Tag: 2024 golf balls

PXG Xtreme Tour, Xtreme Tour X golf balls

PXG’s newest golf balls were also made to be more durable and provide a better feel.

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Gear: PXG Xtreme Tour, Xtreme Tour X golf balls
Price: $49.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls. Both balls are available in white, Xtreme Tour also in yellow.

Who it’s for: Golfers who want a soft feel, low spin off the tee and high spin around the green (Xtreme Tour); Faster-swinging players who want a firmer feel, maximum ball speed and higher spin with irons.

What you should know: Both the Xtreme Tour and the Xtreme Tour X are designed to deliver maximum spin around the green, but PXG’s newest golf balls were also made to be more durable and provide a better feel.

The deep dive: Parsons Xtreme Golf released its first golf ball, the Xtreme, in February 2023. At a price of $39.99 per dozen, they were made for golfers who wanted loads of greenside spin with solid distance off the tee. Two years and thousands of test shots later, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based equipment maker has two new balls that it is touting as more durable, softer-feeling and still long off the tee.

The new Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X balls are both three-piece balls that have a large rubber, firm mantle layer and a soft urethane cover. However, the cover of the Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X balls is thinner than the cover on the original Xtreme because, counterintuitively, it boosts durability. Balls that have a soft, thick cover can have the cover material compress against the grooves of wedges very easily, which can be great for spin but lead to ripping and sheering.

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PXG Extreme Tour X golf ball
PXG Extreme Tour X golf ball. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

According to PXG, the original Xtreme ball had a compression of 110, making it a very hard ball. By PXG’s measurement, the new Xtreme Tour is at 97, and the Xtreme Tour X is at 107, so both balls can still be thought of as firm, which is good for speed, but they are softer than PXG’s first ball.

Interestingly, the yellow version of the Xtreme Tour has a compression of 101, which puts it between the firmness levels of the white Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X. The difference in compression is due to the additive that gives the yellow version its color.

To test the Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X balls, PXG tested them using a robot at three different speeds using a driver and a 7-iron, then full-swing wedges shots and partial-swing wedge shots. In those tests, the Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X both created slightly more ball speed off the tee with lower spin rates. They also produced a slightly higher launch angle but a lower peak height.

PXG Extreme Tour golf ball
PXG Extreme Tour golf ball. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The same relationship held with 7-iron shots as well, while on 60-yard pitch shots with a 56-degree wedge, the Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X both produced nearly the same spin as the original Xtreme ball.

Compared to each other, the Xtreme Tour should feel softer than the Xtreme Tour X, fly slightly lower and spin marginally less. In PXG’s tests, the Xtreme Tour X created 0.5 mph more ball speed off the tee and about 2.5 yards more total distance, with nearly identical launch angles. The Xtreme Tour X also generated about 200 rpm more spin on wedge shots than the standard Xtreme Tour.

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TaylorMade TP5 Stripe, TP5x Stripe golf balls

TaylorMade is bringing its 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe to its most premium balls.

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Gear: TaylorMade TP5 Stripe, TP5x Stripe golf balls
Price: $57.99 per dozen
Specs: Five-piece, urethane-covered golf balls with a 360-degree, 22-millimeter stripe pattern
Available: NOW

Who it’s for: Golfers who want tour-level distance off the tee and spin around the green, along with a visual aid that helps with aim and putting performance.

What you should know: TaylorMade is bringing the 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe, previously available only on Tour Response balls, to its most premium balls.

The deep dive: Golfers have been drawing a line on their ball and using it to aim putts for decades, and several manufacturers have printed thin lines on balls too. In early 2022, however, TaylorMade took things to another level with the introduction of the Tour Response Stripe. The ball features TaylorMade’s 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe. At 22 millimeters in width, the bright yellow (TaylorMade calls it lime) stripe made it easy to aim down your intended target line. After you hit your putt, if the line rolled smoothly, you knew you had made a good stroke. If the line wobbled, it was a clear indication that you either pulled, blocked, or mis-hit your putt.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5 Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/XY612y”]

TaylorMade TP5 Stripe
The TaylorMade TP5 Stripe golf ball makes it easier to align and aim when you putt. (TaylorMade)

Now, TaylorMade is bringing a version of the 360 ClearPath Alignment Stripe to the balls that tour players like Rory McIlroy, Nelly Korda, Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa play—the TP5 and TP5x.

While the Tour Response Stripe is now available with a blue, red, orange, and light blue stripe, the new TP5 Stripe and TP5x Stripe are more subtle and are being offered with black-dot borders and a black line in the center that goes all the way around the ball. So instead of a bright-colored stripe, golfers who use this ball will see a white stripe in the center of a white ball. While fans of bright golf balls may be disappointed, this subtle introduction of the technology in TaylorMade’s tour balls will likely make it something traditional golfers are more willing to try.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5X Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/B0jKR0″]

TaylorMade TP5x Stripe
The TaylorMade TP5x Stripe golf ball. (TaylorMade)

From a performance standpoint, the TP5 Stripe and TP5x Stripe are identical to their non-striped counterparts.

The TP5 Stripe and TP5x Stripe are both five-layer balls that feature a three-layer core infused with an additive the company calls SpeedWrap. Developed by Dow Chemical, SpeedWrap changes the way the balls sound, allowing TaylorMade to elevate the compression for more speed without making the balls sound and feel too hard.

The TP5 should still feel softer than the TP5x because it has a lower overall compression. The TP5x should provide players with more speed with woods and long irons because it is firmer, and it will generate a higher launch angle too. The TP5, however, is designed to create slightly more spin than the TP5x with wedges.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop TM TP5 Stripe golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/XY612y”]

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2024 Callaway Golf Balls: Which is right for your game and budget?

Find out which Callaway golf ball could help your golf game.

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Jason Finley is Callaway’s global director of brand and product management for golf balls, but even with that lofty title and decades of experience in the golf industry, he has no idea which ball you should play. However, when Finley talks with recreational golfers, which he does often, there are two things he hates to hear, and they might surprise you.

“The worst thing I can hear when I ask someone what golf ball they play is, ‘Oh, whatever I find,'” Finley said recently. “I don’t even care if it’s a Callaway ball or not, the best thing you can do for your game is to find a ball and play it every time.”

The other thing that drives Finley crazy is when golfers don’t pay attention to the ball being used during their club fitting. Even for tour pros, different balls react in different ways, even when you hit them using the same clubs.

“If I go in and you fit me for irons at some place today, and you fit me using a SuperSoft golf ball, and I walk in tomorrow, and you fit me with a Chrome Soft X golf ball, if you fit me into the same golf clubs, you’re a horrible fitter,” Finley said.

His advice is the get fit using the ball you play and do your best to practice with the same ball you play. Pros like Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and Rose Zhang certainly do.

But what ball should you play? With pro shops and specialty stores loaded with different types of golf balls, how are you supposed to find the ball that can deliver the best performance for your game? In this article, we will take a deep dive into the Callaway offerings, including the new offerings for 2024, and explain what makes every ball a little different and help you better understand Callaway’s golf ball stable.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Callaway golf balls at PGA TOUR Superstore” link=”https://pga-tour-superstore.pxf.io/5goax2″]

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TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit could be a great golf ball fitting option, but you can’t buy it

This is exactly what many golfers need.

With its namesake mountain looming in the background, twilight descending, and the empty, emerald-green fairway laid out in front of me, the 18th hole at Superstition Mountain Golf Club in Golf Canyon, Arizona, was the perfect place to have a little fun.

No one else was around that evening, so I dropped five or six three-ball sleeves of the newest golf balls on the ground and started hitting approach shots, pitch shots and chip shots until darkness made it too hard to see. I made little notes on a pad about how each ball felt and flew, how much it appeared to spin (I didn’t have a launch monitor), checked-up on the green and which balls seemed to end up closest to the hole.

It was the first time I’d really tested golf balls, and it has become a yearly ritual that starts my season every year, although, sadly, Central Connecticut is not as pretty as the Arizona desert in late March.

I have encouraged Golfweek readers to buy three-ball packs of newly released balls at the start of every season and test them against the ball they currently play on several occasions, so when I recently received TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit, I thought a brand had finally made the job of ball testing a little easier. Inside the box were six two-ball packs of each urethane-covered ball in the 2024 TaylorMade stable: TP5, TP5 Pix, TP5x, TP5x Pix, Tour Response and Tour Response Stripe.

One box, three different balls in both white and in each ball’s visual-technology version.

TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit
The TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit includes six two-ball packs of TaylorMade balls. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

But when I reached out to TaylorMade to find out when the Performance Decision Kit was going on sale to the public, I got the bad news: This unique box will not go on sale to consumers. It was created for select members of the media and influencers to make them aware of TaylorMade’s new offerings for 2024.

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I recently went to TaylorMade’s golf ball manufacturing plant in Liberty, South Carolina. I have also visited Callaway’s facility in Chicopee, Massachusetts, along with Titleist’s golf ball plant in New Bedford, Massachusetts, several times. These state-of-the-art facilities turn out millions of dozen boxes of golf balls every year thanks to lots of proprietary systems, customized machines and other automated processes. The assembly lines are built to make thousands of the same ball at a time, paint them, number them, add them to sleeves and then get those sleeves into dozen-ball boxes.

I assume creating something like the TaylorMade Performance Decision Kit involves a level of small-batch work that would be difficult to do at scale. In fact, it would likely fall to the custom golf ball department that handles corporate orders and other small-batch projects. Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t want TaylorMade and other brands to make dozens of boxes like this available to everyone.

For the last 20 years, the percentage of golfers who buy their clubs after going through a custom fitting season has dramatically increased because while a good-quality custom fitting session can take time, the result is a club that is ideally suited for the player. Once players go through a fitting for a driver or irons, they never buy “off the rack” again. Custom fitting for putters and wedges still lag behind woods and irons, but those numbers are going to climb.

Golf ball fittings? Almost no recreational golfers get fit for the ball they use, which is why a multi-ball pack sold as a fitting tool is something we need. It would make the process easier if you could buy a dozen box and get a sleeve of:

Any time I talk with a brand about helping golfers find the right clubs, they all say custom fitting is the key. If you don’t get custom fit for your woods, irons, wedges or putter, you are almost certainly leaving some performance behind. The same thing holds true with golf balls.

Unfortunately, TaylorMade’s Performance Decision Kit may be an example of a great idea that is not ready to become a reality for most golfers.

Best golf balls you can buy in 2024

Check out Golfweek’s list of the best golf balls available to purchase in 2024.

A decade ago, the sight of a non-white golf ball would raise a few eyebrows, but those days are long gone. TaylorMade, one of the largest golf ball makers in the world, predicts its non-white ball sales in 2024 – comprised of balls with stripes, special markings or customized logos – will eclipse traditional white ball sales for the first time.

Golf balls with corporate logos have been popular for decades, but tour pros like Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood compete in PGA Tour events, major championships and Ryder Cups using TaylorMade’s TP5 and TP5x Pix balls that have markings designed to aid in alignment and to reveal how purely you’ve hit your putt. Callaway’s Truvis balls, which are covered in pentagons, have been popular for several years and Srixon’s Divide balls are eye-catching in every weather condition and also help golfers perform better on the greens.

At the same time, manufacturers like Titleist, maker of the Pro V1, and Callaway, maker of the new Chrome Tour, have never made balls to a higher precisely, which means that from ball to ball, consistency is better than ever before.

With such a wide variety of balls on the market, ranging in price from about $22 to around $55 per dozen, finding a ball that matches your game and your budget can be tricky, but Golfweek’s 2024 Golf Ball Guide is here to help. Prioritize what you want from your golf ball (distance, short game spin, soft feel), and then think about a price range you are willing to pay. Keep in mind that if you go down in price, you will likely have to compromise something because the materials that make premium balls perform so well don’t come cheap.

Buy a three-ball sleeve of several different balls, go to the course and see how they perform on chip shots, pitch shots and short approach shots first, then see how they work for you with long irons and woods. The unique way you swing will make each ball play differently, but testing balls on the course will always be the best way to find your perfect golf ball.

Note: Golf balls are often released on two-year product cycles, which means updates are released every two years. For that reason, you will see several 2023 offerings alongside new 2024 putters.

Best golf balls in 2024

Bridgestone Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS golf balls

The 2024 Bridgestone Tou B balls provide distance off tee, spin around the green and come in four versions.

Gear: Bridgestone Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS golf balls
Price: $49.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls in white and yellow
Available: February 16 (White and Tour B X TW), March 15 (Yellow X and RX

Who It’s For: Golfers who want more distance off the tee and tour-level greenside spin.

The Skinny: Bridgestone has modified the casing layer of the Tour B balls to help them generate more speed while complementing the unique urethane cover that provides more spin around the greens.

The Deep Dive: For golfers who may not be aware, Bridgestone has been making solid-core, urethane-covered golf balls as long as any brand in the industry, and the Nike golf ball that Tiger Woods used to win four consecutive majors (the Tiger Slam) was manufactured by Bridgestone. Nick Price won the British Open and PGA Championships using a Bridgestone ball, Nick Faldo won at Augusta National with a Bridgestone, and, more recently, Tiger won the 2019 Masters, and Bryson DeChambeau won at Winged Foot in 2020 using a Bridgestone ball.

Since 2020, the Japanese brand has focused on contact science, studying how different combinations of materials can enhance speed and distance off the tee while also providing more greenside spin and control for different types of players. The addition of impact modifiers to create the Reactiv cover of the 2020 Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS four years ago was the first fruit of that labor, followed by the ReactivIQ covers that were uniquely created for each ball in the 2022 Toru B lineup. Now, for 2024, Bridgestone is claiming it has taken another step toward creating the Holy Grail of golf balls by developing the new ReactivX system.

The ReactivX system is comprised of two parts: an Xclrnt mid-layer (pronounced accelerant) and a ReactivIQ urethane cover.

Instead of using multiple cores inside each of the four Tour B balls, Bridgestone has designed a gradational core that is very soft in the center and gradually gets firmer toward the perimeter. A firm mid-layer (mantle) is then applied over the core, but in the 2024 Tour B balls, that casing layer does a better job of transferring energy into ball speed.

The new Xclrnt mid-layer is also more dense, so golfers like Tiger and Jason Day, who started testing and using the ball in 2023, reported it has a lower, deeper sound at impact.

A ReactivIQ urethane cover encases the Xclrnt mid-layer, with the exact cover-material blend for each ball being slightly different. By using different combinations of impact modifiers, Bridgestone designers can make the urethane behave differently under different conditions. The cover behaves and feels firmer when hit with your longer, faster-swinging clubs like your driver and long irons but feels softer when you hit it with wedges.

Here is a breakdown of the four Tour B balls for 2024 and who each has been made for:

Titleist AVX golf balls (2024)

The new AVX provides more greenside spin without sacrificing its low spin and soft feel.

Gear: Titleist AVX golf balls (2024)
Price: $49.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls. Available in White and Yellow.
Available: January 24

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Who It’s For: Golfers who want a softer feel, lower flight and less spin than a Pro V1 without sacrificing greenside spin. 

The Skinny: The updated AVX has a new gradational core and a softer, thicker urethane cover to give it enhanced greenside spin, a lower flight and less spin with long irons.

The Deep Dive: With several premium golf balls in its portfolio, including the top-selling Pro V1 and Pro V1x (which do not change for 2024), Titleist designers and engineers were given very clear instructions when it came to developing an update to the AVX ball. The new alternative to the X and V ball needed to be longer from tee to green, but the bigger task was to make it feel softer while giving it more greenside spin. 

To achieve those goals in the new 2024 AVX, Titleist started by making the gradational core – which is extremely soft in the center and gets progressively firmer toward the perimeter – slightly smaller. The 2022 AVX also had a gradational core, but the firmness change in the 2024 ball is more substantial, making it more like a multi-core construction in a single-core ball.

Titleist AVX 2024
The Titleist AVX ball for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

A firm casing layer (which is the dark ring around the purple core in the photo above) covers the core. That firm material over the soft core is the key to effective energy transfer on wood and long-iron shots. The casing layer also helps to reduce spin when the ball is hit with a less-lofted, more-vertically-faced club like a driver, fairway wood or long iron. The result is more distance with lower spin off the tee and from the fairway with long clubs.

However, on short-iron shots and wedge shots, when the clubhead speed is lower and the impact is made with a more lofted club, the updated AVX’s softer urethane and thicker cover, which is on top of the firm casing layer, can easily be grabbed by the grooves to generate spin. The softer, thicker urethane cover also helps to make the AVX feel softer at impact, even though the ball’s overall compression (80) has not changed.

Knowing that Titleist wanted to keep the AVX’s playing relationship with its other balls about the same, designers knew they needed to give the 2024 AVX a low-spin dimple pattern, but they wanted it to be better than the pattern on the 2022 ball. Ultimately, they chose a quadrilateral dipyramid catenary design (say that five times fast!) that had previously been used in the two-piece, distance-oriented Tour Soft balls. On the 2024 AVX, the cover pattern makes it more stable in the wind. 

So where does AVX fit into the Titleist golf ball stable?

  • AVX spins less off the tee than Pro V1 and Pro V1x
  • AVX should have a lower launch angle than Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
  • AVX will feel softer at impact than Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
  • While the new AVX should generate more greenside spin than its predecessor, the Pro V1 and Pro V1x will spin more around the green and with short irons.

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Srixon Q-Star Tour, Q-Star Tour Divide golf balls

Srixon modified the core, updated the dimple pattern and softened the cover of its Q-Star Tour balls.

Gear: Srixon Q-Star Tour, Q-Star Tour Divide golf balls
Price: $39.99 per dozen
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball with 74 compression. Available in white, yellow and two-color Divide versions in yellow-blue, yellow/red and yellow/orange.
Available: Jan. 11

Who They’re For: Moderate- and slower-swinging golfers who want distance off the tee and extra spin around the green.

The Skinny: By modifying the core, updating the dimple pattern to improve aerodynamics and softening the cover, Srixon’s updated Q-Star Tour ball aims to provide soft feel, solid distance and more spin around the greens for recreational golfers.

The Deep Dive: When a pro golfer like Brooks Koepka or Keegan Bradley hits a shot, it stays hit. These major winners generate elite levels of clubhead speed, and they strike tee shots and iron shots solidly almost every time. When it comes to a golf ball, they demand something that can handle their speed and maximize their skills.

Recreational golfers, however, don’t typically generate a clubhead speed of 120 mph, and the firm balls elite golfers gravitate to often feel too hard for players who shoot in the 80s, 90s, and 100s. Instead, weekend players want a soft-feeling ball that provides distance off the tee and spin around the greens, and with the fifth generation of the Q-Star Tour, that is what Srixon aims to deliver.

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Srixon Q-Star Tour
Srixon Q-Star Tour for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Srixon has made three significant changes to the Q-Star Tour for 2024, starting with the core, which is gradational. The core, which Srixon calls a Fast Layer Core, transitions from soft in the center to firmer around the outside. This design allows the Q-Star Tour to behave like a multi-core ball and transfer energy from a moderate swing to the center more efficiently. 

The core is encased in a firm mantle layer, which in turn is encased by a soft, ultra-thin urethane cover. Srixon used a softer urethane in this generation of the Q-Star Tour, so the grooves in wedges and short irons should be able to grab it more effectively and generate more spin on greenside shots and on shots hit with scoring clubs.

To further enhance spin around the green, Srixon applies a unique coating called Spin Skin to each ball. It gives the Q-Star Tour a slightly rubbery feel and does not affect tee or iron shots. On shortgame and wedge shots, however, the coating amplifies the friction between the grooves and the urethane cover.

Finally, the cover has been designed with a new 338-dimple pattern that is more aerodynamic, produces less drag and encourages lift. That combination of high launch, less drag and more ball speed should result in more overall distance for recreational players. 

Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide
The Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide for 2024. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

In addition to traditional white and yellow, the Q-Star Tour is available in three Divide combinations. The Divide balls have yellow on one half of the ball and another color (red, orange or blue) on the other. The Divide design can be used as an alignment aid while putting and also shows how much spin the ball has on short-game shots. Many golfers also use Divide balls as training aids to hone their putting stroke.

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Wilson Staff Model, Staff Model X balls (2024)

Check out the new Wilson Staff Model and Staff Model X golf balls.

Gear: Wilson Staff Model, Staff Model X balls
Price: $54.99 per dozen
Specs: Four-piece, urethane-covered balls, available in white and yellow.
Available: January 12

Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize greenside spin around the green and get elite distance off the tee.

The Skinny: Wilson reformulated the cores of the Staff Model and Staff Model X balls to improve distance off the tee and spin around the green. 

The Deep Dive: Wilson makes all the footballs used in the NFL and all the tennis balls used in the U.S. Open tennis championship, so you can trust that the brand knows a thing or two about making high-quality golf balls too.

Wilson offers the Staff Duo for recreational golfers who want a soft, low-spinning ball to help straighten a slice and hit more fairways. For golfers who are looking to enhance their game with improved greenside spin, it offers the perimeter-weighted Triad. For elite players who want distance off the tee and maximum control around the greens, it has provided the Staff Model balls, and for 2024, the standard Staff Model and the Staff Model X have been updated.

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The Staff Model and the Staff Model X are both four-piece balls designed with a large rubber core that is encased in two mantle layers. To help golfers generate more ball speed and distance, Wilson has modified the core composition and added material that magnifies energy on full-swing shots. 

Wilson Staff Model golf balls 2024
The cores of the Staff Model (left) and Staff Model X balls have been updated to provide more distance. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The core of each ball is encased in a soft inner mantle that is, in turn, covered by a firmer second mantle layer and then a thin urethane cover. The advantage of the two-mantle design is the softer inner mantle helps to reduce spin off the tee, while the firmer mantle layer helps the grooves in wedges and short irons grab the soft urethane cover more easily, so golfers should be able to create more spin on approach shots, chips and pitches.

The standard Staff Model has a slightly lower overall compression, so it will feel softer at impact, spin slightly less off the tee, and produce a lower ball flight with a golfer’s driver and long clubs. 

The Staff Model X will feel firmer, produce a higher flight off the tee and generate slightly more spin around the green. The Staff Model X also produces marginally more spin off the tee, so golfers who like to work the ball from right to left or left to right with their woods and irons may be able to do that more easily with the X ball.

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