Product Review: Nike ONE Tour

Contributed by Patrick Craig
April 2009

First Impressions: Nike ONE Tour Golf Ball (April 2009)

Once upon a time, I golfed at a fairly competitive level, so I have always leaned towards playing top of the line golf balls, namely the ProV1. Generally speaking I have used a ProV1 for 95% of my rounds and, up until last year, I had figured that the ProV1 was heads and shoulders above the rest of the premium balls on the market so there was no need to switch. Out of curiousity, I started trying different brands of balls last season, ranging from Nike to Wilson to Precept. In my opinion, these other manufacturers are quickly catching up to Titleist.

The Nike ONE Tour is a perfect example of a ball that was created to challenge the Pro V1. Nike gets some initial street credibility thanks to the fact that Tiger plays their ball (for a small fee), and they pronounce it subtly by calling it the “ONE.” I was interested to try the “ONE Tour”, which a couple Google searches told me the ONE does indeed use.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover how soft the ONE Tour felt off almost all of my clubs, including the driver, without sacrificing noticeable distance. While initially I was not crazy about the “heavy” feel of the ball coming off the club-face, I started to notice how well and easy it was to shape the ball, particularly with the mid to long irons. While the Tour’s ball flight was high, it moved well right-to-left and left-to-right.

Where the ONE Tour excels is on and around the greens because it gives the player wonderful control while pitching and chipping, and allows for a generous amount of backspin on long pitch shots.

Scuffing of the ball was inline with other premium brands that I have played, including the Titleist Pro V.

For more information, check out the Nike ONE Tour at Nike Golf.com.