The Green Fee A few months ago I posted a story on a virtual golf ball fitting with Titleist. In that story you may remeber I was fit for a Titleist Tour Speed golf ball. Part of the fitting was a mini sleeve of the balls. I decided to take these balls out on the course and to a simulator so I could compare them to my current golf ball, the Vice Pro, and the industry leader Pro V1x.
Knowing there was a good chance Id lose these golf balls pretty quick, I decided to start in the simulator and get some numbers. I decided to do some full wedge shots, some 7 iron shots and finally some drives. The Tour Speed really performed as expected. With all 3 balls being a urethane golf ball it wasnt much of a surprise they were so close.
Simulator thoughts
Wedge- The Tour Speed was right where I expected it. Less spin than the Pro V1x but more than the Vice. Ball speed was pretty consistent trhrough out the 3 balls. The Tour Speed gets my full approval there!
Iron- With the iron I saw some differences. The ball spun about 200RPM more than the Vice. It also launched lower and dint have as much ball speed. Overall this led to a shot that was about 5 yards shorter than the Vice. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. It probably had a better ability to hold a green. The Tour Speed did outperform the Pro V1x in distance though. It created more ball speed and more distance overall. Does this mean better? Not necessarily but it is something to consider. The Tour Speed didnt perform poorly but it wasnt mind blowing either
Driver- This is where I have to say the Tour Speed absolutely dominated the other 2. Higher ball speed, higher launch and lower spin. The ball also found the middle of the “fairway” more. When I saw dominated I mean 3 MPH faster than the Vice and 5 MPH than the Pro V1x. This equated to a 6 yard on average distance pick up against the Vice. This makes up for the loss of distance with the irons.
Take it to the course!
Obviously with these types of results I was ready to get this out on the course and see how they performed. Knowing I only had 2 balls I went out and purchased a sleeve as well so I could make sure I was able to give this a good review.
Driver- I saw a lot of great shots off the driver with this club. The ball seemed to really fly through that window that I liked. It also seemed to be very stable. I know this sounds weird but I really did feel like I was hitting it better. My Arccos data proved it. In the 2 round I played the Tour Speed ball my driving handicap was a +5 and a +4. In my last 13 rounds 2 of my 3 lowest rounds were rounds where I played the Tour Speed. Thats great performance. There is no other way to say it.
Irons- I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well playing this ball. Even mis-hits seemed to fly like I expected. There was some disappointment though. It didnt always feel like the ball was landing and sticking to the green like I wanted it too. The ball also seemed to fly pretty far. I found myself on the back of greens more than I wanted to. Most of that was in the first round with the ball though. Maybe I expected too much but for round 2 the issues kind of seemed to disappear.
Wedges- This though is where I was pretty disappointed. Just being honest the Pro V1x is just better. The Vice is a little better as well. I wasnt getting the check I expected on chips and pitches. I was leaving myself longer putts than I was comfortable with. In fact it was so off I went and had an extra practice session with the other balls side by side as well to make sure I wasnt going crazy. The extra practice session got me to figure out how to play the ball and the second round with the ball was much better.
Putter- It felt great off the putter. A nice firm feel that didnt feel harsh or mushy. It also rolled true..when I hit it true.. No complaints.
Durability- The durability didnt provide any concerns at all. I played about 14 holes with a ball befor elosing it and would have been fine playing more holes with it. It didnt feel bad or look bad at all.
Subjective- I wasnt a biggest fan of the alignment aid on the ball but I dont use that anyways so not a big deal for me. The ball also had a pearl finish to it which I kind of dug. As far as feel went it did feel very nice. I like something soft but can still provide some feedback. The Tour Speed did that perfectly.
Final Thoughts
Overall its a very nice golf ball. It really shines with the driver. I do wish for some more greenside spin. Overall the ball was right on par with the Vice but honestly a step below the Pro V1x. At the 40 dollar price point its a pretty good ball. I dont know if its worth the price compared to the price of the Vice but its a great feeling ball that performs how you would expect a 40 dollar urethane golf ball to perform!