As he makes his 2024 season debut at this week’s Genesis Invitational (his first official PGA Tour start since ankle surgery last April), all things Tiger Woods will be the primary topic of discussion. That includes his equipment, which will include his first go in competition with Bridgestone’s latest version of its Tour B X golf ball.

Golf Digest equipment editor E. Michael Johnson had the opportunity to ask Woods about his ball-testing process, how he mimics tournament conditions when practising at his home in Florida and where amateurs are missing the mark with their ball choice. Here’s what Woods had to say.

We’ve discussed your golf-ball preferences in the past and you’ve said you pretty much want all the spin you can get and it’s your job to take it off. The Tour B X, however, is not the ‘spinniest’ ball in the Bridgestone line. What’s changed or what trait does the X give you that the XS did not?

It’s important to get fit for a golf ball and to continue to check your fit as your situation changes. In the past, I wasn’t as concerned with [driver] distance as I was with short-game spin. But these days, I want some extra pop off the tee, and the X provides eight to 10 more yards at times. The new Tour B X also spins quite a bit more on short shots than past models.

You’ve spoken in the past about how important it is to you that the ball be in a very specific window when you look up from a shot. Does the X fit that window or have you had to adapt to what you like to see?

When we talk about this, what we are talking about is a consistent ball flight and a trajectory that accomplishes the style of play I want to use. With the Tour B X, the launch is a touch lower, however with the higher ball speed the overall change of the apex of the shot or window is very negligible, which is nice because this was a contributing factor to a easy transition.

With a shorter golf ball likely, the golf industry is worried about its long game

What is the level of importance in your process for evaluating a ball: driving, iron play, shot-making, short game, putting?

When going through the ball-fitting and transition to the Tour B X, the ball speed and driver performance are what initially got my attention. Then it was time to put the ball through the paces with the other clubs. What Bridgestone has done, coupling distance off the tee with greenside control, is really remarkable. I find that we aren’t sacrificing one area for the other as much as we used to.

Do you miss the ball you played in the mid-1990s? If so, why, and have you gone back and tried any old balls?

It’s such an interesting conversation, and yes, the equipment has changed but so much else has also. You look at athleticism, player conditioning, course setup and equipment advances, it’s such a different game now than when I was coming up. More forgiving equipment options have become available over the years, but depending on how you want to set up your bag, shot-making and workability are still a big part of the equation. I have all of my old gear and will occasionally mess around with it at the house for nostalgia, but what you see me putting in play any given week is what I know is the best setup for my game at that moment.

What’s your process for testing golf balls and how much involves a launch monitor versus what you see/feel and how has that changed over time, if at all?

Before launch monitors it was all about feel and using your eyes to gauge how the ball was performing. Now, I use my Full Swing launch monitor for dialling in distances and getting an accurate picture of how a ball performs on longer shots. For approach shots and shots around the green, it’s still much more about feel and using your eyes than a launch monitor. What works out great for my testing is while I am personally relying on feel and my historical preferences, Bridgestone is there getting data to benchmark and double-check what I am seeing.

Once I’ve completed my range work the final check is to see how the ball performs on course, particularly on scoring shots and around the greens. It can be tough to mimic tournament conditions at home but that’s what we have done in Jupiter. We have a nice group that we can play with to get the adrenalin flowing to really see how new gear is working when put through a real stress test. Once we get the reps in at home and know the ball not only performs but performs consistently then I know it’s ready for tournament play.

Your launch angle has changed over the years – you launch it higher now. Does that affect what you’re looking for in a ball off the tee?

We’re all trying to get the ball in the air with low spin to maximise distance, and the Tour B X is designed to work exceptionally well with that type of launch. It’s a different game than when I was coming up and the balls are different. We used to launch it low because the spin of those balata balls would cause them to climb so much. What Bridgestone has done with the dimples and manufacturing has allowed us to design a ball that has a great trajectory but also doesn’t balloon or get away from us, especially in the wind.

Bridgestone Tour B golf balls: What you need to know

Have you tried the Mindset version of the Tour B X? If so, what are your thoughts?

Mindset is a really interesting marking and concept for all players. It’s a technique that Jason Day has found success with, but for me I think the bigger lesson is all players can benefit from a more purposeful approach to executing shots on the course. The best players in the world all have solid pre-shot routines since it’s almost impossible to compete under pressure without one. Amateurs almost never have a good pre-shot routine, so Mindset will help them quite a bit, if they use it consistently by clearing thoughts and distractions and letting the inner athlete make the swing.

You’ve played in countless pro-ams. What’s the biggest mistake everyday players make in their ball choice?

Amateurs tend to think they’re better than they are, swing faster than they do and assume they hit it longer than is realistic. With clubs they use too little loft, shafts that are too stiff and are less forgiving than they need. When it comes to the golf ball, they don’t take fitting seriously and often just pick the model their favourite player likes. They would be better off with a more forgiving golf ball with a softer compression that fits their swing speed. Forgiveness is your friend, use it to your advantage.

The post How Tiger Woods tests golf balls – and the big mistake amateurs make finding the right ball appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Bridgestone’s latest version of its Tour B line of golf balls offers four versions: the X, XS, RX and RXS. The X and XS target players with driver speeds faster than 105 miles per hour, and the RX and RXS aim for those swinging slower than that. Each uses what the company refers to as “Reactiv X”, which combines impact modifiers the company refers to as “Reactiv iQ” with a denser mid-layer to alter the performance attributes of each ball.

AVAILABILITY & PRICE: The new Bridgestone Tour B line will be in stores from February 16. Stay tuned for Australian pricing.

3 COOL THINGS

1. Add the XCLRNT. In its last iteration of its Tour B line of golf balls, Bridgestone revamped its use of impact modifiers with what it referred to as Reactiv iQ.

Now that technology adds a denser “XCLRNT” mid-layer that acts as a backboard at impact to create even more spin around the greens. “This layer provides greatly improved resilience,” says Elliot Mellow, marketing manager for Bridgestone Golf. “That leads to more repulsion off the tee with the longer clubs but produces plenty of spin on the short shots. We’re optimising for each of the four individual models.”

Mellow likes to talk about the new balls in the sense of “contact science” – a concept borrowed from the tyre division. “Tyres are performance products and so are golf balls,” Mellow says. “It’s all about how we can get the most from the moment of impact on each shot.”

2. R&D from multiple sources. Bridgestone is part of a company that has 900 engineers and specialises in rubber products. Having a guy named Tiger Woods chiming in, however, doesn’t hurt, either.

“Any time you have Tiger Woods contributing to a golf ball design you’ve got a major advantage over the competition,” said Mellow. “Tiger’s insights give our engineers feedback that allows them to push the design envelope beyond what we originally thought was possible.”

According to Bridgestone, Woods played a significant role in developing the new Tour B balls, particularly the Tour B X, which he switched to from the XS model after ongoing sessions with Bridgestone ball fitters. His desire for a bit more distance off the tee led him to make the permanent switch.

3. Balls made for mere mortals. Sure, a lot of folks want to play the same ball as Tiger Woods. But you’re not Tiger Woods. While the Tour B XS and the Tour B X are for players with swings faster than 105mph, Bridgestone continues its heritage of also offering a pair of balls for those who swing at a little more leisurely speed.

The RX is designed to for distance with more than enough greenside control, while the RXS offers more greenside control with a quieter sound and perceived softer feel.

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[PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird]

Practice makes perfect, as they say. Nobody preaches that harder, and actually lives by it, quite like Tiger Woods, whose grind sessions were the stuff of legend at his playing peak.

With all the wear and tear on his body, though, the current version of the Big Cat can’t quite dig it out of the dirt like he used to. He does, however, still make time for “1,000 contacts with a club” when prepping for tournament play, as he explained to a group of college kids during a recent Bridgestone shoot.

“One of the things that I enforce all juniors, all kids, all pros, is that when I’m getting ready for tournaments, I make sure that each and every day I make 1,000 contacts with a club,” Woods said.

As he continued, that doesn’t mean just bashing balls at the range for hours on end. That can certainly help, and a former version of Woods probably did have thousand-ball range sessions. But “contacts” with a club come in many different forms.

“That means possibly hitting 100 balls on the range,” he says. “Three hundred chip shots, 600 putts. OK. Break it up however you want to break it up to. That develops feel and sensation that never goes away.”

That explains why, despite health issues that have caused him to miss years at a time, Woods’ feel, particularly around the greens, is always there whenever he makes a comeback. He may not ever have the power or the speed that he once had, but his feel will never go away. Well, except for that time it seemingly did in 2015 before he got it back, which is something we don’t discuss enough.

In the full clip from the Bridgestone shoot, the 15-time major champion surprises a number of students from the Bridgestone collegiate development program on the range, even offering up a few free swing tips that regular people would pay astronomical amounts of money for. He also drops in a few classic Tiger terms like “peeler” and “upshoot spin cut”:

Tiger surprises college golfers during @BridgestoneGolf shoot!@TigerWoods offered insight on how he prepares for a tournament, including 1,000 golf shots EVERY day.

(Presented by @Bridgestone) pic.twitter.com/gltxDOWnup

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 27, 2023

The post ‘1,000 contacts with a club’: Tiger Woods breaks down his typical tournament preparation to college kids in fascinating video appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: Michael Owens]

At last week’s Shriners Children’s Open, Lexi Thompson was notable not only for her fine play as just the seventh woman ever to compete in a PGA Tour event, but also for her ball choice: Bridgestone’s Tour B RX model—a ball aimed at players with swing speeds under 105 miles per hour.

Considering Thompson hit seven tee shots longer than 300 yards during the first two rounds, that ball, in theory, should not have been a great fit for her. Cobra, her club brand, says her driver swing speed gets as high as 110mph. But what it really brings to the fore is the challenge for all golfers to find the best ball for them.

“What ball should I play?” is a question golfers ask all the time yet rarely find a satisfactory answer to. Recently, some ball manufacturers, including Bridgestone and Titleist, have made efforts to assist golfers in ball fitting. But the fact is, online fitting features fall short of being able to adequately sort out the issue. You simply can’t get fit from a few questions, and certainly not when companies will recommend only one of their balls.

Making matters more confusing is that the technology ladder has reached all the way down to golf balls costing as little as $35 a dozen. That’s a lot to dig through. So, what’s a weekend warrior to do?

While that worked for Thompson, the answer is different for everyone. By zeroing in on one or two characteristics, you can narrow the field. Beware the temptation to determine a ball’s efficiency only by how far you can bust it off the tee. Starting your ball-selection process from the green and working your way back is probably more helpful than starting at the tee and moving towards the green. Tiger Woods’ final check for choosing a ball, for example, is its trajectory on chip and pitch shots.

That said, you shouldn’t totally ignore the numbers with your driver. If you’re a slow swinger, odds are you might need a ball that spins a little more to keep your tee shots airborne longer for greater carry. Fast swingers might need less spin for more accuracy. That’s certainly an important discussion to have.

In short, although the pros would like to squeeze every last bit out of their equipment, most are looking to optimise their control into and around the greens. For everyday players, it’s just as important to have a grasp of your strengths and weaknesses when trying to assess what ball is best for you. If you think about what you really need in your game, you’re that much further along in finding the right ball for you.

Whether you’re a pro like Lexi Thompson or not.

The post What you can learn from Lexi Thompson’s golf ball choice, and how it can help your game appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The second iteration of the e12 Contact employs a “Contact Force” dimple that features a raised area in the centre that results in more contact with the clubface at impact than traditional dimples. That brings a more efficient transfer of energy and an ability to activate the core better for faster ball speeds while reducing sidespin off the longer clubs. An impact modifier is used to further enhance the contact leading to more dwell time on the face so grooves can engage more and provide more spin.

3 COOL THINGS

Creating better contact

The second version of the e12 ball maintains the same “contact force” dimple as the original. The dimple features a raised area in the center that the company says results in more contact with the clubface at impact than traditional dimples. That brings a more efficient transfer of energy and an ability to activate the core better for faster ball speeds while reducing sidespin off the longer clubs.

The “Contact” in the ball’s name refers to “contact science,” or the science of what happens when ball meets club. “Contact science is about the moment of impact,” said Elliot Mellow, golf ball marketing manager for Bridgestone Golf. “It’s about how rubber reacts in a high heat, high friction interaction much like the rubber on a tire meeting the road. We have some expertise in that area.”

The size of the dimple also took some time to arrive at. “As we went through the prototype process the performance was fine from an aero standpoint, but with consumers in higher spin situations we saw some issues with the ball ballooning a little bit,” he said. “We made some modifications to the depth and the outer portion of the dimple to flatten the flight a little bit.”

The secret sauce

While the USGA limits performance with the driver there are opportunities beyond that, so Bridgestone focused on how to optimise the approach shots and wedge shots while maintaining the performance off the tee.

In the new e12 the raised contact dimple. Is just part of the contact science equation. That was a structural change. The new ball also features the company’s flexible cover technology where an impact modifier is added to the Surlyn cover.

“This does two things,” said Mellow. It makes the ball firmer on high impact collisions like a driver for more distance, while being softer on other shots. The impact modifier leads to more dwell time on the face so the grooves can engage more and provide more spin. In layman’s terms the cover is stickier so there is more contact time with the face so on short shots the spin increases about 10 percent from the previous e12 Contact. By no means are we touting that this plays like a tour ball, but it’s a step up from where we were.”

Colourful options

In addition to the standard white model, the new e12 Contact is available in three additional colors: matte red, green and yellow.

The post Here’s how Bridgestone’s new e12 Contact balls aims to help you make better impact appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Tiger Woods is almost certain to be back in action shortly. Now, The Match and the PNC Championship aren’t exactly the Masters, but they are competitive events. And Woods, it appears, will be using a different golf ball when he next tees it up: Bridgestone’s Tour B X.

That’s because Woods is like almost every golfer – he’s looking for more distance, and the lower-spinning Tour B X model (compared to the Tour B XS he had been playing) definitely spins less.

“The Tour B XS is a great golf ball, it has the feel and spin I’ve preferred,” Woods said through Bridgestone. “Right now, though, I’m experimenting with the Tour B X to get a little more pop. Based on the situation, I have different preferences and it’s great that Bridgestone has multiple balls right off the shelf that I can play.”

The genesis of the switch is that Woods was getting some questions from his team about the Tour B X and wanted to be able to speak intelligently about the differences. He hit both in the simulator to experience the differences first-hand and became intrigued by the X, then took it outside and put it through its paces, where he was impressed by the added yards.

“He told us that off the tee he’s now about one club less into the green with the X versus the XS,” said Elliot Mellow, marketing manager for Bridgestone Golf. “He might be giving up a little control with the X, but maybe hitting one less club in will offset that.”

Although the move might appear to be a small departure, at the elite level such differences are magnified. Even more so, perhaps, in the case of Woods, who over the year has expressed a desire for golf-ball R&D teams to, “Give me all the spin you got. It’s my job to take it off.” Woods also is not fond of more velocity on short-game shots. As he told Golf Digest during a test session in 2019, “I want a feel like I can hit it without the ball coming off the face too quick.” The Tour B X is decidedly firmer than the Tour B XS.

“As swings change, people change and course conditions change – and those are all variables all golfers deal with, including Tiger – the fit, whether it be balls or clubs, can change,” Mellow said. “Given the casual nature of the events and maybe the courses aren’t as firm, it’s an opportunity for him to experiment by pulling the distance lever, giving up a little spin and see what happens.”

Although the events are low-stress, they are competition. And it stands to reason that Woods, given how likely it is that he will play a very limited schedule of tournaments going forward, wants to get some reps in with the ball in a competitive environment of some kind where he’s legitimately trying on every shot.

Speaking of trying on every shot, whether Woods plays well with the ball or not, it’s probably a reach to think he would use the ball at the Masters. With less spin comes less ability to work the ball, and Augusta National requires a number of tee shots with movement, not to mention Woods probably desires something a little softer around those firm greens.

The post Seeking more distance, Tiger Woods is making a golf ball switch for upcoming events appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

It isn’t every day that Tiger Woods as a pitchman gets compared to what’s happening in the world of Lego or even Galarian Zigzagoon from Pokémon Go. That said, these are heady days for golf marketing, and Bridgestone Golf will be using the same augmented-reality approach to marketing its golf balls that some have seen in the toy business and even in determining your next favourite chardonnay.

Bridgestone Golf, which has made Woods’ golf balls for the better part of two decades and which signed him as an official endorser in 2016, will now use an augmented reality program that puts Woods virtually in a golfer’s favourite store (or even in his or her living room) through a smartphone app. Woods, and other Bridgestone staff players including Fred Couples, Matt Kuchar and Lexi Thompson, will walk and talk a viewer through why they play a particular version of the company’s Tour B multilayer urethane-cover balls.

“At Bridgestone we’re all about pushing the envelope of innovation,” said Elliot Mellow, golf ball marketing manager. “The new Bridgestone Golf Experience is a perfect example of this philosophy.”

After downloading the app, a user could point their phone at the Bridgestone Tour B XS box and an image of Woods “stands” before them (somewhat like a hologram) talking about the technology of the ball he uses and his relationship with the company. “I’m holding the same golf ball you could be playing,” the AR Woods says, which also includes segments where he talks about the company’s new core technology on the Tour B balls. 

Similar AR experiences are offered with the Tour B RX for Thompson, the Tour B RXS for Couples and the Tour B X for Kuchar.

The use of AR has found its way into unique marketing opportunities from other companies outside of golf. Those include the gamification of Pokémon Go that was a bit of a craze a few years ago, but it’s also been used by 19 Crimes wine to make the “criminals” on its wine bottles come to life. Brands like Amazon are able to show what certain products would look like in your kitchen or living room, and Toyota and Hyundai offered AR demonstrations of key features in their new car models. And, of course, websites for resorts or real estate now seemingly make it standard practice to include AR experiences.

A recent study in the Harvard Business Review found that “customers who used AR spent 20.7 percent more time on the app and viewed 1.28 times more products on average. More importantly, their likelihood of making a purchase during the session was also 19.8 percent higher than customers who did not use AR.”

For now, the Bridgestone AR effort is seen as a basic educational step for consumers and a way to drive them to Bridgestone’s other ball-fitting options, like VFIT, which provides a way for consumers to get a virtual ball-fitting, and OTTO, the on-site ball-fitting robot.

Then again, if AR takes off as a marketing vehicle, it isn’t too much of a stretch to suggest a ball-fitting in the near future might not be some dry web interface or even a couple of trial ball packs and a trip to the short-game area, but rather a direct interaction with an AR Tiger Woods, who ends up telling you something you didn’t know (but only he could) about the ball he thinks you should play.

The post Bridgestone Golf brings AR Tiger Woods to market its golf balls on your phone appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Jason Day has already used Bridgestone golf balls since the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open, and now the 12-time PGA Tour winner and the company have entered into a formal, multiyear agreement for Day to play the company’s golf balls.

The genesis of Day’s relationship with Bridgestone was a round with Tiger Woods.

“When Jason was a free agent, he was working with a number of golf balls. He told us about playing with Tiger at Bay Hill and he saw some of the short-game shots Tiger was able to pull off with his Tour B XS that he couldn’t do with the ball he was playing, especially the low, spinny pitch that checks up,” said Adam Rehberg, marketing manager, ball fitting for Bridgestone.

“After the round, he got with Tiger’s camp and asked for a sleeve of the balls to mess around with and that opened the door. Eventually he wanted more of a formal arrangement with us and we wanted him on the team on as well. He likes to test and look at the numbers.”

Those numbers eventually had Day transition to the company’s 2022 Tour B X model. According to Rehberg, while Day liked the greenside spin of the XS, it would float on him a little on full shots with the mid and short irons.

“That little cut shot to a back-right pin would get floaty,” said Rehberg. “He generates a lot of spin. His 9-iron shots were generating around 11,000 rpm of spin (typical is closer to 9,000) and he brought that down to 10,000 with the X. So he still is getting plenty of spin, but it is more controlled.

“We were doing some short game work with Tiger’s ball, the XS, and it caught my attention right away,” said Day. “I initially played the XS and liked it but after working with Bridgestone’s R&D team and really learning about the ball fitting process, it was obvious that the Tour B X was the best fit for my game.”

The former World No.1 and 2015 PGA Champion also found it preferable off the tee as well. According to Rehberg, with the XS his driver spin was around 2,800 rpms – a little on the high side – and the angle of descent was steep, meaning it wouldn’t roll much. With the X he is able to turn shots over and get some scoot as well as produce a more penetrating flight.

Fittingly, Day’s first event as a formal member of the Bridgestone tour staff is at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

[IMAGE: Drew Hallowell]

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Tour B X

Feel for more birdies and accuracy to help control the ball on every shot. The enhanced feel of the Tour B X comes from a softer cover as a result of the SlipRes technology. The Tour B X gets accuracy as a result of lower side spin from the gradation core construction. Tee through green, the Tour B X is designed to give you an edge on the course. RRP: $79.99

Tour B XS – TW Edition

The Tour B XS Tiger Woods Edition golf ball is a collaboration between Bridgestone Golf and Tiger Woods to allow golfers to play the exact ball Tiger uses in competition. From the unmistakable ‘TIGER’ side stamp to each ball having a number 1, this is the exact golf ball Tiger tees up. From a performance perspective, the Tour B XS-TW edition balls are identical to the standard Tour B XS model. Also comes with commemorative Tiger Woods Major-themed packaging. RRP: $81.99

Tour B XS

Tour B XS Technology

Feel for more birdies and distance to help your attack the course. The enhanced feel of the Tour B XS comes from a softer cover as a result of the SlipRes technology. The Tour B XS gets distance as a result of increased ball speed from the gradation core construction. Tee through green, the Tour B XS is designed to give you an edge on the course. RRP: $79.99

Tour B RX

Distance to outperform the competition and accuracy to help you find the fairway. The enhanced distance of the Tour B RX comes from increased ball speed as a result of the proprietary core construction and enhanced aerodynamics. The Tour B RX gets accuracy as a result of lower side spin from the gradation core construction. Tee through green, the Tour B RX is designed to give you confidence on the course. RRP: $79.99

Tour B XS

Tour B XS Technology

Feel for more birdies and distance to help your attack the course. The enhanced feel of the Tour B XS comes from a softer cover as a result of the SlipRes technology. The Tour B XS gets distance as a result of increased ball speed from the gradation core construction. Tee through green, the Tour B XS is designed to give you an edge on the course. RRP: $79.99

Contact Dynacast Golf Group Ph: 1300 138 353

The post 2022 Equipment guide: Bridgestone golf appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Bridgestone’s latest version of its Tour B line of golf balls offers four versions: the X, XS, RX and RXS.

The X and XS target players with driver speeds faster than 105 miles per hour, and the RX and RXS aim for those swinging slower than that. Each uses an “impact modifier” the company refers to as “Reactiv iQ” to alter the performance attributes of each ball.

AVAILABILITY/PRICE: The new Bridgestone Tour B line will be in stores February. Stay tuned for Aussie pricing.

THE DEEP DIVE: In its last iteration of its Tour B line of golf balls, Bridgestone brought the idea of “impact modifiers” – an additive to the urethane that acts as a shock absorber on slow-impact shots, thus delivering more spin. It also proved to be highly resilient on longer shots, resulting in more distance. In its newest versions of its Tour B line (encompassing the X, XS, RX and RXS models), Bridgestone continues down that path with a revamped use of impact modifiers it refers to as Reactiv iQ.

“We spent three-and-a-half to four years on the original concept of Reactiv,” said Elliot Mellow, marketing manager for Bridgestone Golf. “Two years ago, we started working on Reactiv IQ. It’s a smart material that utilises the impact modifiers to optimise the contact force needed for each shot. Instead of a blanket technology across all four models, we’re optimising for each individual model. In the first round of Reactiv, we spent most of the time making sure the ball was good for Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau and not as much with the amateur golfer. This time around we spent a lot of time focusing on optimising the material for the everyday player, particularly in our RX and RXS models.”

Of course, when you’re blessed to be part of a company that has 900 engineers and specialises in rubber products such as tyres, there’s some technological horsepower to lean on. Add in owning more than 800 golf-ball patents, and access to players such as Woods and DeChambeau, and the possibilities abound.

Mellow likes to talk about the new balls in the sense of “contact science” – a concept borrowed from the tyre division. “Just like how the rubber meets the road with a tyre, how do we optimise the moment of impact on each shot?” he said. “How do we innovate beyond the driver and enhance other shots in a positive way?”

The key was in the blending of the impact modifiers. Two are used in the formula for the urethane cover on each model. One increases repulsion for more distance, and one enhances dwell time, or the amount of time the ball stays on the face. In the last version the same recipe was used for each ball. In the 2022 line, the recipe has been altered to change the blend for each ball to get the performance characteristic they wanted without the normal tradeoffs.

For the Tour B X the goal – somewhat driven by feedback from DeChambeau – was flatter flight and lower spin off the tee but more short-game spin around the green. For the XS, Woods’ input dictated a slightly flatter trajectory and lower driver spin along with, more importantly, slowing velocity on short-game shots so the ball was less jumpy and more consistent.

On balls made for mortals, the RX is designed to maintain the distance it had but enhance greenside control, resulting in approximately 200 additional rpms of spin on short-game shots. For the RXS, its greenside control was already good, but players wanted more distance while having it sound quieter with a perceived softer feel. On all four balls, the cores and mantle layers have remained basically untouched.

The new Bridgestone Tour B line of golf balls will be in stores in February at a price of $50 per dozen.

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