I never felt much of a difference putting except going from Balata to Plastic. The balls I have putted are basically all urethane and for 40+ years I used only 3 putters, for about 5 years I used a Wilson 8802 I got from my uncle, then I played for 28 years with a 1975 Ping Anser (old habits are hard to break on the greens). I switched over 2 years ago to a TM Rossa Daytona 6 with the agsi insert. It’s basically a Kia Ma knock off from TM. Who is Kia Ma, well he taught Scotty Cameron. The insert is giving me a more consistent roll! My putter length is custom for me as I modeled my putting after Ray Floyd. So my putter length is 36.5 inches (I stand more upright, than bent over). I think the insert helps with YOUR FEEL. I liked the Daytona 6 for the look and performance and I just couldn’t see (and still can’t) spending $600 or more for a blade. The balls should all basically perform the same as far as roll on a green because you are not compressing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2NTzNi7LDE&t=256s …it’s the chipping and pitching you will find the difference in ball performance. I’ve never been good enough to perform the magic todays PGA level players do around the greens even when I was at the top of my game. So I just don’t see how a ProV1x or TPS5 is going to drastically alter my game…If that makes sense.
My favorite ball, ever, was Hogan Tour Deep. Buy, alas…
Now, my primary balls are Wilson Duo and On-Core Avant.
Never used either of those. I know I gained 15 yards going to the lower compression ball. Distance is everything to me at the moment. I have to get back to 250 or more consistently to compete against younger guys. On my home course that’s only 6150, accuracy is a premium on 6 holes. We have very severe doglegs get it out 200 or so then 120 in. Everyone is even steven on those. The longer straight par 4s are only 425, 430, 440, but if your only whacking 220 off the tee, it’s long bombs for approaches. If I can weasel out 250-260 I can get home with 7 or 8 iron. Then I can compete, I can’t compete when on every hole they have wedge in hand. So soft compression ball cheats me 12 yds, good swing mechanics gets me 240. I always played titleist, I liked the hogan tour 392s, I just never played them. Try the supersofts, they are reasonable in price and you might be surprised at the feel
I have to agree with you on this that it is really hard to tell much of a difference between premium balls when putting. The only ball that I noticed was pretty different with the short game was when I tried the Chrome Soft. I found that ball really squishy on long putts and couldn’t really get a feel for it. The X version I tried a sleeve of them and it was better but I just haven’t gone back. I am liking the Snell’s, I am generally a TP5x player though. I think they feel the same putting.
Awesome… I saw someone breaking down the feel on a putter on various urethane balls and I was curious if I was the only one who couldn’t tell the difference…
I’m tempted by the Bay Hill TP5Xs… they look sweet. I like the ball just fine, but if I’m going to spend money on a premium ball I go ProV or Bridgestone.
I’m probably going to buy 4 dozen Bridgestone if they have a 3 for 4 sale, which I’ve heard is coming… I’m also excited to try the Costco ball, but no idea when that is coming out.
I did buy 3 dozen get one free with the TP5x last year and they lasted almost the whole season for me. I don’t lose a ton of balls, and I guess that is relative to each individual and the courses you play.
There is one course up here that I have mentioned several times- The Shattuck- and its built on a marsh basically. It is very narrow target golf but fun at times in its own right. I don’t like to take the premium balls here because a good shot can still end in a lost ball quite easily and they add up.
My course is feast or famine for me… It’s fairly wide open, but then basically falls off into houses.
There aren’t 2 contiguous fairways on the entire course… Not much water, but plenty of OB.
If I’m wild, I move to Costco balls and call it a day!
I like supporting small businesses, so I tend to buy Snell… but I was CRUSHING the Bridgestone and liked it around the greens… so I might have to buy 4 dozen.
Just dropped $116 on a three pack of Bridgestone… going to give them a run for the beginning of the season… once I’m through them, it will be them, back to snell or Kirkland.
I am trying out Snell this year based on recommendations from this forum and price! I went with the “Get Sum” thinking that I’d like the extra distance and durability. I’ve noticed (though it is still early in the year and fairly cold here in Salt Lake City) that the distance and low spin are great with longer clubs, but really seem to have lost my ability to hold greens.
It could be just an anomaly since it is early in the year…but I may need to switch to the MTB Black or something else. Seems like a held greens better with my Srixon Soft Feel last year, but they were only good for a couple of rounds before being pretty dinged up.
I haven’t played a surlyn ball in some time… but I’d assume with hard greens and cold weather, you aren’t going to get them to stop quickly quite yet… If you need a cheap urethane ball, the Kirkland balls are basically impossible to beat.
They spin too much for me and cost me enough distance that I’m willing to spend the money on nicer balls… Even the Snells are more than double the price of the Kirklands, though… it’s an unreal price point.
I was waiting for the Kirkland 4 piece ($30 for 2 dozen, allegedly) and was planning on buying at least 5 boxes for $150 (10 dozen urethane balls… that’s still insane to me) but got frustrated waiting and I don’t know when they are coming out…
I probably should have just picked up 1 dozen of the Bridgestone, as that will last me a month at least… but I’m impatient and didn’t feel like factoring in the time value of money…
On the Brigestone side, I really like them, know which version I prefer and it was easy to get 3 dozen quickly… I haven’t tried the TP5X this season, but have heard good things…
I haven’t tried very many golf balls without a urethane cover that I like around the greens. I seem to recall there was a Top Flite Gamer that checked up decently and a Callaway HX Hot Bite (not sure I got the name right). Neither used urethane, but seemed decent. I only use a urethane cover ball now though. My club’s greens are too small and fast not to have a fair amount of check. I know I could practice with a Surlyn covered ball and figure it out eventually, but there are decent urethane cover balls on sale pretty regularly…well at least pre-Covid. I have been using Maxfli Tours lately.
Yeah, the Maxfli’s are a decent deal at only twice the cost of the Kirkland’s (I’m not being sarcastic here… it’s still SHOCKING to me how much cheaper the Kirkland balls are). I bought two dozen and liked them just fine.
In my opinion there are a couple of categories of Urethane balls:
Kirkland - Huge outlier… I think the quality is pretty good, and the price is unbeatable. I’m really curious to see if the 4 piece balls are any good. The more I talk about them the more I regret not waiting on their release… Oh well.
Snell / Maxfli - I think these are the “value” brands that make sense… They get there different ways, but both started with industry experience and have the chops to produce a competitive golf ball and the resources to sell them at a discount… $25-30 a dozen, and probably the best price to value there is if Coscto didn’t exist.
Vice / Cut / DTC that isn’t Snell: No real R&D or control over manufacturing… they have lower price points and make an OK ball. I haven’t actually played any of these and thus probably shouldn’t bad mouth them, but here we are… I think they are fine. Cheaper than the Snell but it seems like they are a drop in quality. Once again, Costco blows the curve… if you just want cheap urethane golf balls, buy Costco balls.
OEM golf balls: I’m not sure there is ever going to be a ProV2, but it seems like it would come from these guys… They have far greater control over the quality (though that doesn’t mean all their balls are good!) and they are all grouped in price… The 3 for 4 deals and the 3 dozen packs can get you some slight discounts, but these are going to be the most expensive… I think it’s worth testing them occasionally, and I’ve always gotten along well with the Bridgestone balls.
I decided today between spending $90ish on 3 dozen Snell and 116 on 3 dozen Bridgestone… for $26, I figured it was worth it and went with the major OEM… I’m going to give it a number of rounds (hopefully more than 36) and see how I like the balls.
I’m focused on lowering my handicap this season, so spending some extra money on a ball that I think will perform better for me makes sense… i’m chasing any incremental improvement I can find.
I don’t know much about Kirkland - thank you for all the info. I don’t seem to see any in yellow (easier for me to watch with my bad eyes)…do you know if that is an option?
I did like the Srixon and may go back to their Ionomer cover, but perhaps will try some Urethan too.
Kirkland does not come in yellow. Sorry!
A number of years ago I signed up to be a Titleist ball tester. In your profile, you list your current ball preference, in my case, Titleist NXT Tour or Bridgestone RX, and they sent you an unmarked sleeve of comparable balls. You had to report your findings with regard to differences in distance, launch height, green stopping, putting softness, etc. This was a very difficult evaluation to do since the variation in my swing was larger than the difference between the balls under test.
I would occasionally have my playing partners hit the same A/B test balls to see if they could determine any difference. Even though they are more consistent players than me, the result was the same – very difficult to tell apart.
I thought Titleist’s purpose for doing this was two fold: primarily as a marketing effort to keep you engaged with their products and secondarily to see if their product changes could be detected.
My take away is that it is extremely difficult to differentiate between any golf balls within category.
Honest grip on reality! Based on your comment, I’m going to try some of those soft balls. (I’m your age, and don’t get anywhere near 260) Considering the cold weather, I’m hoping that will also help as I really notice the difference in yardage when it gets down to the low 40s. Everyone has to play their OWN game, the pros are fun to watch but I’m not going to try to copy them.
A couple of things, that bear repeating. I guess it was 4 years ago now, I got into a serious car accident and had to not touch a club for 2 years. Prior to the accident, I was a 4.7 hdcp, I was fairly consistent with my driver distance 245-260. Last year my doc cleared me to play and I found I had lost 40-50 yds off my tee balls. Prior to the accident I played ProV1. This year doc gave me full clearance and I was able to begin practice, analyze my swing and see what was going on. I began a process of rebuilding my swing as alot has to do with swing mechanics and timing being way off. It was very difficult to get trackman time because of pandemic shut our trackman room down. Jon sold me a PRGR and I purchased a net this year and recorded my swing and from there began process. I did switch to supersofts by Callaway, the lower compression worked well with my swing speed. Prior to accident my numbers avg 98-101, Ball speeds of like 140 and SF of over 1.40. When I started rebuilding, my swing speed had deteriorated to 84-87, ball speeds of 120ish and distances of 210-218 Max. So there it is. In Feb, I started piecing together my mechanics. I hit 200 balls a day, for 60 days, plus recording, plus upper body exercises targeted at increasing the speed I could unwind from proper position and I could finally start pushing my ass into the ground. All that work has gotten me back to currently 238-247 without pushing the envelope, but I can now swing uncontrolled and get SS of 120. I would break my spine swinging that hard all the time. Also, I have been able to achieve Smash Factors now consistently over 1.42-1.47. It’s just not the ball. It’s dedication. Not digging out of dirt but more burning up the mat. Distance is achieved by proper swing mechanics period. You may not get Dustin Distance but LPGA distances are achievable by us old farts. Get your swing analyzed, practice, and do so with a purpose. Get fitted for a proper shaft and proper length shaft. The driver head matters not IMO. Put in the work and you will achieve results it’s that simple. I wish you luck and I do apologize for the long winded response. There really is no magic bullet for distance, not a club, not a ball, not shoes. Shafts play a huge role in maximizing distance and that is the extension of the fulcrum. But at the end of the day it’s proper mechanics and work.
MJTortella, I found your long winded response very interesting. I agree with so much of what you say.
Shaft is the big factor, ball will come down to ‘feel’ and ‘confidence’ as long as it is of reasonable quality! When you find a ball that works, stick with it. It’s like a putter, usually it will be user error!
I have an XR16 pro driver, over 5 years old, but change of shaft keeps it working just fine.
Swing speed is down to good mechanics, but can definitely be increased with SuperSpeed training. Been doing it religiously for 5 months and it works!!!
I am doing speed sticks and this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8ld0M_n_4 The sticks do work, I was surprised, like I can pick up 5MPH after a workout b4 I hit the course…better than the range!
I loved the Kirkland 4-piece ball and wish I had bought more. I played those for over a season and they performed as well as anything for a low price. I liked the 3-piece ball as the price was lower still, but it didn’t perform as well for me. I found it significantly shorter off the tee although still good around the greens. I haven’t tried the newer version, but obviously the price is still great. I thought about getting more, but I would prefer to spend a bit more for the distance (Maxfli’s cost me ~ $22.50 a box). If I didn’t care about cost I’d probably buy the Bridgestones. I played the 2019 Tour B X last year and it was my favorite of all the balls I tried.