First Impressions
If this is the Outlook on the Columbia 300 lineup post Brunswick acquisition, then the brand is in good hands.

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James Kasee (Righty)
Style: Power Player
RPM: 425 rpm
PAP 4 1/2 & 1/4 down
Average Speed: 19 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: 19 degrees
Axis rotation: 60 degrees
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 60 x 5 x 40

“Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.”

Pattern
THS: 40ft, 23ml
Sport: 2019 USBC Team Open Championships, 38ft, 27.5 ml, 1.98:1 ratio

Specs
The Columbia 300 Outlook uses the Outlook Core (symmetrical) inside the Exciter Max pearl coverstock.

15 pound = RG of 2.533, diff of .047
14 pound = RG of 2.550, diff of .047
Coverstock finish: 500, 1000, 3000 Siaair / Crown Factory Compound

Overall
I know, silly pun. Nevertheless, I feel comfortable with that statement. The Outlook seems to bring to the table exactly what they advertised. They’ve created a new cover called the Exciter Max. I have to assume there’s a substantial element of the formulation related to Columbia 300’s Kentucky factory formula with some Brunswick additives/processes. What I can say is it does feel familiar enough to what we’ve seen from previous Exciter covers, namely the Chaos and Chaos Black. If you aren’t familiar with the Columbia 300 brand characteristics, they are surprisingly capable of strong angle. Brunswick has done a great job keeping the Outlook in the same vein. The Exciter Pearl was on the very angular Savage Life.

The new Outlook core goes about generating angle a little differently than Chaos or Savage cores. Those use low RGs and the Outlook uses medium RG. It’s a fairly simple shape. Regardless of all these technicals the bottom line is this ball really does feel like a symmetric Savage Life. It does feel like it gets reasonable length without difficulty. Being finished with the crown factory compound here I believe helps the ball motion have a little more grip than the typical powerhouse factory finish. The Outlook has plenty of backend. It’s not say extremely sharp but it is very angular. It’s the kind of motion that clearly has the potential to be a house shot killer. For James it was that. Angular and very continuous.

Sport Shot
James tested on the 2019 USBC Team Open Championships pattern. What is clear is this is definitely not a ball for early on in the block. It’s clean and angular look means it’s way too over under for such a condition. However, we spent some time with a few games burned in and here’s where this ball has a shot at decent look. You can see how touchy the pattern is from outside. But as soon as James gets in nearer to the 4th arrow after there’s a little burn, the ball looks pretty good. This 38ft pattern has hook. But when you start opening up your angles, you want a ball that gives you a consistent reaction. This really looked reasonable if not a touch over/under.

Final Thoughts
Given that the Outlook feels like your house shot killer type of ball and is reasonably priced, value should be an A. A on house shot is also quite easy. For sport shot, this felt like it would be tougher to use but you need to wait for later in the block for sure. Ultimately, the strong hooking motion will make a lot of bowlers’ eyes light up and this fits in nicely into the Columbia 300 lineup.