Product Review: Nike ONE Vapor

As you can tell, The Walking Golfer is a product junkie and since walking golfers use golf balls, I was more than happy to smack the Vapors around a bit and post a review!

Apologies that the photo below is a bit grainy, just wanted you to know what to be looking for at retail.

Nike’s “ONE” golf ball line now consists of the Nike ONE Tour, the Nike ONE Tour D and the Nike ONE Vapor. The ONE Platinum and ONE Black have been retired.

I like the three new options that the Swoosh has brought to the table:

- The ONE Tour is for 90+ mph swing speed golfers who are looking for good distance, great feel and a lot of control with short irons and around the greens. These are what the Tigers and AKs of the world are playing.

- The ONE Tour D is for 90+ swing speed golfers who are looking for solid feel and control with short irons and around the green but less spin off the tee and a penetrating ball flight. I would imagine several players on Nike’s staff use these.

- The ONE Vapor is for 80+ swing speed golfers who want a ball with excellent distance, less spin off the tee but enough on the irons and around the greens to feel confident. The ONE Vapor also has a more durable Ionomer cover. Low to mid handicap amateurs should be teeing this one up.

The ONE Vapor is a great compromise between a pure distance ball and what the pros are playing.

My driver swing speed is over 100 mph and I get a lot of distance but I can definitely benefit from a lower spinning ball off the tee because I tend to be, ahem, accuracy challenged at times. I’ll take a long straight ball any day.

Although the ONE Vapor could not keep me in the fairway all the time, it felt good off the tee and it was definitely more forgiving than a Platinum or Pro V on mis-hits.

The ONE Vapor is harder than the two balls mentioned above, but it is definitely not a “brick” and provided good feel and control, especially with the short irons.

The solid irons and wedges I hit on target sat down immediately or back up a couple of feet. When I really juiced the ball with my wedges it backed up anywhere from five to twenty five feet depending on the slope of the green. This is definitely a performance ball.

One of my favorite aspects of the ONE Vapor was the durability.

I have a new set of wedges that have been eating golf balls alive. They produce a ton of spin, but I have been frustrated with the need to change out a Platinum or Pro V1 every few holes.

The ONE Vapor provided good control from 100 yards and in, and the Ionomer cover did not get chewed up by my wedges. Having a ball that can last an entire round is certainly a good thing.

Golfers tend to play a ball that is meant for Tiger or Phil, at least based on all of the Pro V1s, Platinums, etc. that I find in the woods when I am looking for my own Pro V1 or Platinum.

What Nike have created with the ONE Vapor is a golf ball targeted towards the amateur who can score, but is not as consistent as a pro or scratch player.

The Walking Golfer would encourage a Nike ONE Vapor test drive for any low to mid-handicap player who wants a durable golf ball that gets excellent distance off the tee, while still providing good feel and spin with the short irons and around the greens.

For more information, check out the Nike ONE Vapor at

Nike Golf.com.

Review by Rob Rigg