NIKE RZN TOUR
Platinum Ball
Designing a ball for one of the world’s best golfers is a daunting task. Thankfully, it’s something
Nike Golf has some experience with. For the 2016 Nike RZN Tour Platinum golf ball, Rory McIlroy
asked Nike to keep the performance of last year’s RZN but make it feel softer. What he got is
arguably Nike’s best golf ball ever.
Feel
Long Game
Feel has been one area where some people have
consistently taken issue with Nike’s tour level golf
balls. If the RZN Tour Platinum doesn’t quiet that
noise, nothing will. This ball is very soft off the putter
with the same quiet “click” of a ProV1. Interestingly,
it feels even softer off a wedge. While the ProV1
maintains that click, the RZN Tour Platinum loses it in
place of a softer-feeling “thud.”
If you’re familiar with Nike’s past RZN golf balls,
you know they have no problem making a ball that
spins a lot with wedges but very little with the driver.
That’s in evidence again here with the RZN Platinum.
While it’s not as low-spinning as the RZN Black, the
Platinum is very much in line with or better than any
other higher-spinning tour ball. In short, this ball will
still allow you to bomb drives.
Short Game
One interesting thing that I found in my testing was
that the RZN Platinum does produce a bit more spin
than expected with the irons. The difference isn’t
huge – only a few hundred RPMs more than the RZN
Black – but it will be welcome aid for those that play
on firm greens or those who flight their irons low.
In head to head testing against the #1 selling ball in
golf, the Nike RZN Tour Platinum golf ball produced
approximately 300 RPM more spin on 50 yard pitch
shots. While that’s not a huge practical difference,
that ~5% may be important to players looking to stop
or back up every shot.
On the course, the RZN Platinum delivered all the
spin we saw on the launch monitor. On full and half
wedges, the ball stopped immediately or backed up
a couple feet, depending on the conditions of the
green and the landing angle.
The former (and future?) world #1 will be gaming the
Nike RZN Tour Platinum golf ball in 2016, and I think
a lot of other skilled players will be as well. The feel
is as dialled-in as any Nike ball I’ve ever used, and
they’ve maintained the combination of high spin in
the short game and low spin in the long game. If you
haven’t considered Nike as a golf ball option in the
past, it’s definitely time to start.
YOURCADDY MAG - ISSUE 7 | 31