OnCore’s Omen Golf Ball – click to zoom
My first post for 2011 Golf Ball Week is my review of the OnCore Golf Omen, a hollow metal core golf ball.
Omen Design
This is the only golf ball in the world with a hollow metal core. I’d call it a four piece ball, if you count air as a piece. There are three layers, plus the hollow metallic core. The kind of metal in the core isn’t really known other than being called a “proprietary metal” in one OnCore product description, and “steel core” in another. The high strength metal layer gives the ball its structure and helps with a high moment of inertia (MOI). Since all of the ball’s mass is outside the air gap, it is essentially a perimeter weighted ball!
The 2nd layer, which sits on top of the metal layer is a black polymer which helps to transfer energy from the impacting club to the metal core. The better the energy is transferred, the more it is translated to the core. The more energy translated to the core, the farther the ball goes.
The 3rd layer is a tough ionomer plastic. This is the outer, white layer of the ball. This layer has 432 dimples, which help increase the aerodynamics of the ball to promote long distance and less side spin.
OnCore Hollow Metal Core Golf Ball – click to zoom
On The Course
I won’t sugar coat this. I’d call this a “distance” ball. The ball is not soft and does not have a soft, high spin cover. The ball feels hard off the driver and is LOUD! I’ve never heard my driver make such a loud noise before, and I’m not sure how much of that is the driver head or how much is the ball’s metal core ringing. Off the driver the ball does deliver as promised though, with a very straight ball flight and plenty of distance.
Iron shots feel better and I can feel the ball compress nicely. Once again, very straight and accurate ball flight.
Short game characteristics of this ball are in line with those of a distance ball. The ball doesn’t have a ton of spin around the greens and likes to run more. Most amateurs want spin, but really would benefit from a ball like this with more roll if they knew how to execute the shots.
Where this ball shines to me the most though, is on the putting green. As hard as it felt off the driver, the ball feels soft off of my putter. Results may vary I imagine, as my putter is made out of milled aluminum and is soft to begin with. The ball rolls straight and true on the greens and distance control is easy to feel.
Kickstarter
OnCore is a small company trying to compete with with the big boys. That is a tough road to attempt to travel. They are using a site called Kickstarter to help them fund a nationwide roll out of the product. I’ve never seen this Kickstarter site, but it is a pretty cool concept. Check out OnCore’s kick start page for more info.
Conclusion
Very interesting concept, a hollow golf ball with a metal core. I want to get a saw out and cut the thing in half.
The ball does fly far and straight. I have a hard time with the feel and loud sound off the driver, but the putter feedback is as nice as the driver feedback is obnoxious.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
