D2 Feel

[Sandhills Golfer]

Anyone game the Top Flight D2 Feel. I have it in yellow. It's a nice two piece ball. But, it is surprisingly firm, for a "low compression" ball. Does anyone know the compression of this ball? For some reason,

DSG likes to keep their balls compression a mystery. Same is true for the Gamersoft.

[Sandhills Golfer]

On 5/3/2018 at 8:38 PM, Sandhills Golfe said:

Anyone game the Top Flight D2 Feel. I have it in yellow. It's a nice two piece ball. But, it is surprisingly firm, for a "low compression" ball. Does anyone know the compression of this ball? For some reason,

DSG likes to keep their balls compression a mystery. Same is true for the Gamersoft.

I will reply to my own post, lol. I have mixed feelings. In the cooler weather, they were firm. But, now in the warm weather they feel great. But, you'll have to play the run out on chips and pitches. Overall, not a bad ball, especially at 2 for 25, go for another 2 - stack a DSG 10 coupon and they are 4 dozen for $40.

[David L Yskes]

i tried these out 2 years ago, when i was mainly using the Maxfli softfli, and i found the D2 Feel to be a bit firmer and seemed to be almost 1 club shorter too.....   

 

 

[Sandhills Golfer]

On 5/27/2018 at 2:18 PM, David L Yskes said:

i tried these out 2 years ago, when i was mainly using the Maxfli softfli, and i found the D2 Feel to be a bit firmer and seemed to be almost 1 club shorter too.....   

 

 

If you are used to marshmallow's like Softfli and SuperSoft, the D2 Feel will feel a bit firm. But, with the warmer weather now, they feel pretty good. I still prefer balls like Gamersoft.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Sandhills Golfe

[JonMA1]

On 5/11/2018 at 8:07 PM, Sandhills Golfe said:

Overall, not a bad ball, especially at 2 for 25, go for another 2 - stack a DSG 10 coupon and they are 4 dozen for $40.

I haven't used the D2 but I may try them out.

On 5/11/2018 at 8:07 PM, Sandhills Golfe said:

But, you'll have to play the run out on chips and pitches.

Is this an issue with using lower compression balls?

I was using the Wilson Duo's last year and couldn't tell if they helped. They felt nice to hit and I seemed to get more distance off the tee with them, but with my swing it's hard to really know what's causing what.

[Sandhills Golfer]

9 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

I haven't used the D2 but I may try them out.

Is this an issue with using lower compression balls?

I was using the Wilson Duo's last year and couldn't tell if they helped. They felt nice to hit and I seemed to get more distance off the tee with them, but with my swing it's hard to really know what's causing what.

The low compression helps with slower swing speeds get more distance. They generally feel good to hit. But, quite often their green side performance is not great aka hard to stop them on the greens. I wouldn't pay 18 for the D2's. But, if they are BOGO or two for 25, their a decent ball. In my opinion, the GamerSoft is better for about the same money when they are on sale. These balls have 3 pieces to them and feel a bit better have some green side performance. I don't see them in stock often at Dick's. You are better off buying them on line and having them shipped to your local store. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Sandhills Golfe

[JonMA1]

Thanks @Sandhills Golfe.

I’ve always wondered what the commercials were talking about when touting “control on the greens”.  

I don’t have the ability to create much spin on chips and pitches so controlling where the ball lands and which club I use for each chip is critical in controlling run out. Never thought about the type of ball having an impact.

[saevel25]

I am a bit wary of claiming there is a big difference between low compression and high compression golf balls.

Mygolfspy looks to have done a decent study on Low Compression versus High Compression golf balls. They tested the C.O.R of the ball at varied clubhead speeds. They found that there is a negligibly difference in C.O.R.

With regards to temperature, low compression golf balls perform negligibly better at all temperature ranges. The difference is  close to being minimal. At 35 degrees out, the difference is 0.01 in C.O.R.

Even Taylormade published on their website that lower compression golf balls does not give slower swing speeds more distance. They did say that a higher swing speed (>105 mph) should be playing a higher compression (>80) golf ball to help minimize speed loss due to deflection at impact.

Compression is mostly a buzz word to help sell golf balls. It could possibly fine tune the numbers a very small amount.

[Sandhills Golfer]

13 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

Thanks @Sandhills Golfe.

I’ve always wondered what the commercials were talking about when touting “control on the greens”.  

I don’t have the ability to create much spin on chips and pitches so controlling where the ball lands and which club I use for each chip is critical in controlling run out. Never thought about the type of ball having an impact.

You've got to try a urethane ball then. I am a high capper myself and it is cool just to see the ball stop on the green. Sometimes, it can work against you as a ball can check up too early. Generally they are more expensive. But, there are consumer direct brands like Cut Golf that brings the cost down. Snell is similar but more expensive. But, closer to a high end brand like a Pro V at a lower cost. If money isn't a factor, I personally like the Srixon Z star for nice spin and a great yellow color.

12 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I am a bit wary of claiming there is a big difference between low compression and high compression golf balls.

Mygolfspy looks to have done a decent study on Low Compression versus High Compression golf balls. They tested the C.O.R of the ball at varied clubhead speeds. They found that there is a negligibly difference in C.O.R.

With regards to temperature, low compression golf balls perform negligibly better at all temperature ranges. The difference is  close to being minimal. At 35 degrees out, the difference is 0.01 in C.O.R.

Even Taylormade published on their website that lower compression golf balls does not give slower swing speeds more distance. They did say that a higher swing speed (>105 mph) should be playing a higher compression (>80) golf ball to help minimize speed loss due to deflection at impact.

Compression is mostly a buzz word to help sell golf balls. It could possibly fine tune the numbers a very small amount.

A lot what you say is true. But, in my opinion, a low compression has a softer feel and higher compression is usually firmer. So, performance might be the same or similar. But, feel is different.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Sandhills Golfe

[saevel25]

4 minutes ago, Sandhills Golfe said:

A lot what you say is true. But, in my opinion, a low compression has a softer feel and higher compression is usually firmer. So, performance might be the same or similar. But, feel is different.

Depends on the cover as well. You are correct. A lower compression should produce a  softer feel. It also depends on the driver as well and the sound produced. A lot of our feel comes from sound, actually it primarily is sound based. 

[Sean_D]

I have been playing the D2 Feels this year. I chose them because they're cheap and I lose a lot of golf balls. I really like the way they feel off the putter. I have not really noticed any determent on the greens, but then again, I don't have experience with any other balls. When I exhaust the remaining 3 boxes (I get $10 off coupons from Dick's all the time and generally spend >$10 for 30 golf balls), I am planning on trying the Srixon Z Stars, as I feel I am getting good enough (and I am losing starting to not lose golf balls) to experience the benefits of a more expensive 3-piece ball.

All-in-all, I have been very happy with the D2 Feel ball and would recommend it. 

[paperclip]

D2 Feel is 56, D2 Straight is 59.

[Sandhills Golfer]

17 hours ago, Sean_D said:

I have been playing the D2 Feels this year. I chose them because they're cheap and I lose a lot of golf balls. I really like the way they feel off the putter. I have not really noticed any determent on the greens, but then again, I don't have experience with any other balls. When I exhaust the remaining 3 boxes (I get $10 off coupons from Dick's all the time and generally spend >$10 for 30 golf balls), I am planning on trying the Srixon Z Stars, as I feel I am getting good enough (and I am losing starting to not lose golf balls) to experience the benefits of a more expensive 3-piece ball.

All-in-all, I have been very happy with the D2 Feel ball and would recommend it. 

Agreed! If you will try Srixon, now's the time. They are running a special now (Amazon, google it) at 20 for thr Z star. The benefit is the urethane cover and green side spin. Also, since you have the DSG coupons, if you can get your hands on a gamersoft (mainly online), they are a 3 piece surlyn cover ball. So, better feel than the D2 with some green side spin. But, not like the Z star.

4 hours ago, paperclip said:

D2 Feel is 56, D2 Straight is 59.

D2 is firm for that lower compression, 

[1badbadger]

On 5/30/2018 at 8:17 AM, saevel25 said:

I am a bit wary of claiming there is a big difference between low compression and high compression golf balls.

Mygolfspy looks to have done a decent study on Low Compression versus High Compression golf balls. They tested the C.O.R of the ball at varied clubhead speeds. They found that there is a negligibly difference in C.O.R.

With regards to temperature, low compression golf balls perform negligibly better at all temperature ranges. The difference is  close to being minimal. At 35 degrees out, the difference is 0.01 in C.O.R.

Even Taylormade published on their website that lower compression golf balls does not give slower swing speeds more distance. They did say that a higher swing speed (>105 mph) should be playing a higher compression (>80) golf ball to help minimize speed loss due to deflection at impact.

Compression is mostly a buzz word to help sell golf balls. It could possibly fine tune the numbers a very small amount.

I'd like to comment on some of the points you mentioned.

If you're not sure about the claims that there is a big difference between low compression and high compression balls, that's understandable.  But in my experience, I would certainly describe it as a noticeable difference for sure.  And the difference is in several areas. 

Feel has already been mentioned as one of the differences, but there are a couple others too.  A lower compression ball will launch higher than a firmer ball, and spin less.  This will be more noticeable with the driver and longer clubs because the core is compressed more with these clubs than short irons and wedges.  Since the majority of golfers tend to launch the ball lower than ideal and put excessive spin on the ball, a higher launch with less spin will usually result in longer, straighter drives.

I haven't seen the MyGolfSpy study you mentioned, but it's generally understood that as temperatures decrease, golf balls don't carry as far because they lose some of their restitution. How much will vary from model-to-model depending on the materials used and the construction of the ball.  There is not much difference when the temperature is above 68-70*, but the colder it gets the more noticeable the difference is.  The old wound balls were much more sensitive to temperature changes than the modern solid-core balls we have today.

I think it's interesting that TaylorMade basically states that a lower compression ball won't benefit players with slower swing speeds, but a higher compression ball will benefit the faster swinging players.  Unless I'm missing something, that doesn't make sense to me.  Look at it like this...when a player hits a shot on the screws (any player, regardless of swing speed or ability) none of this stuff matters as much.  Compression, perimeter weighting, MOI, COR...it doesn't come into play as much.  But as impact starts to stray from the sweet spot, that's when the differences in equipment become more noticeable.  A higher compression ball will lose more performance on miss hits than a lower compression ball, especially for guys with moderate to average swing speeds. Since most of us don't hit the sweet spot every time, those of us who don't have Tour level swing speeds can benefit from lower compression models.  It's tough for most players to over-compress a ball, but it is possible for high swing speed players to, which would cause a loss of performance.

I don't think "compression" is simply a marketing term used to sell golf balls, but rather a performance variable that is not fully understood by many consumers.  Manufacturers do a lot of research on how compression affects performance, and obviously the trend has been towards softer cores in many models, but there are always challenges with other parts of the ball too: