As
I’ve already said, this is their two piece ball. I’ve done a video review to
accompany this review and now would be a good time to stop, get a drink and
watch how I got on. Check the video here (Vice DRIVE Youtube Review). If you made it
to the end, a) well done and b) you’ll have a good idea of what I thought but
this blog will go into more detail and I’ll give my thoughts on key areas and
score each out of ten as well as an overall rating. Before I proceed further,
many thanks to Nick Kevern, editor of Golfhacker, a brilliant online magazine
(check their website here for the latest magazine and loads more great stuff – Golfhacker Website) for giving me the balls to test. It seems like excellent
product placement too with the Golfhacker logo on them, ready for free
advertising when I lose them.
Vice are a German company, founded
in 2012, and were designed to bring premium golf balls at a cheaper price, and
do so by only selling over the internet and directly to the consumer. They
offer some fantastic price breaks for buying in bulk. Don't be fooled, cheap
doesn't mean poor quality and Vice claim they perform equally if not better
than other comparable balls already on the market
Whilst this is their two piece
offering, it’s not an entry level ball by any stretch of the imagination and
bears no resemblance to some of the cheap two piece balls on the market. Vice say
this is designed for players with a low to medium club head speed (so perhaps
not ideal for someone that swings as fast as I do, although I am working hard
to slow it to a blur). It’s a 368 dimple design and has a surlyn cover that
Vice say is resistant to scuffing and marking up.
I played my home course, Royal
Ascot just after a bout of rain, not really enough to make a difference to the
fairways which the green staff had worked on after the summer drought but just
enough to give the greens a modicum of hold. That said throughout the summer
the greens were still relatively receptive to a well struck shot and our greens
staff did a brilliant job, on very limited resources to ensure they were some
of the best I’ve putted on in 2019 and I’ve played a number of top 100 courses
in the UK.
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| The Vice Drive Two Piece Ball |
So after all this build up, what
did I think? Well I didn’t swing the club perfectly after a stressful day in
work and a fraught rush to the course. That said, this is fairly representative
of where my game was at that time anyway, I was playing a premium four piece in
the firm summer conditions and will switch to a three piece, the AD333 tour, once
the colder, wetter weather arrives.
As I stated in the video, this
ball actually surprised me. It performed far better than my pre-conceptions when
I did my initial introduction and even when I pegged it up on the first hole I
filmed. Let me reiterate, as I feel it’s an important point worth repetition, that
what you see on the videos, warts and all, including poor swings and shots, are
as it happened. I don’t re-shoot any poor or duffed shots and I test the ball
exactly as I find it on the course, whatever the lie or position on the hole.
As always, I conclude these
reviews breaking the ball and the way it performed into a number of key
components and mark each separately out of ten and then give an overall score.
Again, this is subjective to how I found they performed and please bear in mind
these may not hold true for all standard of golfing standards. Vice do offer a
testing pack, which is a two ball sleeve of each ball in their range and so it
may be worth investing in one of these and trying the DRIVE (and all their
other balls) to make sure it’s the ball for you.
Looks
The DRIVE looked a
nice bright colour, and was in marked contrast to the more matte finish that
seems to be en vogue from some companies at the moment. The Golfhacker logo was
crisp and bright with no blurring around the edges. Vice offer a customisation
programme across the range and this example was really impressive. 9/10
Flight
I have used some of
the well known two piece balls on the market, in particular the Srixon AD333,
especially in winter conditions, as a self-confessed short hitter, and like
that ball for the higher flight I get, which in turn means more carry. Perfect
when the fairways are wet. I found the DRIVE gave a comparable flight, and
while the fairways were still firm, there was an impressive amount of run on
landing. 8/10
Control
Now, while it’s one
thing to throw a two piece ball onto damp winter greens and expect a level of
stop, hitting the Vice DRIVE onto firmer green would provide a sterner test. It
actually performed very well and as you’ll have seen I hit a nice chip on the
first hole (the par four 10th) that finished stone dead, and when I
hit the green on the par three (the 13th at Royal Ascot) it pitched
and stopped up very well. I played a few holes off camera, having already
filmed a par three and four on our back nine and with pitches and bunker shots
there was a level of stop I wouldn’t normally associate with a two-piece ball.
8/10
Durability
Vice have already
stated the DRIVE is designed for durability. I didn’t strike the ball
particularly well, hit it out of bunkers and generally gave it a thorough going
over throughout the back nine. What I found was, and as I mentioned in the
video, it stood up to everything very well and there were no discernible marks
or scuffs. It was perhaps one of the most durable balls I’ve played with in a
long time. 9/10
Feel
This brings me neatly
back to the most subjective category of all. How do you mark “feel” as it
differs from player to player subjective to the strike put on the shot? All I
can really do is compare it to the other balls on the market and again, if we
use the Srixon AD333 as a bench mark, then it doesn’t perform any differently
in terms of feel. Well struck shots felt soft of the face (but so do range
balls if you hit them right) but there wasn’t any discernible click or nasty
hard feeling off the putter face. Clearly as a two-piece it’s never going to be
the softest ball on the market and it’s not designed or sold that way, but
again, it did outweigh my personal pre-conceptions I had. If anything, it felt
hardest off the driver but ultimately if that’s going to help lead to a few
more yards, that would be a trade-off I’m happy to accept. 8/10
Overall
I called
the DRIVE as the Vice entry level ball. It’s so not that in any way at all. It’s
a ball designed to be both part of their range as a whole and capable of
standing on its own merits. It fits both parts of the criteria well. It
definitely ticks a lot of boxes, particularly in terms of durability, which may
be a buying decision when you look to purchase new golf balls. As far as a
two-piece ball goes, this is right up there with any of the market leaders in
my opinion. I’ve spoken already about pre-conceptions and I think we all suffer
from this whenever we try new gear. Once I get out there and film any review I
try and be as open minded as I can and each and every one are an honest and
unbiased opinion on what I really thought.
The
DRIVE is a very strong performer in the two-piece sector of the market. I’ve
tried several Vice offerings now and as a newcomer (relatively speaking) to the
crowded ball market place they’ve really created a place for themselves as well
as a growing reputation. The DRIVE performed really well and I was very
impressed. In fact, I was so impressed I’m seriously considering buying a few
dozen and switching to these as my winter ball of choice. I don’t think you can
give a better recommendation than that. 9/10
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