"Feeliest" ball?

[MyEyeSpy]

I have been playing generic mid-class balls I have bought on sales before. But once I ran out & bought a handfull different ones at the club I noticed a tremendous difference in feel & control between them.

What I am looking for is the "feeliest" ball. I'll be trying out a few in the coming days but would like some input. I don't care how long it goes, how durable it is or price. I want lots of spin so I can grind it to a halt on the green with the wedges, a soft responsive feel on the green & when approaching it.

From what I have gathered two of the prime contestants are Titleist PRO v1 & Callaway HX Tour 56 (tour i now?). Any other suggestions? Input from people who have tried/played both for some time would be greatly appreciated.

I know the the issue of best balls etc. it a topic that has been debated non-stop over & over here, but I don't really care about the best "overall" ball, just the most responsive, spinny & feely one.

[Dub]

I played my first Prov 1 last Thursday afternoon.

I found it on the previous hole along with a couple of other balls. It seemed to be in great shape....just nestled under a few leaves.

The next hole was a par three (first par 3 on Bartram Trail, Evans, Georgia).....elevated tee...all carrry over wasteland (later found out that it's full of rattlesnakes). The green had a wicked ridge running front to back........ quite a turtleback. The greens on the course are fairly quick bentgrass.

There was also a bit of wind blowing up in my face. The flag was two yards left of the ridge....a sucker placement if ever I've spied one.

I say all that to say this....It was a no-brainer....the hole seemed made for the ProV 1.

I took dead aim at the flag.....being the dummy that I am. I hit the ball flush...as soon my 8 iron followed through, I knew I'd pured it....just hoped that I'd picked the right club.

The ProV1 arched in a nice medium height and tracked right over the flag, unaffected by the wind and hit dead stiff one yard past it and backed up two feet. It was a glorious shot if ever I've hit one....in fact, I'd say it's my best ever on a par 3.

There is simply no way my supply of Laddie Extremes would have held that spot left of the ridge....no way. I don't feel like they'd have tracked into the wind that well, either.

I played that ProV1 for a couple of more holes before....sadly.....I gave it back to the course. I hit what I thought was a solid drive...fairly straight down the middle but it got a hot run off the fast fairway going through the left dogleg into the waste/wooded area.....which oddly enough was simular to the place I found it a few holes prior....(through another left dogleg). Maybe some other hacker will recover it and hit a career shot, too.

During the few holes the ball and I shared I was very.....very..... very impressed. I had to wait a bit on two of the greens on the group ahead of me....so I spent the time chipping and putting. The ball reminded me of the Tour Balata balls to a degree. Super around the green.

I went to the store the other night to buy some balls and fully intened on getting some ProV1s......they were over $40 dozen ...so I chickened out. My game in it's current state will have me loosing that dozen way too quickly. I bought a dozen Top Flite Gamers...what's been called a "poor mans ProV" by some. Hopefully they'll work out well for me.

I can get Bridgestone balls at a discount through work. I've heard that the B330s is a real spinny ball that ranks up there with the ProV. I may try a dozen sometime soon.

[eberryhill7]

I really like the feel of the Nike one platinum. I hit one shot with a 58 degree wedge slightly thin and it didn't get very high off of the ground, but then it quickly checked and stopped a foot from the hole. I also really like the feel of the ball on putts, and I didn't notice any loss of distance from the NXT's that I used to play.

[shaggy023]

The Bridgestone B330s and the Nike ONE's are both great balls, but if you are looking for the softest golf ball around the greens with a lot of spin on low impact shots the Callaway Tour 56 and the Hogan Tour Deep (pretty much the same ball) are the softest balls I have hit.

[Wisco-Kid]

I played the Callaway Hot Bite this weekend and it is a pretty good ball. It was fairly durable and my chips around the green were nothing short of specatacular. The rest of my game was total crap but I was able to save par and bogey because the Hot Bite was checking up and holding the greens. The greens were very dry and firm I am looking forward to trying the Hot Bite on a more receptive green.

[Divot Tool]

I really like the feel of the Nike one platinum. I hit one shot with a 58 degree wedge slightly thin and it didn't get very high off of the ground, but then it quickly checked and stopped a foot from the hole. I also really like the feel of the ball on putts, and I didn't notice any loss of distance from the NXT's that I used to play.

A major golf publication recently tested a large list of balls ranging from distance to tour caliber balls. Incidentally, the Nike One Platinum topped all other balls for spin, when hit with a sand wedge @ 76 mph. However, please note that the Platinum ranked last, when compared with other Tour caliber balls in terms of total distance (carry + roll) when hit with a driver at 90 mph. On that note, it is believed that Tiger Woods uses a variation of this ball.

[MyEyeSpy]

Tried out Titleist's balls the last few days. I expected to fall in love with Titleist PRO v1 from what I had read about it, but I was really outright dissapointed with it & the x1. Although I have nothing to complain about how it performed, it was really soft but not with great "feel" in my opinion. The best ball in regards to feel of the Titelist balls, in my opinion, was the NXT's, although feeling harder than the PRO, they generated far more "response" through the club.

Will be trying out the Nike Platinums & Callaways hex series. Don't know of anyone selling/have the 330's in Sweden & don't really feel like importing.

[bruce]

I usally play a titleist pro-v or nxt,but lately i started playing with callaway
hx tour balls,i think the callaway is great around the green,great spin,great for checking up shots e.t.c and great off the driver.

[JYB]

i'm sure the new callaway tour i (which people have compared to an old balata ball in terms of feel) will be very very soft so try that one out.

right now i'm using the taylormade tpred and it's got a nice feel to it for sure.

[Klean]

I suggest trying the Top Flite Gamer. It's soft and still travels a long way. I started playing with Nike TD softs then switched to these. Added about 20yds to my drives and about 5-8 yds on mid/short irons. And they are just as soft as the Nikes.

I've tried a few Pro V-1's that I've found at the course, but they were so banged up I couldn't really get a good feel for them.

[bIGwIRE]

I play titleist prov1 or nike 1 plat.

But listen. To get the most out of your ball you can't just play what other people are playing, or even more expensive, name brand balls.

Go to golfballselector.com or Google "golf ball fit test"

it cost me ten bucks to go through a leangthy, 20 min, questionarie, but it will match your swing\prefferences to a list of balls and rate them 1-100 or so.

Your handicap index is low enough your prolly gonna see some good results.

b4 I did it I was shooting Nike ignites.... Ladies srixons were a better fit for me. Ladies. As in a GIRLs ball!

Don't be suprised if they tell you to use a 2 piece, mid range ball. Wilson Zips, 16-18$ a dozen, rated #4 for my fit test, above alota "better" (more expensive) balls out there.

Spend the $9.95... Well worth the money.

[GOLFSALOT00]

pro v1 or tour ix are great feeling

[mikelaw]

the srixon soft feel is crazy soft beyond belief

[B.K. golfer]

Got some proV1's from my dad who works at a course in Arizona. I like the feel but the price is out of my comfort zone. I have found good deals on used ones on a couple websites, 4 out of 5 stars for $15/dozen. They say they look like they have played 3 holes, 2 dozen with shipping for under $40. I can handle that.

[Ben]

What I am looking for is the "feeliest" ball. I'll be trying out a few in the coming days but would like some input. I don't care how long it goes, how durable it is or price. I want lots of spin so I can grind it to a halt on the green with the wedges, a soft responsive feel on the green & when approaching it.

If you can find them, the HXTour56 was the softest ball I'd ever known. (of the recent generations of balls of course)

[eberryhill7]

I really like the feel of the Nike one platinum. I hit one shot with a 58 degree wedge slightly thin and it didn't get very high off of the ground, but then it quickly checked and stopped a foot from the hole. I also really like the feel of the ball on putts, and I didn't notice any loss of distance from the NXT's that I used to play.

Ok, I messed this one up. I was losing distance with this ball. My drives were going 200 yards instead of my normal 250-275, and all my irons were shot, but I thought that the distance loss was because my swing had some flaws. Then the other day I was driving and I hit the ball absolutely flush, and I felt like it was going to go 300 yards, but then it landed and stopped at 215. Then I put a cheap distance ball down to see if it was the ball's fault, and I hit it a solid 270. So I was wrong, although the nike ball has the best feel on chips and putts, and the best stopping power, of any ball that I have ever used, there is a noticeable loss of distance compared to other balls.

[MyEyeSpy]

After having tested every ball there is thouroughly:
The winner is Callaway tour HX-56
With Titleist tour NXT finishing #2 shortly after.

[Mr Eagle]

And dont forget to keep your balls warm chaps,they are much more responsive after holding and rubbing for a while.