I've had my balls assessed

Didn't even know you could do this - I've been playing Bridgestone B330-RX balls for a little while. They are a bit like Pro-V's, but softer for an 'amateur' swing speed. Tim, one of the pro's at Mapperley, recommended them and they are great - I hit them ten yards further than the Titleist NXT I'd used before, they are soft and consistent. Nice balls.

Anyway, Matt from Bridgestone came up to the club for a few hours yesterday with a superfast camera and measured spin speed, launch angle, side spin, etc, etc with a view to suggesting the optimum ball for each player (from the Bridgestone/Precept range, natch). I was a bit worried because I have been so happy with the balls I'm using I didn't really want to hear that I was on the wrong ones, but it was OK, folks - the balls I have are the best for me! I apparently swing my driver at 96 - 98 miles an hour and get a launch angle of 15º ish at 2500 rpm. I lose about 20 yards off my perfect distance because I launch the ball a bit high, with a bit too much backspin, which is interesting because I had always thought of myself as a relatively low hitter with a driver, but not bad. On the simulator I was hitting 225 yards, which Matt said was a probable underestimate of 20%, which sounds about right to me.

In other news, I won my match earlier in the afternoon (which may explain why I took a big divot in the ball challenge...), so now through the LAST 8 in the club knockout. Come ON!