps produce a very thin urethane cover, just .018 inches on the HX Tour and .021 on the HX Tour 56. A manufacturing technique is used to create six deep dimples that result in a more precisely centered core. The hexagonal dimple pattern is designed for aerodynamics.

Panelist Comments: "Good, soft feel on putts and chips. . . . Cover seemed to last longer than in the past. . . . Plays long."

Judge's Verdict: HX Tour is longer; HX Tour 56 plays softer around the greens. The difficult choice is yours.

Buy from Ace Golf Balls

NIKE ONE PLATINUM/BLACK

Key Technology: Both versions share the progressive-density core design and a 336-dimple pattern. The Platinum's urethane cover is softer for better feel, and the Black has a slightly larger core and a thinner mantle to help generate more distance.

Panelist Comments: "It was very easy to work the ball on full shots. . . . Lower trajectory could be good for some players. . . . Seemed to scuff the most."

Judge's Verdict: Tiger wannabes take note: The Man plays the Platinum version. But the Black has been nicely softened, too.

Buy from Ace Golf Balls

SRIXON Z-URC/Z-URS

Key Technology: A newly developed, shear-resistant urethane is used for the 330-dimple cover. Both models use the company's core technology that gets firmer as you move out from the center and a resilient ionomer middle layer. The Z-URC has a slightly thinner cover than the Z-URS and tends to spin more.

Panelist Comments: "Launched very high. . . . Performed well on all types of shots. . . . I plan to play this ball more often despite the commercials."

Judge's Verdict: We recommend the Z-URS unless your swing speed is 100 miles per hour or faster.

Buy From Ace Golf Balls

TAYLORMADE TP RED/TP BLACK

Key Technology: The core is made from a neodymium-based rubber (Ndv4) that the company says generates a high ball speed but is still soft enough to minimize driver spin. The thinner mantle of the TP Red and its larger core promote a slightly lower launch angle than the TP Black does.

Panelist Comments: "Excellent spin and distance control with middle and long irons . . . . The extra distance makes me think I could get used to the feel."

Judge's Verdict: Tough decision, but the short-game feel of the Red (the ball Sergio Garcia uses) is superior.

Diving For White Gold

One of the more lucrative locations is the famous 17th hole of the TPC Sawgrass golf course. An estimated 50,000 balls a year are lost there. The hole at Sawgrass is particularly treacherous. Even the best pro players send balls into the drink. Bill Hughes, the course's general managers, says he has seen average players lose a dozen or more balls to the six-foot deep water trap.

Click here to watch video of golf ball diving at TPC Sawgrass

TITLEIST LAUNCH NEW NXT GOLF BALL LINE-UP

Market leading golf ball brand, Titleist, has revealed its latest NXT designs with the new NXT Extreme and revamped NXT Tour

Titleist, the undisputed leader in golf ball technology has revealed a new enhanced NXT golf ball range. The popular NXT range is designed for average to highly skilled golfers seeking the ultimate combination of soft feel, high performance control, and long distance.

Replacing the NXT is the new NXT Extreme golf ball. Designed for golfers of all levels, the NXT Extreme produces maximum distance off the tee without compromising soft feel and playability for shorter shots. Featuring a soft compression, high COR core, new higher coverage dimple design and Staggered Wave Parting Line, the NXT Extreme provides longer, more consistent distance than its predecessor, while maintaining soft feel on all shots.

In addition a new improved version of the hugely successful NXT Tour has also been launched. The new NXT Tour features advanced, multi-layer construction, with a new Tour-proven, higher coverage dimple design and Staggered Wave Parting Line delivering longer, more consistent distance. Compared to the pervious model the new 2007 NXT Tour is longer with the driver and long irons, while maintaining soft feel and high performance control into and around the green.

Titleist Sales Director, Ken Graham commented ‘The NXT plays an important part in our golf ball range. It has been vital for us to continue innovating and producing the best performing, best selling golf ball in this category and we are confident the new Extreme and improved Tour will continue to do so.’

The new golf balls will begin shipping in the UK from August 1st and are expected to retail at £29 NXT Tour and £25 NXT Extreme.

Rush-hour chaos after lorry spills golf ball load

A DRIVER teed off Monday morning with a wayward drive on the M25 when his lorry containing boxes of golf balls jack-knifed across the clockwise carriageway.

Thousands of motorists were feeling well below par after finding themselves trapped behind the scene of the accident, which occurred at junction seven, where the M25 meets the M23 at Merstham.

Golf balls were strewn across the motorway and there were tailbacks stretching back 20 miles to junction three in Kent.

It is believed the lorry jack-knifed and collided with the nearside crash barrier. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Lanes one and two - the M23 slip lanes - were closed for more than seven hours as rescue crews worked throughout the morning to clear the lorry and the debris.

Teams from the Highways Agency, in Godstone, used a forklift to remove the load, before the cab was removed from the scene.

Drivers on the M25 suffered severe delays to their journeys, as did motorists heading westbound on the M26.

The 45-year-old male driver of the lorry was treated at the scene by ambulance crews.

A Surrey Ambulance spokeswoman said the driver was taken to East Surrey Hospital, in Redhill, with neck and leg injuries.

He was released a short time after.

Fire crews from Reigate and Godstone assisted with the clean-up operation, along with Surrey Police.

A spokeswoman for Surrey Police said: "Police were called at 5.44am on Monday following a single vehicle road traffic collision on the clockwise section of the M25 at junction seven.

"The collision blocked the hard shoulder, lanes one and two of the Godstone to Hooley slip road and lane one of the main carriageway.

"The carriageway was cleared and traffic was running freely by 1.20pm."

Titleist Golf Ball Factory

Something Nike wouldn't like you to see!

Why multilayer golf balls spin less off the tee and more around the greens

During the collision between the driver and the ball (which lasts for less than half a millisecond, 200 times faster than you can blink your eye), there's an average force of 1,500 pounds being applied to the ball. This violent collision compresses the ball to about two-thirds of its diameter. The cover thickness is less than 3 percent of the size of the ball but doesn't much influence the outcome of this collision.

Two-piece balls, which have been on the market for many years, will spin less and go a little farther off the driver than the soft, wound balata balls that were used on tour until five years ago. The hard-core two-piece ball will spin about the same as the wound ball off the wedge only if it has an extremely soft and relatively thick cover. But such a cover reduces the ball's distance off the driver. The trick is to get a ball to spin less than a wound ball off the driver but the same as a wound ball off the wedge. A multilayer ball will do this because it has a soft core (for speed off the driver face) surrounded by a hard mantle and a thin soft cover. The mantle reduces spin off the driver, and the cover, too thin to influence driver launch conditions, is soft enough to significantly influence the spin off the wedge. The collision between the wedge and the soft cover, less violent and more oblique than with a driver, generates more spin. Thus, designers combined new materials with a better understanding of the synergy between ball and club to create a more efficient multilayer ball.

History of the Golf Ball

In 1618 the feather golf ball or 'Featherie' was introduced. This was a handcrafted ball made with goose feathers tightly packed into a horse or cowhide sphere. The feathers and leather were fashioned into a ball while wet. As the assembly dried out the leather shrank and the feathers expanded to create a hardened ball. The ball was then finished off by painting it and punched with the ball-makers mark. Quality varied according to the skill of the craftsman. Unfortunately, the handcrafted nature of the balls meant that they were priced beyond the pockets of the masses, sometimes more expensive than a club. Notable ball-makers of the 1600s were Andrew Dickson, Leith and Henry Mills, St Andrews .

The introduction of the Gutta Percha ball or 'Guttie' in 1848 by Rev Adam Paterson of St. Andrews and the spread of the railways directly contributed to the expansion of golf. The Guttie ball was made from the rubber like sap of the Gutta tree found in the tropics. When heated the rubber could easily be fashioned into a sphere and used as a golf ball. Not only could the ball be relatively cheaply produced, it could also be easily repaired by re-heating and then re-shaping. Initially Gutties had a smooth surface that meant that they didn't travel as far as the Featheries. The balls were usually stamped with the ball makers stamp, most notably Allan Robertson.

After 1880, gutties were produced with patterns on their surface in an attempt to reproduce the distance characteristics of a scored Featherie. With the Victorians came industrialization and mechanization, and by 1890 Gutties were being made in molds that further increased their affordability, consistency and quality. The most notable pattern of the period was the 'Bramble' - raised spherical bumps across the surface of the ball. Many of the rubber companies including Dunlop began mass-producing balls that killed off the handcrafted ball business.

In 1898, Coburn Haskell introduced the one-piece rubber cored ball that was universally adopted by 1901 after it proved so effective in the British and US Opens. These balls looked just like Gutties but gave the average golfer an extra 20 yards from the tee. These balls were constructed from a solid rubber core wrapped in rubber thread encased in a gutta percha sphere. Once W. Millison developed a thread-winding machine, Haskell balls were mass-produced and therefore more affordable.

We Want You To Know About Golf Balls!

Lets Take Air For Example....
All of us know how tough it is to hit a good shot in windy conditions. We assume therefore that air is just another natural element we must out wit in order to score well. In reality, AIR is what makes it possible for us the hit the ball as far as we do. The SPIN we impart on a ball actually gives the ball lift, much like the wing on an aircraft imparts lift. This lift makes it possible for the ball to stay airborne longer, enabling it to travel further.

In a vacuum, the average 250 yard drive would only travel about 180 yards. A winged aircraft would not fly. Air is your Friend!!!

We reclaim and recycle balls from over hundreds of courses all over the USA. We stock over 50 varieties of balls.

If you're an average player, by the time you have played 3 holes with a new ball, you are playing with a ball that's in much worse condition than our Pearl Grade balls.

We offer the highest possible quality recycled balls available...at direct pricing....HUGE SAVINGS over new balls.

Customer Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Golf Balls

Size of the ball...
The "Rules of Golf" says that a golf ball's diameter must be a minimum of 1.680 inches / 42.67 mm. A smaller ball would fly much further than a larger ball. The reason for this is simple: with a smaller diameter the ball has less air resistance, or in other words, it displaces less air as it flies. Because of this, most manufacturers produce golf balls with the minimal diameter (1.680 inches / 42.67 mm).

Weight of the ball...
A golf ball's weight must not exceed 1.620 oz./ 45.93 g according to the "Rules of Golf". The heavier the ball, the greater its momentum, and the less it would be slowed down by air resistance. Hence it would tend to fly further. For this reason most manufacturers produce golf balls with the heaviest sanctioned weight of 1.620 oz./ 45.93 g.

Compression Rates...
In the manufacturing process, some two-piece, and all three-piece balls are rated by their compression measurements. This is done by pressuring them with a standard weight

Balls that don’t deform at all are rated Compression 200, while balls that deform by 0.2” or above are rated Compression 0. These are the two extremes, and between them balls are rated in intervals of 0.001 inches. The Standard Compression rate is usually 90 or 100. the higher the compression rate the harder the feel, and vice versa. Almost every ball is subject to a compression rating. Compression rates of 80 and 100 are also found.

However, manufacturers are not bound by an official standard. Hence one manufacturer’s compression rate of 100 can be different to another manufacturer’s compression rate of 100. This can mount up to a 3.5 point difference in either direction. In addition, some balls don’t even have the compression rate printed on them.

According to a host of surveys, low speed swing players are better off using balls with a Compression rate of 80. Players with an average speed swing should choose Compression 100, and Compression 110 is best for high swing speed players.

The weather should always be taken into consideration when deciding on compression rates to use. Low compression balls are best for colder weather, while high compression balls perform better in cold water.

Tips for choosing the right balls for you:

Considerations for Driving...
Distance balls are designed to fly further and with more accuracy. This means you will be less likely to land in the rough, in a hazard, or out of bounds. Distance balls have their drawbacks, however, as they will be harder to stop on the green. Mid to high handicappers should favor a distance ball.

Optimum Performance in Your Approach...
Spin balls are made with outer layers that take on more spin when you strike them with angled club faces. Drawing or fading around obstacles and hazards therefore becomes easier, as they will bend more to the left or right. They also take on more backspin when struck with a lofted club – this is important, as the balls will therefore stop more quickly on the green.

Whilst spin balls used to be made with fragile outer layers that were prone to damage, this problem has now been largely averted with the introduction of solid multilayer construction, replacing the old flimsy balata covers.

Getting More Control...
Distance balls designed to stop quickly when on the green, but with minimum risk of slicing or hooking are known as control balls. The Nike One and Titleist Pro V1 are members of the new generation of balls that are so versatile they will perform in any situation.

Balls for Slow Swingers...
Known variously as Ladies or Senior balls, these balls increase driving distance to improve the scores of players with slower, less powerful swings.

Choosing the Right Putting Ball...
Differently designed balls will roll for different distances on the green. As a rule of thumb, harder balls role further. The difference is more than you would think. Teaching professionals recommend that you putt with the same kind of ball all the time, as this will help you to calibrate, feel, learn and reproduce the connection between stroke strength and distance. As most balls aren’t perfectly balanced, they won’t roll absolutely true, but higher quality balls will be generally more likely to stay on course, due to higher standards of quality control during manufacture.

Affordability...
Try to always play with the same balls that you practice with. So if you can’t afford to practice with a high quality ball, don’t switch when playing competitions. A ball that has been overused will no longer be spherical, and so is no good to you. Play balls that you can afford to replace regularly.