Srixon Soft Feel Golf Balls

~ ~ Srixon is probably not the first name that springs to a person's mind when they think of golf equipment manufacturers. Names like Slazenger, John Letters and Dunlop, and more recently Taylor Made, Callaway, and Nike are the manufacturers of clubs, balls and equipment that most modern-day golfers would readily associate with being market leaders in the golf world.

~ ~ So who are Srixon, and why are they now quickly establishing ...
...subject of this review; the Srixon Soft Feel.
Now I can guess what you're asking yourself. If I'm a serious golfer (which I am) and the Titleist Pro V is the best ball currently available, then why change?
Well, the Pro V suits a lot of golfer's games like a proverbial glove. The only problem with it is that like all golf balls used by professional golfers, it's designed to perform best when it's being used by a golfer with a very fast ... more

~ ~ Srixon is probably not the first name that springs to a person's mind when they think of golf equipment manufacturers. Names like Slazenger, John Letters and Dunlop, and more recently Taylor Made, Callaway, and Nike are the manufacturers of clubs, balls and equipment that most modern-day golfers would readily associate with being market leaders in the golf world.

~ ~ So who are Srixon, and why are they now quickly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the golf equipment market?
Well, they're a Japanese rubber company called Sumitomo Rubber Industries who have been manufacturing golf balls since way back in 1930, when they began producing Dunlop golf balls under licence in Japan. Thirty three years later, in 1963, they actually bought out Dunlop in the UK, and entered the golf ball market worldwide.
So why have we never heard of them before? For decades they were content to simply rake in the massive profits from the sale of Dunlop golf balls, and it's only in the last seven years or so that they have began to market golf balls and clubs using their own brand name of Srixon.
They were actually the first golf ball manufacturer to pioneer the use of soft balata rubber in the manufacture of golf balls when they brought out the Dunlop Maxfli Balata HT ball, which until Titleist caught up a couple of years later was without question the ball of choice of all better golfers. I used the Maxfli Balata ball successfully for many years.

~ ~ There were two major problems with balata golf balls. Firstly, they didn't go as far as a conventional two-piece construction ball, and secondly they were so soft that you were lucky to get one full round of golf from one before you had quite literally cut the cover to ribbons!
So golf ball manufacturers began to develop "compromise" balls. These are solid two-piece golf balls (as distinct from the wound rubber in a balata ball) which fly much further and have harder covers, some so much so that they are virtually indestructible during normal play. (Think balls like the Top Flite and Dunlop DDH) But the problem with these harder balls is that while they travel much further, the spin rate is so poor it's practically impossible to impart any control on the ball for the shorter more delicate shots around the putting green.

~ ~ But this problem has been solved in recent years with the development of outstanding balls like the "Titleist Pro V", which is now the number one ball of choice of the vast majority of professional golfers and top amateurs.
The Titleist Pro V is without doubt the premier golf ball available at present in the retail sector, and it's the ball I used myself up until about two months ago when I changed to the ball that is the subject of this review; the Srixon Soft Feel.
Now I can guess what you're asking yourself. If I'm a serious golfer (which I am) and the Titleist Pro V is the best ball currently available, then why change?
Well, the Pro V suits a lot of golfer's games like a proverbial glove. The only problem with it is that like all golf balls used by professional golfers, it's designed to perform best when it's being used by a golfer with a very fast swing speed. A player's swing speed is the rate the golf club head is travelling at when it actually makes contact with the ball, and is obviously one of the main determining factors in how far the ball will actually travel. The swing speed of your average everyday amateur golfer will vary within the range of 65 to 95 miles per hour at point of contact, whereas a professional player will achieve around 100 to 105mph. One of the games longest hitters and most successful golfers, Tiger Woods, has an absolutely astounding swing speed of 125mph!

~ ~ For anyone with a swing speed of around 95mph plus, then the Titleist Pro V is the golf ball to purchase. My problem is that I can no longer manage to generate this sort of club head speed, as the years (arthritis, rheumatism, and generally less flexible muscles and joints) have conspired against me. Up until about five years ago my average swing speed was around the 100 to 105mph mark, the same as a professional. However I recently had my swing speed analysed at a golf tournament I was visiting, and it is now in the region of 85 to 90mph. In fact, it's probably a bit less, as I was conscious of being measured, and consequently most likely swung the club that little bit harder, albeit unconsciously!

~ ~ So what does this mean to me in terms of what golf ball I should use?
The slower speed at which I now swing the club means that I'm simply not able to compress the ball as much as I was able in years gone by. This is especially so with balls like the Titleist Pro V. This means that I don't hit it as far as I used to. This is where the Srixon Soft Feel ball comes into its own.
My current driver, the TaylorMade 580XD, is one of the best on the market when it comes to transferring the energy from the club head to the ball. In the golf world this is called the COR factor, and the 580XD has an amazing COR factor of 0.87. This means it transfers 87% of the generated club head energy to the ball at point of impact. The softer compression of the Srixon Soft Feel means I can compress the golf ball more at point of impact. More compression of the golf ball along with a highly efficient transfer of power from the club head to the ball means it travels considerably further. When I say considerably further, I would say that on average I have managed to add an extra 30 yards to my drive over the two-month period or so since I started using the Srixon ball. (From about 240 yards average to around 270 to 275 yards average)
To non-golfers this may seem a small improvement, but all golfers will immediately realise the benefits this extra yardage with the driver imparts. Put simply, it means I'm closer to the putting surface on a par-4 hole than before, which means I'm hitting a shorter iron (more lofted) into the green. A shorter distance means I get my second shots closer to the hole more consistently, and naturally this equates to sinking more putts, and thus making a better score. I've actually lost two full shots off my handicap since I began to use the Srixon, the first time in over three years that my handicap has been going *DOWN* instead of up!
The ball is also lovely to use around the green for these little delicate pitch and chip shots. Lots of feel and feedback to the hands, and if you hit it in to the green high with a lofted club you can impart so much spin that the ball will pull up once it lands like it had power assisted brakes!

~ ~ Anything I don't like about the Srixon Soft Feel? Well, yeah. In common with nearly all golf ball and club manufacturers these days Srixon seem to be hell bent on confusing the average punter by using as much technical jargon in their advertising as possible. Thus the Srixon Soft Feel is marketed as having a "Rabalon® HR Elastomer Blended" cover, and a "Super Soft Dual core" centre. Much play is also put on it having "Seamless 333 Aerodynamic" dimples, as it's seemingly the only golf ball on the market with an odd (as opposed to even) number of dimples on its surface. All this meaningless gobbledigook makes about as much sense to your average punter who buys golf balls as the workings of a nuclear reactor! I do wish that manufacturers would cop onto themselves and drop all this meaningless drivel from their advertising.

~ ~ Meaningless advertising apart, it has to be said that I've been totally delighted with this marvellous golf ball since I've started to use it. It saves me a small fortune as well, as you can buy a box of a dozen Srixon Soft Feel balls in my local pro shop for only €22, compared to €55 for a box of a dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls! You might even get them a wee bit cheaper if you shop around on the Web or on eBay.
A highly recommended ball for your average golfer, or for the player (like myself) who swings with a slightly slower swing speed.

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© KenJ June 2006

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