Bridgestone TOUR B (RX, RXS, X and XS) Golf Balls

• Bridgestone has announced new versions of its TOUR B Series golf balls.
• Each of the four models features a unique application of Bridgestone’s REACTIV IQ technology.
• Retail price is $49.99. Available Feb. 18.

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With the 2022 TOUR B line, Bridgestone introduced us to the concepts of contact science and impact modifiers. The quick version of the story is that by adding different materials to its urethane cover formulation, the Bridgestone TOUR B golf balls would react differently when struck with a driver than they would during lower-speed wedge shots. According to Bridgestone, impact modifiers made the cover of TOUR B golf balls play firmer and faster off the driver for more distance and softer off wedges, creating more spin.

It was a classic “best of both worlds” situation.

The foray into contact science continued with the e12 Contact golf ball. More specifically, the Contact Force Dimple pattern which provides 38 percent more contact area at impact. Bridgestone says that gets you greater energy transfer off the driver and more friction (more spin) off wedges. It also looks kind of cool.

It was a similar story to the TOUR B impact modifiers, with a little bit different way of getting there.

REACTIV IQ

If you were hoping to see a contact force dimple in a TOUR B, you’re going to be disappointed but the impact modifier story will continue with what I guess we can describe as a smarter REACTIV IQ cover.

The REACTIV part of the story is basically the same. The IQ bit is meant to suggest a smarter or a least a more targeted approach to leveraging impact modifiers in the recipe. With the prior generation of TOUR Bs, the impact modifier formulation was the same across all four balls—and, yeah, it was optimized for the Tiger (TOUR B XS) and Bryson (TOUR B X) balls. The RX series was basically along for the ride.

With the 2022 TOUR B line, Bridgestone is giving average golfers equal, perhaps even preferred, treatment. This time around, each of the four balls in the Bridgestone TOUR B lineup features unique impact modifiers that target what Bridgestone feels are the greatest opportunities for improvement for each model.

Bridgestone TOUR B RX and TOUR B RXS

Let’s start with what Bridgestone calls its “under 105 balls.” The 105 refers to swing speed. Remember the commercials with Matt Kuchar’s dad? The balls on his side of the swing speed equation are the TOUR B X and the TOUR B XS. While neither is going to go toe to toe in a marshmallow fight with the Callaway Super Soft, both easily qualify as soft within the urethane market, with the RXS being among the softest of the bunch.

The big picture here is that while the “over 105” balls have evolved, it’s fair to say the new generation of TOUR B golf balls targets the recreational and amateur golfer. That is to say, guys who pay for their golf balls.

TOUR B RX

Enhancements to the TOUR B RX were driven by feedback that suggested golfers who were fitted into TOUR B RX but moved away from it were often moving to the Titleist Pro V1. Why? Golfers liked the additional greenside spin. So, with the 2022 TOUR B RX, Bridgestone tweaked the REACTIV IQ impact modifiers in the cover formulation to spin more around the green.

“Greenside spin” is one of those nebulous terms for which the definition changes depending on brand and situation. Within the context of the discussion, Bridgestone’s studies were based on 15-yard shots. That number isn’t arbitrary. It’s where the data suggests it’s the distance at which average golfers have the best opportunity to get up and down.

Your takeaway with the TOUR B RX is that Bridgestone says it can more than hold its own on the distance front but, with the changes to the impact modifiers, results of its player tests suggest the 2022 TOUR B RX spins a tick more around the green than the Pro V1.

TOUR B RXS

With the TOUR B RXS, Bridgestone found that golfers who migrated away from it were moving to Callaway Chrome Soft. That left Bridgestone with a two-fold challenge.

The prior generation of RXS lagged behind Chrome Soft for both distance off the tee and greenside spin. This shouldn’t come as any surprise given that the RXS is appreciably softer. That almost invariably means less pop off the tee and less spin around the green.

With the reformulated cover, Bridgestone says it has effectively erased the gaps in both areas between the two. This, despite the lower compression of the RXS.

Full disclosure, Bridgestone’s comparisons are to the prior generation of Chrome Soft. With the 2022 Chrome Soft hitting retail soon, Callaway has also promised more distance and greenside spin. Big picture, if there’s still a gap, it’s likely narrower than it was.

The upside here is that a sleeve of balls is relatively inexpensive and launch monitor time is fairly easy to come by so if you wanted to do your own research, particularly at 15 yards, you actually could.

While speed is part of the story, the story of the 2022 TOUR B RX and TOUR B RXS boils down to spin. With both models, golfers should expect about five percent more spin on approach shots. For the target golfer, that works out to 250-300 rpm. On the course, that should translate into shots that two-hop and stop instead of three-hop and dribble a bit.

TOUR B X and TOUR B XS

The story of the “over 105” balls—the TOUR B X and TOUR B XS—is a bit different. Where spin and speed are central to the story of the remolded “under 105” balls, the common thread for the TOUR B X and TOUR B XS is trajectory.

Moisture management is also a part of the conversation. While Bridgestone probably won’t spend much time promoting it, the company says the new cover formulations provide consistent results in both wet and dry conditions and help normalize things like launch angles and spin rates between the rough and fairway.

Unlike the under “105 balls”, where the changes were driven by consumer feedback, enhancements to the “over 105” balls were driven largely by feedback from Bridgestone’s Tour staff, most notably Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods.

Let’s start with the Bryson ball.

Bridgestone TOUR B X

The back story here is that with Bryson’s launch conditions, his drives can sometimes get a little floaty. To mitigate that, Bridgestone tweaked the REACTIV IQ in the TOUR B X to provide a slightly flatter trajectory. With it comes slightly lower launch and a bit less spin.

Keep in mind that we’re talking about changes driven by Tour pros whose mindset is typically “make it better but don’t’ change it.” So what we’re really talking about are fractions’ worth of difference. It’s enough to satisfy the best players in the world but not so much that the average golfer is likely to notice much, if any, difference in the flight.

As wild as it sounds, Bridgestone says the changes have given Bryson an additional nine yards of carry so I want to be absolutely clear about this next part.

Bridgestone is not promising nine more yards with your driver. In fact, almost refreshingly, it’s not promising anything off the tee. More distance would be great but it wasn’t necessarily part of the objective for the 2022 TOUR B X and describing Bryson as a unique case would be an understatement.

What golfers who play TOUR B X should expect is that flatter trajectory (slight as it might be) and a bit more spin around the green. For Bryson, it’s about 300 rpm more spin (that’s on top of the 700 rpm Bridgestone says he gained with the switch to the 2020 ball).

As always, it’s just one guy’s opinion here so take it for what it’s worth … the Bridgestone TOUR B X was already one of the best balls in the +/- 100 compression range. If all you get from the 2022 model is a little bit more greenside spin, that’s still awesome. You’re basically playing with house money.

TOUR B XS

With the 2022 Bridgestone TOUR B XS (aka the Tiger ball), flatter trajectory is again part of the story but, rather than trying to combat floaters off the driver, the tweaks were designed to make the ball fly through Tiger’s preferred window. Again, it’s not the kind of thing that most average golfers are likely to notice. Tour players are particular in general and Tiger is likely the most exacting of the lot.

The greenside tuning story is a bit different as well but it does provide some insight into how Tiger thinks about his game. While you will likely see a bit more spin with the new TOUR B XS, spin itself wasn’t the objective so much as the byproduct.

Tiger was looking for a bit more “face time” from the golf ball so he could be more aggressive (swing a bit harder) around the greens.

I suppose you can think of it as having the ball stick to the face a bit longer. To make that happen, Bridgestone used its REACTIV IQ technology to slow down the initial velocity off the ball as it comes off the face. It takes a bit more effort to get the same speed and with those harder swings comes more spin but as it relates to Tiger, the story of the TOUR B XS is all about control.

Before we move on, I want to mention some fitting possibilities with the TOUR B XS that fall outside of the “over 105” positioning. As “Tiger’s ball,” there are likely some golfers who feel they aren’t good enough to play the TOUR B XS (just as there are better players who invariably find it spins too much for them).

The thing is, with the softer feel (it’s among the softest balls played on the PGA TOUR) and the higher spin properties, it can work well for golfers who fall within Kuchar’s dad’s crowd. You’re getting more speed off the driver and more spin into and around the greens.

Despite being in the over 105 lineup, the TOUR B XS offers plenty of what moderate swing speed players often tell us they want from their golf ball.

With all of that said, if you struggle with a slice (or a hook for that matter), you’ll probably be better off with the lower driver spin of the RX line.

Pricing and Availability

The 2022 Bridgestone TOUR B lineup is available beginning Feb. 18. Like everyone else in the industry, Bridgestone is facing supply chain challenges so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the new TOUR B lineup will be priced at $49.99. Available for Pre-Order now.

For more information, visit Bridgestonegolf.com.