I have been playing Nike golf balls for a number of years and its time to put them into the fray of the best golf ball challenge. Just like with all of my reviews I play one round at Rackham Golf Course in Huntington Woods and detail how the round went as soon as I get home.
Nike Mojo Golf Ball Review
8-4-2017 – 70 degrees – Windy
Rackham Golf Course – White Tees
AKA – The sleeve of golf balls you win during the raffle portion of the four person scramble tournament you were in.
This is how I obtained the Nike Mojo’s I am reviewing. I won them in a scramble I played in two weeks prior.
The Nike Mojo has been around for awhile and I have played them before. But this review is for almost science. There might be a little bias going into the review as I have moved on from my Nike Mojo’s phase.
Got to the point where I looked past the Nike marketing machine telling me how good of a ball it was because of the crazy looking sleeve they come in along with the psychedelic font they use to spell MOJO. Plus, they are called MOJO. Let’s be real here for a second, its a two piece ball.
Off The Tee – I hit the crap out of the ball today albeit two sprays. The one thing the Nike Mojo claims to be is long and I tend to agree. Hit my furthest drive ever on #6, a 311 yard Par 4, that bends to the left with trees blocking the front of the green . Was 20 yards from the green. Every bit of a 280 yard drive. Wind was coming from the side.
Hit six fairways and those that I missed were not by much. The Nike Mojo had a stable ball flight in most cases. The wind played a big factor on #14 (Par 5) and #18 (Par 4) as I hit both drives further down the fairway than I ever have before. It was so windy I hit driver on #16, a 221 yard Par 3 with an exposed green. Started the ball 20 yards left of the green and put it pin high. Was an amazing shot.
Fairway Woods & Hybrids – Wind was gusting up to 20 mph today which meant I was presented with a number of shots I don’t normally hit. Sadly I had to punch out three times today from tee shots being blown into areas I don’t normally land.
Saying that, I believe I hit the best 3 wood of my life on #14, a 511 yard Par 5. Piggybacking off my tee shot I spoke about above I was left with a 260 yard second shot from the first cut of rough. With a 20 mph wind behind my back I scorched that thing and it ran up onto the green within 20 feet. Sadly I missed the Eagle putt but tapped in for Birdie.
I had never been on a Par 5 in two in my life. Have been close on this hole two other times, going right and pin high but off the green by 10 yards once along with being 10 yards short another time. The wind helped with the last 25 yards for sure but the Nike Mojo stayed dead straight.
Irons – This is my hang up with the Nike Mojo. I do not get a good feel with it at contact. It just does not compress like a Titleist Pro V1. Out of the seven GIR’s I had today, only four were done with me taking a full swing with an iron. The other three were done with woods.
Yes – it was windy, but the wind has nothing to do with how it feels at contact. There is this clunky sound, even with the good shots.
Wedges – Nike Mojo’s do not spin all that much. With it being windy today it would have meant many chances to get up and down. Unfortunately I did not get up and down once.
Putting – Here is the clunky sound again. I do not get that soft but crisp feeling with the Nike Mojos as you get with a Pro V1. One putted once and three putted twice.
Durability – Outside of a blemish from it hitting a cart path the ball looks brand new. Landed in two sand traps and did not hit any trees. So no marks.
Score – 85
GIR – 7
Putts – 37
Penalty Stroke – 0
Fairways – 6
I get why the Nike Mojo’s are popular. Mostly marketing, they cost $20 for a dozen, and they are designed to go far. They can make the high handicapper feel good about those three bombs they hit and feel cool about it for cheap. Interestingly enough the Nike Mojo is being discontinued and I am ok with that.
Nike PD Long Golf Ball Review
9-8-17 65 Degrees – Sunny -Breezy
Rackham Golf Course – White Tees
Here is another golf ball from my past as I used to play the Nike PD Long from time to time. A week prior to me playing the Nike PD Long I was at my moms house helping her with house work. When we finished I went into my dads old work room, looked up on the shelf, and found dozens of different golf balls which were brand new including these yellow PD Longs. Asked Mom if I could have them so I could put them to the test.
I do not know what year these were made in but I have to assume they are either 2014, 2015, or 2016. They are brand new though. And they are yellow. And I never buy or use yellow golf balls.
AKA – the Nike Power Distance, these golf balls are designed for faster speed and maximum distance. On the box it says a player should benefit from “Longer distance off the tee and from the fairway. Responsive feel off irons. Penetrating ball flight and added-roll.” OK, lets see what you got.
Off The Tee – My first two drives were not all that great. Did not get all of it on #1 and went 200 yards just off the left side of the fairway. On #2 I did something I’ve never done. I drove the green. I mean I drove the wrong green. Put my tee shot way right, hitting the #8 green, and backspinning five yards. My bad.
After those two holes I can only describe the rest of my day as the best day hitting driver in my life. Of the remaining 12 holes where I could hit driver (not counting par 3’s) I hit 10 fairways. Hit my furthest drives ever on #9, #12, #14, and #15. Absolutely tattooing the PD Long.
Every one of those drives was either dead straight or with a subtle draw. It was awesome. I hit the mother fucking shit out of the Nike PD Long today. Even the guy I was golfing with said the same.
Fairway Woods & Hybrids – Things were not looking all that great for the Nike PD long on my second shot of the day. Took out my 3 wood and duffed it twenty yards. Being 225 yards out I swung the 3 wood and duffed it twenty five yards again. Dammit!! Took out my 4 Hybrid from 200 yards out and hit some low sweeping shot 175 yards. Quadrupled bogeyed the first hole for the first time in my life.
I have a feeling I was not seeing the ball well. The yellow was playing tricks with my eyes.
Things settled down after that and the PD Long started to shine. Almost put my second shot on the Par 5 7th green after hitting a 5 wood 235 yards. Came up 10 yards short of the green.
It was breezy out there and just like most days at Rackham it affects the back nine. Did not hit the 10th or 11th greens with my 5 wood but it got close.
I do not know what it is about Nike golf balls but I almost reached the par 5 14th in two. The only time I’ve ever done it was with the Nike Mojo. Hit a big drive and was 260 yards out. Scorched my 3 wood and the wind just pushed it off line rolling pin high but right of the green. It felt awesome leaving the club face.
Irons – I did not hit my 3,4,5,6, or 7 iron today which is amazing. My drives, because of them landing in the fairway and going deep, changed the course. I always hit a few of those irons on most days.
Sadly, I only had six greens in regulation. A few approach shots just bounced off so not all that bad but if there is a glaring weakness in my game it is approach shots. Only one of the six greens in regulations I hit were done with an 8 or 9 iron.
Wedges – Not once did the Nike PD Long check up or spin when hitting the green. That is to be expected as I did not hit the green with full iron swings. Four of my six GIR’s were half shot pitching wedges into the green which released and rolled.
Had a surprisingly good lie in a sand trap (rare for Rackham) which I was able to hit it 20 yards with good control.
The course played so much different today because of how well I drove the ball which left more chip shots than wedge shots.
Putting – I made a switch from the Odyssey White Hot RX 2 with the Super Stroke grip I’ve been using for the 2017 season back to the Odyssey White Hot XG #7CS I had been using for two years prior. Not sure if I’m liking the fat Super Stroke grip right now.
Had 35 putts with 3 three putts and 4 one putts. Was not a great day of putting but a number of my two putts were tap ins. Made a 6 foot birdie putt and a couple of nice bogey saves.
The Nike PD Long did not feel like the rock that is the Nike Mojo but did provide nice feedback. No clunky sounds which is nice.
Durability – Zero scuff marks. Zero cuts. It still looks brand new. Keeping the ball in the fairway meant no trees or cart paths. Maybe its shiny yellow cover is good at hiding those.
Score – 86
GIR – 6
Putts -35
Fairways – 10
Penalty Strokes – 0
I was seriously thinking about stopping the testing for the Nike PD Long after I duffed my second and third shot of the day. I really think the yellow was messing with me.
But man did the Nike PD Long rally. Maybe it just needed to get warmed up and stretch its legs before showing what it is designed to do – GO LONG!
I am looking at the eleven other golf balls I have of these thinking I’m going to use these for the next scramble I am in as they just go.
Outside of the 9 I had on the first hole the yellow Nike PD Long was a pretty good ball. Make that 9 a 5 that I usually get on that hole along with two approach shots I hit that rolled off the green and against the first cut of rough leaving me tough shots which I did not do well with and I probably break 80.
Nike Crush Extreme Golf Ball Review
10-5-17 – 70 degrees – Sunny – Breezy
Rackham Golf Course – White Tees
The Nike Crush Extreme was discontinued when Nike exited the golf equipment industry. It had been some time since I had played a Crush Extreme and the only reason I put this one into the best golf ball challenge is (like the PD Long above) I found a sleeve of brand new (never used) ones in my dads workroom.
The cover had a bit more gloss than the Mojo and PD Long I previously played. From taking a look at the Crush Extreme I was thinking it was going to be a better all around golf ball than the other Nike golf balls I played.
My best guess is these golf balls were brand new in 2014 and have been sitting around for 3 years waiting for me to put them in play.
On the sleeve it says the Nike Crush Extreme is designed to be “Longer. Softer. Straighter.” Lets see what its got.
Off The Tee – I only hit 5 fairways and sliced 5 shot pretty bad. So bad they landed in the fairway of adjacent holes. It left me with a great lie for my second shot but nothing to brag about.
I did get things straightened out on the back nine which included hitting 4 draws. None of my draws went further than another golf ball I had hit before but on the Par 4 9th and Par 5 14th hole my drives landed just a tad bit further than my average drives. Both of those shots had a slight draw to them.
It seemed that when I got a little looser and swung harder I started getting the draw and the distance. Which makes sense.
Fairway Woods & Hybrids – With me slicing a number of drives and it being breezy it put me in situations where I was 180 yards hitting into a 15 mph wind. That is a 5 wood for me. And I hit the Nike Crush Extreme extremely well with my 3 and 5 wood today.
Hit my second shot to the Par 4 11th green from the 12th fairway after slicing my drive. Hit my 5 wood 190 yards into the wind hammering the green. It gouged the green. Was an awesome shot.
Shot of the day happened on the Par 5 14th. I do not know what it is about Nike golf balls and that hole but for the second time in my life I put my second shot on the green. Just like how I did with the Mojo I put the Crush Extreme on in two with a 250 yard 3 wood. It has only happened with Nike golf balls.
It took a great drive to put me in the situation to even go for it. I did not think I was going to hit it that well as it was in the first cut of rough some two feet from the fairway. I made perfect contact and it was heading straight. Landed at 225 yards and bounced the next 25 yards to the back of the green leaving me a 30 footer for Eagle. Missed the Eagle putt and made a 3 footer for birdie.
Irons – Rough day with the irons. Only had 4 greens in regulation and two of those were with fairway woods. Shanked two irons after good drives. Left zero ball marks on the greens. Was just not making good contact with irons.
The Nike Crush Extreme did not have good compression with the irons like how it did with the fairway woods. It was not a hard golf ball like the Mojo but was not soft either. There were a couple of iron shots that ended on the fringe.
Wedges – When you don’t hit greens you’re going to get many chip shots. I got up and down for par five times which is way above average. Chipping from 20 to 45 yards away a number of times I put 3 of those with in 4 feet.
Only one time did I see the Crush Extreme check up from spin. Mostly I was landing them short and letting them roll out. I even got up and down from the green side bunker on #15.
Backspin is not something the Crush Extreme is going to give you and if you know that you can work with it.
Putting – With good chipping comes good opportunities to make putts. I 3 putted twice and 1 putted six times. Some of those one putts could have been two putts as I was hitting from the fringe at least three times.
The Crush Extreme rolled well and was a decent golf ball to putt with. It didn’t have the “clink” sound like a Pro V1 but did not have the “clunk” sound like the Mojo has. I can tell its not a premium golf ball to putt with but is better than most.
I had 32 putts with the Crush Extreme which is a little better than average. Outside of a six foot putt to save par on #1 it was an uneventful day on the greens. Made everything under 2 feet and anything between 10 and 20 feet stopped two feet from the hole.
Durability – One very small scuff mark and that is about it. Barely hit a tree branch. Besides that it was a clean round. I would have no problem playing another round with the Crush Extreme.
Score – 82
GIR – 4
Putts – 32
Fairways – 5
Penalty Strokes – 0
I kind of feel bad for the Nike Crush Extreme. The round started off well with a par but went down after that. The course was wide open today except for a foursome that was two groups ahead of me. They were slowing everything down.
I caught up to the twosome in front of me on hole #5 and started to play with them. But the previous 4 holes had me waiting on the tee box waiting on them to hit with they waited for the foursome. It slowed the round way down. Its not that they were bad golfers it was they were not playing ready golf.
It kind of got me off my game. But thats what happens in golf. And that had an effect on the Nike Crush’s score. Its too bad as it had a chance to break 80.
The foursome let us pass at the turn and we cruised through the back nine. Nine over on the front nine. Two over on the back nine. Go figure.
My takeaway with the Nike Crush Extreme is that its a very good golf ball but not a great golf ball. I do not agree with it being “longer, softer, and straighter” as it says on the sleeve.
I would play another round with them if it was all I had available. In the end it is not going to be a golf ball I am going to miss.
