On 2006-05-08, Joegolfer20hcp rated this Volvik Crystal a 5...(6894)
Details: There is the 'normal' crystal white, also yellow, orange, purple, pink that i've found. You can order them online in green and blue also.
Purchase: My uncle recommended that I try them out. We were talking golf balls at the family Christmas gathering last year and he was raving about this golf ball. I kind of tuned him out since at the time I was a bit of a 'snotty' titleist player at the time. (I had found couple pro v1's in the woods and was thinking they were really worth the price since their performace is top-notch)
I had begun a search for the 'right' ball for my game last year. Have tried Black max, noodles, titleist prov1 and NXT tours, MOJO, Callaway red hots, Ben hogan 'the hawk' and tour deep, and virtually all the other mid-range balls offered at golf galaxy I couldn't find the best bang for buck solution for my game until the crystal.
So I started looking to pick up the crystal not really remembering the name, just that it was 'some korean ball' named something like 'voltrik' 'vuntik' etc...
I finally found the Volvik crystals on clearance at golf galaxy in columbus, ohio for $14.99 a dozen.
I had been to the store several times before that and literally walked right by them. I purchased a dozen NXT tours about a month ago since I had read they are the 'poor mans pro v1', and are nearly indistinguishable to the average golfer from the prov1 anyways (my experience was that they are not, they are good balls, but even a 10 rounds a year golfer can tell a difference between the two, they may not be able to play the difference, but they can feel it)
It's really expensive to play the pro v1 if you play a couple times a week and have a 'better than the average hack' golf game but are not immune from the occasional skulled shot, monster push , or slice into the woods.
So I purchased 12 Crystal whites, and 12 of the color pack (orange, pink, yellow, purple) for fun / twilight golf.
Pros: The unique look and feel will have people playing close attention to your golf game. It's a good thing this ball will help you back it up!
The price vs. performance is virtually unbeatable. Please see the constuction/quality portion of the review for more information.
Off the tee this ball doesn't feel quite as good as some others I have played. What I did like was the result. You can really smash these things and get a true flight out of them. I've Played other 70 compression balls that i've had a lot of trouble keeping straight w/ the driver. This ball flat out ignores 5-10 mph winds, and if it's 15 mph +, it plays the wind instead of getting stuffed by it. I loved that.
The rest of the game I loved to play with this ball. Fairway woods flew high and true, and felt really good to me, you get a really good 'smack' feel when you connect with them, and the smile on your face only gets bigger as the ball climbs and climbs, and *devours* yardage off the par 5s or long par 4's.
Chipping is a pleasure also, This ball plays exceptionally well out of the rough, the high end balls i've played before kind of have a real mushy feel when the ball is down in the deep stuff, it's hard to get a consistant 'pop' out of it with them. I think the crystal plays so well here because of the two-piece design and low compression, if your clubhead is slowing down or lost speed , the low compression forgives you and will still give you a good amount of force transferred to the ball, and the suryn cover will forgive most everything but a skull.
This is the best ball i've hit out of the rough (where I spend alot of time /wink), without question. You can really dig into and go after it out of the deep stuff and still get a true flight from the ball. amazing
Chipping and short game shots inside 100 yards are a dream to a golfer of my skill level.
This ball rolls very, very true on the green. So much so that I was consistantly over chipping on the 3 rounds I played the ball on. I'm just not used to them yet,
When I was playing the 'soft feel' pro v1 and Ben Hogan 'the hawk' you could really check up on the green, but I'd also need to loft them higher to make up for their lack of release / roll on the green because they'd check so hard. It's also hard to predict how hard they would change thier direction if you had some side - spin on it.
Which for anyone other than the top wedge players is alot harder to be consistant with. At my skill level it's much better to keep it crisp, and keep it low if at all possible.
You can really attack the hole with your lags putts without fear with this ball, it's not the best roller out there (in my opinion that goes to the Pro V1) but it's only a small step behind it. I think the low compression forgives minor line-errors on the putter face for the short putts as well.
Cons: The clear outer cover took some getting used to. In certain light, it can be really hard to find the ball in the rough if you're playing the white (light out, but no sun to put a 'glint' on the ball), also because of the cover.
In that light I'd recommend putting down a pink or purple one.
I can see better players complaining about the 'workability' of the ball.
And if you 'shoot darts' at the greens you won't get as much pull back out of this ball as what you are probably used to.
Quality: In the realm of golf balls, this one is nearly indestructable.
I pulled a driver right into the middle of a thick tree yesterday, on the fly, only about 70 yards off the tee so it's was still cooking, and it hit the tree solid enough for golfers on the surrounding 2 holes to hear the 'crack' easily.
When I got to my ball there was some minor scuff damage on it, and I mean tiny 'you need to squint to see the marks' kind of damage after I had cleaned the bark off of it.
I can NOT cut this cover, I don't know what suryn is or how we make it, but they need to start making space ships or cars out of this stuff.
No matter how much I abuse this ball, it looks as good on the 18th green as it did on the first tee.
I'm still a young guy and can get alot of club-head speed, if anything I over-wind my swing. on many of the other balls i've played (including bargain bin two piece white painted rocks) a full swing 8 or 9 iron would give me nice row of grove cuts when you get to the green. Not to mention hitting a tree, skull shot, or cart path could pretty much Ruin a 'hawk or Pro v1.
Review Summary: Check your male ego at the door, this 'women's ball' is a top performer.
If you really want to talk about male ego's. Imagine what it feels like to of been soundly beaten by a guy who played a hot - pink, orange, or purple ball. Not only did you spend 13 dollars on the three pro v1's you used during the round (and now need to replace them), but now you need to buy this guy's dinner and first round of drinks also at the 19th hole.
Is it a Pro V1/black max/nike one etc...? no, is it 1/4th the cost for about 90 to 95% of the accepted industry leading balls in terms of performance, yes. Not to mention unless you put it in drink or the woods, you can use the same ball the next day.
during yesterdays round I found a stray nike one, two Pro v1's , and a Callaway. I non chalanty tossed all of them to other members of my group, I never thought twice about keeping them to play them. I also tossed them a Volvik crystal and told them to try both and see what they think.
There's no option for a 4.5 on the scale, but that's where I think this ball sits. I'd take a .25 off for feel from the tee-box, and .25 off for sticking greens at real real tight pin locations being a bit harder. Unless you're a scratch golfer, play it to the safe part of the green and putt it back anyways, play it cool and smart, Tiger 8)
In a word Fantastic. I hope that finding them on clearance doesn't mean Golf Galaxy is discontinuing them.
Plus they add some personality to a desperately stale area of the golf game, the white ball.
Don't know how else to say it, try them out, worst case - scenario you're out 15 bucks and you can give the rest of the box to your girlfriend or mom or anyone who thinks they are 'cute'.
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