Chances are you have an adjustable driver so once you’ve found the ball the performs best through the rest of the bag, take advantage of the driver’s adjustability and tune it to fit the ball. These King Tour irons are built to be cannons and place more emphasis on consistent and precise shots. I also felt like the new irons launch easily and maybe a touch higher than some irons in the same category. Under the conditions tested, the list of longest balls off high-speed irons includes a mix of high- and, at least, mid-compression offerings. High-speed golfers looking for a high-trajectory option to maximize distance should consider the Mizuno RB Tour X or Srixon Z-Star Diamond. Speed, trajectory and spin determine the best performing ball for any individual golfer. So while many believe high compression is for fast swingers and low compression is for slower ones, the truth is that some high-speed golfers can benefit from the low spin properties of low-compression balls while some slow swinging golfers will benefit from the higher trajectory and added spin offered by some higher-compression offerings.

For those looking for a soft-ish ball with some iron spin, the Bridgestone TOUR B XS qualifies. After that, you have to go all the way down to Supersoft which narrowly misses the list of top-10 lowest-spinning balls. The urethane-cover compound in all four balls uses an additive that maximizes resiliency for high-speed driver impacts. When impact is slower, like on a wedge shot, the additive helps the urethane adhere to the face for control and spin. Golfers in this swing speed range often benefit from higher launch with more spin so low-compression balls are not always the best option.

Paige Spiranac WITB 2023 (September)

We found some degree of core centeredness and or layer concentricity issue in roughly two-thirds of the balls in our sample.

The RB Tour (and the RB Tour X) is a low-launch/high-spin offering. It’s overstating it a bit to call it “unique” but its space in the ball-fitting world is where not everyone plays … at least not at retail. It’s a tail end of the bell curve offering where the only legitimate performance comps are the Volvik S4 (perhaps the most extreme example of a low launch/high spin golf ball) and what now is the prior Gen of the Kirkland three-piece ball. In looking only at those balls that produced above-average ball speed in most conditions, we found balls that produced nearly every combination of flight and spin characteristics. 7. It’s Not Launch Angle, It’s Trajectory As you would expect, ball speed differences aren’t nearly as significant as they are with the driver. Two of the longest balls, the Srixon Z-Star Diamond and Mizuno RB Tour X, were also among the highest spinning at 115 mph. In each scenario, the goal was to replicate as best as we could the launch conditions for golfers within the target range.Z-STAR XV: With the thinnest cover and firmest compression, it targets the highest-speed players who want low-spin distance. While the data suggest low-compression balls can’t match the speed of firmer balls, the Callaway Chrome Soft qualifies as a faster soft option under our test conditions. Mizuno’s own testing and 3D simulations against the usual suspects (ProV1, ChromeSoft, Tour B, Srixon, etc.) showed a lower trajectory with virtually the same carry. While initial velocities were identical, Mizuno says the RB Tour balls showed higher velocities at peak height and at descent. The real performance difference, says Voshall, will be found with irons, particularly mid- and long-irons. At the time of testing, weight consistency for the 2023 Mizuno RB Tour X falls within the average range (though only by a bit). Below you’ll find we’ve broken this article down into distinct categories to help you find the best golf ball for your game. Feel free to skip ahead or scroll on to learn more about that test, methodology, and key findings.

We find more separation at the bottom where the ionomer offerings spin significantly less. Lower-spinning urethane offerings include the Volvik Tour VS4, Titleist Tour Speed and Snell MTB Prime X. The larger point is that we’ve done our best to provide a selection of performance options in each category. This section contains a few notes to help you better understand the rest of what you’ll find in this report. What is a “Soft” Golf Ball? At all three driver speeds tested, the highest-compression golf balls ( Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash and Wilson Staff Model) produced the fastest ball speeds. This suggests slower swing speed golfers are still able to compress the core with a driver. As you would expect, most of the balls in this test qualify as average when it comes to greenside spin. 4. Don’t Overlook DTC and House Brands

Facts. Figures, Pricing

In other cases (the new Kirkland Performance+ V3, for example), the key performance characteristics, most notably its high spin rate, appear largely unchanged. 3. Performance Matters on All Shots We flagged a single ball as bad because its compression was about 10 points below the median value for the sample. The Mizuno RB Tour X isn’t particularly fun as far as coloring goes but we don’t give style or beauty points anyway. We did observe a bit of regrind in a healthy percentage of the sample. It’s common practice among two-piece balls to reuse a bit of inert material as filler. And while it is a bit less common in the premium space, it absolutely does happen and unless we see something weird on the gauges (which we didn’t) it isn’t cause for concern. Cover That something is two Mizuno balls new to the North American market: the RB Tour and RB Tour X. And before you ask – no, the golf balls aren’t Grain Flow Forged.