During round one of the first PGA tournament of 2008, the Mercedes, a commercial (with Nick Price and Paula Creamer) reminded me of a couple of golf ball reviews I need to take care of. The first, the Precept Distance iQ 180.

Precept Distance iQ 180 Technology

The iQ 180 is a two piece “soft distance ball.” Soft and distance in years past haven’t been synonymous but these days they are. The hip thing right now in golf balls is low compression, resulting in softer feel. The iQ 180 fits the bill but in a slightly different way than other balls:

The iQ 180’s core employs Gradational Compression Technology. I’m not sure how golf companies continue to come up with this tech jargon but it sounds pretty cool. “GCT” is a process where the compression level of the core varies from center outward. The ball deforms more while being impacted by the club. In my terms, the ball feels nice and “mushy” and you can really feel it on the face of the club. This “mushyness” (yeah I know) gives the average player more distance.

The cover of the ball is a soft Ionomer plastic which reduces sidespin. Less sidespin means straighter shots, more accuracy.

The soft cover has no seam. Thus the buzzword you hear all the time: “Seamless technology.” There are 330 dimples which provide nice, consistent ball flight.

On The Course

I get many golf balls to review and these days I’m hard pressed to find balls which don’t perform well. The iQ 180 is no exception. The distance I have off the driver is HUGE and I’m deadly accurate. This is a good thing, given the tightness and 360 degrees worth of hazards on my home course. Miss the fairway on my home course and I’m in a lateral hazard.

A key factor for me these days is softness. My struggles with golfer’s and tennis elbow don’t allow me to play hard golf balls. Though the iQ 180 is a distance ball, it doesn’t hurt my elbows like normal distance balls do. This is great because I can get massive distance without the pain normally involved!

Despite being so soft the ball is extremely durable. Super high spin wedges don’t do much damage to the cover.

Iron shots with the iQ 180 feel terrific. The increased deformation (love that) gives you a nice feel and control since the ball feels like it’s on the face longer.

The ball flight of the iQ 180 is very consistent and stays under control. I have no issues with the ball balooning or getting too out of control in the wind.

Around the greens I enjoy the iQ 180. Not too much spin but enough. I don’t back these things off the green with 100 yard shots like I can with higher spin balls.

Cheap!

Right now I can find the iQ 180 for $19.99 on several online golf stores! That’s the best $20 you’ll ever spend on golf balls!

The Science Of Golf Balls

Precept has a neat feature on their web site which covers the science of golf balls. There you can see the types of golf balls and many explanations behind design, aerodynamics, distance etc. Unfortunately I can’t actually post the link because it’s embedded in javascript. This also means that search engines like Google may not be able to snack on it, which would hurt their ranking… My friends at Precept need a little SEO (search engine optimization).

Conclusion

The Precept Distance iQ 180 is a winner and I’d happily play it over high priced three piece balls. I love the softer feel and the massive distance.