2001 Golf Ball Report - Wedges

In a follow-on report to the recent golf ball and irons study, we present some more information from our online colleague Bob Vislocky of State College, PA. Bob is an accomplished golfer with a USGA handicap index of +0.1, 7-iron swing speed of 76 mph, smooth tempo, and solid short game. Bob is also a PhD scientist.
Analysis Method

The study was performed on a Swing Dynamics Ball Flight Monitor (www.swingdynamics.com) using brand new balls and a Titleist DCI OS+ pitching wedge (bent to 48°). Only partial shots (~40-50 yards) were hit with the pitching wedge. The test took place over 10 days. Each day 1 shot was hit with each of the 40 brands of balls. If the shot was hit in the "sweet area" then it was tabulated. If the shot was mishit then it was re-tried until a solid shot occurs. Therefore, in some cases it took 2 or 3 shots to get one to "count" for a particular ball brand. However, when the tests were completed there were 10 solid shots tabulated for each ball brand.

Trimmed averages of spin rate was computed for each ball brand by eliminating the highest and lowest values and computing the mean value based off the middle eight values. The trimmed averages mitigate the effects of an extraneous value or two which can skew the total mean. It's these trimmed values that are presented in the table.

Results

In the table, SPIN is the initial spin rate of the ball in RPMs.

Rank Golf Ball Spin   Rank Golf Ball Spin
1
 Titleist Tour Balata 5308.8
21
 Precept MC Advantage 4014.7
2
 Maxfli Elite 5215.6
22
 Titleist HP Eclipse 4011.3
3
 Precept MC Premium 5214.3
23
 Precept MC Lady 3981.4
4
 Maxfli Revolution 5134.7
24
 Titleist TD SF 3976.5
5
 Nike Tour Accuracy 5111.6
25
 Titleist DT Wound 3778.9
6
 Titleist Pro V1 5043.7
26
 Wilson SC Spin 3752.1
7
 Dunlop Total Performance 4941.7
27
 Titleist TD 90 3742.7
8
 Titleist Prestige 4941.7
28
 Pinnacle Ti Spin 3731.9
9
 Titleist Professional 4917.2
29
 Pinnacle Gold Spin 3683.5
10
 Callaway Rule 35 Blue 4907.0
30
 Titleist DT 2-piece 3613.9
11
 Precept MC Spin 4884.2
31
 Titleist DT Spin 3528.6
12
 Strata Tour Pro 4806.7
32
 Titleist DT Distance 3441.2
13
 Top-Flite Extra Spin 4796.5
33
 Maxfli Tour Patriot 3427.9
14
 Strata ML Balata 4633.8
34
 Titleist HP Distance 3319.4
15
 Precept MC Double Cover 4590.2
35
 Top-Flite Extra Long 3304.8
16
 Callaway Rule 35 Red 4514.6
36
 Strata Pro Distance 3273.9
17
 Srixon Metal Mix Tour 4290.3
37
 Pinnacle Ti Extreme 3205.8
18
 Titleist HP Tour 4288.7
38
 Top-Flite Extra Carry 3137.3
19
 Precept MC Distance 4176.3
39
 Top-Flite Titanium 3087.2
20
 Titleist HP2 Tour 4096.9
40
 Wilson SC Distance 3048.1
Conclusions
There were no real suprises in the results. Golf balls with soft covers had a higher spin rate than those with harder covers. However, it was found that some golf balls that had decent spin rates with the 7-iron had below average spin rates on the partial wedge shots (Titleist DT Spin, Titleist DT Wound, and Pinnacle Spin). This would seem to indicate that on real short shots it is primarily the cover that determines the spin rate while on full shots it is the combination of the core and cover that determines spin.

 
Editor's Notes:
Again, we would like to thank Bob V. for allowing us to publish this report. Keep in mind that, as Bob noted, these results are based only on the study as previously described and results may differ based on the golfer, swing type, weather, or other factors. GM (4.30.01)