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New Bridgestone E12 Contact golf ball features tire technology, major performance gains

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It’s not very often that a golf company touts huge technology gains with its mid-level priced products. Large scale changes are generally reserved for the premium price point and performance category, and then those technologies funnel down to the mid-price point in the next generation.

Bridgestone is flipping that model on its head, however, with the release of the all-new e12 Contact, which looks to offer one of the biggest performance jumps in the mid-price golf ball category ever developed.

Bridgestone e12: The science

The focus for Bridgestone with the e12, just like it was for the re-engineered Tour B series and its ReActive cover in 2020, is contact science—it’s where the e12 Contact derived its name from.

“Bridgestone has long been a pioneer in bringing to market unique dimple shapes, sizes and constructions in the golf industry, but up until this point that has primarily been a means of achieving optimal aerodynamic performance,”
-Elliot Mellow, Golf Ball Marketing Manager for Bridgestone Golf.
“In the new e12 CONTACT, dimples actually serve as a source of increased power and distance as well. They also contribute to minimizing hooks and slices, making the newest e12 a golf ball that provides performance you can actually see in terms of straight distance.”

The breakthrough comes in the form of a new dimple design to increase the ball contacting the face for both soft feel and additional distance. The new dimple design places a raised area in the middle of the traditional dimple, which when hit with a direct force, creates a whopping 38 percent for more face contact at impact.

  • This face contact and compression promotes a longer amount of time for the ball to stay on the face resulting in more efficient energy transfer to engage the core layer of the ball which from Bridgestone’s testing has resulted in a gain of over 1.5 mph ball speed.
  •  On the other end of the spectrum, in the short game, the additional contact helps increase spin in the scoring clubs and compared to the previous generation results in over 600 rpm more spin.
  • Although less scientific, Bridgestone also says that many players will experience a benefit when putting thanks to improved putter face contact.

Why not put this into a premium ball?

This is the million-dollar (or millions and millions of dollars) question, and it actually has a fairly simple answer—the new dimple design increases the peak trajectory of the e12 Contact and also makes it fly straighter. This makes it the perfect fit for a golf ball designed to enhance distance and reduce total golf ball curvature but less ideal for a tour-level ball designed for maximum trajectory control.

I realize that makes it sound like a negative, but in reality, it’s the exact opposite—the engineers at Bridgestone have closely analyzed the target golfers and designed a ball to fit their needs. The new e12 Contact is so efficient at creating the desired results from both distance and scoring clubs, they have eliminated the previous “Speed” and “Soft” balls and made one better with the e12 Contact.

Price and availability

The new Bridgestone e12 Contact will be available at retail and online starting February 26 at the price of $29.99 a dozen.

Beyond the traditional white version, the e12 Contact will also be available in Matte Green, Matte Red and Matte Yellow color options.

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Bill Brott

    Apr 26, 2021 at 2:02 pm

    I received two of the prototypes for this ball in a plain white box accompanied by a letter asking me to try them and post a review with the Hashtag #@Bridgestone.com. I was left ever so slightly underwhelmed. The feel of the ball is a little dead. It felt that way off of every club–but especially the putter.
    The performance of the ball was actuallly pretty good, and more often than not made a liar out of “the feel.” If all my golf purchases were strictly data driven, I might be convinced that this is the ball for me. Sadly, after 1/2 a round, I put them back in their test box, and now that they are all over the market, I will probably give them away as I will not be giving away any corporate secrets.
    I used to play the original e6, and loved it. I don’t know where they went wrong, but I would like to see them right their ship someday—sooner better than later. I simply can’t play a ball that feels dead. That is the same reason I no longer play any of the Callaway Hot Series. The Super Hot 70 was great, but the new multi colours feel straight up dead, especially off the mid irons and hybrids.
    C’mon Bridgestone–you can do better than this. At least you could have at one time.

  2. Harry Adam

    Jan 27, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    Matt green? Really??

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Whats in the Bag

Kris Kim WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (15 degrees @13.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (2, 4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 56-12SB, 60-11TW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 WV 125

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Kris Kim’s equipment here.

 

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Welcome to the family: TaylorMade launches PUDI and PDHY utility irons

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TaylorMade is continuing its UDI/DHY series with the successor to the Stealth UDI and DHY utility irons: PUDI and PDHY (which the company styles as P·UDI and P·DHY). TaylorMade is folding the designs in with its P Series of irons.

TaylorMade outlined the process of developing its new utilities this way. The company started with the data on utility iron usage. Not surprisingly, better players — i.e. those who generate more clubhead speed and strike the ball more precisely — were found to gravitate toward the UDI model. DHY usage, however, covered a wider swath than the company might have expected with six-to-18 handicappers found to be bagging the club.

TaylorMade also found that the majority of golfers playing UDI or DHY utilities were playing P Series irons at the top of their iron configurations.

Can you see where this is going?

Matt Bovee, Director of Product Creation, Iron and Wedge at TaylorMade: “As we look to the future, beyond the tech and the design language, we are excited about repositioning our utility irons into the P·Series family. P·UDI is an easy pair for players that currently play P·Series product and P·DHY is an extremely forgiving option for players of all skill levels. It is a natural fit to give these players the performance in this category that they are looking for.”

 

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TaylorMade PUDI

TaylorMade PUDI technology cutaway (via TaylorMade)

Crafted with tour player input, TaylorMade sought to develop a confidence-inspiring utility iron that blends with the rest of the P Series irons. Also of note: Interestingly, the PUDI has a more compact head than the P790.

In comparison to past UDI products, the PUDI has a more traditional iron shape, slimmer toplines, and less offset with a little of the backbar visible at address.

TaylorMade PDHY

TaylorMade PDHY tech cutaway (via TaylorMade).

Larger in profile than the PUDI, the PDHY seeks to position center of gravity (CG) lower in the club for ease of launch. The toe height is larger and the profile is larger at address — roughly five millimeters longer than PUDI — the sole of the club is wider for improved forgiveness.

Club Junkie’s take

Golfers who feel like they are missing something at the top of the bag could find the PUDI or PDHY a great option. The look of the PUDI should fit the most discerning eye with a more compact look, less offset, and a thinner topline. If you want a little more confidence looking down the P-DHY will be slightly larger while still being a good-looking utility iron.

For being small packages both models pack a pretty good punch with fast ball speeds, even off-center. The feel is soft and you get a solid feel of the ball compressing off the face when you strike it well. Your ears are greeted with a nice heavy thud as the ball and club come together. The PDHY will launch a little higher for players who need it while the PUDI offers a more penetrating ball flight. Both utility irons could be the cure for an open spot in the top end of the bag.

PUDI, PDHY, or Rescue?

TaylorMade offers the following notes to assist golfers in filling out their bags:

  • PUDI has mid-CG right behind the center face to create a more penetrating mid-to-low ball flight
  • PDHY has a lower center of gravity to produce an easier-to-launch mid-to-high ball flight.
  • Both PUDI and PDHY are lower-flying than the company’s hybrid/Rescue clubs.
  • PUDI is more forgiving than P790.
  • PDHY is the most forgiving iron in the entire TaylorMade iron family

Pricing, specs, and availability

Price: $249.99

At retail: Now

Stock shafts: UST Mamiya’s Recoil DART (105 X, 90 S and 75 R – only in PDHY)

Stock grip: Golf Pride’s ZGrip (black/grey)

PUDI lofts: 2-17°, 3-20°, 4-22° in both left and right-handed

PDHY lofts: 2-18°, 3-20° and 4-22° in both left and right-handed

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/3/24): Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter

From the seller: (@wwcl): “Has been gamed as pics show. 33.5 includes original h/c and grip. $575 includes shipping and PP fees.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Scotty Cameron Champions Choice 2.5+ putter

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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