Maxfli Tour Golf Ball Review
In this Maxfli Tour golf ball review, Chris Wallace puts one of Maxfli's two premium golf balls to the test on the course
One of two premium golf balls in the Maxfli lineup, the Tour model has a lot to offer golfers at what is a highly competitive price point. Headlining that list are incredible feel and impressive greenside spin, as well as a ball that makes it easy for players to control trajectory and shape shots.
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Impressive greenside spin and control
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Soft feel off every club in the bag
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Highly workable in terms of shape and trajectory
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Tremendous value at its price point
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Not the longest ball in its category
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Maxfli Tour Golf Ball Review
Having previously tested the Maxfli Tour X golf ball while also briefly exploring Maxfli’s history as a golf ball brand, it’s now time to turn our attention to Maxfli’s other premium golf ball, the Maxfli Tour. Without getting into a deep discussion about golf ball nomenclature, it’s pretty much universal these days for manufacturers to have two premium golf balls, with one being a standard model and the other, for lack of a better description, an “X” model.
Oftentimes, the difference in performance between the models doesn’t end up being that significant. That is not the case, however, with the two Maxfli premium golf balls, as the Tour and Tour X proved to be very different animals in my testing. While the Tour X was impressively powerful in the long game and slightly lacking in terms of greenside control, the Tour model was almost a polar opposite. That said, both would rank among the best Maxfli golf balls.
I’ll start with the construction of the Maxfli Tour, which is a three-piece golf ball as compared to the four-piece Tour X. The Tour also has a slightly larger core to help promote improved energy transfer and more speed on full shots, and its cast urethane cover was utilized to promote soft feel and maximum greenside spin. And it was on and around the greens where the Maxfli Tour was at its best.
When compared to the Tour X, as well as a few other premium balls (Pro V1, Pro V1x, and TP5x) that I tested it against, nothing created more spin or provided a softer feel than the Maxfli Tour. It was simply exceptional in that regard, and I felt as though in any conditions and from any type of lie that I could control the golf ball when playing chip shots, pitch shots, and full or partial wedge shots. It also felt superb off the putter and I was a big fan of the alignment aid positioned on the side of the ball.
On the flip side, when compared to the balls I tested it against, the Maxfli Tour was consistently about 8-10 yards shorter off the tee and a half club shorter on full iron shots. While I didn't have a launch monitor at my disposal during testing, I feel comfortable as an experienced player in chalking up those disparities to higher spin rates for me across the board on full shots.
Distance is certainly a big deal in golf today, but while the Maxfli Tour might have been somewhat lacking in that regard during my testing sessions, it did offer other long-game benefits. Most notably, it was extremely accurate and I found that I could work the Tour quite easily in terms of flighting the ball up or down and moving it left or right. In that regard, the Maxfli Tour took me back to my younger days of playing iconic Maxfli balls like the HT or Revolution.
Additionally, in spite of the soft feel that I experienced on every shot, the Maxfli Tour’s cover was extremely impressive from a durability standpoint, which in all honesty I wasn’t expecting after some initial testing at the short game area at my club. The Gloss White version that I tested – there are also Matte White and Gloss Yellow options available – also maintained its color well even after significant use.
While there was plenty to like about the Maxfli Tour, based on all of the testing that I did, I would give the edge to the Tour X as far as what I’m looking for in a golf ball. At my age, distance losses are significant and I felt that the yards I was losing in the long game would be more difficult to gain back with the Tour than finding alternative ways to generate the stopping power that I was sacrificing around the greens with the Tour X.
That said, for low-spin players who need all the help they can get when it comes to greenside control or for more talented ball-strikers who use spin to work the ball on full shots, the Maxfli Tour is definitely worth testing. I also believe that the Maxfli Tour would be an outstanding option for better players in colder, winter conditions.
Furthermore, any discussion about the Maxfli Tour golf ball also has to take price into consideration, as at a retail price of $34.99 it is a tremendous value for the performance it offers. Will it be a perfect fit for everyone? Probably not. But it will be a great fit for some, who will in turn reap the benefits of its value price point. And it’s certainly going to be a tough golf ball to beat from a performance standpoint by anything else that's on the market at the same cost.
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Chris joined Golf Monthly in February of 2022, becoming the organization’s first full-time staff writer in the United States. In his role at Golf Monthly, Chris reviews a broad spectrum of golf equipment, ranging from the latest in golf clubs to what’s new in the world of golf technology. His vast experience in the game allows him to look beyond the marketing hype to judge the merits of the latest equipment for golfers of all ability levels. As for the trend in golf equipment that Chris has been most impressed with in recent years, the Players Distance Iron category would earn that distinction, as golfers now have far better options for irons that provide the assistance that so many need in terms of distance and forgiveness without forcing them to sacrifice look and feel.
On a personal level, Chris played college golf and was a three-year letterwinner and two-year captain at Lynchburg College in Virginia and later spent two years as the assistant golf coach at the University of Virginia. The vast majority of his professional career, however, has been spent as a sports writer and editor. In the early phases of his career, he covered college football, college basketball, and golf for different newspapers and websites before turning his attention solely to golf in 2011. Over the course of the past decade, Chris managed the Instruction Blog for GolfChannel.com and more recently created equipment-related content for TGW.com and 2ndSwing.com.
An avid player, Chris currently maintains a handicap index of 2.4 and has a career-low round of 66, which he has shot on three occasions. He lives about 20 miles north of Atlanta in Roswell, Georgia, with his wife, Stacey, and is a member at Atlanta National Golf Club.
Chris is currently playing:
Driver: Callaway Epic Sub Zero, 10.5*
Fairway wood: TaylorMade M3, 17*
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW, 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 921 Forged, 4-PW
Gap wedge: Cleveland RTX 4, 50*
Sand wedge: Titleist Vokey SM6, 56M
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM8, 60L
Putter: SeeMore Nashville Z3C
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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