Product: Bridgestone e12 Speed and e12 Soft golf balls

The Pitch

Per Bridgestone: “Speed: 3-piece surlyn golf ball that delivers sidespin reducing performance, with explosive distance off the tee with a solid feel. 105 MPH and up swing speeds. Soft: 3-piece surlyn golf ball that delivers sidespin reducing performance, with added distance off the tee with a softer feel. 105MPH and lower swing speeds.”

Who is it for?

The pitch seems simple enough…. Bridgestone, who has emerged as a competitor year in and year out in the golf ball market, gives us the “e class” product that will suit the golfers from 10-handicap and up.

What’s in it?

The key words here are Active Acceleration Mantle…both the Soft and the Speed have it, but AAM will deliver in different ways on each. In the Speed ball, the AAM allows Bridgestone to firm up the core giving your higher speed player optimal launch conditions, tight dispersions, and enough feel around the greens to satisfy.

For the Soft ball, the AAM allows Bridgestone to soften the core up a bit giving your lower speed players a helping hand off the driver and ultimate touch around the greens where that player profile needs it the most.

Director of Content Johnny Wunder on the Bridgestone e12 Speed and Soft

As a player who has been in the same ball for almost 20 years (Pro V1X), my open-mindedness to trying something outside of that category has been nil. But after having a great convo with Elliot Mellow (Bridgestone Golf Ball Sales Manger), I became curious about their take on a ball for players like my buddy Dave (high speed/high handicap) or even my father (low spin/low speed/mid handicap).

My big take away is…this is a FUN golfball. Fun in the fact that both models do and feel as they are advertised. The Soft is spinny off the driver and forgiving around the greens. How that translates to your higher handicapper is around the greens when you don’t clip it just right off of a wedge, the ball doesn’t take off on you. The first hop is straight up not straight forward. You can see where I’m going there. Off the big stick, it translates into being able to carry a hazard, bunker, etc without sacrificing control due to lack of spin. Your distance gains come from elevation and height, not necessarily raw yardage distance.

The Speed is well…fast. It’s hot, holds its line in the wind and rolls out when it hits the ground. Around the greens, it’s serviceable for a higher handicap. It’s not a players ball around the greens, in my opinion. The feel off the face doesn’t match up. However, I’m guessing if you took blind feel out of it and put all these on a Trackman, the Speed ball would still hold water around the greens.

At $29.99/dozen, if you like experimenting with a new nugget here and there, try this one. It’s fun and the company fulfills the promises made on the box. Can you really ask for much more?