It’s an exciting time about 25 minutes from my house for Buffalo, NY based golf ball brand OnCore Golf. They are about 36 hours away from the release of their first Tour-level golf ball called the ELIXR. A golf ball with an interesting name seeing that the definition of the word elixir is “a magical potion”. Bearing this is mind the moniker just might be very appropriate.
I finally met the guys (Bret Blakely and Steve Coulton) this year while down in Orlando for the PGA Merchandise Show. While having a couple of cocktails in the lobby area of the Hyatt Regency we started to talk a little about the ELIXR. This is a golf ball that was crowd-sourced… meaning they reached out to the golfing public to see what they wanted in a golf ball. Personally speaking, I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Steve Coulton one particular day and I gave him my opinion on what a golf ball should be.
Recently, OnCore Golf sent out a press release which I will share with you and then I will talk about my findings in my brief time spent playing the ELIXR.
We’re undoubtedly excited about the ELIXR™ release on Wednesday, March 1, and we want you to be just as excited as we are about our new tour ball.
Preorders have closed for ELIXR™, but you can pick up your boxes from our online store or your local pro shop. See who carries OnCore products with our pro shop locater.
Why are we so pumped about this new ball? It goes without saying, but ELIXR™ is our best ball to date, so we’re thrilled to see outperform the competition.
So, what makes ELIXR™ so special?
· Perimeter weighting from high density particles in the mantle layer increases the moment of inertia and reduces spin.
· ELIXR’s spin decay has been reduced to allow for more backspin that carries the ball further. This is one of the reasons ELIXR™ outperforms competition in overall performance and stability in flight.
· The thickness and softness of the urethane cover contributes to the control and feel into and around green in conjunction with the ball’s perimeter weighting.
· ELIXR™ continues to impress every player that touches our new ball. Most players have said ELIXR™ is as good or better than any ball they’ve played.
We know you’ll love playing the course with ELIXR™ when the ball debuts Wednesday and we’re excited to hear your feedback on our newest ball.
Thank you for being part of the OnCore family,
The Team at OnCore
While discussing golf and specifically OnCore I was handed one of the new magic bullets. If there was one thing that I would do before leaving Florida it would be to put the ELIXR in play and get an early insight as to what it was like. After all, the above quoted text from OnCore Golf makes the ELIXR sound very appealing. Especially the perimeter weighting which of course is something that we have seen done to make golf clubs (irons) more forgiving.
I would test the ELIXR on a course that had good conditions and greens that were firm and typical of a design from the 1920’s. I was immediately impressed with the feel and flight of the ELIXR. On my old blog I did a review on their Avant golf ball and I was not shy about saying that while I really, really liked the Avant I hated everything about their MA – 1.0 golf ball. The ELIXR has a 85 compression rating and if there was such a thing as a soft feeling 85 compression golf ball than the ELIXR is it. The ball carried, and held it’s line very well with no variance. More to the point, I felt like I just had hit a golf ball with a 60 compression. I didn’t see any signs of spin as there was no ballooning and the ballflight was piercing. Every tee shot was identical in terms of flight and feel. Regarding distance, I would suggest that at the very least it was equal to or a bit longer than my “gamer” (Pro V1).
When it came to swings with irons again I found myself very impressed with the feel emitted by the ELIXR at impact. I would say that it fell in between what I’ve come to find with say the Avant and the Titleist Pro V1. Coming off of my Titleist 710 AP2 irons it was like butter. Of course, some of that is the irons right? I found that the flight very desirable as the ELIXR went out, carried but the descent angle is when the magic started to happen. Where other balls being tested were inconsistent at holding the greens the ELIXR’s exit trajectory was such that it came in sort of steep and stopped after one hop. I was really impressed with it’s drop and stop characteristics.
I had a very high GIR percentage so I wasn’t able to test the ELIXR’s greenside capabilities when it truly mattered. But what I did do was drop an ELIXR around a couple of greens to see what it did. This part of the testing was inconclusive due to daylight constraints. But it does seem promising. When it came to rolling putts with the ELIXR I loved the alignment aid and the ball does feel great off of the putter face. There was no “wobble” as indicated by watching the roll/alignment aid. So I would conclude that the ELIXR rolls true.
(I never finished the round with the ELIXR. Unfortunately, after piping a drive down the fairway and hitting a real nice second shot on a Par 5 I watched two guys drive over to my golf ball and unceremoniously pick it up. I never said a word as I felt like the Easter Bunny who dropped an egg and a happy child found it. Maybe it was good marketing for OnCore too.)
About a week and a half ago I visited their HQ located at The Innovation Center on Ellicott Street in Buffalo. I was in the area and wanted to follow up with Steve. Incidentally, I also ended up talking to Director of Business and Player Development Brian McGahey (formerly of Nike Golf) about the ELIXR and I saw a television spot that will be airing on The Golf Channel. I will say this. Guys, you have come a long way since the MA – 1.0 and the ELIXR just may be magical. It was suggested that maybe I could trade in the Titleist hat that I was wearing for an OnCore Golf hat and maybe the time has come. #BeMoreWithOnCore #OnCoreFamily
Until The Next Tee!
The Next Tee (TNT) 