Vice golf balls are premium golf balls for amateur and professional golfers who want to enjoy the best quality. And not only the balls are exceptional, but also the store how they even came to be. Today we are going to take a look at what makes these golf balls different. We will also do an in-depth Vice golf balls review and look at the features that qualified them for a medal by the Golf Digest Magazine.
Read on and learn more about what makes their golf balls so special, how you can get your hands on some of them, as well as how their products fare when faced with the tough criteria of some of the biggest authorities in the field!
Our Best Vice Golf Balls Review
- Vice Pro (Best Vice Golf Ball Overall)
"Thanks to the 3-piece construction of the Vice Pro, you’ll enjoy maximum speed and high energy from these balls. Each ball features a cast urethane cover for an extremely soft feel on the ground and the green. The balls are very durable, which is a nice bonus." - Vice Pro Plus (Best for Advanced Players)
- Vice Pro Soft (Best for Intermediate Golfers)
- Vice Tour (Appropriate for All Levels)
- Vice Drive (Best for Beginner)
Accolades for Vice Golf Balls
Golf Digest Golf Medalists
The rather impressive line of work this young but already well-known company has been putting forth before the eyes of the international golfing audience has been recently crowned, in away. Namely, four of their five golf ball designs received a 'gold medal' in various categories from the renowned golf magazine Golf Digest. The Vice Pro, Vice Pro Plus, and Pro Soft even managed to receive a perfect score in the categories "Performance" and "Innovation". The company’s team and its dedication managed to take the brand from a small German start-up to a growing company that’s changing the face of the golf ball industry. A huge source of pride for the founders as they didn't hide in their press release.
The name of Vice Golf on the hot list of Golf Digest makes sense. The company managed to offer exceptional and outstanding vice balls with consistent performance for almost half the price of other brands. The experts of Golf Digest found out that it doesn’t only provide affordable and well-made golf balls, but they’re actually engineered to match and even exceed the requirement of a premium.
Also, we hope this award will encourage the designers at VICE Golf to come up with even more exciting golf ball models as well as other accessories that might be of use out there on the golf course.
Let's take a closer look at this gold-medal winning lineup then. Shall we?
Best Vice Golf Balls
Vice Pro
Best Overall
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KEY FEATURES
Thanks to the 3 piece ball construction of the Vice Pro, you’ll enjoy maximum speed and high energy from these balls. Each ball features a cast urethane cover for an extremely soft feel on the ground and the green. The balls are very durable, which is a nice bonus.
The company knows what they are doing when it comes to direct to consumer sales and pleasing their customers. You get a beautifully designed box with their Vice Pro in the mail with a high-quality feel to it.
We are professional product testers, so we are not influenced by our product analysis. However, it's a great start for new customers to the relationship with the brand.
Now let's focus on the balls: The Vice Pro will provide good backspin and launch height. We also liked the stable and straight alignment during drives. Their proprietary S2TG technology coating gives the ball a consistent feel while the finish protects it from UV rays.
The official recommendation for the ball is a medium to high club head speed. Furthermore, the ball features 318 dimples on the cover to increase its accuracy in windy conditions by reducing the air resistance. This is a great addition as it matches the quality you'd usually only expect from more expensive balls.
Other than its dimples, the folks at VICE decided to employ yet another means of increasing the speed of this ball – the so-called High Energy Speed Core (or HESC). This gives the Vice Pro an advantage in weight distribution that you can feel, particularly during windy conditions.
However, if you’re after long-distance shots and high back and side spin, then you should keep reading. There are other Vice balls which you'll like better, like the Pro plus. Also, the fact that this ball is a bit of a loose cannon might not be the best golf balls for rookies, as they may struggle to control their swing and so send their Vice Pro into orbit or in a nearby pond.
Vice Pro Plus
Best for Advanced Players
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KEY FEATURES
For golfers who are looking for better performance on long-distance shots, the Vice Pro Plus series represents a more fitting choice. The 4 piece ball construction which comes again with a cast urethane cover to boost the distance.
It has an extra DuPont HPF layer for a lower driver launch in a short game spin compared to the Vice Pro. The additional layer is an outer casing that reduces spin for long-distance play but reduces spin for short distance play. Nevertheless, the material is thinner than what you can find on other long-distance balls.
Thanks to the dual casting and 336 dimples, you’ll have a lot of control. This will provide you with a high spin on short shots and a much lower spin on the longer ones. The ball's got 336 dimples indented in it, and it features a dual casing which enables it to cover more distance than the usual golf ball. Also, this means a lower ball flight, so it’s able to travel even farther thanks to the decreased arch of the shot.
Unlike other golf balls that feature a urethane coating, this one doesn’t come with a yellow tinge. It’s been treated with a UV resistant coating to maintain its white color, which not only looks nicer but also helps to easily spot the ball around the greens. The ball features the S2TG technology that keeps the ball feeling consistent on the green and protects it in the long run.
The recommended club head speed for the Vice Pro Plus is the same as for the Vice Pro (medium to high club head speed). As its name suggests, this ball has primarily been made for advanced players, although medium skill level players can also find this one interesting.
Vice Pro Soft
Best for Intermediate Golfers
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KEY FEATURES
Understanding the traits of this ball enables you to make sure that you’ve picked the right one for you. The Vice Pro Soft is perfect for distances off the tee while providing the softest feel in their lineup. These balls are perfect for intermediate golfers with medium club speeds and the low-compression construction allows golfers to enjoy the extra-soft feel.
Although there are tons of other balls with low compression ratings available, Pro soft is one of the best golf balls you can get in the market. It comes in a set of 12 balls and at an affordable price. The dimples and the finish of the ball make sure that it’s extremely durable.
However, some golfers might not like the matte finish. The idea of reducing glare in Pro Soft is a valid one, but we would agree that it is usually not worth the loss in appearance. Nevertheless, this is the first matte ball on the market with a cast urethane cover. The matte finish is made by small particles of silicone in the clear coating of the ball.
The Pro Soft tends to click a little bit, but nothing that would affect its performance on the course. The dimples on the ball minimize dispersion and increase accuracy. It will maintain a straight path in most wind conditions. Its special coating is very thin which provides great adhesion to the green, enhancing the ball’s smooth performance.
The Vice Pro Soft is a golf ball built for people who expect a better feel while they're out there on the course swinging their trusty clubs. Responsible for the flight of this golf marvel of a ball is the 336 dimples that have been built into it, and what's more, it's the design's been further optimized to offer unparalleled performance off the tee. The main purpose of this ball is to maximize the distance off the tee so it’s the perfect choice for long shots. Moreover, it delivers great control and spin, on and around the green. The ball also has the unique “Keep in Line” putting line which is extra-long and extremely visible to help you align your ball perfectly.
So, if you need a golf ball that's sensitive to fine adjustments in your shot, getting a few Pro Soft might be the golfing solution you've been looking for.
Vice Tour
Appropriate for All Levels
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KEY FEATURES
The Vice Tour ball offers a combination of stable alignment and long-distance thanks to its lightweight construction. It’s covered with a 3-piece design that it’s extremely thin, improving the feel and responsiveness of the ball.
It's their most universal ball, without any real flaws, but also no real area where it shines.
Thanks to their simple yet powerful design, Vice Tour golf balls provide golfers with an exceptionally spin on pitches and wedge shots. For outstanding stability, the Vice Tour golf balls are designed for stable trajectory. The 392 dimples will reduce air resistance and minimize ball dispersion for better accuracy in distance shots. These balls deliver exceptional performance in the high wind where you can have the perfect momentum and constant height. The Vice Tour ball is soft to touch so it’s a good choice for all golfers regardless of their level. It features a cover made of ethylene co-polymer which increases its resistance and durability.
If you’re looking for great value, you should give this golf balls a chance as they’re quite affordable. However, they’re not as fast as other balls. They also have a low spin rate. Most golfers agree that the Vice Tour is similar to the Vice Pro, but the ball produces a high-pitched click upon impact.
Suitable for players of all levels of expertise, this golf ball is a standard-looking golf ball that is nevertheless sure to awaken the inner golfer in you! It offers a long carry with minimal dispersion along the way, so you can expect your shots to fly in a straight fashion every time.
Vice Drive
Best for Beginner
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KEY FEATURES
High durability is the most important feature of the Vice Drive series. It features a classic 2-piece design with a great emphasis on resilience and resistance. It’s safe to say that this ball is almost indestructible.
This is popular among players who aspire to enjoy a high-quality ball that won’t disappoint them, while not interested in having to get a new box of balls anytime soon. It features a unique 368-dimple design for long game coverage and a longer roll on the green.
This ball is specifically designed for low to medium swing speed, as could be typically seen in beginner golfers. As a result, you might need to reduce your club head speed to see the true performance potential if you are an advanced player. The softcore will maximize the role of the ball on the green upon impact.
Regardless of the club head face, you’re using, your Vice Drive will be safe from cuts and tears. The DuPont Surlyn cover adds to the durability of the ball, covering its softcore. The outer cover is firm and tough compared to other balls from Vice.
Thanks to the large core design and number of dimples, this ball is designed to resist dispersion and maximize accuracy. Moreover, this combination guarantees that this will be resilient to most kinds of wear and tear. With the “Keep in Line” technology, this ball will stay highly visible. This is a result of thorough studies and collaboration with professionals to guarantee the best performance of the Vice Drive in various conditions.
If you're swing speed is fast, this might not be the right ball for you. It tends to lose its speed as it loses air buoyancy. However, it is a great golf ball and probably the best choice for beginner golfers and players early on in their development.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which One Is Better: Vice Pro Vs. Pro Plus?
Let's start with everyone's most pressing question on their mind. Vice aims to design and sell premium golf balls to the customer. These 2 types of golf balls are the top of their line on the market and recommended for advanced players with medium to high club head speed. However, there are some key differences between them so you can easily find the one that suits you.
The key difference is that the Vice Pro Plus ball has an extra fourth layer. This extra layer guarantees higher spin in the short game and lowers spin in a long game. Another, though minor difference is the number of dimples between the Vice Pro (318 dimples) and the Vice Pro Plus (336 dimples).
Both of the Vice Pro and Vice Pro Plus balls are similar in terms of durability and their super soft feel. They’re both designed to boost the length of the shot. They’re even sold for the same price. So it's really mostly a question of personal preference.
What Are Vice Golf Balls?
The story of the Vice Golf Balls brand is as exceptional as the quality of golf balls themselves. The brand was founded by two German lawyers who met while surfing in Munich and decided to launch their own golf balls business. Yes, Munich is as far from the ocean as it gets, but they have a pretty amazing permanent river-wave.
Ingo Düllmann and Rainer Stöckl used to be hardworking lawyers who depended on their paycheck for years. But they stayed eager to start their own business throughout their career in law. One day during one of their surf sessions they started talking about golfing and got into an analysis of the golf ball market. (Yes, we agree. An interesting topic to choose during a surf session). Anyway, this was when they decided on their Vice Golf business model.
The concept behind is to provide pro-quality golf balls for an affordable price that both novice and expert users can afford and which allows them to take their game to a whole new level. After months of research and prototype designing, they were eager to announce that they came up with their first high-quality & low-price golf ball. As tough and well-standardized the world of golf balls is, there always seems to be some room for experiments and interesting new designs. Whether it’s alternating the number of their dimples, or printing pictures on top of them, golf balls tend to bear the full creative brunt of some of its international manufacturers and it goes without saying that when these finished products actually hit the market, they sell like hotcakes.
However, the idea of starting a business against so many incumbent players seemed a bit intimidating, even for lawyers who didn’t mind handling the legal affairs of the business. But the biggest challenge remained to find trustworthy suppliers to provide them with the high-quality materials needed for the products they wanted.
Being able to compete with well-established names in the business wasn’t easy, but Vice Golf managed to do it with their special level of dedication. The company managed to create a strong, respectful, and playful brand image that all competitors would start noticing pretty quickly. The balls offered by Vice are of the same exceptional quality and are nearly half the price of other models on the market, making this brand one of the most popular brands among pro and novice golfers today.
The proposition is to sell directly to customers through online channels. Cutting on the cost of pro contracts and middlemen guarantees that the company can maintain its affordable price range without jeopardizing performance or value.
Let’s see how and where these balls are made. Maybe this will get us closer to the secret of what makes them different.
Where Are Vice Golf Balls Manufactured?
VICE Golf – German Ingenuity Comes to the Rescue of an Overpriced Golf Equipment Market
These are the types of headlines you might have come across when you first heard about Vice golf balls. Upon hearing the phrase "German company" most people would immediately think about complex high-tech gadgets, an impressive four-wheeler, or other delicately manufactured products with a pedigree that goes back decades. While this can certainly be true of most businesses German businesses exporting around the world this company is a little bit different.
Namely, rather than high-tech gadgets, it’s the simplicity of product, manufacturing process, and choice of sales channels that sits at the forefront of this impressive business success story. They dedicated to a product that had been around for a very long time with a handful of big players dominating the market: golf balls. The whole undertaking was launched fairly recently in 2012, and the company entered the US market only about 3 years later, in 2015.
Vice Golf is a brand that surprisingly quickly managed to convince people that durable, yet affordable balls that offer outstanding performance aren’t impossible to make. However, they require the collaboration of a team of creators, suppliers, engineers, and other experts who value quality and performance over anything else. Their focus is on manufacturing high-performance balls with pro specifications and selling them directly to the customer for an affordable price. The tremendous engineering process is the reason why this brand managed to gain popularity. This brand proves that hard work pays off.
How Are Vice Golf Balls Made?
Millions of Vice balls are produced every year with the collaboration of experts located in Germany and Taiwan to come up with the latest production techniques and outstanding designs that cater to the needs of all golfers. Here’s how the production goes. The production process itself is a 10-step process that is thoroughly monitored for quality control.
1. The main component of each ball is rubber which is heated to a very high temperature, then cooled and compressed.
2. The rubber is then forced into a rubber extruder turning the rubber into slugs. The mixture and color of slugs both depend on the type of Vice Golf ball produced as each series comes with some specific features.
3. The core compression molding machine applies more than one ton of pressure to press and also bake the slugs. The slugs are baked for almost 15 minutes at a temperature of 330 degrees Fahrenheit (167° C) producing the core of the golf ball.
4. The core’s surface is then abraded to be able to accept the casing layer.
5. The core is later grown to the precise size of the ball, depending on its type. After that, the casing layer is applied and grown to the exact thickness of this ball model.
6. When this is done, a robot will inject the core of Vice Tour Golf Balls with melted Surlyn cover. This will transform the outside of the ball to the specific dimple structure that matches the specifications of each model. (Vice Pro and Pro Plus models aren’t injected. They’re cast with a urethane elastomer layer to transform them into two of the most impressive urethane golf balls on the market).
7. The balls are transferred to a miller that removes all the extra shells and excess Surlyn or urethane.
8. The balls are imprinted using robotic arms that imprint the brand’s name & type of ball on each ball. The arms carry silicon pads that get soaked up in ink from a laser-engraved plate and transfer the imprint to the ball. The Vice Pro and Pro Plus have a precise place for the logo of the brand, player's numbers, and the putting line among the dimples on the surface of each ball.
9. The balls are then sprayed with Polyurethane which protects the ink on the ball as well as its outer surface so it can look great for a very long time. After that, it’s left to dry and cook for five minutes at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (66° C).
10.When the manufacturing process is over, quality control takes place. Manufacturers values quality highly so each is checked in numerous scenarios from a static point. This guarantees consistent performance which providing identical balls in terms of size, weight, and resilience. The balls are not only regularly tested at their manufacturing site, but also in the Golf Laboratories in San Diego, California.
However, what makes VICE Golf different is its approach to selling the balls. Having first made sure that all of their designs adhere to internationally recognized golf standards, the clever folks at VICE Golf went on to sell their sporty ware exclusively over the internet. This simple, and nowadays rather intuitive sales technique enables them to pitch their products to a worldwide audience at a significantly lower price than their competitors and still make a worthwhile profit at the end of the day.
Are Vice Golf Balls USGA Approved?
Yes, Vice Golf balls are USGA and R&A Golf Club St. Andrews approved, as you can see on the monthly updated list jointly issued by them. As conforming golf balls, these can be chosen to be played in any tournament worldwide.
However, these aren’t available in stores in the USA or Canada, as the company follows an online-sales only approach. By eliminating middlemen, the company guarantees the lowest price for those pro-like balls without affecting the quality or performance. The online-only selling approach allows all golfers to purchase the balls from the comfort of their home.
Are Vice Golf Balls Legit?
Yes, they are.
The company does things differently but this helped create a unique brand image that focuses on quality and performance at an affordable price. Vice Golf has managed to become one of the leading brands in the golf ball industry, despite being established only a few years ago. Ever since the company started, it has managed to capture a good share of the golf ball market, and this share keeps on growing as the company knows how to develop its products to cater to the needs of a wide set of golfers.
Buying in bulk is absolutely a blessing thanks to the affordable prices of their balls. Companies might offer different types of balls in a set, but Vice targets consumers who have specific needs, guaranteeing that they will become a loyal customer to the brand.
Conclusion
| NAME | EDITOR'S CATEGORY | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|
| Vice Pro | Best Vice Golf Ball Overall |  |
| Vice Pro Plus | Best for Advanced Players |  |
| Vice Pro Soft | Best for Intermediate Golfers |  |
| Vice Tour | Appropriate for All Levels |  |
| Vice Drive | Best for Beginner |  |
| NAME | EDITOR'S CATEGORY | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|
| Vice Pro | Best Vice Golf Ball Overall | |
| Vice Pro Plus | Best for Advanced Players | |
| Vice Pro Soft | Best for Intermediate Golfers | |
| Vice Tour | Appropriate for All Levels | |
| Vice Drive | Best for Beginner | |
With its exceptional quality and unique direct-to-consumer sales approach, Vice Golf is bound to acquire a big share of the golf ball market. The company excels at providing value for money and really convinced us during our test and review rounds on the course. They felt like well-made balls for an affordable price. With their lineup of five different balls, every player should find one with the characteristics they prefer.
If after all of these detailed vice golf balls review you still haven't found your favorite, then we might recommend their variety pack, which comes with 2 balls of each of their types for a total of 1- balls. And in case you are still wondering which of the Vice golf balls is best for you, but you don't want to try them all out yourself, then you can check out their pretty neat recommendation tool, which will tell you their lineup is best suited to your game after answering 6 questions about your play style.
That concludes our VICE golf ball review. After being awarded Golf Medals from Golf Digest, the company understands that this is just the beginning. It’s working to keep on building its image as one of the leading brands in the industry. Golf Digest ranks them highly and we have to agree with their assessment. As long as you have one of these balls in your bag, you’re bound to have a great time on the golf course.
