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Blind Ball Testing Review Thread

SuperStroke
JB said:
This is something I am thinking about too. It seems that to some, it goes further and spins as much or more. So why the lower or mid level? From an outsider looking in, it appears that most think its a mid level ball based only on the durability. Im loving this testing.
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I went into this testing with a very open mind, this was my first testing opportunity for THP and I wanted to make sure I did a good job. The only thing I knew about this ball going in was that you posted in the beginning that is was from a major OEM. I normally play ProV1x or B330-RX mainly because I get better control from a premium ball.

Well right off the bat, this ball is spinning just as well for me as the other 2 balls I mentioned and I am hitting it longer. Add to that the fact that I haven't damaged one to be unplayable yet and I think we have a winner! Now, I'm not saying its a winner for everybody....but for my game, my swing speed it's working great.

I don't have preconcieved notions of whether it's a value ball or a premium ball, in fact I think the only thing I have said was I hope it was a mid-priced ball...cause I mean who wouldn't want to get premium ball performance for $25 bucks a dozen????

The one thing that this has done for me is to open my eyes to other OEM's other than the top 4 or 5, it's possible this is a ball by an OEM I would have never even considered playing without this test, makes me wonder what else is out there that might be better for my game that I never considered playing because it wasn't one of the top 2 or 3 brands.

All I really know is that as long as it continues to perform for me the way it has, then I am going to keep playing it.

I hope all that makes sense and I wasn't just talking in circles....LOL
 
Hanks said:
this has me thinking....what if it's something already out there and this is just a 'test' to see if we are looking past something that's already there?

We may assume that just because there's no logo on it that it may be some 'super secret not yet released ball' when in fact it's already out there?
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Start the X-Files Music!!! :alien2:
 
Spank818 said:
There's also a part of me (if we're all to be honest here) that wishes that it's a major ball OEM brand ball, i.e. Nike, Srixon, Bridgestone, etc.
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Read the original testing signup thread.
We said in there that it is a major OEM golf ball.
 
I look forward to the unavailing of the golf ball in the future
 
Hanks said:
this has me thinking....what if it's something already out there and this is just a 'test' to see if we are looking past something that's already there?

We may assume that just because there's no logo on it that it may be some 'super secret not yet released ball' when in fact it's already out there?
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Exactly. What if this is just a test on Brand Loyalty. I know several people that play Titlesit just becuase of the marketing, they have never tried another brand and are not even open-minded to it. I also know several people that play balls a certain price point just becuase they think all balls are created equal. Lots of different reasons as to why a company would want to do this.
 
Fun to read reviews Thanks Bullfrog and THP for the golf ball, to bad I lost the ball in the rain still in bounds on the golf course, after 13 holes the was not a mark on the ball. My guess is, the new Q-Star
 
war.eagle said:
+1, if you have figured it out, or even think you have, keep it to yourself, would defeat the purpose of the blind testing.
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this post has me thinking this ball is already on the market.
 
jwalker497 said:
this post has me thinking this ball is already on the market.
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Really? I didn't think that war.eagle had that much insider knowledge. Not as a slight to WE, just didn't think he had the connections.

I'm not going to assume anything about this ball. I have gut reactions, but I am doing my best not to assume anything. I still don't think this is a premium ball. Unless there is a newer more durable cover. I have also stated that I think this ball is really soft off of the driver and not as firm as some of the other balls I have played.
 
blugold said:
Really? I didn't think that war.eagle had that much insider knowledge. Not as a slight to WE, just didn't think he had the connections.

I'm not going to assume anything about this ball. I have gut reactions, but I am doing my best not to assume anything. I still don't think this is a premium ball. Unless there is a newer more durable cover. I have also stated that I think this ball is really soft off of the driver and not as firm as some of the other balls I have played.
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If he said, "It would defeat the purpose of the testing", then I wonder what is the purpose? IMO if the purpose was to shatter peoples perceptions and paradigms on golf balls and performance - what better way to do it than give golfers of all abilities some free balls and have them compare and contract and test and give their honest opinions. If a company truly had produced a ground-breaking ball - what better way to prove it.

Just a Theory.
 
From my testing, and reading all the other reviews and discussions, I hope this is a mid priced ball. I absolutely love it. I can't wait for it to be revealed and released so I can pick up a few dozen for myself and my stepdad.


---
- Just tap it in, just tap it in.
 
I think a good idea is to post a summary of what we know up to this point. Form what I have read, and I apologize, I have not read all of the replies but most of them, here's what I got so far.

FACTS
1. It is a Major OEM.
2. Dimple Count is 330.
 
It's definately a major OEM, it's definately urethane, it's long off the driver but maintains outstanding greenside control, the ball flight suits my game to a T. I like this ball alot, and it reminds me alot of an older tour ball. I have no problem waiting to findout who makes it, and I hope I'm as suprised as I was to test it.
 
Wrenched my back on the 9th hole today so couldn't finish my round. Took some muscle relaxors so really can't find my thoughts too well. I will just say for now that this ball performs incredibly around the greens. Had a 6I that I spun back 2 feet and I normally don't get the ball to spin back. Feels great off the putter. I wish I could actually putt though. Still feel like I lost distance off the tee though. Played a course that I recently played with the TM Burner Tour and a couple of times that I thought I had really caught it, I was at least 10 yards further back than normal. Feels great off the scoring clubs though. Only played 9 but the ball looks brand new
 
Hanks said:
this has me thinking....what if it's something already out there and this is just a 'test' to see if we are looking past something that's already there?

We may assume that just because there's no logo on it that it may be some 'super secret not yet released ball' when in fact it's already out there?
Click to expand...

I got a feeling that it's out there already. On the last mystery ball testing the Burner Tours were just released at the time of the testing.

JB said:
Read the original testing signup thread.
We said in there that it is a major OEM golf ball.
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I guess my wish was granted then. :D
Sorry bout that. I guess going in I really wanted to not be swayed on any info regarding the ball. Maybe a little too much.
 
This is a great experiment and a great thread. Can't wait to find out what ball this is. Keep up the good work testers.
 
Trout Bum said:
It's definately a major OEM, it's definately urethane, it's long off the driver but maintains outstanding greenside control, the ball flight suits my game to a T. I like this ball alot, and it reminds me alot of an older tour ball. I have no problem waiting to findout who makes it, and I hope I'm as suprised as I was to test it.
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As it been confirmed that the cover is urethane? I wouldn't be surprised if it was. But my gut says no. I wish I had a good reason why.
 
blugold said:
As it been confirmed that the cover is urethane? I wouldn't be surprised if it was. But my gut says no. I wish I had a good reason why.
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Neither confirmed or denied. I've got two left after thinning one into a retention pond behind the house today :(

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tapatalk
 
SW said:
Neither confirmed or denied. I've got two left after thinning one into a retention pond behind the house today :(

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tapatalk
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<Annoyed grunt>

I lost one when I hit a 3w for my second shot into a par 5. I landed on the green and the ball bounced into the woods behind the green. Never to be found.
 
Part 3 here....

IRONS

6037163882_758be6c676_z.jpg


I was able to get in this test tonight to verify some of my observations with the irons.

There is a par 3 course down the road from me that is largely ignored. My tests were from the tee boxes of the 3 par 3's on the course using 5 test balls. I hit balls from off a tee, from the tee box without a tee, and from the rough surrounding the tee box. I take my son to this course and he has charmed the staff. I explained what I wanted to do and after some odd looks they told me to have fun, just don't hold anyone up.

Hit from a tee on the first par 3 lasered to 146 yards from the ball washer. I used an 8 iron. I wouldn't put this data up if I thought my swing was off or I was on fire. Just my usual self here. Distances were lasered back to tee box for accuracy (ball washer).

Ball 1 - Right of green at 153 yards, 14 yards off line
Ball 2 - Right again at 155 yards, 10 yards or so off line
Ball 3 - Mishit on toe short of green, distance to pin 10 yards or so
Ball 4 - Back of green, 20 feet or so to hole, so 152 yards
Ball 5 - On left fringe about 15 feet from pin, hole high

Some things I notice here. All my shots felt like they hit the center of the club less my mishit. Initial impact is firm but with a deeper feel in the end. Distances off a tee are a half club farther than what I am used to. But, my accuracy is a little off. Ball flight is a bit lower than what I see with my E6. Trajectory is almost lazy. Kinda arcs up and arcs down with no definitive peak. Spin was great. The ball to the back of the green would not have held with a less spinny ball....same with the ball left. Both balls were about 6 feet from their divots. I really tried to get excited, but I could not. On to the next par 3.

Lasered this par 3 to 138 yards. This would typically be between an 8 and 9 for me. No good as I wanted to swing free. So decided to find some rough behind the tee box and get that part out of the way. I tossed the 5 balls out there and took whatever lie I came up with.

I quickly realized hitting out of the rough was more about me and less about the ball. My testing here revealed very little. Hard to report on the test ball's feel and performance when I am hitting through grass before I contact the ball. The added softness of the ball did allow 2 of my 5 shots to find the green, not bad. They both landed in front of the green and sat down rather than running through the back.

Next par 3 I dropped the 5 balls down and hit off the deck with no tee. I did better my lies so I could hit off grass and not out of divots. Hole lasered 157 to pin from ball washer. Decided to use the 7I.

Ball 1 - Hit it a little fat and came up short of green, 15 yards to pin.
Ball 2 - Good one, stayed on line and landed below hole, stopped and backed up about 4 feet, 15 feet or so to hole.
Ball 3 - Felt good, wound up right of green in bunker, 10 yards off line, all carry 158 yards.
Ball 4 - Felt good, wound up right of greenside bunker, 15 yards off line, hit hardpan bounced off tree, 163 yards total.
Ball 5 - Felt perfect, hole high left of pin about 5 feet.

Similar to my off the tee tests. Ball feels nice off the irons. Satisfying mix of firm and soft. But, I am having difficulty keeping them online. Something about the trajectory I am getting, weak arcs that waver offline, is hurting my accuracy with irons.

In summary, off the irons I am picking up a couple yards distance and spin with a little loss of accuracy. The test ball is not spinning madly off line. It just casually tracks away from it's straight path. I'm not solely basing this off my testing tonight. I played 45 holes with the test ball over the weekend as well. It's almost behaving like a normal 2 piece ball in the accuracy department. This is not a bad thing at all. It is performing as well and in many cases better than any ball I have used in the past.

Hybrids, Woods, Driver next! Then E6 Griff v Mystery ball Griff in a battle to the death this weekend.
 
blugold said:
As it been confirmed that the cover is urethane? I wouldn't be surprised if it was. But my gut says no. I wish I had a good reason why.
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No, the only information we have about the ball is in the first post of this thread. The only other information we have to go on is what the reviewers have posted up.

Griff, excellent write up my friend! Looking forward to your next post on the Hybrids, Woods and Driver!
 
Nice job Griff. You mentioned that deep feel on contact, what do you think that's attributed to?

Tap,Tap,Tap
 
thedue said:
Nice job Griff. You mentioned that deep feel on contact, what do you think that's attributed to?

Tap,Tap,Tap
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My guess is I am getting good compression on the ball. Tour balls, I can't compress. They just pop off the face.
 
Griff you hit on something that I've felt as well. The ball has, like you said, a deep feel off the face. I find this very pleasant, I've hit it with a few different makes of irons just to rule out if it was the feel of the iron. Used the 2.0, JPX, CG16, and Pro Cavity, 7 iron in each. Pretty close to the same consistent feel across the board, which leads me to think the core of this ball is a little softer than some tour level balls. That might also explain the increased distance and spin some are seeing.
 
I'm pretty sure I have this ball figured out, at least the brand and very close from there. I'm just on my way out to hit a few balls side by side and see the results. I won't spill the beans on my findings, but I will say that I've been very impressed with this ball all along, mostly in the combination of durability with performance. The other point is the wide range of testers swing speeds and abilities that this ball has grooved with. This could be a skim, but I never heard anyone who did not see solid performance from it and thats saying a ton. Thanks again THP and the mystery company, this has been a blast to be involved with.
 
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