PXG Enters the Golf Ball Market
By Ed Travis
Club maker PXG has jumped into the already crowed golf ball market with the PXG Xtreme Premium, a 338-dimple three-piece urethane cover ball sold direct-to-consumer sales on their website and in their retail locations.
There are several three-piece urethane cover balls on the market and unfortunately PXG has not come up with a standout feature to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. The Xtreme falls in the same space as the Titleist Tour Speed and Callaway ERC Soft. Both fine products with many users, but the Xtreme is only able to claim marginal differences when compared with Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x which sells for $15 a dozen more. Doesn’t make sense but then comparing to the bestselling and most played ball is a reasonable strategy…I guess.
Bob Parsons PXG’s founder is known for his business acumen as evidenced by his challenge to the traditional clubmakers ten years ago when he started PXG. Those of us around then remember the first club models announced cost more than $5000 to buy a complete bag of woods and irons and some in the industry outright laughed at the prospect of being in business for more than two years.
Times change though and PXG has not given up the idea of super premium club pricing but now has other lines more in the middle range of cost and there’s no doubt PXG has been a success as seen by the more than 20 retail locations they operate across the country.
‘Nobody does golf like PXG….NOBODY,’ but will this new line of golf balls be good enough to grab a significant share of the market? A good question, so far unanswerable and only time will tell.
Fast Facts: PXG Extreme Premium
-Three-piece construction
-Urethane cover
-338 dimples
-Polybutadiene core
-Ionomer mantle
-Available only online, or in PXG retail stores $39.99/dozen
Bridgestone e12 Contact Ball
By Ed Travis
The newest e12 Contact ball from Bridgestone continues the raised dimple center of the 2021 model but with a new cover formulation improves the soft feel in a three-piece distance ball with more short game control.
Bridgestone has updated the e12 Contact ball cover, while keeping the unique dimple with a raised center area from the 2021 model. The dimple design increases contact with the club so more impact energy is transferred and reduces side spin. The result is what everyone is looking for, namely straighter shots with more distance.
The FLEXATIV cover is still Surlyn, but with “impact modifiers” that Bridgestone says make the cover act firmer when hit with a driver to give faster ball speed but with short irons, when control is desired, it acts softer and slower for more spin.
“FLEXATIV represents our fourth iteration of Contact Science,” said Adam Rehberg, Senior Manager, Ball Fitting and R&D. “Our engineers have found a way to combine the structural and chemical advantages of Contact Science and put them into one golf ball, creating a model that flies longer, straighter, and spins more on short shots around the green. It’s an impressive achievement in design and manufacturing.”
Compared with the previous version the new e12 Contact is $5 per dozen more, certainly trend in the club and ball business this year.
Fast Facts: Bridgestone e12 Contact Ball
-Three-piece construction
-FLEXATIV Surlyn cover
-Contact Force dimple design
-Available colors: white, matte red, matte green, matte yellow
-$34.99 dozen in retail stores
