Callaway Golf Ball Testing

This year Callaway launched three new golf balls, the SR1, SR2 and SR3.

SR stands for speed regime. Each ball is optimised for different swing speeds, the SR1 for under 90 mph, SR2 for 90-105mph and the SR3 for above 105mph.

Recently we gathered a group of golfers together and got them to hit one dozen balls with each model to see how they would work with their swing speeds.

Each golfer warmed up before hitting and then proceeded to hit a dozen balls with each model. The results were recorded using a Trackman launch monitor. We picked a dozen balls because golf balls come in packs of 12 and on average a golfer tends to play 12 shots with a driver during a round.

Here are the results for each golfer:

 Golfer A

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	236.4	266	45.95	107.1	9.3	2572	155
SR2	251.3	276.9	48.04	107.3	9.0	2796	159.5
SR3	248.5	273.5	39.42	107.1	8.9	2773	158.7

Golfer B

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	219.9	246.1	54.55	98.3	12.1	2523	142.5
SR2	225.1	250.9	43.47	98.6	9.9	2649	146.2
SR3	228.1	257.1	40.45	98.5	11.5	2272	147.4

Golfer C

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	237.2	267.3	36.45	107	9.8	2476	154.3
SR2	246.4	276.5	29.47	106.9	9.0	2443	158.9
SR3	237.7	269.3	43.36	107.3	9.3	2379	156.8

Golfer D

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	214.5	237.7	12.98	98.2	8.9	3064	142.9
SR2	220.4	240.9	34.12	98.2	9.1	3368	146.8
SR3	231	251.2	43.86	99.4	9.7	2981	150.2

Going through the results we can see that the clubhead speed average for each golfer remained very consistent. This indicates a good consistency for the swings throughout the test. Also noted for all four golfers the SR1 was the worst ball for each of them. Given that this ball works best with speeds of under 90 mph, and our test subjects were all above that, this is what we would expect. However the ball what worked out best for each of them was not what would have been expected.

For Golfers A&C both who had speeds of over 105mph the SR2 worked best for them. Golfer A had 276.9 yards with the SR2 and 273.5 yards with the SR3. Golfer C had 276.5 yards with the SR2 and 269.3 yards with the SR3.

Why did the SR2 work better for them? Both golfers have launch angles a bit on the lower side, both around 9 degrees, as a result they need a little more spin to keep the ball in the air. The SR2 provides a little more spin and gave them both better ball flights and longer distance. On average both had only a little more spin, but the mishits with the SR3 didn't fly as well as with the SR2. Also, both had also more ball speed with the SR2.

For Golfers B&D both who had speeds between 90 and 105mph the SR3 worked best for them. Golfer B had 257.1 yards with the SR3 and 250.9 yards with the SR2. Golfer D had 251.2 yards with the SR3 and 240.9 with the SR2.

Why did the SR3 work better for these players? Both players benefited from the lower spinning SR3 ball giving them more distance. Golfer B also had a higher launch with the SR3 which along with the lower spin gave him more distance. Golfer D's spin was a little on the high side, even with a low launch, as a result the lower spin of the SR3 gave him more distance.

Conclusion

 

The Callaway Speed Rated balls are an excellent golf ball giving good results to a range of players. The SR1 is best suited to golfers with lower swing speeds.The SR2 suits players looking for a little more spin and the SR3 suits players looking for a little less spin. 

This little test with a small sample of players also shows the value of using the right ball. The three balls gave our four players different results. Just a small bit of testing can gain you a little more distance with the right ball. Not a great idea to reach into the bag and grab any old ball!!

Comments and questions are greatly appreciated.

A Tour of Great American Golf Courses

To celebrate the United States of America's birthday and Independence Day, let's take a tour of some of it's great golf courses.

San Francisco GC 7th Hole

Pasatiempo 18th

Cypress Point 16th

Claremont CC 3rd

The Titleist Performance Institute

Pebble Beach 7th

Monterey Peninsula CC

Streamsong Red 16th

Streamsong Blue 7th

Crystal Downs 17th

Torrey Pines 3rd

Chicago GC 7th

The Valley Club of Montecito 15th

Bethpage Black

Piping Rock 18th

World Woods 15th

The Floridian 18th

Pebble Beach 18th

Cypress Point 15th

Sunset at Streamsong

What if I pick the wrong club?

Imagine yourself 160 yards out from the flag, which is a normal 7 iron for you. You reach for the seven iron but then a couple of different thoughts enter your head, wind seems to be helping, air is a bit warmer, you're feeling a bit stronger then normal and you think is 8 enough?

Or the opposite happens, you think the wind is against, it's a bit cooler, it looks uphill, you're not feeling very confident in your swing and you think a 6 is required?

So let's investigate, is 7 always the right club? Will 8 be always too little? Is 6 always too much? What's the worst that could happen with an 8 or a 6?

A couple of evenings ago I headed out with 60 balls, a 6,7 and 8 iron and Drive Golf Performance's Trackman to see how a spread of shots with the three clubs would work.

I used my own Miura MB001 irons and Titleist Pro V1 golf balls.

 

Lofts on the 6,7 and 8 irons are 30,34 and 38 degrees.

There was little wind and temperatures were around 20 degrees Celsius. Perfect evening for hitting some balls. 

After warming up I hit 20 7 irons, 20 6 irons and 20 8 irons and recorded the data.

 

Above is a photo of the results. One thing to note in the trajectory, irons tend to have the same peak height just the higher clubs reach it earlier in the flight, sometimes giving the impression they fly higher.

Here are the results

Club	Speed	Ball Speed	Carry	Total	Side	Longest	Shortest
7	83.3	109.3	150.4	160	12.4r	166.6	153.5
6	86.1	116.2	158.8	168.6	5.8r	174.8	163.9
8	82.8	105.9	143.7	151.8	6.0l	158.2	142.3

 Speed and Ball Speed are in MPH, Carry, Total, longest and shortest are in Yards and side is in feet.

So an average 7 iron will go 160 yards so that should be the club to pick but the 7 irons ranged from 153.5 to 166.6 yards (or 20 feet short to 20 feet long of pin high) and only 5 out of the 20 were between 159 and 161 yards, i.e when saying how far you hit a club it's a range and not a number.

What would happen if I hit the six iron?

On average it would have went 8.6 yards or 26 feet too far. Most greens are 30 yards deep, so with a hole located anywhere from the front to 20 yards deep then playing the six iron would still mean I'm on the green and putting. The worst 6 iron went 163.9 yards leaving potentially a good chance for birdie, the best 6 iron went 174.8 yards still leaving the ball on the green on an average size green with the hole in the middle.

What would happen if I hit the eight iron?

On average it would have come up 8.2 yards or approximately 25 feet short. Again on an average green where the hole is anywhere from 10 yards in to the back this would have the ball on the green and putting. The worst 8 iron went 142.3 yards which would have the ball on an average size green with the hole located just beyond the middle. The best 8 iron went 158.2 yards leaving it quite close to pin high and a great chance for birdie.

How does this help you select the right club?

First thing to note is you'll hit club a range of distances rather then just a number. Could be a spread of anywhere from 10-15 yards depending on loft gaps and swing speed. Find your average distance and use this as your ideal distance. If you use your best distance as your ideal distance then it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to come up 40 feet short, whereas using the average will have you at worst 20 feet short or 20 feet long.

The worst result with a different club (long with the longer club and short with the shorter club) shouldn't be that bad and the best result (short with the longer club and long with the shorter club) will be very good.

Also when in between clubs or undecided go for the longer club with the hole at the front of the green and the shorter club with the hole at the back of the green. The reasons being if you pick the shorter club with the flag towards the front there's a reasonable chance you'll come up short of the green leaving a chip with not a huge amount of green to work with, but if you go past the flag with the longer club it will still be on the green and putting. Also shorter is better then being over the back with the flag at the back.

Any questions, please ask.