OT--Golf Balls

[Ira Fishman]

This is not a request for advice.


I just skimmed the current Golf Magazine (it comes with my wife's USGA membership) golf ball review. It made me realize that over the past five years as I age and my already mediocre game deteriorates, I have tried probably 10 different balls even though I know that with my swing, none of them will vary at all in terms of performance.


I certainly hope that I am not alone.


PS GM issue has some nice photos of Bandon Dunes courses.

[John Chilver-Stainer]

Ira, would you play with a golf ball produced out of material that is 100% recyclable?
Not to improve your performance but to improve the environment.⌛

[Lou_Duran]

On the subject, I recently scored on a Korn Ferry event and picked up three or four discarded ProV1xs marked "TOUR" in red.  They were lightly used, bordering new, and I played a couple of rounds with one.  I didn't know that the pros get balls that are different than those we can buy in the pro shop, but this TOUR ball seemed to have more zip and better spin.  Are the balls used by touring pros different or is it my imagination?


Related, do balls stored at room temperature lose distance or other performance characteristics?  I have four or five dozen of new ProVs in my golf closet, some probably four plus years since acquired.   

[Rob Marshall]

On the subject, I recently scored on a Korn Ferry event and picked up three or four discarded ProV1xs marked "TOUR" in red.  They were lightly used, bordering new, and I played a couple of rounds with one.  I didn't know that the pros get balls that are different than those we can buy in the pro shop, but this TOUR ball seemed to have more zip and better spin.  Are the balls used by touring pros different or is it my imagination?


Related, do balls stored at room temperature lose distance or other performance characteristics?  I have four or five dozen of new ProVs in my golf closet, some probably four plus years since acquired.   

Lou,
I ordered two dozen Pro-1X's from lostball.com for my chipping shag bag. They were labeled "tour". I was told they are used range balls from a tour event for what it is worth.


I played with a really good player a number of years ago in a senior event. He has won the NYS Mid Am. He told me he tested all the top balls and came to the conclusion that there was no difference between any of the tour balls.......

[Craig Sweet]

Golf Magazine's Gear section is paid advertising. There is no critical review of gear.  That article on golf balls was a waste of ink. No information on compression, very little recommendations for "type of player" that would benefit from each ball...and verbatim language from the manufacturers...again, little more than what you find on the company's web site.

[DFarron]

I’ve used the Ballnamic program from Ping. Done it
twice and both balls recommended have performed well.


For the best results you will
need some numbers from a launch monitor.

[Peter Sayegh]

This is not a request for advice.

as I age and my already mediocre game deteriorates, I have tried probably 10 different balls even though I know that with my swing, none of them will vary at all in terms of performance.

I certainly hope that I am not alone.

You are not alone Ira.

I can still pick up any baseball and feel its "defects"-be they advantageous or not (from a catcher's perspective).

Golf balls? No clue how a certain sphere effects my game...and I no longer care, if I ever did.

I'll usually buy a sleeve or dozen of the latest and greatest balls on the market just for shits and giggles.

More often than not, I hand some of the "newbies" to players I'm paired with and hope they think it makes a difference for them in their confidence, if not performance.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Ira, you're a perfect candidate for the two "French brands" of golf balls:


1. Pronounced Rohnge, The "Range" ball produces excellent results.


or,


2. Pronounced Prak-teece, The "Practice" ball is the preferred ball of Jean van DeVelde.


I heard that they dropped the "F-1" style designer striping a few years back, so alignment is easier now.

[Ira Fishman]

Ian,


Quite hilarious. I can assure you that it would only depress me to count the number of hours over 50+ years I have spent using those two balls with but marginal effect.


I believe that you are a Chicagoan. You may or not be too young to remember Monty Levinson's. Hours and hours in the practice nets at the back of the store.


Some of you have natural talent. Some of us don't. But we love the game the same.


Ira

[Lou_Duran]

Any evidence that unused premium golf balls deteriorate over a few years stored in an indoor closet?

[mike_malone]

Ira, you're a perfect candidate for the two "French brands" of golf balls:


1. Pronounced Rohnge, The "Range" ball produces excellent results.


or,


2. Pronounced Prak-teece, The "Practice" ball is the preferred ball of Jean van DeVelde.


I heard that they dropped the "F-1" style designer striping a few years back, so alignment is easier now.

I guess I was wrong because I thought Prateechee was an Italian ball.

[Lou_Duran]

On the subject, I recently scored on a Korn Ferry event and picked up three or four discarded ProV1xs marked "TOUR" in red.  They were lightly used, bordering new, and I played a couple of rounds with one.  I didn't know that the pros get balls that are different than those we can buy in the pro shop, but this TOUR ball seemed to have more zip and better spin.  Are the balls used by touring pros different or is it my imagination?


Related, do balls stored at room temperature lose distance or other performance characteristics?  I have four or five dozen of new ProVs in my golf closet, some probably four plus years since acquired.   

Lou,
I ordered two dozen Pro-1X's from lostball.com for my chipping shag bag. They were labeled "tour". I was told they are used range balls from a tour event for what it is worth.


I played with a really good player a number of years ago in a senior event. He has won the NYS Mid Am. He told me he tested all the top balls and came to the conclusion that there was no difference between any of the tour balls.......

Thanks.  I hate to think that at KF Tour pro ripped off the driving range and that I thought the practice ball was superior to what I play with.

[Ken Moum]

Anyone familiar with MyGolfSpy probably already knows this, but in their extensive and pretty darned scientific testing, the Maxfli Tour ball sold by Dick's Sporting Goods is apparently the equal of any of the other premium ball and they are $40 a dozen.  And a four dozen pack right now is $120. (Okay, EB, you got me.)


Personally, I play with almost anything i find that's in like-new condition, but I have bought several dozen of the Maxfli Softfli and think they work very well for me.  The are a ludicrous 35 compression, which feels good being hit by my puny 70 mph driver swing.


They do not spin around the greens, which used to be a deal breaker for me, but I have gotten over it.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Anyone familiar with MyGolfSpy probably already knows this, but in their extensive and pretty darned scientific testing

Oof. You're gonna get a LOT of disagreement on those parts…

[Jerry Kluger]

Lou: There is absolutely no reason why a golf ball should deteriorate at room temperature so if you want to give them away I will send you my address and I will pay shipping.  My friend's son plays on the PGA TOUR and he is a Titleist pro and he gets balls that are not available to the public although the left dash and dot have expanded balls available to the public.  I remember a few years back Bridgestone made 6 different balls for Tiger to try which had no designation other than a number and he was able to point out the difference in each one including identifying the ball he was currently playing, balls that spun more, balls that flew higher, etc.  We have a Champions Tour event at our club each year and they bring in the ProV1s with Tour stamping on them.  I can tell you that we have Titleist practice balls that are not Pro V1s and if you go to the chipping area and practice with them you can clearly see how they play as compared to a ball like a Pro V1.  I follow Mygolfspy and their tests do demonstrate a difference in balls but in most cases premium balls are not significantly different in how they play and I don't know that the quality of one versus the other is significant enough to make a difference.

[Lou_Duran]

Thanks Jerry.  I doubt that you'd want the 3 doz of Pro-V1s I have left of a batch given to me by one of my son's friends.  As a joke, he had them personalized with "RETURN TO LOU DURAN" in bold black lettering on the side.  I went to a Titleist ball fitting a couple years back and the ProV1x tested as the best option for me.  Not surprisingly I guess, it is the ball I preferred to all others, though I doubt that my choice is data-based.  The new issue of GOLF has an article comparing the many balls currently available.  It nearly put me to sleep.  I do want to try the new Callaway Chrome Tour.  Hopefully, I'll find one because it will be a while to go through my stash of old but new ProV1s.

[A.G._Crockett]

A long time ago, in the brief period in which the Titleist Professional was THE golf ball, I was playing in a scramble with Don Marsh, then and now one of the better senior amateurs in the country and a recent inductee to the Georgia golf Hall of Fame.  I was a HS teacher/coach with young kids, and I was lamenting not being able to afford the Professional.  Don replied that it didn’t much matter which ball you played, as long as you played the SAME ball ALL THE TIME.


It was great advice then, and even better now because there are so many more options for premium multi-layer urethane golf balls, and in a pretty wide variety of prices.


I use the ProV1x; have for years now. As much as anything else, it’s because with any pro shop credit from a tournament, or any gift card I’m going to be able to get that ball.  I’ve “educated” my family and my in-laws to just give me gift cards instead of trying to shop, so I never pay full retail for ProV’s ever. 


If I was going to pay full retail, I think I’d probably go to either one of the Maxfli balls, or the Snell MTB-x.  But whatever ball it was, I’d play it ALL THE TIME. 

[DFarron]

Any evidence that unused premium golf balls deteriorate over a few years stored in an indoor closet?

Yes…..after 2 years they lose some distance

[A.G._Crockett]

Any evidence that unused premium golf balls deteriorate over a few years stored in an indoor closet?

Yes…..after 2 years they lose some distance

I don’t think this is correct; most things I’ve read say more like 10 years, assuming normal room temperature storage. 

[Mark Smolens]

Lou: There is absolutely no reason why a golf ball should deteriorate at room temperature so if you want to give them away I will send you my address and I will pay shipping.  My friend's son plays on the PGA TOUR and he is a Titleist pro and he gets balls that are not available to the public although the left dash and dot have expanded balls available to the public.  I remember a few years back Bridgestone made 6 different balls for Tiger to try which had no designation other than a number and he was able to point out the difference in each one including identifying the ball he was currently playing, balls that spun more, balls that flew higher, etc.  We have a Champions Tour event at our club each year and they bring in the ProV1s with Tour stamping on them.  I can tell you that we have Titleist practice balls that are not Pro V1s and if you go to the chipping area and practice with them you can clearly see how they play as compared to a ball like a Pro V1.  I follow Mygolfspy and their tests do demonstrate a difference in balls but in most cases premium balls are not significantly different in how they play and I don't know that the quality of one versus the other is significant enough to make a difference.

I was out walking a practice round at the Western Open many years ago with my buddy/pro Mike Hughes -- right around the time the Pro V1 and its ilk had come into being -- when we came upon an Aussie twosome of Stuart Appelby and Robert Allenby. Allenby's then-caddie Joey Damiani (sp?) used to work with Mike at PGA National, and next thing you know we're walking inside the ropes with the pros, listening to their conversations. The Bridgestone rep was with Appelby, testing prototypes. They got to the 6th tee and Stuart was hitting different models, unmarked, but numbered so the rep would know which one he liked. As I recall he was hitting 4 or 5 irons to a middle flag at about 230 yards or so. As he hit each ball, Appelby would say something like "no, that one's too soft, it will be 20' short." The ball would then land 20 feet short of pin high. When he hit the one he liked, it was "okay, that's the one, that will get there." And of course it did.


For me as an aging single digit handicapper, the ball model makes very little difference. That day at Cog Hill was an illustration for me, however, that the guys with their names on their bags are not playing the same game that I play.

[JohnVDB]

Ira, you're a perfect candidate for the two "French brands" of golf balls:


1. Pronounced Rohnge, The "Range" ball produces excellent results.


or,


2. Pronounced Prak-teece, The "Practice" ball is the preferred ball of Jean van DeVelde.


I heard that they dropped the "F-1" style designer striping a few years back, so alignment is easier now.

I guess I was wrong because I thought Prateechee was an Italian ball.

I can say with a large amount of inside knowledge that the Practice ball is the official ball of the USGA staff. 

[Niall C]

Any evidence that unused premium golf balls deteriorate over a few years stored in an indoor closet?

Yes…..after 2 years they lose some distance

As someone who is rapidly approaching their sixties, how do I know whether it is the ball or me that is losing ground ? 


Niall

[A.G._Crockett]

Any evidence that unused premium golf balls deteriorate over a few years stored in an indoor closet?

Yes…..after 2 years they lose some distance

Niall, I think deep down you’ve known the answer all along.
As someone who is rapidly approaching their sixties, how do I know whether it is the ball or me that is losing ground ? 


Niall

[AChao]

For most people, if you get the spin profile somewhat/mostly correct and mostly use the same ball ... you'll be good.