Bridgestone E12 Soft Golf Ball Review

Bridgestone E12 Soft Golf Ball Review

Bridgestone E12 Soft Golf Ball
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: A nice feeling, solidly performing ball

Manufacturer’s Site: Bridgestone Golf
Buy on Amazon: Bridgestone E12 Soft Golf Balls

Earlier this year, Bridgestone sent a dozen of their E12 Soft golf balls for testing and review. I liked the feel of the ball immediately and have found that it performs really well with my swing.

Bridgestone has spent a lot of time over the last decade conducting ball fittings (I have participated in a couple) and has used this data to create balls that fit fairly specific player profiles. Bridgestone’s Ball Selection Guide page uses this data to offer a Bridgestone ball to fit your profile based on the answers to a few questions.

My profile from the selection guide is of a player in his mid fifties whose average drive is 220 yards and average score is in the mid eighties.

Interestingly, the selection guide suggested the E12 Soft in response to my answers. I was glad that it didn’t tell me to play the Tour BX S on the grounds that it’s the ball Tiger plays and is “good for every swing” (to borrow a phrase from another ball company’s advertising). Bridgestone actually steered me away from their premium ball to a mid-tier one: the E12 Soft.

At Bridgestone Golf we have a larger body of data on consumer golf swings than any of our competitors by a wide-margin, thanks to our pioneering Ball Fitting program that was launched 12 years ago.

We use that data to design a wide array of golf balls to fit golfers of all stripes from Tour stars like Tiger Woods to weekend recreational players trying to break 90.  The fact that Golf Digest has recognized us for driving innovation in the golf ball category in 2019, awarding 5 of our balls with gold medals, is additional validation of our approach.” 

Elliot Mellow, Golf Ball Marketing Manager for Bridgestone Golf. 

The E12 Soft turns out to be a really good ball for my game. Off the tee, it’s straight, which is a very good thing for a shorter hitter. I can’t afford to miss fairways. The ball feels lively off the irons.

What I really like about the Bridgestone E12 Soft, however, is its feel and play around the greens. With full wedges, pitches and chips, I feel as though I’m just tossing the ball in underhanded.

The Bridgestone E12 Soft follows the low compression trend that first took off with the Wilson Duo. Its compression of around 50 is significantly lower than the Pro V1’s 90, but also is more firm than the Duo’s 29.

There has to be a law of diminishing returns with regard to the compression on a golf ball. At some point a ball will get soft enough that it will start losing distance. Marshmallows, for example, have very low compression, but won’t go very far. Traditional pure distance balls, on the other hand, are notoriously rock hard.

With the Bridgesone E12 Soft, the key to feeling soft while maintaining distance is apparently in the “Active Acceleration Mantle.” Bridgestone says that the mantle in this three piece ball lets it soften the core without losing distance.

The Bridgestone E12 Soft is available in white, and matte green, red or yellow. I wish they offered it in orange.

The E12 Soft is a ball that I would happily play on every round. As it is, I’ve got most of a box left — largely because they fly so straight I don’t lose them. But perhaps I can convince Bridgestone to send me enough to finish out the season. 🙂

The Bridgestone E12 Soft Golf Ball Review was first published on GolfBlogger.Com on August 1, 2019