Volvik updates Tour S3/S4 lineup of multilayer elite-player balls

The new Volvik Tour S3/S4 golf balls – unlike the company’s proven trend of a rainbow array of colour options – will only be offered in one hue other than white. It is a not so subtle indication that this is the company’s most serious technology ball, played and preferred by tour and elite-level players.

According to the company, neither ball is recommended for swing speeds of less than 95 miles per hour.

Both balls feature the company’s patented mixed bismuth rubber core construction. Bismuth is a rare heavy metal that is used in the outer portion of the core to improve resiliency and energy transfer. It also adds density to the core formulation, pushing more mass towards the outside of the ball to increase the ball’s moment of inertia. The theory is that a ball with more mass towards the cover will maintain its level of spin, whether it be the low spin off a driver or the high spin off a wedge. This yields what the company calls better “lift generation” for longer carry distance and also better control on approach shots.

The Tour S3/S4 feature a multilayer construction and like the name implies the S3 is a three-piece construction (core, mantle and cover), while the S4 is a four-piece design with a dual core. Opposite of most tour-level balls, the Volvik approach to a dual core is to combine a solid inner core with a soft outer core. The solid inner core “optimises distance by transferring the power from the more solid inner core to the softer outer layer instead of transferring inertia from a soft inner core to a solide outer layer.”