MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the 2021 Bridgestone e12 Contact.
About the Bridgestone e12 Contact
The Bridgestone e12 Contact replaces both the prior-gen e12 Soft and e12 Speed. The e12 Contact is instantly recognizable by its Contact Force Dimple pattern which puts 38 percent more surface area in contact with the clubface. Bridgestone says that helps create better energy transfer (more speed), straighter flight and more spin around the green. On paper, it check all of the boxes.
The e12 Contact is a three-piece ionomer cover ball with 326 dimples. Given its low compression, we can reasonably expect high launch and low spin on full shots.
All of our samples were manufactured at Bridgestone’s U.S.A. ball plant.
Bridgestone e12 Contact—Compression
On our gauge, the Bridgestone e12 Contact has an average compression of 61. That’s about eight points softer than the prior generation e12 Soft. Though not as soft as the 2019 e6, the e12 Contact is still among the softest balls we’ve tested to date.
Bridgestone e12 Contact—Diameter and Weight
It’s rare (like never) that we find a Bridgestone ball that’s over the USGA weight limit so we’d expect the entire sample to conform to the USGA standard.
Likewise, we’ve yet to find a Bridgestone ball that doesn’t meet our roundness standard. We’ve fully measured seven Bridgestone models without a single significant roundness issue.
Bridgestone e12 Contact—Inspection
Centeredness and Concentricity
While we noted minor defects in a healthy percentage of the sample, only six percent had layering issues significant enough that we flagged the balls as bad. In one case, it was a cover thickness issue; in the other, the mantle layer was significantly thinner on one side of the ball than the other.
We also observed several small layer incursion issues where the cover intruded on the mantle a bit. It’s not an uncommon issue, though this is the first time we’ve observed it in a Bridgestone offering.
Core Consistency
Core consistency was generally excellent. No miscellaneous chunks of debris or unmixed material were noted. Color was consistent throughout the sample.
Cover
We noted a few imperfections in the covers but nothing that rose to the level of significant defect.
Bridgestone e12 Contact—Consistency
In this section, we detail the consistency of the Bridgestone e12 Contact. Our consistency metrics provide a measure of how similar the balls in our sample were to one another relative to all of the models we’ve tested to date.
Based on the samples measured to date, there are a few things generally true of Bridgestone balls. First, we rarely find any disaster balls. Bridgestone isn’t perfect but it isn’t nearly as bad as some others we’ve seen. Weight and diameter tend to be reasonably consistent, typically within the average range. Compression isn’t always as consistent and while a good bit of what we’ve tested falls within the average range, there can be significant variation across the sample.
Weight Consistency
- Weight across the sample fell within the average range.
- It’s reasonable to say that balls in Box 2 ran a bit heavy while balls in Box 3 were slightly light.
Diameter Consistency
- Diameter consistency for the Bridgestone e12 Contact fell within the high end of the Fair range. It’s right on the edge of average.
- There is a clear correlation between size and weight. The heavy balls were bigger while the lighter balls were smaller.
Compression Consistency
- Compression consistency across the Bridgestone e12 Contact sample was only Fair.
- The compression delta across the sample was 14 points. That’s four points higher than the current database average.
- Two balls were flagged as bad for falling outside of our acceptable range.
- The average compression delta (the compression range across the three points measured on each ball) falls within our average range. None of the balls showed more than a four-point variation across any of the three points measured.
True Price
True Price is how we quantify the quality of a golf ball. It's a projection of what you'd have to spend to ensure you get 12 good balls.
The True Price will always be equal to or greater than the retail price. The greater the difference between the retail price and the True Price, the more you should be concerned about the quality of the ball.
Bridgestone e12 Contact—Summary
To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
The Good
- Respectable quality for the price/category.
The Bad
- Wide compression variation
- Some layering issues
Final Grade
The Bridgestone e12 Contact gets an overall grade of 60.
While the consistency doesn’t match that of top-tier balls, it’s a respectable offering in a category (“premium ionomer”) with few standouts.
The “True Price” of the Bridgestone e12 Contact is $34.83. That’s an increase of 16 percent over the $29.99 retail price.
An overview of the equipment we use can be found here. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.
Peter
2 years ago
I love the in-depth information but unless we can filter out the bad balls in the packs we buy they still cost what we have to pay don’t they.
Surely we should use only you scores data not the imagined price?