Volvik S £49 doz

THE TECH

A new name for many, but Bubba Watson has seen enough to place his faith in the ball – he’s signed up to play it on tour in 2017. A dual power core which includes bismuth metal (which expands 3.5% in volume when hit) gives more explosiveness from the face. A more solid inner core reduces spin with the driver and increases it with the short irons. The cover uses zirconium to add resilience without sacrificing feel. Volvik say it suits swing speeds from 95-120mph and delivers a high-launching trajectory.

OUR VERDICT

It came as a massive shock when world No.13 Bubba Watson signed to play Volvik’s pink S4 balls in January 2017. Particularly when you consider he’d won two Majors and over $35million playing a Titleist Pro V1x. But with the big-hitting American playing Volvik on tour, we thought it was only fair to include it in our test. Our test pro’s data explains perfectly why Bubba had no hesitation putting the S4 into play. Driver spin was low while iron and wedge spin was high, which is perfect for how Bubba likes to shape shots.

As good as the numbers are we weren’t huge fans of the fancy pearlescent finish, or the louder sound off the driver, even if it was strangely powerful.