The world of golf balls has been dominated by a pretty consistent force for many years now, specifically the Titleist Pro V1. However in the Mizuno Pro X, which I tested at the start of this year, it has another worthy contender to deal with in my opinion. I will go into the specific performance characteristics further down in this piece but I will quickly say that one area the Mizuno has the Titleist is price. At full price it is a brilliant option when you consider the overall performance of the ball, and this undeniable value goes even further because right now you can get a stunning deal with PGA TOUR Superstore, as you can see below...
Why is the performance of the Mizuno ball so good? Well it replaces the RB Tour and has a new construction to it with a thinner cover and thicker mantle layer, all in the name of ball speed without compromising soft feel. Well I put Mizuno's claims to the test hitting shots with different clubs with launch monitor data, and then played a number of rounds to see on-course performance too.
To put it mildly, I was astounded at the numbers. With the driver I was getting a ball speed of 156.2mph, which compared to the premium Srixon Z-Star Diamond ball, and yet the Mizuno launched higher with less spin so it flew further. It was seven yards longer than the Titleist 2023 Pro V1x and I will say I was noticing the extra distance out on the course too. It is hard to quantify that, but I was further down some holes than I normally am.
In my testing the iron shots flew higher and faster as well whilst the descent angle was close to 50 degrees for stopping power as well. Despite the extra distance, I also liked the feel of the ball too. It feels firm but not excessively so, giving enough response on putts and wedge shots to feel in control. I actually thought it was comparable to the Titleist Pro V1x which is a ball used by many of the world's best players, so this was praise indeed.
So what’s the catch? I genuinely don’t know if there is one. Coming in at $47.99 a dozen is noticeably cheaper than models like the Pro V1 and other premium balls on the market, and then when you consider the deal above, it is a bit of a no-brainer, especially because I cannot see any trade-off in performance or durability. Speaking of which, the cover held up surprisingly well.
I think with the price of golf balls becoming increasingly more difficult to justify, the Mizuno Pro X provides a more affordable alternative that can compete with, and in some areas outperform, the so-called market leaders. In short, I expect this ball to be popular, and this deal to not be around very long!
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