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Ball Lab – 2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS
MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the Bridgestone Tour B XS. An overview of the equipment we use can be found here. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
The Tour B XS is Tiger’s golf ball. While we probably don’t need to say much more than that, Tiger is almost certainly the reason why the Tour B XS is now neck and neck with Bridgestone’s traditional bestseller (Tour B RX) at retail.
In this report, we’ll give you the rundown on what we learned about the 2020 Tour B XS and let you know how it stacks up against other golf balls on the market. Finally, we’ll give you the True Price – how much it costs to get a dozen good golf balls.
About the 2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS
The Tour B XS is the higher spinning of the Bridgestone’s two true Tour-level offerings. It’s a three-piece design with a 330-dimple, injection-molded TPU cover.
On full shots, Bridgestone classifies the Tour B XS as mid-launch and high spin and it should prove to be the highest spinning ball in the current Bridgestone lineup.
Tour B XS sold in the U.S. are made at the Bridgestone factory in Covington, GA.
2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS – Compression
On our gauge, the average compression of the 2020 Tour B XS is 86. Across the market as a whole, we’d classify that as medium-firm to firm.
By the standards of the true Tour category, it’s among the softest – arguably THE softest. You won’t find the Tour B XS in play every week but it is the softest ball that’s played on the PGA TOUR with any regularity.
2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS – Diameter & Weight
We also noted that the Tour B XS runs slightly large for the Tour ball category (if only because Bridgestone doesn’t push the limits like some of its competitors). None of the balls in our sample was in jeopardy of failing the USGA Ball Track Test.
2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS – Inspection
With three-pieces balls, off-center cores typically won’t be an issue. Problems will typically appear in the form of layer concentricity problems.
To that end, some measure of concentricity issues were visible in several balls within our sample. Significant issues were found in eight percent of the balls. Each of the balls we flagged showed some inconsistencies in cover thickness. However, the larger concern was an appreciable variation in mantle layer thickness.
Core Mixture
Core coloring was exceptionally consistent across all of the samples with barely discernible differences between balls.
Cover
Any issues with Tour B XS covers were minimal at worst. Our inspection yielded nothing of concern.
General Observations
As is typical of three-piece construction, the core is large and makes up the majority of the ball’s diameter. The cast urethane cover is soft and thin. Paired with a comparatively thick mantle layer, the Tour B XS appears capable of producing ample greenside spin.
Consistency
In this section we detail the consistency of the Bridgestone Tour B XS. It’s a measure of how similar the balls in our sample are to one another relative to all of the models we’ve tested to date.
Compression Consistency
In general, the Tour B XS is solidly average with respect to compression consistency. That said, we identified a single ball in our sample set that was far enough below the median compression value that we flagged it as bad. When we look at the consistency across the three points measured on each ball, the Bridgestone Tour B XS is also within the average range.Weight Consistency
Consistency (of weight) across the sample set was also within the average range. We found no significant outliers within our sample.Diameter Consistency
The Tour B XS was again solidly within the average range with no red flags to speak of.True Price
True Price is how we quantify the quality of a golf ball. It's a projection of what you'd have to spend to ensure you get 12 good balls.
The True Price will always be equal to or greater than the retail price. The greater the difference between the two, the more you should be concerned about the quality of the ball.
2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS Summary Report
To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
Despite a single outlier for compression, our measurements of the Bridgestone Tour B XS place it solidly in the average range for compression, diameter and weight with no particular area being of significant concern.
Our visual inspection found a few balls with concentricity issues concerning enough that we flagged them as bad. Several others were less than perfect. While not among the absolutely most consistent balls in our database, overall the Tour B XS is comfortably within the average range.
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