virge666
23rd April 2008, 01:17 PM
Vision golf balls comparison tests.
Firstly, I would like to thank Boz for it this opportunity to compare his golf balls to other golf balls on the market. It is fantastic to have a local supplier with a great product. This comparison is purely technical. I have not included things such as colour or appearance. This comparison will cover the vision expert 2, and a very colourful vision golf ball. The Distance Pro is just that – a distance ball, the other two have some remarkable qualities.
It is my opinion that choosing a golf ball depends on three simple things. Driver spin, Iron spin and wedge spin. You can break this down to bashing it, flighting it and spinning it. Putter feel may be important to some people, but seeing as putters can have different inserts and fabrication materials – there are just too many variables to make a decent assessment.
The Vision ball, or your next Ambrose Ball.
I must admit having a soft spot for this ball. It is one of the best wind balls I've ever hit. It is also one of the longest driver balls I have ever hit. If you are the kind of person who hits a lot of greens in regulation, then this is the golf ball for you. I can hit the ball high, I can hit this ball low, it does not balloon into the wind, and it just seems to keep on going. It is just a fabulous Ambrose golf ball.
Once you have a mid to high iron in your hand, the fun doesn't stop. With any kind of four or three-quarter golf shot. This ball will not only stop, you can also spin it back. If you match this quality with the ball being almost impervious to wind, it makes for very accurate approach shots. I have been known to favouring the lower kind of wedge shot, this ball and a nine iron makes this kind of shot seem like cheating. I found this for very hard to move left to right in the air. I could either move a lot or none at all.
And now the problem, shots just off the green, around a 30m mark. You can get some check on the ball but the amount of risk you have to take to get that much hand speed behind the golf ball is not something I feel happy with. I believe this has to do with the cover of the golf ball, but more on this later.
The Vision Expert ball.
I was quite bemused when I noticed that the spin rates at this golf ball, especially with the driver were almost identical. That is some feat. Normally when you make a golf ball softer, the spin rates go up, especially with the driver. Somehow Boz has managed to do this. This means that this ball also has a special “Vision immunity” to wind. Sure, the wind will move the ball to the left or right but compared to normal golf ball, it is substantially less.
I noticed that I was able to hit my lower irons are little higher with this golf ball. And while the ability to shape the ball was there, I could move the ball a little left or right, but not consistently. This higher ball flight continued into the mid-and higher irons, with ample spin and control from any fairway lie. I had a couple of shots in the rough and found that flyers were very rare indeed.
Once around the green and chipping, the same kind of problem arose. To get the ball to spin or check with the shorter chip shots, I had to put a very aggressive swing on the golf ball. The ball would check but it would not grip the surface, especially on the harder greens I was playing on.
Conclusion
So after the four or five rounds with a half-dozen golf balls that were provided, we can see where these golf balls have their pros and cons.
With the driver
These golf balls are some of the best driving golf balls you will ever hit. They are consistently long, straight and seemingly impervious to the wind. If you're not using the vision ball during your next Ambrose event, then you are an idiot.
With the irons.
With full and three-quarter shots, these balls will have a consistent flight and enough spin to hold pretty much any green you hit it at. If you cannot get these balls to spin from 75m with a pitching wedge than is a technique issue and not a ball problem.
Where the wedges
This is the only problem I had with these golf balls, my wedges were unable to get any grip on the cover of these golf balls. While these golf balls feel soft enough in the hand to be able to spin them, I just could not get any more than a subtle check around the greens.
The cover.
One last word on the cover. My technical knowledge about golf balls is limited, but this cover scuffs up quite a lot. And when I say scuff, it's more like scratches. I've not seen this kind of markings on the golf ball since the old days.
I truly believe that if this cover is modified in some way so we can get more grip on the ball, I would happily play this golf ball at any course in any event.
At present, the lack of control around the greens, limits me using this golf ball to Ambrose days where I don’t do any chipping.
Firstly, I would like to thank Boz for it this opportunity to compare his golf balls to other golf balls on the market. It is fantastic to have a local supplier with a great product. This comparison is purely technical. I have not included things such as colour or appearance. This comparison will cover the vision expert 2, and a very colourful vision golf ball. The Distance Pro is just that – a distance ball, the other two have some remarkable qualities.
It is my opinion that choosing a golf ball depends on three simple things. Driver spin, Iron spin and wedge spin. You can break this down to bashing it, flighting it and spinning it. Putter feel may be important to some people, but seeing as putters can have different inserts and fabrication materials – there are just too many variables to make a decent assessment.
The Vision ball, or your next Ambrose Ball.
I must admit having a soft spot for this ball. It is one of the best wind balls I've ever hit. It is also one of the longest driver balls I have ever hit. If you are the kind of person who hits a lot of greens in regulation, then this is the golf ball for you. I can hit the ball high, I can hit this ball low, it does not balloon into the wind, and it just seems to keep on going. It is just a fabulous Ambrose golf ball.
Once you have a mid to high iron in your hand, the fun doesn't stop. With any kind of four or three-quarter golf shot. This ball will not only stop, you can also spin it back. If you match this quality with the ball being almost impervious to wind, it makes for very accurate approach shots. I have been known to favouring the lower kind of wedge shot, this ball and a nine iron makes this kind of shot seem like cheating. I found this for very hard to move left to right in the air. I could either move a lot or none at all.
And now the problem, shots just off the green, around a 30m mark. You can get some check on the ball but the amount of risk you have to take to get that much hand speed behind the golf ball is not something I feel happy with. I believe this has to do with the cover of the golf ball, but more on this later.
The Vision Expert ball.
I was quite bemused when I noticed that the spin rates at this golf ball, especially with the driver were almost identical. That is some feat. Normally when you make a golf ball softer, the spin rates go up, especially with the driver. Somehow Boz has managed to do this. This means that this ball also has a special “Vision immunity” to wind. Sure, the wind will move the ball to the left or right but compared to normal golf ball, it is substantially less.
I noticed that I was able to hit my lower irons are little higher with this golf ball. And while the ability to shape the ball was there, I could move the ball a little left or right, but not consistently. This higher ball flight continued into the mid-and higher irons, with ample spin and control from any fairway lie. I had a couple of shots in the rough and found that flyers were very rare indeed.
Once around the green and chipping, the same kind of problem arose. To get the ball to spin or check with the shorter chip shots, I had to put a very aggressive swing on the golf ball. The ball would check but it would not grip the surface, especially on the harder greens I was playing on.
Conclusion
So after the four or five rounds with a half-dozen golf balls that were provided, we can see where these golf balls have their pros and cons.
With the driver
These golf balls are some of the best driving golf balls you will ever hit. They are consistently long, straight and seemingly impervious to the wind. If you're not using the vision ball during your next Ambrose event, then you are an idiot.
With the irons.
With full and three-quarter shots, these balls will have a consistent flight and enough spin to hold pretty much any green you hit it at. If you cannot get these balls to spin from 75m with a pitching wedge than is a technique issue and not a ball problem.
Where the wedges
This is the only problem I had with these golf balls, my wedges were unable to get any grip on the cover of these golf balls. While these golf balls feel soft enough in the hand to be able to spin them, I just could not get any more than a subtle check around the greens.
The cover.
One last word on the cover. My technical knowledge about golf balls is limited, but this cover scuffs up quite a lot. And when I say scuff, it's more like scratches. I've not seen this kind of markings on the golf ball since the old days.
I truly believe that if this cover is modified in some way so we can get more grip on the ball, I would happily play this golf ball at any course in any event.
At present, the lack of control around the greens, limits me using this golf ball to Ambrose days where I don’t do any chipping.