I’ve always tried to support smaller golf companies and golf entrepreneurs, provided that I believe in their product and the way they operate their businesses. One such smaller company who is taking on the big players in the golf ball world is Monsta Golf. Monsta is one of several small and relatively unknown makers of premium golf balls whose product competes with the ProV1’s of the world, and even beats them. Let us take a look at the Monsta Golf ball.
Monsta Golf Balls
Construction
The Monsta Golf ball is a premium “tour” quality ball which has similar performance and materials to the Titleist ProV1 and other high end golf balls. The ball is a 3-layer ball consisting of a urethane cover, mantle layer, and inner layer.
The 318 dimple urethane cover is soft and produces the performance and spin around the greens one expects in a high quality golf ball. Urethane is the same material found on the cover of most high performance golf balls like the ProV1, Bridgestone B330 series, and many others.
The middle layer, also known as the “mantle,” promotes high initial velocity and produces less spin off the tee. Less spin off the tee means more accuracy and distance. This layer must balance well with the urethane cover which is designed to produce spin on shorter shots.
The core is the innermost layer. This layer transfers the most compression energy from impact to rebound, resulting in the largest distance component of the ball.
On The Course
I’ve had the Monsta ball in play for many many rounds. The durability of the ball is very good, allowing me to log as many as 4-5 rounds with one ball, provided I don’t lose it. I do have one ball which I’ve used for a good 4-5 rounds, and it barely has any signs of wear.
I’ve found the distance with this ball to be as long or longer than any other ball I’ve played. Recently I’ve picked up some clubhead speed and thus more yardage, and the Monsta definitely shines in the distance department.
Off the driver I notice an interesting flight characteristics with this 318 dimple ball. I may have a shot look as if it is going to just miss the fairway on one side, but it seems to “correct” in the air and straighten out. I can create different launches by changing the tee height as well. For instance, I can get the ball to climb late in the flight by teeing it lower, or I can get a high initial launch and a flatter flight toward the end by teeing the ball higher.
The spin characteristics of this ball are fantastic. Even on very hard greens the ball stops quickly on short to mid irons. In the full wedge game it is not uncommon to put some Phil “Mickelspin” on the ball and watch it back up. The key is to fly it far enough so the ball lands past the pin and spins back. Another term my pals use for this is “tour sauce.”
The first full round I played the Monsta was a few weeks ago. It was a crazy round in which I carded TWO eagles and four birdies, but also had some “others” which led to a 74. The next round was a solid 72 (even), followed by rounds of 73, 74, 73. There’s no doubt this ball works well for my game.
Pricing
Monsta’s pricing is at $34.99 per dozen. That’s a great deal for a ball with such great performance and durability characteristics. At about $15 cheaper than a box of ProV1’s, it is a no-brainer in my book. But for the average golfer who has not heard of Monsta, the $34.99 price point I think is still too high. I think they’d fly off the shelves at under $30. $24.99 would be even better. My guess is though that their hard costs will not warrant that low of a price point. After all, there are only a few plants in the world which make golf balls, owned by the bigs like Titleist, Bridgestone, Callaway etc. Monsta’s are likely made in one of those plants.
Critiques
The only critique I have is very minor. I’d like to see this ball come in a seamless version. The seam is quite visible. At the least I’d like to line up the ball’s decoration with the seam as I like to putt seamed golf balls with the seam lined up on the target line.
Conclusion
If you normally are willing to spend $40-60 on a dozen “tour” quality golf balls, pick up some Monsta Golf balls for $34.99 and you’ll have an extra $15 in your pocket you can spend on some frosty beverages at the 19th hole. Your score will not know the difference, but your buddies will.
Since there are already 22.7 billion golf websites and blogs regurgitating the Ryder Cup play-by-play and scores, I’ll refrain from doing the same and focus on my strengths: making snarky comments and taking potshots from the safe and comfortable surroundings of my couch thousands of miles away.
Isleworth vs Lake Nona
Champagne is flowing, the europeans are celebrating. Yes, once again the european Ryder Cup team is victorious. This is no surprise and long before the Ryder Cup I predicted a convincing victory for the european team.
I derive quite a bit of entertainment from watching the euros win and the USA team lose, though I’m “from” the USA. Listening to the pundits, golf scribes, and fans second-guess Tom Watson’s captain’s picks and pairings is almost as entertaining as watching the USA team players who seem to be completely lost as to what the winning “formula” for the Cup is.
Historically the Cup was dominated by the americans until it was opened up on the european side to include “europe” and not just the United Kingdom. Since then it has been a different story. But I contend the Ryder Cup and the Tavistock Cup should be combined into the same event. Lets be real. 75% of the “european” team LIVES IN AMERICA. McIlory, Westwood, Poulter, Rose, McDowell… In fact, many current and past RC european team members are in the same clubs in Florida! Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Nick Faldo, Justin Rose, and Ian Poulter are or have been members of Lake Nona, a high end private golf club in Orlando.
The european team can enjoy the win and we can sob here in the USA after another drubbing. Perhaps in the interest of “fairness” in the future, the Ryder Cup team members can only be selected from players who actually LIVE in their respective team’s country or region?
Tom Watson
Every Ryder Cup captain has to expect a heavy amount of criticism for his captain’s picks and the way he captains the team. Tom Watson is taking quite a bit of heat. Personally I do not blame Watson for the loss. He didn’t hit the bad shots or miss the putts. For those counting at home, here are the records of his captain’s picks.
The total record for the captain’s picks: 2 wins, 5 losses, 2 halves.
Orlando
Speaking of Orlando, why the hell do you host a competition in Scotland but play it on a course that has ZERO scottish style golf architecture and looks like it could be any of 100 courses in Orlando, Florida? Seriously!?!?! Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course might have well been Falcon’s Fire Golf Club. If they held the event at Falcon’s Fire, 95% of the competitors on BOTH sides could have driven to the competition from their homes.
Next time you play a Ryder Cup in Scotland or anywhere remotely close to the home of golf and especially LINKS golf, play it on a real links course.
DVR Alert – Yes I know this info can be found elsewhere, but I like having the 2014 Ryder Cup TV times where I can EASILY find them…
Ryder Cup Television Schedule
Fri, Sep 26 Golf Channel 2:30 AM –1:00 PM ET Sat, Sep 27 NBC 3:00 AM –1:00 PM ET Sun, Sep 28 NBC 7:00 AM –1:00 PM ET
Ryder Cup App
Also, right now I’m using the Android version of the Ryder Cup app to watch the matches live on my smartphone. It is great, except when I started the app in my cubicle at the office and a completely obnoxious and loud advertisement played on the speakerphone.
The Ryder Cup app is available for Android and iOS.
Infographics are big these days. Here’s an interesting one for this week’s Ryder Cup. Many interesting nuggets and statistics, like the USA has only won three of the last 10. Shocking.
On the last HOG World Tour stop in the Bahamas at Sandals Resorts on the island of Exuma, I had a small window of time to do some aerial shots of Greg Norman’s golf course there. Emerald Reef is the name of the course and the back nine has some very scenic holes as you will see in the video. Unfortunately the weather was rainy and cloudy and my only window of time was late in the day. As a result the lighting is a bit dark. That said, the shots are still stunning. What a piece of property! Enjoy.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
