In our original test of direct-to-consumer golf balls, the Snell My Tour Ball stood well-above the rest. That shouldn’t have been too surprising. While not everybody knew the Snell Golf, within the industry, Dean Snell is a longtime household name in golf ball design. Snell Golf was an extension of Dean’s work with the big guys. This difference was that with Snell Golf, Dean was doing it on his own; producing tour level balls at prices well below those of the big OEMs.

For 2018, Snell has expanded its offerings in the tour ball space. What started with the Snell MTB (My Tour Ball) has now evolved into the familiar two-ball line strategy, consisting of the 3-piece MTB Black and the 4-piece MTB Red.

Snell has long been seen throughout the pages of MyGolfSpy, and today we’re bringing you the results of our recent test of Snell’s MTB Black against the industry-leading Titleist Pro V1.

HOW WE TESTED

• Snell MTB Black and Titleist Pro V1 golf balls were tested head to head.
• Testers used the same driver, 6 iron, and sand wedge for all shots.
• Testers rotated between clubs until 12-14 “good” shots were hit with each.
• Club order was randomized for every tester.
• Ten golfers with handicaps ranging from 0-10 and driver swing speeds between 85 and 120 mph participated in this test.
• Gross mishits were eliminated and are not included in the shot counts.
• Remaining outliers were identified using Median Absolute Deviation, and dropped before calculation of the final averages.
• Ball Data was recorded using a Foresight GCQuad Launch Monitor.

*The GCQuad accurately characterizes initial launch conditions including ball speed, launch angle, and spin rates, however; dimple patterns differences between balls can have an impact on downrange values such as peak height and descent angle. For this reason, the comparative Total Distance numbers provided should be considered reasonable estimates.

THE DATA

DRIVER OBSERVATIONS

• The Snell MTB Black produced marginally higher ball speeds (.25 mph) than the Titleist Pro V1. This accounts for the marginally longer total distance.
• Launch angles for both balls were nearly identical
• Both the Snell and the Pro V1 had similar launch characteristics, including spin rate.

Snell vs. Titleist - 6 Iron

Club	Distance	Accuracy	Spin	Launch	Ball Speed
Snell MTB Black 6 Iron	183.02 yds	10.35 yds	4,004 rpm	18.66 deg	117.94 mph
Titleist Pro V1 6 Iron	179.35 yds	11.70 yds	4,424 rpm	17.94 deg	117.60 mph

6 IRON OBSERVATIONS

• 6-iron averages suggest more significant differences than we saw with the driver.
• The Snell MTB black launched higher with less spin than the Pro-V1.  It is important to note that the Pro-V1 has been re-engineered for 2018 to have a more penetrating launch.
• While ball speeds were near the same, the longer average total distance for the Snell can be attributed to the decreased spin rate. The Pro V1 spun approximately 400 RPM higher than the Snell.
• Both the Snell and Pro V1 proved to be almost identically accurate, with the Snell MTB Black about 1 yard closer to the target line than the Pro V1.

Snell vs. Titleist - Sand Wedge

Club	Distance	Accuracy	Spin	Launch	Ball Speed
Snell MTB Black Sand Wedge	88.71 yds	3.45 yds	9,876 rpm	31.75 deg	77.06 mph
Titleist Pro V1 Sand Wedge	89.55 yds	3.08 yds	10,102 rpm	31.31 deg	77.65 mph

SAND WEDGE OBSERVATIONS

• As we’d expect at higher lofts, the averages suggest minimal ball speed differences.
• The Titleist Pro V1 produced marginally lower launch, but appreciably higher spin rates.

THE VERDICT

The data collected during this test suggests that the Snell MTB Black and Titleist Pro V1 offer similar performance. Differences while often minimal are most pronounced when comparing spin across irons and wedges.

While we can understand better players preferring a higher-spinning ball, particularly as shots move closer to the green, the most significant difference between two models tested is not found in performance, but in price.

The Titleist Pro V1 currently retails at $52/dozen; while the Snell MTB sells for a whopping $20 cheaper at $31.99/dozen.  Snell also offers volume discounts. When you purchase 6 dozen – the price drops to $27.33/dozen.

6 Dozen = $27.33/ea.

That’s a 52% savings.

Your Thoughts

Have you tried a Snell ball yet?  Which one and what did you think?