Golf ball prices over time

[Thomas Dai]

Featheries were seemingly extremely expensive when they were the ‘ball’ used. Apparently way, way, way more expensive than say a new club. Same with other types of ball that came along whether they were gutties etc. And early period wound balls were pretty expensive too.

These days a golf ball costs pretty much peanuts in comparison to even say a pretty cheap golf club and losing a ball these days is relatively no big deal. Cannon fodder (literally given 460cc drivers!).

But back in time the cost to replace a ball that’s just been lost in the rough or the woods or wherever was relatively very expensive.

Is this one reason why back in the day fairways were usually mowed much wider than these days?

Atb

[Kyle Harris]

Featheries were seemingly extremely expensive when they were the ‘ball’ used. Apparently way, way, way more expensive than say a new club. Same with other types of ball that came along whether they were gutties etc. And early period wound balls were pretty expensive too.

These days a golf ball costs pretty much peanuts in comparison to even say a pretty cheap golf club and losing a ball these days is relatively no big deal. Cannon fodder (literally given 460cc drivers!).

But back in time the cost to replace a ball that’s just been lost in the rough or the woods or wherever was relatively very expensive.

Is this one reason why back in the day fairways were usually mowed much wider than these days?

Atb

Never thought about your last point but it does make a degree of sense.

I've thought about the increase in cost in golf balls in my time in golf (since 1996) and I don't think it's really been all that bad? Tour Professionals back then were $3/ball and not nearly as durable as the ProV1 is today.

The low end has largely stayed the same.

[Adam Lawrence]

Featheries were seemingly extremely expensive when they were the ‘ball’ used. Apparently way, way, way more expensive than say a new club. Same with other types of ball that came along whether they were gutties etc. And early period wound balls were pretty expensive too.

These days a golf ball costs pretty much peanuts in comparison to even say a pretty cheap golf club and losing a ball these days is relatively no big deal. Cannon fodder (literally given 460cc drivers!).

But back in time the cost to replace a ball that’s just been lost in the rough or the woods or wherever was relatively very expensive.

Is this one reason why back in the day fairways were usually mowed much wider than these days?

Atb

Gutties were extremely cheap compared to featheries. That's why the invention of the gutty sparked the first great golf boom. The gutty was invented in 1848; in 1850, before its effects started to be felt, there were seventeen golf clubs and societies in the British Isles; by 1890, this number was 387, playing over 140 separate courses, and the game had, in tiny numbers, begun to expand across the world.

[Jim_Coleman]

   When I was a kid in the ‘60’s, a top of the line ball cost $1.25 and could only be bought in a pro shop. $100 in 1965 is worth $975 today. I’d say golf balls are pretty cheap these days.

[Mike_Trenham]

   When I was a kid in the ‘60’s, a top of the line ball cost $1.25 and could only be bought in a pro shop. $100 in 1965 is worth $975 today. I’d say golf balls are pretty cheap these days.

If a balata golf ball lasted one round on average in 1965 you probably were doing pretty good.  Most clubs probably averaged 20,000 rounds.


$1.25 x 20,000 = $25,000


9.75 x $25,000 = $243,750


It was good to be a club pro in 1965. 


My father also tells me the new prices for golf balls would come out the same week and by some coincidence the percentage increase would be exactly the same for each brand.

[David_Tepper]

Tennis balls have also stayed quite cheap relative to inflation. When I owned a tennis shop (1973-77) I sold a can of balls for $2.25. These days you can buy a can for around $4.00, which not much of an percentage increase over 50 years.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Did mowing exist on golf courses when featheries were still the primary ball?  Wasn't that the job of the sheep rather than the maintenance crew?

[Adam Lawrence]

Edwin Budding invented and patented the first lawn mower in 1830. So I presume there was not a lot of mowing going on in the feathery era. Remember that golf was originally essentially a winter game, because the grass on the links was short.

[Mike_Clayton]

Presumably it's a lot cheaper to make today's ball versus a 1980s balata?
Get them into the game with cheap balls and then sell them (Aust $) $1000 drivers (when they make a new model every year promising more yardage and faces you can hit anywhere) and $750 putters.

[Adrian_Stiff]

   When I was a kid in the ‘60’s, a top of the line ball cost $1.25 and could only be bought in a pro shop. $100 in 1965 is worth $975 today. I’d say golf balls are pretty cheap these days.

In the UK when I started playing the main balls were either Dunlop 65 or Slazenger Plus (exact same)  they were 29p in 1973[size=78%]Slaz Star, Penfold Ace were a few pence cheaper. Titleist were 55p.[/size]

[Paul Rudovsky]

My memory is that premium balls were $1.25 per ball from the late 50's until after the '80's...having stayed the same price thru Jimmy Carter's inflation.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Found a feedback post on Titleist Canada's web site from 2012: https://www.titleist.ca/teamtitleist/team-titleist/f/golf-balls/18405/price-of-golf-balls

October 25, 2012 at 03:08 PM
 I was just looking over the golf balls, and noticed that Titleist rose the price.  $62 for a dozen golf balls???  That is crazy.  I noticed though that the price of each golf ball went up as well.  Now I know that the economy is effecting the prices, but it is a bit ourageous.

The current price on Titleist Canada's website is $73.  So that is inflation of 17.7% over the last 12 years.  The CPI index in Canada is up 33.1% over that period.  So balls have been up much less than inflation over this period.

[Thomas Dai]

Interesting thoughts.
As an aside, if you only own 1 ball how would that affect the way you’d like a course set-up width etc wise?
Atb

[Carl Johnson]

Dai: "Is this one reason why back in the day fairways were usually mowed much wider than these days?"

I have no way to know.  In my experience, today, fairway width, narrowing, has more to do with the desire to make courses more difficult, to get the ratings/slopes up for prestige purposes, and to try to get handicaps up for competitive purposes.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Price increases seem wild to me.  It might be because my first golf ball of choice (or financial necessity at 12) was the PO-DO from Walgreens.