Bridgestone TOUR B XS Golf Ball Review

©Bridgestone Golf

Spin: High

Dimples: 330 featuring a dual dimple within each dimple design

Compression: Mid

Category Comparison: Tour

Spec: (Three) 3 Piece / Layers

Cover: Urethane Cover, SlipRes technology, Seamless Cover

Core: Gradational Compression core

Price: $44.99

Go with Bridgestone TOUR B XS for much improved feel and also gain more control, with distance. The better feel of the Bridgestone TOUR B XS is based on a softer cover.

Tour B XS is also for better scoring players that have a need for better feel, along with long distance. The softer urethane cover has a mid compression rating of (75), providing a soft feel.

The bottom line is that the Bridgestone TOUR B XS Golf Ball is a very good choice for a low handy cap player and a number of pro's are now playing the B XS golf ball.

The Bridgestone Tour B XS Golf Ball retails for $44.99 a dozen (MSRP) and just like its B X sibling, it’s built and designed with the company’s proprietary Dual Dimple Design and SlipRes technology, for promoting better accuracy and improved control on every shot (including more birdies). The better feel of the Bridgestone Tour B XS Golf Ball is due to the SlipRes technology, which makes for a softer cover compared to the previous gen. The gradation core construction of the Bridgestone Tour B XS Golf Ball translates into enhanced ball speed, and provided you hit it on the face properly, you’ll be able to perfectly control the spin and the trajectory with every shot. Moreover, the proprietary SlipRes cover also increases friction, thus providing for additional control on wedge shots, while the gradational core design promotes less spin and improved energy control.

As the Bridgestone Tour B XS Golf Ball offers a larger standard deviation of conditions, it is suited for better golfers, as per Bridgestone’s director of ball fitting statement. The Bridgestone Tour B XS Golf Ball also comes with the company’s proprietary and field-proven dual-dimple pattern, but this time with a twist: the 330-dimple pattern is present in all 330 dimples, a brand new feature that dramatically improves the aerodynamics of the ball, thus promoting distance, and also benefits roll on tee shots and initial launch and speed. Needless to say, the Bridgestone Tour B XS Golf Ball offers more control on the greens than the generation it replaces, being designed for low-handicap golfers seeking for more feel and distance, while the regular Tour B X is feel/accuracy driven. To get an idea about what this baby is all about, the Tour B XS is likely to have the highest spin rate of the Tour B lineup, so keep that in mind when you go shopping for golf balls.

- Compression Video

- Spin Video

- Dimples Video

- Golf Ball Brands Video

- Titleist Video

- Understanding Spin Video

Bridgestone Tour B Golf Ball 2020 Edition is Here

©Bridgestone Golf

2020 seems to be the year of the golf ball, and to prove this point, Bridgestone unveiled its latest Tour B series, which, according to the Japanese company (and rather unusual), has a totally revolutionary design and the whole nine yards. Speaking of revolutionary design in a golf ball is a bold claim, to say the least, since basically all golf balls look and play the same, more or less, so what is Bridgestone Golf trying to tell us?

Well, since we live in the current year, with smart technology and smart appliances, it’s the golf ball’s turn to “turn smart” (pun intended), i.e. the new Tour B golf ball has a smart cover, which took Bridegstone years to develop and put into practice. Yes, you got that right, smart golf balls are here to stay. Here’s the deal: when it comes to golf ball design, and generally speaking product design, the engineers must make compromises in certain areas, as they’re basically forced to sacrifice one thing to gain another. For example, since we’re in the golf ball department, there’s always a trade-off between increased distance and, let’s say greenside spin.

The Tour B series is claimed to be free of such sacrifices, as in these balls are all about high performance and nothing else. There were no corners cut, no trade-off, just a pact signed in blood with the technological devil. Basically, the new golf ball Made in Japan boasts a revolutionary Reactiv urethane cover, that was developed by the combined know-how of over nine hundred rubber and polymer engineers. The Reactiv cover is said to offer quicker rebound at greater speeds, but in the same time, it offers excellent greenside control when it comes to lower speed shots, i.e. it’s the best of both worlds, just like Nissan GTR was back in the day, and needless to say, this new cover material is not available in any other golf ball on the market, since it’s proprietary to Bridgestone.

And yes, Bridgestone calls this urethane-thing to be the world's first smart cover. Here’s Dan Murphy, President & CEO Bridgestone Golf:

The REACTIV cover technology is the most dramatic step change to cover construction since 1999 when we led the industry from Balata to Urethane covered Tour balls.Combining Tiger Woods with 900 polymer engineers from Bridgestone Tire has proven an unstoppable formula. This new technology will redefine what pros and amateurs expect from a golf ball.

©Bridgestone Golf

Yes folks, the Tour B is Tiger Woods approved, and somehow that speaks more to us than fancy words and “900 engineers” working on a golf ball. We know that sometimes it takes a small army of scientists to develop a golf ball, since there are tons of strict rules enforced by the PGA in regard to equipment conformity, but 900 engineers working at a ball cover seems a little bit too much. However, Bridgestone is a huge company with multi-decades of experience when it comes to rubber compounds and polymers, hence we bet that the new Tour B is absolutely phenomenal.

There are 4 models to choose from, each of them being targeted to appeal to players at different swing speeds, and each of the four models offers distinct differences. There’s the Tour B X and the B XS, for golfers with driver swing speeds of 105 mph and above, featuring the Reactiv urethane cover, plus Bridgestone’s patented Gradational Compression Core technology and Active Acceleration Mantle.

Then, we have the Tour B RX and Tour B RXS, which are best for golfers with swing speeds below 105 mph, i.e. using these you’ll get a softer feel and more distance. Just like the others, the B RX and B RXS boast the Reactiv urethane cover, with the core powered by the Gradational Compression Core and Active Acceleration Mantle layer.

And here’s Tiger Woods himself praising the new Tour B golf balls:

“I’ve worked with Bridgestone’s R&D team for nearly 20 years now, so I know they are the market leader in golf ball innovation, but the last couple of years have been different. Working closely with the R&D team, I’ve been able to take ownership of this design more than any other ball spec in my career. We have taken it to the next level with the new REACTIV cover. It gives me the right feel and has short game spin that exceeds my previous urethane ball. Off the tee, ball speed is up and this new TOUR B XS is definitely longer while still being in my window.”

The new golf balls will become available to the general public starting with February 14th and they’ll be priced at $44,99/dozen, in classic whit and optic yellow (the RX and RXS only).

- Compression Video

- Spin Video

- Dimples Video

- Golf Ball Brands Video

- Titleist Video

- Understanding Spin Video

Tiger Woods Tour B XS-TW Golf Ball Released by Bridgestone to Consumers Worldwide

©Bridgestone Golf

If you're a Tiger Woods fan, boy, do we have good news for you today, but let's begin with a downer: you already know that Tiger failed to enter the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, but take a load of this: the 15-time major winner who is famous for using Bridgestone golf balls will have his name on a ball.

Yes, you got that right: the Japanese company who makes Tiger Woods' golf balls just made a lot of fans happy as it announced last Monday their latest Tour B XS-TW. Speaking of “my name on a golf ball”, it becomes pretty obvious that the TW particle stands for Tiger Woods, and here's Bridgestone's golf ball marketing manager Elliot Mellow in a press release on the new Tour B XS-TW:

"Tiger Woods has proudly stated that he has never been more involved with the design of a golf ball from the birth of concept to final model, than he has with the new 2020 Tour B XS golf ball, so it is only fitting that we offer a version to consumers with the same TIGER sidestamp that Woods himself uses.”

Truth be told, you'll have to pay a little extra for playing with the exact same golf ball as the legend, but you'll also get a special side stamp and 12 of this high-performance balls for $44.99. However, for the sake of "full disclosure", it's worth mentioning that these special golf balls are nothing more than glorified and customized 2020 Tour B XS's, i.e. there's nothing new really about these golf balls, just a bit of smart marketing on Bridgestone's part. Obviously, since we're talking high performance here, the new Tour B XS-TW is aimed at tour-level swing speeds, i.e. highly-skilled golfers looking for something cool in their golf-bag. To be more precise, the TW golf balls are ideal for golfers with a driver swing speed of 105 miles per hour and more but compared to the Tour B X, they have a softer feel, which is great, and also spin more around the greens. Also, these babies feature the usual Reactive urethane cover, just like all Brigestone's 2020 Tour B golf balls. The Reactive urethane cover is said to rebound quicker than other “vanilla” urethanes, thus it helps with generating more speed and distance off the tee.

- Compression Video

- Spin Video

- Dimples Video

- Golf Ball Brands Video

- Titleist Video

- Understanding Spin Video