The golf ball category is without a doubt the toughest nut to crack for a new brand. With most PGA Tour players using three or four brands of ball and one in particular — Titleist's Pro V1 and V1x — dominating the market on both the pro and amateur fronts, it's as close to a monopoly scenario as you can get.

That doesn't mean there's a dearth of fine lesser-known products on the large-scale market, however. Every year seems to bring a new ball brand into play, and Fairways + Greens has tested most of them. But not until this year have we truly been impressed by a hitherto unknown ball like we have the new Innovex E-Motion ($19.95 minimum advertised price per dozen) and V-Motion ($32.95 per dozen)

Over three days in the heat of battle at PGA West and Oak Quarry in Southern California, both types of three-piece balls gave credence to the company's assertion that they stand up to the ProV in distance, feel and ballflight. The best swings sent them sailing through the desert air on a pleasing trajectory, while even the lamest swings couldn't completely overshadow their off-the-clubface performance. They bit on PGA West's rock-hard greens and stayed soft off the putter.

The slighty different makeup of the balls themselves weren't enough to cause us to prefer one over the other. They're both excellent.

Here's Innovex's party line on each ball:

"The V-Motion Tour is a 3-piece premium ball designed for golfers who demand Tour Level performance and playability. It has a cast urethane cover for high spin along with a compensating speed core for distance. It is built to compete with the best golf balls on the market and it does.The target audience of the V-motion is lower handicap golfers looking to improve their game and to reduce their costs as well as mid handicap golfers who want a better ball at a mid-price point."

And…

"The E-Motion Tour is a 3-piece surlyn performance ball, designed with a Progressive Motion Dual Core to fly farther, spin faster, and feel softer all while offering great durability. The proprietary Aeroblend Cover features Aerocontrol parallel dimple dividers that smooth airflow for increased flight distance and stability while roll promoting dimples enhance putter feel and confidence. Innovex Golf's engineering team has designed this ball to be the best ball for all weather conditions and to offer you a tour caliber ball with excellent durability."

That's a lot of geekspeak, so let's boil both Innovex balls down to their essence: For value- to mid-priced products with sights on the titans of a tough market, they blew us away. In fact, we're not only hoping for a couple more dozen under the Christmas tree, but a steady supply through the New Year.

And one more thing: Innovex recently acquired Rife Putters, giving the company an even stronger foundation in the golf gear arena. Good for them, and us.

www.innovexgolf.com