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Ball Lab: Mizuno RB Tour X Golf Ball Review (2023 model)
MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of golf balls. Today, we’re reviewing the 2023 Mizuno RB Tour X. To learn more about our test process, click here.
About the Mizuno RB Tour X
The RB Tour X is one of two premium urethane offerings from Mizuno. At $43 per dozen, it doesn’t strike quite the same value proposition of many direct-to-consumer offerings, but it is $5-$10 less than competitive offerings from the industry leaders.
Mizuno says the 2023 RB Tour golf ball lineup is a significant upgrade over the prior generation. It has stepped up the quality while changing the performance specs. Both the previous RB Tour and RB Tour X were what we would classify as excessively high-spin balls. Mizuno says the new balls don’t spin nearly as much and, while the RB Tour X is the higher-spinning off the two, Mizuno classifies it mid-spin (the RB Tour is classified as low-spin).
Mizuno RB Tour X Construction
With the new RB Tour X golf ball, Mizuno has moved away from four-piece, dual-core construction. Suffice it to say we found some issues with the prior generation, so it’s not particularly surprising that Mizuno, like others in the industry, has moved away from dual-core construction entirely.
The 2023 RB Tour X features three-piece (single core) construction. The cover is TPU (injection-molded) urethane with a unique 272-dimple aerodynamic package.
While the balls are Mizuno-designed from cover to core, they’re produced in Vietnam by Feng Tay. In addition to its in-house RZN brand, the company also produces balls for other DTC brands.
Compression
On our gauge, the Mizuno RB Tour X has an average compression of 95. That’s the same general compression range as balls like the Callaway Chrome Soft X, Srixon Z-Star Diamond and XV (prior-gen) and the 2022 Bridgestone Tour B X.
By nearly any reasonable compression comparison, the RB Tour X qualifies as a firm ball.
Compression Comparison Chart
We’ve had several requests for a standalone compression comparison tool. As it turns out, that tool exists. We created it as part of our Golf Ball Compression FAQ page. At some point, we may merge the two charts but for now the plan is to include this chart in future Ball Labs.
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Diameter and Weight
All of the balls in Mizuno RB Tour X sample conformed to USGA rules for both diameter and weight.
A single ball in the sample failed to meet our standard for roundness. Accordingly, we flagged it as bad.
Inspection
Centeredness and Concentricity
We found no issues of note with regard to layer concentricity within our Mizuno RB Tour X sample. This appears to be an area of improvement over the prior version.
Core Consistency
The Mizuno RB Tour X isn’t particularly fun as far as coloring goes but we don’t give style or beauty points anyway. We did observe a bit of regrind in a healthy percentage of the sample. It’s common practice among two-piece balls to reuse a bit of inert material as filler. And while it is a bit less common in the premium space, it absolutely does happen and unless we see something weird on the gauges (which we didn’t) it isn’t cause for concern.
Cover
No cover defects were identified.
Mizuno RB Tour X – Consistency
In this section, we detail the consistency of the Mizuno RB Tour X. Our consistency metrics provide a measure of how similar the balls in our sample were to one another relative to all of the models we’ve tested to date.
Weight Consistency
At the time of testing, weight consistency for the 2023 Mizuno RB Tour X falls within the average range (though only by a bit). As you can see in the chart above, there was some clear variation between boxes. In general, the RB Tour X qualifies as a light ball which isn’t necessarily ideal in the Tour space.Diameter Consistency
Diameter consistency falls in the Average range. While the sample was generally consistent, a single ball did not meet our standard for roundness.Compression Consistency
Compression consistency falls on the higher end of the Average range. The compression delta across the sample was only 7.8 points which is two points better than the current average.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 retail price and the True Price, the more you should be concerned about the quality of the ball.
Summary
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.
Mizuno RB Tour X Golf Ball Quality Summary
From a quality perspective, the new Mizuno RB Tour X represents a significant upgrade over the original. The 2019 model rated as below average (five bad balls, overall score of 60) while the updated RB Tour X rates as well above.
The Good
Average quality across the board with concentricity defects Compression consistency on the high end of the Average range Impressively tight compression delta Significant improvement over the originalThe Bad
Weight consistency narrowly falls into the Average range. Runs light for a Tour ball.The Score
The True Price for the Mizuno RB Tour X is $44.22. That’s just a three-percent increase over the $42.99 retail price.
At the time of testing, the Mizuno RB Tour X golf ball receives a Ball Lab score of 84. That’s 11 points higher than the current average of 73.
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