I’ve been shaping shots since reading Nicklaus explain how to in Golf My Way in 1987 and for me the ability to do that and steer balls with ( fade into / left-to-right front of green to pin positions and draws ) into \ right-to-left pins is the true test of a golf ball, not distance off the tee. I started playing with wound Balata balls which had far more spin loft than the two-piece TopFlight Polymer balls which is why the Pros continued to use them until the Pro V1 was created. What made the ProV1 different was the use of Urethane as the cover material and making it very thin with a very hard milk jug like mantle layer beneath it between cover and polymer core. That created high spin off lofted clubs and low spin off Driver. With a bit of practice it is possible to to open stance 45° for and start a ProV1 about 30° to the center of a green and “fade” it back so it will hit the front left of the green then bounce and roll left-to-right to a back right pin placement. It can be done with a draw too, but as Trevino famously said, “You can talk to a fade but a draw doesn’t listen.” The same can be said for trying to shape shots with a Pinnacle Gold or any other two-piece, non-Urethane cover ball. 😂 For anyone other than an elite golfer who can hit any ball in a tight dispersion pattern there is more shot-to-shot variation swing-to-swing than there is ball brand to ball brand. What is equally / more important is how the ball reacts to the putter. Back when the ProV1 was introduced someone tracking tour putting stats noticed that % of putts > 10 ft decreased because of the way the hard mantle layer reacted to the hard metal putter face compared to the wound-rubber Balata balls the pros were accustomed to putting with. That lead to the development of putters with Polymer inserts.
That’s so interesting! I didn’t realise that about putting stats relating to hardness of a golf ball 🤔 I think since understanding of stokes gained has increased, the small margins have become more important 😊 over the course of a season, any golfer trying to lower their handicap, can see difference in even the most subtle changes 😊 So I would argue that ball brand to ball brand can make some difference, a few yards here and there over a season can stack up. But the biggest point of this video is about the quality to price ratio 😊 I’d still be happier finding a Pro v1 in the woods than a Kirkland V3, but I’d be happier slicing a Kirkland V3 in the woods than the Pro v1 😂
Good info. I don't shape shots all the time but it's definitely useful for tucked pins and for scrambling under and around trees. An underrated detail is ball location off the tee plus target from the tee. For example, if I have a par 3 with woods left and slope right to left, I will tee up on the left side of the tee box and aim to the right center of the green. If it's a par 3 with water right, slope left to right, I will still tee up on the left side but aim to the left center of the green.
This is my first of your videos, thoroughly enjoyed it. My home club in the UK is wooded and gets very wet in winter and members regularly lose balls due to leaves and balls plugging, even on the fairway, regardless of the best efforts of our green staff. I’m a 12.7 handicap player, play a Z star diamond but have recently switched to Kirkland V3 for winter golf. You can buy them on line for £33 delivered or in store for £28ish for 24 balls. I have to say I’ve been very impressed with them moreover my winter golf is so much more relaxing knowing I’m only losing £1..25 when a ball disappears rather than £3+ with a Z Star. I haven’t been using them long enough to decide if I’ll use them for summer golf but I have no complaints thus far.
Thank you Graham! 😊 My clubs the same, it can be so difficult finding a ball in winter. I’ve always used a cheaper ball around this time of year 🤷🏼♂️ Love the z-star range! I did a test a while back with those on the channel as well! Great golf balls! 😊
Funny enough, i just did a driver fitting yesterday. They had me use my golf balls that are Kirkland v3. I could not get above 1700 on the spin rate. The Srixon we tried was right at 2000. It's probably just my swing. But it is important to note that balls are almost as important to be fitted for as clubs. As for those who think these balls are hard, I've been playing them since they came out and I felt that Calloway and Titleist balls were harder. I play southern US golf on mostly firm bermuda greens. When I play anything else, these balls have almost too much spin. I am switching to Srixon just because the spin rate, launch angle and ball speed hit my targets.
Srixon make GREAT golf balls. I did a test on them about a year ago and the z-star line have a few different balls, all made to a great standard and suit different golfers! 😊
Costco sells these in the states for $27 for 24 balls. Its a crazy good deal. And its not like with the version 1 when you couldn't ever find any in stock, they have stacks of them every time I go to Costco.
That’s incredible! 🙌🏻 I’m really struggling to find them cheaper than I got on Amazon! But, to be fair, maybe I need Costco membership to get them a bit cheaper 🤔 Very interesting to know though! Thank you for the insight! 😊
@@TKGolfYT About a month ago, my local Costco(Minnesota) had them on clearance at $19.97 for 24 balls. Usually the .97 in the price means that item won't be restocked. However, last week they had them back in stock at the regular price($27).
@@TKGolfYT here in the states you can order on their website without a membership. I think you just have to cover shipping if you don’t have the membership. Great review!
Really good review. I have just bought from your link (hope you are on commission 🤣). Will let you know how i get on with them. Thanks for the heads up 😃
Thanks Steve 🙌🏻 the link is more so it’s easier for people to find, but you did just put 10p in my pocket so thank you 😂😊 Hope you get on well with them! 😊
These are my balls. I buy cleaned like mint used ones on Amazon. 50 count for like $35. They're awesome and have lots of spin. Good distance and great feel on the greens.
I don’t have a Costco card to be fair 🤔 I did notice that they are cheaper direct with Costco than from Amazon where I bought them 😊 I’m a 9 handicap, playing with Callaway mavriks (strong lifts). The clubs will account for the lower spin, but also hitting off a mat 😊
@@TKGolfYTahhh makes sense. Its like two clubs strong. I played the v2s. They r very spinny off the tee for sure, lost like 20 yards. But shorter irons and wedges were fine. Feels soft and nice. But they do get damaged so fast.
I had absolutely no issues with the ver2 of the ball. I got as much distance off the tee with them as I did any other premium ball. If I were a better golfer maybe I would notice the difference more but I'm a mid 80's golfer so for that price they are definitely worth it. Look forward to trying the ver3 balls.
@@TKGolfYT sorry for the late reply. Not use to other UA-camrs replying back 😂. The ball has great compression and helps me create alot more spin. I have also recently gone to blades which helps even more. For the price it's a great ball and for the price I wouldn't change specially if specs are the same. Have you used them out on course? If not, there is another video for you. 😉
I bought 20 dozen of these at $19.97 per 2 dozen at my local warehouse. That's 83 cents per ball. I have 19 dozen left brand new in their boxes. Do you want to buy them from me? That's how bad these are. And I'm a big Costco fan. With golf, their wedges are great, just as good as a Vokey and that driver is excellent at $199. The balls however........................... With that said, the performance of the balls I purchased could have been from a bad lot. Who knows? Compared to a Pro v1 my Kirkland's feel like rocks, carry considerably less and fly super low. And I'm a high ball hitter.
@@TKGolfYT Well, they were all from the same pallet all bought at the same time so its possible the lot was bad somehow although its a stretch. Was really disappointed in them. Decided not to return them as I'll use them in my shag bags to hit longer shots at this field I have access to. Eventually I'll lose them all. LOL Honestly, these balls feel dead. I'm 35 yards longer with driver with a Pro v1 or Chrome Tour and 15-20 yards longer with just about any iron.
Yes they do perform very well,but they are miles apart when it comes to sound & feel.The kirkland ball is rock hard and has a high pitch click to it esp on wedge shots.
I’ve been shaping shots since reading Nicklaus explain how to in Golf My Way in 1987 and for me the ability to do that and steer balls with ( fade into / left-to-right front of green to pin positions and draws ) into \ right-to-left pins is the true test of a golf ball, not distance off the tee.
I started playing with wound Balata balls which had far more spin loft than the two-piece TopFlight Polymer balls which is why the Pros continued to use them until the Pro V1 was created. What made the ProV1 different was the use of Urethane as the cover material and making it very thin with a very hard milk jug like mantle layer beneath it between cover and polymer core. That created high spin off lofted clubs and low spin off Driver.
With a bit of practice it is possible to to open stance 45° for and start a ProV1 about 30° to the center of a green and “fade” it back so it will hit the front left of the green then bounce and roll left-to-right to a back right pin placement. It can be done with a draw too, but as Trevino famously said, “You can talk to a fade but a draw doesn’t listen.” The same can be said for trying to shape shots with a Pinnacle Gold or any other two-piece, non-Urethane cover ball. 😂
For anyone other than an elite golfer who can hit any ball in a tight dispersion pattern there is more shot-to-shot variation swing-to-swing than there is ball brand to ball brand. What is equally / more important is how the ball reacts to the putter.
Back when the ProV1 was introduced someone tracking tour putting stats noticed that % of putts > 10 ft decreased because of the way the hard mantle layer reacted to the hard metal putter face compared to the wound-rubber Balata balls the pros were accustomed to putting with. That lead to the development of putters with Polymer inserts.
That’s so interesting! I didn’t realise that about putting stats relating to hardness of a golf ball 🤔
I think since understanding of stokes gained has increased, the small margins have become more important 😊 over the course of a season, any golfer trying to lower their handicap, can see difference in even the most subtle changes 😊
So I would argue that ball brand to ball brand can make some difference, a few yards here and there over a season can stack up.
But the biggest point of this video is about the quality to price ratio 😊
I’d still be happier finding a Pro v1 in the woods than a Kirkland V3, but I’d be happier slicing a Kirkland V3 in the woods than the Pro v1 😂
Good info. I don't shape shots all the time but it's definitely useful for tucked pins and for scrambling under and around trees. An underrated detail is ball location off the tee plus target from the tee. For example, if I have a par 3 with woods left and slope right to left, I will tee up on the left side of the tee box and aim to the right center of the green. If it's a par 3 with water right, slope left to right, I will still tee up on the left side but aim to the left center of the green.
This is my first of your videos, thoroughly enjoyed it. My home club in the UK is wooded and gets very wet in winter and members regularly lose balls due to leaves and balls plugging, even on the fairway, regardless of the best efforts of our green staff. I’m a 12.7 handicap player, play a Z star diamond but have recently switched to Kirkland V3 for winter golf. You can buy them on line for £33 delivered or in store for £28ish for 24 balls. I have to say I’ve been very impressed with them moreover my winter golf is so much more relaxing knowing I’m only losing £1..25 when a ball disappears rather than £3+ with a Z Star. I haven’t been using them long enough to decide if I’ll use them for summer golf but I have no complaints thus far.
Thank you Graham! 😊
My clubs the same, it can be so difficult finding a ball in winter. I’ve always used a cheaper ball around this time of year 🤷🏼♂️
Love the z-star range! I did a test a while back with those on the channel as well! Great golf balls! 😊
great info.. thanks for the review.
Thank you for the feedback 😊 glad you liked it 💪🏻
My friend plays the green/yellow version. Spins more than Pro V1 with driver for him. Legit ball.
Funny enough, i just did a driver fitting yesterday. They had me use my golf balls that are Kirkland v3. I could not get above 1700 on the spin rate. The Srixon we tried was right at 2000. It's probably just my swing. But it is important to note that balls are almost as important to be fitted for as clubs.
As for those who think these balls are hard, I've been playing them since they came out and I felt that Calloway and Titleist balls were harder. I play southern US golf on mostly firm bermuda greens. When I play anything else, these balls have almost too much spin.
I am switching to Srixon just because the spin rate, launch angle and ball speed hit my targets.
Srixon make GREAT golf balls. I did a test on them about a year ago and the z-star line have a few different balls, all made to a great standard and suit different golfers! 😊
Costco sells these in the states for $27 for 24 balls. Its a crazy good deal. And its not like with the version 1 when you couldn't ever find any in stock, they have stacks of them every time I go to Costco.
That’s incredible! 🙌🏻 I’m really struggling to find them cheaper than I got on Amazon! But, to be fair, maybe I need Costco membership to get them a bit cheaper 🤔
Very interesting to know though! Thank you for the insight! 😊
@@TKGolfYT About a month ago, my local Costco(Minnesota) had them on clearance at $19.97 for 24 balls. Usually the .97 in the price means that item won't be restocked. However, last week they had them back in stock at the regular price($27).
@@TKGolfYT here in the states you can order on their website without a membership. I think you just have to cover shipping if you don’t have the membership. Great review!
Really good review. I have just bought from your link (hope you are on commission 🤣). Will let you know how i get on with them. Thanks for the heads up 😃
Thanks Steve 🙌🏻 the link is more so it’s easier for people to find, but you did just put 10p in my pocket so thank you 😂😊
Hope you get on well with them! 😊
I picked up 6 dozen Kirkland balls on sale for $20/2dozen about a month ago. That’s about $0.84/ball (0.67gbp). That’s a smoking deal.
That’s an insane deal 😂 I didn’t realise they could be that cheap! There’s a lot of comments with various prices!
These are my balls. I buy cleaned like mint used ones on Amazon. 50 count for like $35. They're awesome and have lots of spin. Good distance and great feel on the greens.
They are great balls! 😊 I’d argue that you could pretty much buy them at that price brand new to be fair 🤔
New to the channel. As someone else mentioned, kirkland balls are like $1 a ball!
Whays ur handicap? What clubs r u playing? Spin seems so low
I don’t have a Costco card to be fair 🤔 I did notice that they are cheaper direct with Costco than from Amazon where I bought them 😊
I’m a 9 handicap, playing with Callaway mavriks (strong lifts). The clubs will account for the lower spin, but also hitting off a mat 😊
@@TKGolfYTahhh makes sense. Its like two clubs strong. I played the v2s. They r very spinny off the tee for sure, lost like 20 yards. But shorter irons and wedges were fine. Feels soft and nice. But they do get damaged so fast.
I had absolutely no issues with the ver2 of the ball. I got as much distance off the tee with them as I did any other premium ball. If I were a better golfer maybe I would notice the difference more but I'm a mid 80's golfer so for that price they are definitely worth it. Look forward to trying the ver3 balls.
I think, when you try the v3, you’ll notice the difference 😊 you’ll see a little bit more distance for sure!
Got to think, where is this ball made???
I believe they are made in china 🤔
I'm a club shorter with those balls.
That’s interesting 🤔 I’d have said the same about the V2, but with these, I’m getting exactly what I’d expect 😊
They're just under £28 in store with a Costco membership.
Yeah great point! I didn’t realise that to be honest 😊 think I need to look into that myself 😂
Yeah great point! I didn’t realise that to be honest 😊 think I need to look into that myself 😂
Funny enough, bought these before seeing this review.
How are you finding them? I’d have you not hit them yet? 😊
@@TKGolfYT sorry for the late reply. Not use to other UA-camrs replying back 😂.
The ball has great compression and helps me create alot more spin. I have also recently gone to blades which helps even more. For the price it's a great ball and for the price I wouldn't change specially if specs are the same.
Have you used them out on course? If not, there is another video for you. 😉
I bought 20 dozen of these at $19.97 per 2 dozen at my local warehouse. That's 83 cents per ball. I have 19 dozen left brand new in their boxes. Do you want to buy them from me? That's how bad these are. And I'm a big Costco fan. With golf, their wedges are great, just as good as a Vokey and that driver is excellent at $199. The balls however........................... With that said, the performance of the balls I purchased could have been from a bad lot. Who knows? Compared to a Pro v1 my Kirkland's feel like rocks, carry considerably less and fly super low. And I'm a high ball hitter.
Honestly shocked by your findings 🤔 I can’t imagine you managed to buy 20 bad dozen, but the performance I’m seeing is so similar to the pro v1 🤔
@@TKGolfYT Well, they were all from the same pallet all bought at the same time so its possible the lot was bad somehow although its a stretch. Was really disappointed in them. Decided not to return them as I'll use them in my shag bags to hit longer shots at this field I have access to. Eventually I'll lose them all. LOL Honestly, these balls feel dead. I'm 35 yards longer with driver with a Pro v1 or Chrome Tour and 15-20 yards longer with just about any iron.
Yes they do perform very well,but they are miles apart when it comes to sound & feel.The kirkland ball is rock hard and has a high pitch click to it esp on wedge shots.
Oh for sure! But I would say that they have improved that as well with the V3! 😊