Our staff at Bunkers Paradise takes pride in getting our readers and community first hand looks at some of the best equipment golf companies have to offer. We see everything from great products to “just ok” products. Nike Golf sent us the Nike 20XI golf balls to put to the test and I am pleased to say that it performed extremely well.
I am a big ProV1 fan and have been for years. Most people love the ProV1 because of how it performs on and around the greens. I am one of those people. When I review news balls, I generally will compare them to my old and trusty ProV1. After testing the 20XI ball, I may just have to make a switch.
I decided to take the Nike 20XI-S (spin) ball out since the stronger part of my game is around the green and I am not one of those 320 yards off the tee type of players. Nike claims the 20XI-S balls have higher levels of tour spin and control without sacrificing distance and also that it has steeper spin slope for lower driver spin and higher wedge spin. I took the ball out to a local golf course here in So Cal for a tournament. I handed a sleeve to each one of my playing partners for a better look and feel from different handicap golfers. We had handicaps of 20, 15, 10 and 7 in our foursome so we would get a good range of thoughts. The two things that consistently happened all day long were, first my buddies asked me if I had more balls to give them because they loved them that much and second, the performance was exciting to watch on each hole. One player in particular has completely converted to the 20XI ball after playing just one full round with it. So let’s take a look at how this ball really performs.
Distance:
My first thought after hitting off the tee is that this ball is long. I know review sites tend to favor the product they are reviewing, but I am truly not kidding when I say I added 10 yards to my drives, which for me is great because I don’t hit particularly long. Many people will think does 10 yards make a difference? Yes it does, especially on those long Par 5’s or even on a long Par 4. If a ball that is meant for feel around the green can also add distance to my game then count me in.
Spin:
To say the the 20XI-S has plenty spin is almost an understatement. As we started the day the greens were soft and the ball was biting into the green like a Halloween Vampire so I thought it could just be the soft greens that were fooling me. But as the day went along and the greens began to harden up, the 20Xi continued to perform extremely well. Our 7 handicap player uses a lot of spin around the green and he was very impressed with the 20XI ball. He over shot the hole by about 15 feet on a long Par 3 hole and got the 20XI to spin back about a foot below the hole. (photo to right) That’s a lot of spin!
Feel:
As an avid ProV1 user, the only complaint I have about it is the way it feels off of my driver. It plays a little too soft and squishy off the driver for me but I sacrifice that for how well it performs around the green. The 20XI ball however felt great off the tee. Solid hits with a nice sound as it came off my club. The mid irons played ok off the 20XI, nothing in particular that is better than any other top quality ball. As far as putting, the ball felt good when hitting it with my putter. It had a good solid feel each time, which is important when putting.
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Durability:
When testing a ball, I love using one ball through the entire 18 holes to see how it looks and performs all the way up to that last hole. Sure there were a couple scuff marks on the ball from wedge play, maybe a hit tree ;-), but the ball lasted perfectly fine through all 18. I don’t know if you would want to start your next round with the same ball but for me it passed the simple test of going through an entire 18.
Overview:
I would definitely recommend the Nike 20XI ball to any player who is looking for a new quality ball. I personally think I will be making the switch due to the simple fact that it performed great around the greens, which I am looking for in a ball, but also gave me some more distance.
I would like to thank Nike Golf for sending us more great products to review and test for you.
Follow Nike Golf on Twitter @Nikegolf
