Vice has firmly established itself as a major player in the direct-to-consumer market, offering a comprehensive line-up to rival the biggest names. While the premium Pro and Pro Plus balls are aimed at high-speed players and the Tour and Drive models cater to different needs and budgets, the Vice Pro is designed as the all-around performer. I took the Tracer Pro version out for testing to see how this 3-piece urethane ball stacks up and what performance benefits the tracer alignment feature offers.
On paper, the Vice Pro is built for balanced performance, designed for golfers who prioritise a mixture of distance and short game control. It’s made from a 3-piece construction with a cast urethane cover, similar to that of a TaylorMade Tour Response, and some of the best golf balls on the market.
It boasts a 90-compression High Energy Speed Core designed to maximise ball speed for those with medium swing speeds. While this swing speed isn’t specified, I would assume it’s for golfers who swing a driver anywhere between 90mph and 105mph.
I was testing the Pro Tracer model, which features a thick, dual-colour alignment line. Off the tee, I could see how this visual aid was genuinely useful for helping with setup and visualising your start line, as well as, of course, when lining up putts.
I typically putt with a single line on the ball, and so at first I did actually find the larger graphics a little off-putting. However, once I understood that inside 10ft, these alignment cues saw my ball rolling at the hole more consistently, I gained confidence and subsequently started holing a considerable amount of putts from that range. It really started to feel like a cheat code, particularly on those nervy 3-footers.
The ball felt solid and fast off the face, and the 318-dimple pattern produced a fairly high, towering ball flight when the weather was calm. However, due to the fact that I swing my driver at around 117mph, I did find it spun up a little more with both the driver and my irons than I would typically like to see when measuring data using my Foresight Sports GC3 launch monitor.
With my usual driver and Titliest Pro V1x combination, I would expect to see around 2200 rpm of spin. However, with the Vice Pro Tracer ball, I was seeing around 400 rpm more than this, as you can see in the graphic below. This then also resulted in a shorter carry distance than I would like to see.
This was also to my detriment when playing into a wind or crosswind, I found the ball quickly lost its speed, and I saw the ball stall quite a lot and get moved by the wind. On slight mis-hits, particularly those struck towards the heel, the ball seemed to rise more than I'm used to, causing the ball to fall short of my target.
Where the Vice Pro truly excelled for me was from 100 yards and in. The thin cast urethane cover helped provide plenty of short game spin and control, and considering how soft the ball feels off the face, the cover actually held up pretty well. I put the ball through its paces in the bunker, and it delivered solid amounts of spin on well-struck chips and pitches, giving me the confidence to attack pins.
Overall, I think the Vice Pro Tracer ball is a superb option for golfers seeking fairly solid performance at the reasonable price of just under £28 per dozen, making it one of the best value golf balls on the market. It’s not the strongest performer in the wind, or if you have a faster clubhead speed, but the strong performance from 100 yards and in makes up for what it lacks in distance.
