Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pinnacle Gold FX Long vs. Titleist Pro V1

My recent trip to Myrtle Beach (Pawley's Island) allowed me to finally test the Pinnacle Gold FX Long against the number 1 golf ball the Titleist Pro V1.

Pinnacle Gold FX Long
These balls are pretty much out of production but can still be found at a very good price. They have been replaced by the Pinnacle Gold Distance. I like the feel of these balls around the greens and they can be very long off the tee.

The Good: Price. I paid $8.99 per dozen for logo overruns. That comes out to be about $.75 per ball. This golf ball explodes off the club face and is long, It is also very soft feel around the greens and seems to stick the the club face on chips and flop shots.

The Bad: Pinnacle can't seem to leave a good thing alone and renames these balls about every year.

The Ugly: Nothing.

Rating: 8 out of 10 on price, explosive distance, and feel. I dropped this a point from the older Pinnacle Gold Long Drive only because they are becomming harder to find in stores and are replaced by the Pinnacle Gold Distance which are not nearly as soft around the greens.

Titleist Pro V1
Pretty much the standard for all golf balls. These babies are played by more Touring Pros and hackers than any other golf ball since their introduction in 2000.

The Good: These golf balls are long and very good at reducing side spin on drives. Stopping power on the greens is incredible. Flob shots, chips, and even some line-drive miss hits all seemed to stop much better than the Pinnacle FX Long.

The Bad: Price: At $45 per dozen that comes out to about $3.75 per ball. I tend to loose about 3-4 balls per round (sometimes more) and at that price it really hurts. However logo overruns, practice balls, and pre-played balls can be purchased and at a pretty good discount. Practice balls can be purchase for ~$30 per dozen ($2.50 per ball) and pre-played for about ~$20 per dozen ($1.66 per ball). These are good for normal everyday play, but are not allowed in tournament play.

The Ugly: Nothing.

Rating: 9 out of 10 on explosive distance, feel and stopping power. I dropped this a point just because these are out of my price range for everyday golf and with my current handicap (20+).

Final Conclusions
The Titleist Pro V1 deserves the top spot in golf balls played, however the price is just to high for everyday hackers such as myself. I loved the distance off the tee and the stopping power on the greens was incredible. I don't see myself purchasing these for everyday playing, but would consider playing either practice balls or pre-played balls for special (non-tournament) outings. For everyday use, the Pinnacle Gold FX Long are still my go to ball and at just $.75 per ball, I don't feel so bad about myelf when I try to hit that impossible 225 yard 3 wood over water and don't make it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Thomas,
My name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable.
I was looking for blogs about Pinnacle to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
Hope to hear from you!
Jane