Alright, so I got my hands on some of those Nike golf balls you see around. Not sure if they’re brand new models or just something I hadn’t tried before, but I figured, why not give ’em a swing.
Getting Started
Picked up a sleeve just to see what was up. Packaging looked slick, like Nike stuff usually does. Nothing too crazy, just standard golf ball box. Pulled one out, felt okay in the hand. Dimple pattern looked standard enough. No weird texture or anything.
Hitting the Range
Took them out to the range first, didn’t want to lose them straight away on the course if they were terrible. Started with some wedges.
- Wedges: The feel off the clubface was… noticeable. Definitely on the softer side. Didn’t get a huge amount of check on the range mats, but the feel was soft.
- Irons: Moved up through the bag. Same story with the irons – felt quite soft on impact. Not mushy, but softer than some premium balls I’ve played. Ball flight seemed alright, pretty standard trajectory.
- Driver: This was the interesting one. The sound off the driver was a bit muted, probably because of that softer feel. Distance seemed okay, maybe comparable to other balls in that sort of mid-price range? Didn’t feel like a rocket, but didn’t feel like a marshmallow either. It just went.
On the Course – Quick Nine
Decided to play a quick nine holes with them. Off the tee, pretty much same as the range. Decent distance, nothing spectacular. Where I noticed the difference more was around the greens.
Chipping and Pitching: That soft feel was really apparent here. Came off the face nicely on short chips. Pitch shots stopped okay, maybe not spinning back like crazy, but they weren’t releasing endlessly either. Pretty predictable.
Putting: Felt soft off the putter face too. If you like a soft feel when you putt, you might like these. Rolled pretty true, no complaints there.
Final Thoughts
So, what’s the verdict? They’re decent golf balls. They perform like you’d expect a golf ball to perform. Felt kinda like some of those balls marketed for distance with a soft feel, maybe like those Titleist ones aimed at the budget market, the Mojo maybe? Not exactly like my usual gamers, felt different, especially softer.
Are they gonna replace my go-to ball? Probably not. The feel wasn’t quite what I prefer, especially off the driver and irons. But for the price, if you can find them reasonably, they’re perfectly playable. They go straight, they stop okay, they putt fine. Just depends what you like, I guess. Solid enough, just not for me long-term.
