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Re: Callaway Ball

• Goldor 20 Posts

  Sun, Jan 30 2011 11:11 AM

  I have just bought and played St Andrews three times with the Callaway ($2.50)  Balls with superior back spin NOT!! I have shot with back spin full on and the ball stops well but back spin not an inch. I must have got  a bad batch. Although others seem to love them,I am not impressed.

• VanHalenLover 1,422 Posts

  Sun, Jan 30 2011 12:00 PM

  Same here Goldor, although I have only shot with them on Pebble Beach. I see no difference between these and the GI-SD balls.

• borntobesting 9,709 Posts

  Sun, Jan 30 2011 12:31 PM

  At St.Andrews the spin doesn't come into play much. Not many greens at St.Andrews take the spin well  they are hard just like the fairways. Use them at some place like Oak and you will see what the extra spin can really do. I backed up one at # 4 I believe it was something like 8 yards. Yes yards not feet. The other 3 guys in out Alt round couldn't believe it. Shoot I couldn't either. But that wasn't a good thing either. I went from around 2 feet or so from the hole to 26 feet. And  of course I missed the putt.  

  But the spin is not what impresses me the most. It is how long they last. They last anywhere from 3 to 4 times as long as the 84 cent a sleeve pink Tour GI-S balls I use most. 250 credits lasts as long as 252 credits for the Tour GI-S balls so the price is really about the same in the long run. And that figure is based on 3 times the life. If they last longer than 3 times then in the long run they will be much less expensive than the Tour GI-S balls.  At first due to the higher price per sleeve I was considering only trying them once just to see how they were. But when i realized that the price evens out due to the extreme durability of the Callaway TourI s ball I may reconsider. I just need to deplete the stash of all my other balls before i make a final decision. 

• WGTicon 12,511 Posts

  Sun, Jan 30 2011 11:38 PM

  I have to disagree about spin on STA. Try the masters wedges and your full bs hit will bs easily 6-10 ft, depending on location, wind.etc

  -wgticon

• Goldor 20 Posts

  Mon, Jan 31 2011 11:59 AM

  Hi Icon,I just shot three rounds at Oakmount, It is a mystery to me as to get back spin enough for a ball to come back.I have shot full back spin with Driver,9 Iron,8 Iron ,wedges and nothing.I have seen it in replay video so I assume it works but not for me so far.I have 2 1/8 balls to try before I decide if I would purchase more but not again based on what I have seen. I also Don't think if you purchase a specific ball for back spin it should only work  with a specific level of clubs. If you put  out the money they should perform for every level club the same. 

• chrisironsbones 3,524 Posts

  Mon, Jan 31 2011 12:50 PM

  Some holes and greens vary, sometimes ball stops dead, but most of the time i can see 2 yards rollback when i use wedges, doesn't happen with irons though, but stops pw and 9 iron much better, don't get as much follow on forward roll

• MioKontic 4,654 Posts

  Wed, Feb 2 2011 1:57 PM

  Well, I took the plunge and bought a box of Callaway i(s) balls, in white!  I was expecting all sorts of good things; longer shots, huge amounts of backspin, ball dancing around the pin, etc, etc.  WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!  Here are my thoughts on the new (spin) ball.

  I tried them with with both Ping Rapture (L48+) and Ping G10 (L59+) irons, the Rapture and TaylorMade R9 8.0 (L67+) drivers and the Z-satin wedges (L39+).  Definitely got a few extra yards out of the drivers, but how much I couldn't say (as I couldn't replay the same shot with a different ball!).  Although the G10's did manage to stop the ball a little quicker than the Raptures, the spin was so inconsistent with both sets of clubs and similarly with the wedges that I couldn't make a better score than I have with the ball I currently use, the GI3-S.  I never got any ball to actually 'suck back' even with full backspin (even on Oakmont #2!!!), maybe not so surprising with the Raptures, but I expected some dancing with the G10's.  There were times when I put full backspin on the ball and it still ran forward 10-20 yards (and it didn't land on a downslope!)

  So, I guess they didn't work any better overall for me than the GI3-S balls as the extra few yards gained was not really of any benefit.  And as the feel and durability of the Callaways is the same as the GI3-S's, the WGT ball definitely seems to be the better value ball for me.

  Having read what other players have written about the new balls, I got to wondering whether something has been programmed into the balls to make them play differently for different tiers.  I'm only a Master tier and was thinking maybe that was the reason I couldn't get the ball to spin back.  I've just about used up all 3 balls and not once have I got the ball to spin back, even when ding'd.

  Anyway, I've had my play, back to business now!

• MioKontic 4,654 Posts

  Wed, Feb 2 2011 4:00 PM

  Well, having now played a couple of 9-hole games with the GI3-S ball since finishing with the Callaway, I can now see how much more stopping power the Callaway has than the GI3-S.  But, like I said, because the spin was inconsistent, I think I'll probably stick with the GI3-S for now.

• jbenny11 863 Posts

  Wed, Feb 2 2011 4:19 PM

  Yes I agree, these balls suck please limit them to Legends only. I know a couple guys who know how to use them ;-) ;-) JB

• MioKontic 4,654 Posts

  Wed, Feb 2 2011 5:43 PM

  Sarcasm goes a long way.  Not all legends know how to use them, as you've proved!

  Someone once said "Best be quiet and be thought an idiot than open your mouth and remove all doubt".  Oh, that's right, it was you.