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Volvik XT Soft Golf Balls Review

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SuperStroke
Did not see this so moving these over!

On hole 8 of yellow x soft and the visibility is great! Not the preferred feel on short game but still performing decent, just plan on runout on green approaches
 
Looks...

The alignment aid on this might be a bit busy for some, but I will say it helps focus on the ball as well as the line. It led to some long putts mad for me and all on line just working with speed.

The yellow as @Coloradomrg mentioned is a big more stand out than other yellows most notibly the Titleist yellow. Much brighter in my opinion and that led to me we losing one today.
 
Gray day and easily spotted all round... Over all I like the ball the alignment side is unique, and no sharpie needed it helps similar to trip track but the dot allows more focus. I'll snap a pic of alignment another time.

I got great straight drives and softball without being mushy will appeal to many golfers.1000005164.jpg
 
I am not sure I'm the guy to say it's hot off the driver and I didn't notice loss in distance by any accord (esp. given my first round of the year). However in the net and on course it has a different feel. I like x1 and xv, but this is not comparison ball. Others I use are super soft and qst much closer to those esp run out on green.

Softer than prov 1 as I used that on some comparison shots today and much softer on putter and wedge but without feeling like a marshmallow. I say spin could be increased but I don't think that's the goal for this segment. Price is a bit shocking at 39.99, but urethane cover might be culprit.

I think RX gets me more distance in the price point and a bit better on spin.

I'll try range with MLM2pro next week.
 
Nothing much to add except I threw one of the yellow XT’s into the mix during this evenings chipping session and holy hell, is that thing easy to spot compared to the others. I feel like it would be hard to lose one of them in the rough.
 
LLIB said:
Nothing much to add except I threw one of the yellow XT’s into the mix during this evenings chipping session and holy hell, is that thing easy to spot compared to the others. I feel like it would be hard to lose one of them in the rough.
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I got one in the tall fescue (more whispy than anything) thought I was going to be difficult but BOOM... Like the bat signal it was found.
 
G-Man said:
Looks...

The alignment aid on this might be a bit busy for some, but I will say it helps focus on the ball as well as the line. It led to some long putts mad for me and all on line just working with speed.

The yellow as @Coloradomrg mentioned is a big more stand out than other yellows most notibly the Titleist yellow. Much brighter in my opinion and that led to me we losing one today.
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I really like the alignment aid. The dot in the middle help keep my eye focused on the balls rather than wandering, while putting. And coming from the triple track I like more than one line too.

Below is the XT Soft in the middle, with the Condors on either side, for reference if others haven't seen it yet.

1000000399.jpg
 
Was able to play 9 today and decided to put the XT Soft in play (yellow). I managed to keep the same ball in play through all 9 holes, but purposely went to a course where it was unlikely that I'd lose any.

I think I was seeing slightly higher spin than I am used to off the driver. When I thought I was going to get a normal fade, I would end up a bit more to the right. That said, I also hit 5 trees from the tee box today. On the card it looked like I had a two-way miss. In reality, I wasn't really in control of those tee shots. One fairway today... compared to hitting 80% plus the previous three outings. Could just be a bad day - I'm ok with that. Will keep an eye on this going forward for sure.

Durability? Great. You can't really tell that the ball hit those trees. There is one little brown spot on a dimple ridge that won't wipe off. Can't see it when it's on the ground.

Visibility? The yellow really does stand out. Thought I lost one in some long dead rough, but it just went further than I thought :ROFLMAO:

Irons/approach shots were all great today. This ball may perform better for me on irons than my normal gamer (QST). I had backspin on a PW today... I never do that. Of course, it meant my ball was off the green on a par 3. The ball on solid shots just went. It went high, and it covered the right distances.

Wedge/greenside shots - a ton of roll out. This will take some getting used to. I had a few chips that just ran and ran and found long grass on the other side of the green. As I got used to it, I was able to plan for it and that helped.

Putting today was tough. Greens were all different, and I struggled to get the speed right. The ball felt fine. I do like the alignment aid when I remember to use it.
 
Got this on course today along with the condors and I can say out of the 3 this was my favorite. The feel, the ability to work it around the green and the feel off the putter.

Ball felt soft ( it's in the name 😂) but didn't leave me feeling like I lost distance as I had some really good drives with this ball. The durability is good as I had a tee shot that I hit very well clip a tree branch that was hanging over the fairway a touch left and there were no noticeable marks.

Chip shots felt great and would stop. Didn't seem to have durability issues here either as I didn't notice any scuffs or anything I would worry about. Off the putter these felt great and I had really good speed, but I didn't use the alignment aid as it seems a bit busy for my eye.

I would say this ball is a legit contender in the market if they could get it in more people's hands. I will be testing these in rounds, practice, and with the mlm2 pro for more data and input but so far I am thoroughly impressed with the quality and performance of the volvik balls.
 
Coloradomrg said:
Hopefully my ramblings will offer some decent insight. I'm by no means a professional.

Step 1 for me: Testing each ball out on the putting mat. I don't live right next to the range or a course, so this was an easy way to get right into it. I spend a lot of time putting at home. I'll putt during meetings, for a break, and generally sometime every evening I've been rolling putts for 30 minutes or so.

To start with, I rolled 10 putts with my current gamer (Srixon QStar Tour) to make sure I was in the right frame of mind. I setup a target at 8'. Put 9 of 10 in the target.

Switched to the XT Soft and hit a few purposely soft to try and get a feel for them. I was aiming for 3', and they were all close enough. I then went to the 8' length and was able to put 9 of 10 in the target again. Then I spent about 30 minutes kind of playing around with mishits, shorter putts, faster putts, etc. Each time I setup a new scenario I would compare it to my current gamer so that I could have a baseline. After messing around with the different types of putts, I went back to the target. 10/10 on the last round.

The sound/feel is very similar to my current gamer. I'd call it medium soft off the putter. It's not mushy at all, but also not stiff. The XT Soft has a nice sound coming off the putter. Not too clicky, but not too muted either.

The alignment aid is visually appealing, but haven't given it a try yet. I'll save that for hitting the putting green.

I really like the yellow, and hope that it shines well in the sun/grass once I am able to get these out for a round.
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QST is a good ball for comparison. They do compare in some regards and seem different in others. Appreciate the feedback here.
Steve2100 said:
I was able to get to an indoor golf facility yesterday and thought I would provide some Trackman #’s on the Volvik XT Soft with PW, 7 Iron and Driver.
View attachment 9258295View attachment 9258297
With my Srixon Zx4 PW the average spin was 7977. Distance was similar to other golf balls that I have used. I hit a few shots using a Bridgestone E6 given to me by Southern Twang (shoutout to Southern Twang!) to compare and the avg spin with that ball was 7662.

With my Srixon ZX4 7i once again similar yardage as I usually get with Spin #'s avg 5566 with distance 152 avg.

With my Srixon ZX5 Driver I averaged 3574 spin with 244 avg distance.

All in all I liked the look of the ball and especially the alignment lines.
View attachment 9258314
As @Hawk said in his review they can be used as you would normally use while putting and when parallel to club face on full shots. My swing speed is in mid to upper 90's so this ball would be a good fit for me. The feel and sound of the ball off the putter was similar to my Srixon Qstar. Next week I will try to get out to the course and see how it performs there.
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I like those numbers for you, Steve!
 
Hitting the XT soft with a lot of wedges lately, and it's been a good experience. I think it has a good feel, but not as soft as I was expecting. It's by no means a hard feeling ball, but I guess when I hear soft I expect a bit more plush feeling at impact. Feels more similar to the Condor that I thought it would.

Greenside it's been a good test. From the rough, the ball gets a good amount of roll out. From the fairway, it's a hop, and then some roll out. Just something you need to adjust to if that's not what you're used to, but if you're looking at the XT Soft, I'm sure you're coming from something similar.
 
Played 18 Saturday and 18 yesterday with the XT Soft. I usually play the QST & Softfli. After I lose all of those I will be buying the XT Soft Yellow. I normally hit 50-60% FIR. These last two rounds it was more like 75%, and with a little more distance. And the shots with the 7-9 and wedges were towering.
 
I played the XT Soft yesterday. Off the tee and fairway/rough performed as well as my usual Srixon Q. Distance and sound was similar. Ball held up pretty well. Had one mark on it from a tree that was nice enough to deflect it in the fairway. No thoughts yet on spin on the green. Greens where I played yesterday were kinda crappy and both of our shots were landing and then running (guy who I partnered up with was using Titelist Provs) so I will hold off on my opinion until next week when my league starts. Putting I really like the alignment aid.
 
I'm testing the Volviks. Used the XT Softs yesterday. Being a 3 piece ball with a compression around 70, they felt and performed very similar to my normal TaylorMade Tour Response. Felt great. I really like this ball. I don't use an alignment line, but this one is interesting.
 
richhoff said:
I'm testing the Volviks. Used the XT Softs yesterday. Being a 3 piece ball with a compression around 70, they felt and performed very similar to my normal TaylorMade Tour Response. Felt great. I really like this ball. I don't use an alignment line, but this one is interesting.
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Ball flight comparisons? High ball? Low ball?
 
cnl390 said:
Played 18 Saturday and 18 yesterday with the XT Soft. I usually play the QST & Softfli. After I lose all of those I will be buying the XT Soft Yellow. I normally hit 50-60% FIR. These last two rounds it was more like 75%, and with a little more distance. And the shots with the 7-9 and wedges were towering.
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How was the performance into the green? Spin and stopping power for example.
 
@JB said this ball is probably too soft for me but I'm definitely going to try it next week when I have 3 rounds scheduled
 
Hawk said:
How was the performance into the green? Spin and stopping power for example.
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I'm not a big spinner of the golf ball. That being said, on the shorter iron and wedge shots the ball stopped immediately (on level greens of course). On chips and pitches I consistently was leaving it short. Which tells me I was getting more spin than with my QST or Softfli.
 
cnl390 said:
I'm not a big spinner of the golf ball. That being said, on the shorter iron and wedge shots the ball stopped immediately (on level greens of course). On chips and pitches I consistently was leaving it short. Which tells me I was getting more spin than with my QST or Softfli.
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Nice. May take a bit of adjustment on the greenside shots, but having the ball stop quickly on approaches is always welcome.
 
jdtox said:
@JB said this ball is probably too soft for me but I'm definitely going to try it next week when I have 3 rounds scheduled
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Curious on your thoughts.
I really like it. It hits the mark on feel for me and still gives me what I want to see in a golf ball on the course.
 
Got a chance to play 9 holes after work yesterday. Started with the Condor (different thread) and I was playing horrible, not due to the ball, just rust I guess. I switched to my gamer B RX and my swing slowly improved. Last 4 holes I put the XT Soft yellow into play and it felt like home. Predictable roll out on chips, sinking putts, finding fairways. I don't know what it was, maybe the yellow color helped improve my focus? Either way the last 4 holes were much more enjoyable than the first 5. I think I will pick up a box or two of the yellow XT Softs.
 
I had a similar experience yesterday. Played 9 after work and tested the Condor. Just didn't work for me. Just could not get the ball to go straight or long Switched to the Softfli on hole #7. I would have loved to go back to the XT Soft but didn't have any left.
 
Ok. Didn’t get to play a lot but I was able to sneak out for 5 holes today at a course that has a good stretch of holes that goes our on 10 but 15 comes right back to the parking lot. I wanted to get these out so I could get some thoughts down here. So I risked it for the biscuit..

Played the XT softs and was actually kinda surprised by them. First they are way way softer and lower compression than what I typically prefer. But they flight was nice and they actually checked up more than I thought they would. If the putter face (currently a Ai jailbird cruiser) they feel like marshmallows. So soft. Off driver I can really feel them mushing. But! The flight was good and they went straight. So, all good. I played the same ball for 5 holes and you really would have been able to tell by looking at it. Held up really nice.

I played the yellow ball. I like the color, the yellow is bright and in the afternoon was really easy to see. But their alignment aid deal on the side give me big time range ball vibes. Not sure that is a good thing for them But it looked like a range ball to me..

That and being a low compression ball are my only criticisms..
 
Templet0n said:
Ok. Didn’t get to play a lot but I was able to sneak out for 5 holes today at a course that has a good stretch of holes that goes our on 10 but 15 comes right back to the parking lot. I wanted to get these out so I could get some thoughts down here. So I risked it for the biscuit..

Played the XT softs and was actually kinda surprised by them. First they are way way softer and lower compression than what I typically prefer. But they flight was nice and they actually checked up more than I thought they would. If the putter face (currently a Ai jailbird cruiser) they feel like marshmallows. So soft. Off driver I can really feel them mushing. But! The flight was good and they went straight. So, all good. I played the same ball for 5 holes and you really would have been able to tell by looking at it. Held up really nice.

I played the yellow ball. I like the color, the yellow is bright and in the afternoon was really easy to see. But their alignment aid deal on the side give me big time range ball vibes. Not sure that is a good thing for them But it looked like a range ball to me..

That and being a low compression ball are my only criticisms..
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I can imagine they felt incredibly soft to you. Nice to see you didn't see a big drop off in performance, even at your speed.
 
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