We tested 62 golf balls on a $100k robot – these 9 findings surprised us most
Our mammoth 2025 robot test consisted of 62 balls, 2,232 shots, and 50,000 data points… Here are the nine key takeaways from our findings.
Every golfer wants to play with the best golf ball for their game. To help you find the right ball, we carried out our biggest-ever golf ball robot test in 2025.
With over 50,000 data points collected, understanding and deciphering the data can be difficult and confusing. That’s why we’ve pulled together our nine key takeaways from testing to give you a better idea of what the data and results are telling you.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the biggest stories to come out of our 2025 robot test…
Wilson make the best golf balls
If you saw the results from our 2024 robot test, this probably won’t come as much of a surprise.
Despite the changes we’ve made to the robot test, the Wilson Staff Model and Staff Model X are once again at the top of the leaderboard. Across the board, both golf balls are extremely consistent.
The Wilson Staff Model X receives the award for being the best golf ball of 2025. Given where this model finished for off-the-tee, tee to green, approach play, and short game performance, its overall average position is sixth, making it the highest-ranked golf ball across all four scoring areas…
The Wilson Staff Model X was closely followed by the Staff Model, which is the joint-second-best golf ball of 2025, finishing with an overall average position of ninth – tied with the Srixon Z-Star Diamond.
Wilson golf balls might not be as popular on tour (there are multiple factors for that) as other brands tour-level golf balls, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play either of the Staff Model or Staff Model X.
The proof is right there: Wilson makes the best golf balls based on our robot test findings in 2025.
Srixon make incredibly accurate golf balls
For any golfer looking to attack pins more regularly, there’s one brand that stands out ahead of all the others… Srixon. Five Srixon golf balls (Z-Star, Z-Star Diamond, Z-Star XV, Q-Star Tour, and Q-Star, which is known as AD333 in the UK) rank in the top 13 for carry distance consistency.
Having a golf ball you can trust to travel a specific distance can shave multiple shots off your rounds because it takes any guessing out of the equation. And no brand beats Srixon when it comes to that.
The Z-Star range and Q-Star Tour are particularly impressive, occupying four of the top five positions for carry distance consistency.
Two-piece golf balls should have your attention
Two-piece golf balls will always be the cheapest golf balls because there are fewer components and less time goes into making them, but that doesn’t mean they’re inferior golf balls.
In every area of our robot test, two-piece golf balls were prominent at the top of the leaderboard.
What more expensive golf balls offer is better performance across multiple categories. But if you know what you’re most bothered about when it comes to your golf ball, there is likely a two-piece golf ball that will deliver in that area.
The Bridgestone e12 Speed is a golf ball for everyone
Following on from the previous topic of conversation, here’s a perfect example of a high-performing two-piece golf ball: the Bridgestone e12 Speed is one of the best golf balls of 2025.
The e12 Speed absolutely blew the competition away in the two-piece golf ball category, and it finished as the best Bridgestone golf ball, beating the tour-approved Tour B X and Tour B XS.
There isn’t one area where the e12 Speed’s performance drops. We weren’t expecting a two-piece golf ball to perform as well as this model did, but it’s proof that a two-piece golf ball can keep up with (and outperform) three, four, and five-piece golf balls.
The e12 Speed is the best value golf ball, factoring in performance and price. I urge every golfer to hit the Bridgestone e12 Speed.
Direct-to-consumer golf balls are hit and miss
With the rise in popularity of direct-to-consumer (DTC) golf balls, it’s becoming increasingly appealing to ditch the top brands in favour of a DTC brand and save yourself some money. In some cases, that means you’re getting a ball that performs just as well, if not better, than premium golf balls, without paying a top-tier price.
However, that sadly isn’t the case for all DTC golf balls.
We tested 11 DTC golf balls and some of them performed extremely well, most notably the Seed SD-02 and Vice Pro Plus. Interestingly, these are both brands’ four-piece golf balls.
On the flip side of that, a couple of DTC golf balls finished towards the bottom end of the leaderboard in most areas. The DTC two-piece golf balls did okay but didn’t deliver any standout performances, but a couple of 3-piece models disappointed – namely the Seed SD-05 and Vice Pro Air.
Every other DTC golf ball finished around mid-table.
There are some seriously strong performing DTC golf balls, but some DTC models should be left well alone because even if they are cheaper, the performance loss isn’t worth it.
Distance golf balls don’t only offer distance
The majority of distance golf balls have a lot more to offer than solely distance. Of course, there are a couple of models that will maximize distance and reduce spin. Perfect, if that’s exactly what you need.
However, it’s unlikely most golfers will be in that boat, and the reason for purchasing distance golf balls is that they’re two-piece, cheap golf balls. But, as we’ve already established, two-piece golf balls aren’t bad.
Some distance golf balls are capable of holding their own in greenside and in approach play. One very strong distance golf ball that offers more than just distance is the Callaway Warbird Distance+, which was the second-highest-spinning two-piece golf ball.
Every brand is capable of producing both good and bad golf balls
Gone are the days when you can single out one brand for manufacturing terrible golf balls and set another on a pedestal for manufacturing only good golf balls. Every brand is capable of producing good and dud golf balls.
Depending on what you need, it’s very rare that one brand would be completely omitted from my suggestions. Almost every brand that makes golf balls has a model that will work for your game. If our robot test has proven anything, it’s that there is more than just one golf ball that works.
The flip side of that is, there are certain golf balls I wouldn’t suggest, and again, every brand falls victim. Some golf balls just aren’t as good as others.
If you’re currently playing with a golf ball that didn’t perform well in our robot test, I wouldn’t ditch it instantly if you enjoy playing golf with it, but I would try one of the better-performing models with similar properties to see how it compares. A little bit of competition has never hurt!
Urethane doesn’t guarantee more short-game spin
Yet again, we’ve proved that urethane golf balls don’t spin more than non-urethane golf balls. Last year, we saw it in the wedge shot, and this year we’ve seen it with the 40-yard pitch.
The highest-ranking non-urethane golf ball (Titleist Tour Soft) was sixth for short-game spin. If you’re looking for the highest-spinning golf ball, it is a urethane model, but non-urethane models are in the mix.
Some non-urethane balls spin more than some urethane balls.
It’s important to look at short-game spin, if it’s a priority for you, because you might be choosing a urethane tour-level golf ball thinking it guarantees short-game spin, but there might be a non-urethane two-piece golf ball offering more.
Titleist make extremely consistent golf balls
The No.1 ball in golf – the Titleist Pro V1 – emerged as the most consistent golf ball, and there are four Titleist models in the top-10.
It’s hardly surprising, considering every Titleist golf ball is checked 30 times per layer. This means a two-piece golf ball is checked 60 times and a four-piece golf ball is checked 120 times.
The main takeaway from this point is that you know every Titleist golf ball in a pack is of the same high standard.
What to read next
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About the author
He spent seven years working for American Golf as part of the sales and fitting team alongside his studies and is a specialist in putters, golf balls, and apparel.
James took up golf as a teenager and, thanks largely to his length and consistency off the tee, he plays off a handicap of 4.7 at Cleveland Golf Club.
You can contact James via email for loads more golf equipment insight.
