Dimple Within A Dimple - That's New!

Pimples are actually inverted dimples. I am not sure how the golf ball look if the craters were to be inverted and what about the resulting effects of flight and trajectory but what I do know is that the golf ball is a deadly projectile. I had one hit, two misses and saw a friend being hit and they were all frightening. The first time was a Caucasian man in our flight, a decent 21 handicapper. We were waiting in our buggy ahead but way off to the right and he targeting left. Somehow he miscued and the ball flew and went into our buggy, fortunately it hit the roof first and then my leg. I had a swell. Lesson number one, no matter how good that player, never stay ahead.

Then at Kranji, while walking to the buggy after putting and completing a hole, there was a flight teeing off opposite side of us. I heard someone shouted "ball" and even before one could react or knowing where it came from, I heard a loud sound "whoosh" past my right ear. You can't even see a thing but it was scary knowing how close it was. Having learned lesson number one, at Jurong, I stayed behind in the centre while a friend was hitting his second shot off the fairway on the right. He hit the shot onto the electrical box to his right and the ball ricocheted off and was screaming towards me and with whatever little athleticism left in me, I managed to make an amazing dash away from the ball. Then a friend beside me got hit when he was walking off the green at Orchid. How can someone hit the ball when people are still on the green. That is why golfers need to have a proper handicap and observe etiquette for the most important thing in any sports must be safety.

The last time I wrote about the most frequently used equipment I mentioned it as the putter. Technically, it is correct but there is something that you use more than your putter. A scratch golfer will probably use his driver 14 times (10 par 4s and 4 par 5s), a mixture of fairway woods, hybrids, irons including wedges at least for 22 times for GIR (Greens In Regulation) and say putt 36 times for him to play par. Therefore, you can see why the putter is so important followed by the driver and the others if you go just by the number of times you need to use one. Needless to say, if you are less proficient, you have to add more to each set of numbers in the same percentage and proportion at least.

Some of us can then argue that the one thing that you will use more than any other is the golf ball. Isn't that true? You have to hit it at least 72 times to play scratch (par) with a wide variety of clubs. In my last article, I have mentioned several brands of golf balls.

Titleist

Titleist, always at the forefront of golf ball technology has just rolled out some new offerings which are usually highly anticipated as they are noted for their excellent high performance balls claiming that there are substantial improvements over the previous ones. To name a few famous ones in recent years they gave us the famous Pro V 1 and Pro V 1x, NXT Tour and the NXT Extreme. The 2010 version released were the new NXT Tour, new NXT and DT SoLo. Most golfers only knew about Titleist Pro V 1 and Pro V 1x balls which are at the top of the range costing at least S$8 a ball averagely. 


Of course this is an excellent ball but the reason it it expensive is because all the top pros use it and the material that is being used is urethane which cost more to produce. It is a soft ball made especially for a good pro's play in particular spinning it to make it stay and bite when landing on to the green. You will still land it softer even if you don't have the game to spin it but frankly it won't do you much more good. Having and using such a ball will not make you a better golfer because you may not be able to spin it like a pro. Moreover those who do not hit it long will find more difficulties in the long game. They can proclaim that it will go long but soft balls do not fly as far as hard balls.

So if you are playing at a certain level and want to bring it up a level but you find that the Pro V 1 or Pro V 1x unnecessary, then it it time to explore these three.

NXT Tour

NXT Tour uses multi-layer technology to give you more distance from driver and long irons but maintaining green side control for shot stopping and soft feel with the main benefit being distance. The NXT Tour is for distance off the tee and from most iron shots. A very good choice if you are a smasher. Yet is supposed to be soft enough to offer feel unlike all other common distance balls which are basically hard - rock hard. Most importantly, the price is more persuasive, not necessary cheap, just less costly. It is sort of like filling in a gap or a niche. This ball has more bite than most other two-piece or three-piece balls. Forget about other value balls which are too hard. NXT Tour has a large and faster 1.58" dual core in a multi-layer design. It has a Tour -proven 332 icosahedral dimple pattern in 7 different sizes combined with a staggered wave parting line to enhance aerodynamics. Has a durable Fusablend cover. Tour-validate AIM (Alignment Integrated Marking) to assist in alignment. Retails slightly above S$60.
NXT

NXT has large and fast 1.575" solid core that provides higher velocity. Uses Ionomer cover for low spin for longer distance. Same dimples and pattern as NXT Tour. Has a special cut-proof durability. Retails for over S$50.

DT SoLo

The new DT SoLo (see below) are for golfers who wanted long distance from the driver and irons, exceptional feel and short game spin as compared to other two piece balls so they claimed. The DT SoLo is supposed to be an all-round golf ball which has good price-to-performance ratio. It has large 1.585" solid high velocity core with soft overall compression and a soft durable ionomer cover with a 392 icosahedral dimple with staggered wave parting line, AIM and cut-proof guarantee. Retails just under S$50.

Look carefully, aren't pimples inverted dimples? Why is one ugly and the other considered adorable?

Srixon AD333

This ball is created with a higher initial velocity for greater carry and overall distance. It can also generate excellent spin and control on approach shots and has a superior soft feel with the latter being an important criteria for putting. In other words, it is long on driver shots with minimum spin and yet generates higher spin for short irons and wedges on approach. It has a highly resilient and soft Rabalon HR + and Pana-Tetra blended thin cover with a large highly resilient and soft Energetic Gradient growth core and finally a high-trajectory 333-dimple pattern with advanced aerodynamics.

Pinnacle

People tend to think that Pinnacle produced only hard distance balls. Do you know that Pinnacle is owned by Acushnet that does Titleist? Don't you think that some fair bit of technologies from Titleist will go to Pinnacle balls as well but now going for a lower price when named Pinnacle? Not only do they produce distance balls but also those with softer feel.

The Pinnacle Gold Distance is familiar to many of us and it features a high spin rate for more carry and that old "cut-proof durability, a typical long distance ball while the Pinnacle Gold Precision on the other hand promises more feel around the greens with a lower, straighter ball flight and finally the new Pinnacle Dimension has a larger, softer core than the other Gold models, with a thinner Ionomer cover. Also new for 2010 is the Pinnacle Exception balls, targeted at low-handicap players who are seeking a value-priced option.

Top Flite - Gamer

Top Flite used to feature mostly hard balls and many did not know their affiliation to Callaway and had thought that Top Flite is not much of a brand. Introducing the new "Gamer" V2 which has an award-winning Dimple-in-Dimple aerodynamics provides total 3-piece performance. It has a resilient core for distance while creating soft feel. The second layer consist of a Dupont Mantle layer to increase ball speed and driver spin. It has a soft thin cover for green side spin and control and finally the third layer's Dimple-in-Dimple unique surface maintains spin longer throughout flight and reducing drag.

TaylorMade Burner LDP

Burner LDP (Low Drag Performance) features distance and softness and it has a high energy-low compression core and the 360 dimple configuration promotes longer carry and faster ball speed so that each hit feels and sounds soft. It is set as a value performance ball. Supposedly as TaylorMade says - Bomber's distance with Player's feel.

Golf Ball Design and What Is Good For You?
Golf balls are usually designed to withstand at least 100 strikes at 125 mph before they would crack. What does it mean using a simple and yet profound comparison? It is like hitting like Tiger drives for seven rounds of golf (Tiger's swing speed is 125 mph using a driver). For many of us, we may never get to crack a ball since many are lost into their watery graves or jungles just after awhile.

There are currently slightly more than 1,000 models of golf balls listed on the USGA list of conforming golf balls. It is difficult to search for that perfect ball. Perhaps it never existed. Whenever you choose one type of ball over another, you will have to come to some sort of compromise. Isn't it true to liken it to choosing a car, a house maybe a husband or wife.

What do you look for? Do you need more carry distance, good feel of the putter face, tighter dispersion control, price or green side spin? Very often, you have to give up something to get something else - very much like in life. In some types, the differences may not be quite obvious.

Good or bad golf balls are like wine. When they put an expensive wine and offer it as regular wine and cheaper wine claiming to be premium, tasters reported the quality of the wine according to what they have been told. Some tests were conducted with golf pros and low-handicap amateurs where they were not shown the brand nor what type of ball they were given and you get players extolling about how good the ball was and that it was good enough for them to play in their next tournament. 


Imagine the look in their face when they were later told that what they had tested were actually bargain-price two-piece balls. Isn't it like you wear a huge diamond ring and take a bus and everyone would be thinking it is a fake? Maybe sometimes, we judge people the same way?

What do you want in a golf ball? What do you want it to do? If your problem is with distance - you are not hitting long enough then you would obviously go for distance balls that gets up and flying quickly but they will be a harder two-piece type. If this is your game level, you are not going to be too concerned with green side spin or feel. 


If you are mid to low handicappers and for those who already have good distance, chances are feel and green side spin is of importance which means softer balls are the order. If price is your key criteria go for two-piece type which are less costly as they are cheaper in material and cheaper to produce. If you are a beginner, use "used" balls. When playing overseas, beware those that has land mines due to past war history. You go searching for a lost ball in the Out of Bounds areas or jungles and you may end up losing your own two.

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2009/07/it-takes-balls-to-play.html

Golf as in life, play as it lies.