Tag: equipment release

Titleist Velocity golf balls

Titleist is still designing the Velocity for players who covet distance over anything else.

Gear: Titleist Velocity golf balls (2022)
Price: $29.99 per dozen
Specs: Two-piece, Surlyn-covered ball
Available: February 4  

Titleist debuted the Velocity golf balls in 2012, and with a name like that, the company made it clear what the ball was designed to do: provide golfers with more speed and distance. With the release of the fifth generation of the Velocity, Titleist is still designing the Velocity for players who covet distance over anything else, and the company has made upgrades that advance the Velocity and give players more variety.  

As with its predecessors, the 2022 Velocity is a two-piece ball, but this model has a new, higher-compression LSX core that measures 1.55 inches in diameter. Remember, a golf ball’s total diameter is 1.68 inches, so this core is big, to deliver more speed off the tee and with long irons.  

The 350-dimple octahedral pattern on the outside has not changed, but the formulation of the NaZ+ cover material was adjusted to make it faster. The dimple pattern is designed to increase height and carry distance, which when coupled with more ball speed should boost carry and overall distance.  

Unlike Titleist’s Pro V1, Pro V1x, or AVX balls, which have thin urethane covers to help generate more spin on approach shots, Velocity creates stopping power with trajectory. By allowing golfers to hit the ball higher, descent angles are steeper and shots naturally stop quicker.  

When the 2022 Velocity arrives in stores in February it will only be available in white, but Titleist plans to make orange, green and blue versions available in October.  

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Bridgestone Tour B golf balls (2022)

Play the same golf ball as Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau.

Gear: Bridgestone Tour B golf balls (2022): Tour B X, Tour B XS, Tour B RX and Tour B RXS
Price: $49.99 per dozen  
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered golf balls  
Available: February 18   

In 2020, Bridgestone released the first Tour B golf balls that included an impact modifier inside the urethane cover. That adjustment to the cover material’s blend, Bridgestone said, helped the balls achieve more distance off the tee while also enhancing spin around the green.   

Two years later, Bridgestone believes it has made significant improvements to the study of “impact science.” With the release of four new iterations of its Tour B golf balls, the Japanese company believes golfers should expect more length with drivers, fairway woods, and long irons with even better performance around the greens.   

For readers who do not have a degree in chemical engineering, an impact modifier is an additive that can be blended into a material to make it more flexible and increase impact strength. They can help brittle things bend more and other substances absorb energy.   

When Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau first tested the prototype Tour B balls with an impact modifier, they immediately wanted to put them into play. They pressured Bridgestone to quickly release the balls with the Reactiv cover, the 2020 Tour B X and Tour B XS. Bridgestone cheerfully complied, then added the same Reactiv cover with the impact modifier to the 2020 Tour B RX and Tour B RXS, both of which were designed for golfers who do not have PGA Tour-level swing speed.   

Since the 2020 balls were released, Bridgestone’s polymer scientists have studied and tested various impact modifiers, trying to find different mixtures that could be added to each ball to make it perform better for specific types of players.   

The result is ReactivIQ covers. Designed differently for each ball, the urethane blends help the ball come off the face faster on long shots for more distance but stay on the face of short irons and wedges longer for increased spin and feel around the greens. So while these three-piece balls’ cores and mantle layers have not appreciably changed, Bridgestone said golfers will get better overall performance with them. 

Mizuno ST-Z 220 and ST-X 220 drivers

The ST-Z 200 and ST-X 200 were designed to offer golfers more ball speed with extra forgiveness.

Gear: Mizuno ST-Z 220 and ST-X 220 drivers  
Price: $449.99 with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue or Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black shaft and Lamkin ST Hybrid 360 grips  
Specs: 460 titanium heads with carbon-fiber crowns, carbon-fiber sole pieces, stainless steel back weights, and adjustable hosels.  
Available: February 3

In September, Mizuno released the ST-G 200 driver, one of the most technologically advanced drivers on the market. It features a carbon-fiber crown, three moveable weight tracks, a thin titanium face, and an adjustable hosel to allow players and fitters to fine-tune the center of gravity and find the ideal launch angle and spin rates.   

Now the Japanese sporting goods giant is releasing two more drivers that may seem less sophisticated. However, the ST-Z 200 and ST-X 200 were designed to offer golfers more ball speed with extra forgiveness and stability.   

The ST-Z 200 and ST-X 200 feature a titanium chassis and a forged SAT2041 Beta titanium face that is thinner and stronger than most faces in modern drivers. That should allow the face to flex more efficiently and provide a larger sweet spot.

Both the ST-Z 200 and ST-X 200 feature Wave Technology in the sole to increase ball speed. It is a series of ridges that look like an accordion in the bottom of the head, directly behind the leading edge, that allows the lower portion of the face to flex more efficiently on low-struck shots.

Both clubs were designed with large carbon-fiber crowns and pieces of carbon fiber in the heel and toe areas of the sole. Compared to the previous generation of ST-Z 200 and ST-X 200, the carbon-fiber pieces on the sole are 40 percent larger, saving more weight and letting designers increase the stainless-steel weight found in the back of each club from 11 grams to 20 grams.