Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi S,

That would be were the Control was aimed at but at an economy
price. Thanks for the details as it gives me plenty to work with.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

finally got a chance to get out on a course on the weekend.
tried the power control against an e6+

I was surprised at how similar they are to play the PC ending up invariably about 1-3m behind the e6 from the drive and about the same on full irons
I started the round badly with a slice into the fence with the PC it didn’t show any ill effects from that, I could feel I was a little over when taking my practice swing i should really have taken more time to settle that before having a swipe. the e6 was straight and a fairly nice shot.
What really picked up my spirits was the second hole, a par 3 up a little rise, using a 7 I hit the e6 with a really nice fizzing sound ending up a meter past the hole, what really gave me pleasure was hitting the PC with the same sound ending a meter this side of the hole, i was able to make birdie with both balls and was feeling pretty chuffed with myself.
I could not really tell any difference in the feel from the driver and apart from meeting the fence on the first hole PC was well behaved,
with irons I almost felt that the PC was slightly softer than the e6 but the results where consistent.

Chipping is really something I need to work on I still get myself in situations where i do not know how the ball is going to behave, it is where i give up a lot of shots, i don’t know if my comments in this area would help, neither ball gave me much joy on the day in this department.

The PC felt good when putting except for two instances where it felt really spongy and didn’t seem to roll as far as i expected, i tried to reproduce the effect both on the green and at home on the carpet but was not able to do so.

neither ball showed much wear after the round, but I don’t really have any clubs that slice the ball up,

All in all I would definitely recommend and use the PC when they become available.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the report, the HiSoft is a good value ball and
is very underrated.

I havn’t decided when I am going to start selling them yet.

They will sell for about $25 per dozen.

I will advise ASAP when I get it sorted as to where I will be
selling them through.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

played with the hisoft today at my home club.

it played really well of the driver long and straight could not complain about it. plays longer than the noodle slightly.

felt good off the irons with reasonably stopping.

i didnt hit it badly all day very impressed with the ball.

hey boz i like the hisoft how much are they and where will i eventually be able to get them as i like them.

going out to use the power controls tomorrow but will take a good ball to take it away from the hi soft.

nick,

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi Mouldy,

I don’t see it making the shops till July. I would personnally
look at buying some Arctic whites from 1st May at Rebel and
you will get cap / 7 x Fantom’s ( Power Distance x 3) plus tee
pack.

or

Send me a note and I will see what I can do from the warehouse.

I’m just glad you really can see a variation in all the balls.

Talk soon,
Boz.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

G’day Boz
Since relegating the Power Control (PC) and Power Distance (PD) to the shag bag I had a look at old threads and have tried Laddie’s and Optima TS searching for the most suitable ball for my game. IMO the Laddie does not match up to either due to its increased driver side spin. The Optima is very very similar in performance to the PC, so much so it could be a clone. The only difference is that the Optima is much more durable. Any idea on when the PD, which I really liked, will make it to market ?

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi JJ,

good call on the feel now lets see if I can get the balls
to really fly.

Hi Rod,

Got it and will add you to the program.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

email sent.
i would like to try some if you are still looking

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

I find the ‘Vision’ ball are similar to both the Noodle and the Laddie.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

I think the first ‘glow in the dark ace’ would be an honour :)

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Obviously no hole in ones yet either, as I know that must
have been on your mind.

You know I am really pushing the UV-X2 because I want
to play it more than I want to play a white ball.

Cheers,
Boz :-)

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Looking forward to that Boz, have moved on to the Experts now and love them, they are still easier to see (when you are focused on the game) than normal white balls but I like the ease of seeing the UV.

Around the greens I am getting the ball to stop pretty quickly but I can’t review distance until I start hitting the ball properly of the tee :)

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi B2G,

Thanks for the information and I am looking forward myself to
testing the new cover material as I hope it is everything that
DuPont has promised us.. There will be some test balls in late
May at this stage. :-)

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi Boz
Had a game today with the Distance Pro balls. Interesting! The ball flight was very high even for me. Early in the round the wind was up and the ball went well with the wind, lots of distance, iIconsistently hit at least one club too many into the greens. Into the wind the ball ballooned a lot although the distance was ok. The ball was just hard to control.
The cover was quite durable so did not show the same scuffing as the Power Control or the Hi-Soft.
On and around the greens the ball seemed hard with a real “click” sensation off the club.
Of thes 3 balls I think the Hi-Soft was the most playable for me.
I will be a bit happier with an Expert or a Pro V1.
Thanks for the chance of testing these balls I have enjoyed it.
I am really looking forward to the new expert when they become available.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Cool, that works.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hopefully i will be able to get out next week to test out the hisofts and i’ll give the Dp’s a second test to see if i get the same results again.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hi Seven,

A good report and full description, I am really interested to see
how the Hi Softs play for you after reading this.

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the great detail and the comparison with your
use of the other balls in very helpful. I really appreciate it.

In general terms the lower compression balls are what
players are loking for in the sub $30 area and I am looking
at this at the moment. But I want to stress that I believe a
soft ball should still feel some what solid on full shots.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Have been playing the ‘Power Control’ against a ‘Laddie’ and a ‘Noodle’ for the past 3 rounds, alternating the 3 balls on each hole, starting with a different ball on the beginning hole so that they could be compared.
The temperature on all days was 18-20°C, with winds of _{15 to 20 kilometres per hour.}

Cosmetically

All looked similar until closer inspection, the and Power Control looks to have dimples of 2 sizes, as does the Noodle, with the Laddie having dimples of 2 size dimples, but not to the difference of the other two balls, but with a small indentation in the centre of each dimple.

Driver

Both the Noodle and Laddie drove equally, similar distance, feel and flight. Initially the Power Control felt like I saw hitting a rock, but tended to feel a little softer as the round progressed, but not by much. The Power Control also tended to balloon more into the wind, and did so even when teed down to try to compensate. All had a similar dispersal pattern, and the Power Control seemed to be 10 metres shorter.

Woods and Hybrids

This is where the Power Control ‘improved’ for me, it was continually ~10 longer, probably due to to the fact that it tended to stay a little lower and run a little further than the Noodle or Laddie. All ball tended to have a similar dispersion and again the Power Control felt firmer, and gave a more ‘clicky’ sound when hit.

Mid Irons

Again the Noodle and Laddie played better, tending to fly a little further and had more ‘feel’ off the club. Again the Power Control seemed to be about a club shorter, and felt ‘harsher’ when hit and again, as with the driver tended to fly a little higher than I prefer.

Wedges

Good results with all balls here, on fuller shots all hit and stopped within 2 metres of where they landed, this probably because again the Power Control tended to fly higher and needed a little ‘extra’ to get to the green.
Chipping provided similar results, the Laddie and Noodle tended to have similar ‘hit and run’ properties, with the Power Control tending to run a little further, than the other two.

Putting

The Power Control seemed to feel ‘hot’ off the face of the putter, and ran further than the other two balls from similar distances.

Summing Up

There was very little between the Laddie and the Noodle in all areas.
The Power Control seemed to feel firmer / hotter than the other two balls, and the Power Control was beginning to look ‘scuffy’ by the end of the mid part of the second round, so changed it to a new Power Control midway through the second round, which by the end of the third round was ‘dispatched to the river’ at the end of the third round.
The Power Control would not be a ball I would buy if it was available for sale and I needed to purchase some new golf balls.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

took the balls out for a test today, i had my friend test out the PowerControl while i tested out the DistPro. Just some background knowledge my friend normally plays with callaway reds and plays off 20.

Pc: i gave him the ball not telling him what it was just told him to give it a try and give me some feedback. first hole. par4 264m and he nailed the drive dead straight and couldnt believe he got it on the green. he loves the ball, he said it felt softer than what he expected. putting: he liked the solid feel and it seemed it was easier to feel the contact. his final comment after that hole was “where can i get some of these balls”. however he found after a few drives he couldnt draw the ball as easy as he could with the callaway. after playing a few holes he lost both balls after driving them alot further than he expected. he nailed one towords a tree 275m away and it just shattered. But he did manage to score 15 over with only 2 holes to play. he will be converting as soon as these balls hit the market.

Dp: i played the distance pro. not sure if it is my swing improving or because i was trying to feel what the ball was doing off the face of the club but it just felt good to hit these balls. driver: wasnt too happy with my driver today but i found i didnt have much control over this ball as the nxt. it just spun too much but that might not be a balls fault, as i was slicing the ball everywhere. it felt really soft off the driver and i found myself wondering if i had hit the ball or not. i also found i either had to club up when deciding on which club to play as i lost at least 10m. iron play was unbelievable. i found i could stop this ball on dime if i wanted to and i love knowing i can picture a shot and it will do exactly wat i wanted it to. i used 1 ball for 18holes and its scuffed and ready for the practice bag. visability was a problem too. having a line for putting would be nice.

Tees: i love the tees you gave me i found i was staring at the smiley face making sure i saw it after the ball left.

will take out the softeys for a try next week. than compare them against the others.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Thanks Bega,

It’s good to see that the genaral comments are showing that
players don’t really want to play balls with the higher compression.

This is good as it confirms the way I am heading on the new balls.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

HI Boz;

Sorry it has taken so long to get back with my feedback, unfortunately they decided to scarify the greens at my course just when i went on holidays and had time to play a bit!

So i’ve had 9 holes using both the Distance and the control and the a Laddie to compare to. I won’t comment on putting or amount of spin on the greens because of the maintenance that had been done.

Distance: I struggled with this ball, distance was less then both laddie and control and feel off the club was definitely harder. For off centre hits (of which there were plenty!) it didn’t provide as much forgiveness as the other balls, I did hit one driver out of the screws and it traveled ok, but still short by about 10m of my best ever drive on that hole with a laddie. Consitency was an issue with this ball. No visible scuff marks despite spending some time in the bush

Control: very similar in feel to the laddie and definitely the prefered of the two fantom balls. Ball flight seemed lower then the laddie with a five iron and distance much the same (including one shot where the pitch marks were 5cm from each other!). As mentioned previously both balls had a clicky sound, which isn’t a bad thing, just something i’d have to get used to (that instant feed back from sound was interesting, I hit a couple with the control and immediatly thought I hadn’t middled it due to the sound, but the result was actually pretty good).
Feel on pitch shots was excellent (though no idea how the ball would respond once it hit the green), but i was able to get the ball to land where i wanted it to fairly regularily.

Over all i really liked the Fantom control ball, i’ll do some more comparisons in the coming weeks, but I’d definitely look at this ball as an equivilent of the precept laddie

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

I just got the email, please leave it with me. :-)

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Boz,
If your still looking for volunteers to test your golf balls ill send my email address.
i play off 21 and buy my golf balls in the mid price range.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Hey Muntz,

Obviously we are getting better at the cosmetic side of
ball presentation but its great to see that the initial look
and feel of these type of balls is not a real indication of
their true value..

Thanks for making the effort as it really does help to have
a good range of players testing all the balls.

Cheers,
Boz.

Topic: Fantom Ball Test - 2008 Oz

Monday I played two Fantoms off the tee – started with a couple of PCs (Power Controls), but when I inexplicably lost one on a par 3, I put a DP (Distance Pro) into play.

Look and Feel: Not the strong point of either these balls, especially compared to the glittery funkiness of the Expert. The DP in particular just looks like a plain no name rock you might find in one of those golf gift packs the kids find in the $2 shop. The PC isn’t much better, but it does have a T-bar arrow for lining up putts.

The balls had a fairly hard feel to them out of the box, so my initial impressions were pessimistic. I just thought these were going to play like rocks, but felt I should give them a go anyway to give Boz some feedback.

Performance: I’m surprised to find myself a big fan of both of these balls. I have never really had any interest in mid-range balls – I tend to use these when I’m hitting a few balls around on a practice round, like the e5 / e6 / NXT / Big Bertha etc. I prefer to play with a premium ball when I’m playing a comp, at least while I’m playing well.

When I hit a PC into the first green (lob wedge) it stopped on a dime and when I looked at the ball, it had a few subtle bite marks. So despite the hardish feel, it actually took spin well and I got good stop, even with a strong tailwind. If anything I found my chips and putts stopped too quickly, but that might have been more an issue with the greens being a bit soft and shaggy.

After I put the DP into play, I actually couldn’t pick much difference between the balls. On a few holes, when I managed to put the same swing on my tee shots, the two balls finished in spitting distance. I found myself able to work both balls without any problems. On the 13th, with a stiff L to R headwind, I setup for a power fade, and both balls did exactly as instructed, clearing the fairway bunker and running on a bit further. Similar results off the deck with the 3 wood. Good distance and trajectory without ballooning or veering off line. My first drive with the DP had a nice “crack” sound and held its line despite a strong crosswind and ran out 260m.

I drop-kicked one drive with the DP way right, and had to hit 155m into the wind over a line of high trees with a bunker at the front. I put a good swing on a 6 iron – it cleared the trees easily, and swung back L to R on the wind – looked like it covered the pin perfectly. I actually found the ball 20m past the green. A bit weird when I was expecting to dump the ball into the front bunker.

Durability: Both balls are in pretty good nick after playing about 14 holes / 9 holes respectively. There are no significant cuts or scuffs, but there are a few spots where the cover has been shaved back by grooves. Every time they went into the ball washer they came back looking pretty much new again.

In summary, like the Expert, these balls play softer than they feel, and play a bit longer than I am used to hitting. Again, to me they just feel good off the club – a touch firmer than a premium ball, but never hard or clicky.

When I dumped my PC into a hazard on the 15th I was ropeable – not so much at the dropped shots, but at losing a ball I was getting quite attached to. Pretty happy when I found it too.