I’ve been gaming some interesting golf balls for a few weeks. They’re from a new company called Aris Golf, and their office is about a 30 minute drive south of HOG World Headquarters! I’m happy to help bring some attention to new/small golf entrepreneurs, especially when they have a solid product. Aris’s products are solid! Let’s take a look at the Captain and Hero golf balls.
Aris Captain Golf Balls – $24/dozen
The Aris Captain is a 3-layer (a.k.a. 3-piece) golf ball with a urethane cover. Urethane is part of the magic sauce for “tour” golf balls. “Tour” is golf industry speak for “a golf ball which performs high enough to warrant being played by a professional golfer on the PGA Tour.” Specifically urethane is what gives a golf ball it’s spin characteristics, especially in the short game. Most of the expensive well-known high-end golf balls one sees in every golf shop have a urethane cover.
The other two layers of the ball offer low driver spin, aiding in increased distance without losing accuracy.
The ball’s flight characteristics are enhanced and supported by a 332 dimple pattern. Around 330 dimples seems to be a magic number for excellent golf balls.
The ball conforms to USGA rules, so it is legal for tournament play.
On The Course
Off the driver the Captain compresses easily for my swing speed, about 95-100mph. It launches and flies with a solid trajectory, even in windy conditions. The Captain is as long as most tour balls I’ve played. I even had one shot which I carried 355 yards. Amazing. Perhaps I should delete the part here where I mention that it was a 600 foot drop with a tailwind at 9,000 feet above sea level in the desert.
The Captain is great on iron shots. I can sense the softness of the ball ball on the face of my irons. This feel helps provide solid feedback on the quality of the strike, allowing me to know how to adjust, if necessary. Even long irons land softly and stick well on when they hit the putting surface.
The strength of the Captain is in the short game. Any shot within 100 yards which is struck well will have a solid amount of spin and control. Chipping and putting with the Captain is as good as any tour ball I’ve played.
Aris Hero Golf Balls – $28/dozen
The Aris Hero is a 4-layer ball, also with the magical urethane cover. The extra layers can provide some extra juice in terms of distance and flight stability, aided by low spin off of the driver.
I found the Hero to be a great feeling and flying ball off the driver. The extra layers didn’t mean the ball felt extra hard or harder to compress.
Iron shots with the Hero are solid and straight. Once again, despite the extra layers they still felt nice and soft. The 332 dimple pattern flies well in windy conditions.
Short game and putting with the Hero is a joy. Distance control is easy.
The ball rolls true off the putter and it is easy to get a feel for how far the Hero will roll, making distance control easier. Distance control putting is crucial to scoring, and eliminating knee knockers for par and the resultant 3-putts.
Hero & Captain Critiques
My only critique with both balls is that the covers are so soft they are not durable. Crisp wedge shots and short irons will shave the ball. I’ve even taken whole chunks of the cover right off the ball with solid full-swings on longer wedges. That’s one advantage some big-name ball manufacturers have on the Aris, but with a cost that’s typically double or more, one could afford to play 2-3 Aris balls for the price of one ProV1. Golfers with slower swing speeds or dull wedges may not have durability issues.
Final Thoughts
The Aris Captain and Hero golf balls provide solid distance, accurate ball flight, and short game performance equal to golf balls costing far more.
Give Aris a shot, so to speak.
In for review is some very nice new women’s golf apparel from KINONA. KINONA is a new line for women, designed to be a little more feminine as well as offering performance and UPF 50+ sun protection.
Make Your Day Golf Dress
This is a fun project for me. I get to have the lovely bride test out the gear and express her findings while I act as the copywriter and photographer.
Dress to Win Golf Dress
About KINONA
As mentioned previously, KINONA is a new women’s apparel brand which offers tops, bottoms, and dresses. They strive for performance, shape-flattering, comfort, SPF protection, and a style that works on and off the course.
Top Tier Golf Skort
We are in the testing phase now. Stay tuned for the full HOG review coming soon. Until then, check out the KINONA website for more information.
Related
KINONA image gallery
In for review from Tour Edge Golf, is the new CBX series hybrid golf club.
I’ve been gaming an Exotics CB Pro U Limited Edition Hybrid since 2016. When I was discussing the two hybrids with my connection at Tour Edge, the consensus on their end is that the CB Pro U is a fantastic club, but the CBX tops it.
Sign me up.
Features
The CBX features a lightweight titanium face which is very thin. The face varies in thickness to increase forgiveness on off-center shots. The sole is a carbon composite for perfecting weight distribution. The “speed ramp sole” helps with turf interaction.
I will begin testing in the next couple of days and expect to read my full review within a few weeks. Until then, enjoy some images of the CBX in the Hooked on Golf Blog Tour Edge Exotics CBX image gallery.
Anyone who has read my blog over the last 14 years knows I’m very particular about socks. I’m trying some new sock scripting, courtesy of Swiftwick.
Swiftwick’s socks provide moisture wicking as well as compression. Compression helps promote circulation and reduce muscle fatigue.
Today I’m starting with the Pursuit Two model, made from natural merino wool:
I’ll be thoroughly testing out these four different socks and posting my findings soon. Stay tuned.
The big match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson is now set. The stage is Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas. The winner will take home $9 million. I thought it was going to be $10 million, but oh well.
Who is my pick to win this match? I’m going to go with Phil Mickelson. Based on the promotional photo for the event, Tiger Woods is apparently going to be playing left handed clubs. Check out the lefty driver:
Despite having “face twist” technology, Tiger’s driving has been quite bad this season. Perhaps he’s switching to left-handed to improve his driving accuracy.
The event will be on pay per view. Tiger vs Phil TV information is here.
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