What ball are you playing?

Equipment
#32

I tested gap wedge, 6 iron, and driver.

Spin numbers were pretty similar with the gap on swings at about 80% of full. Swing speed consistent. Ball speed higher with ProV1 and carry longer.

6 iron spin was about 300RPM lower on average with the Snell, but ball speed significantly higher, as well as carry much longer with ProV1.

Driver was a lot of the same as the 6 iron. Spin slightly lower with the Snell, but ball speed and carry greater with the ProV1.

The Snell, in my experience is a really good ball to control in the wind as it does keep spin down and allows you to control traj a little better. It may be one of those things where I still play them on really windy days, but the ProV1, for me, isn’t spinning at such a rate that it’s really necessary to abandon them on those days.

Again, the results I had that day were pretty shocking to me because after a full season playing with the Snells I didn’t feel like I had lost anything in performance. But 15 swings with each and the numbers came out what they did. I can’t really ignore that. Results likely not typical and I will probably do some additional testing. If/when I do I’ll put some more concrete data together.

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#33

I didn’t really notice a big difference either. I played Tour B X, TP5X, MTB-X and ProV1X last year. I felt like there were some differences, but nothing major. I’m not a big hitter though as my 6 iron maxes out around 180 carry and not 200 lol. The TP5X may have been longest off the tee, but seemed harder to check around the greens. My overall favorite was the Tour B X. I’ve always liked the ProV1X best, but I was bit disappointed as it didn’t seem noticeably better than anything else.

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#34

My used Pro V stash is getting pretty thin, but I’ll use whatever… Used a <-•Pro V1•-> from around 2009 in my last round and it was pretty solid tee to green. I haven’t purchased many balls and among the tour level balls, there isn’t a big enough difference in how they perform for me to justify sticking with one brand.

But I understand that playing a certain ball has some intrinsic value for some of you that provides confidence over a random found ball.

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#35

Found balls are no less consistent than my golf swing :wink:

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#36

I should say I don’t start rounds with found balls… once I’m in the trees a couple of times they make an appearance.

For rounds I’m playing “seriously” I want to play the same ball all day.

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#37

Super interesting. Thanks for sharing so much detail. I think the slightly lower spin plus I play in the wind frequently may be what is giving me a better perception of snell. I’ll have to take a fresh look.

There is an indoor range near my house that has a gcquad but it’s been basically closed for a year – i’m looking forward to having them open again. i’d love to get on one to see what my numbers look like and do some comparisons myself – hitting a ball for a few holes out on a course is not a great way to measure how good a ball is.

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#38

Yep, tournaments where the one ball rule is in play is about the only time for me

#39

I am playing Srixon Q-Star Tour this season. They are a bit softer feeling which I like, but they still spin just as much as a Pro-V1 for me with my wedges.

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#40

I use the Callaway Chromesoft X Triple Track. Paired with a Triple Track putter it feels almost like cheating when lining up a putt.

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#41

Have you kept statistics, do you know if it really helps? If it helps your confidence, its a good choice, but I’ve read a few studies that suggest lines don’t help most players make more putts.

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#42

I’ve never been able to line up the ball when it had just a single line. Having the three lines helps me a lot. What I find really good though is lining up the three lines on the ball with the identical three lines on the putter.

I naturally have a straight back and through putting stroke and if I have the lines on both the putter and ball lined up can start the putt consistently on that line. Of course still need to have picked the correct line and get the speed right.

I haven’t played enough rounds to be able to give any meaningful stats.

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#43

So fun story, true story… I’m basically waiting to see if the Costco ball 1. actually gets released in quantities large enough to play them all season 2. is actually a decent ball… It probably won’t be built for my needs (I like low spin, low launch)… but a quality 4 piece urethan ball for $15 a dozen is hard to pass up…

I’ll probably order the maximum amount allowed whenever they come up for sale (max 5 boxes) and either be completely done buying golf balls for the year, or putting in a late order to Snell and returning 4 dozen boxes to my local store.

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#44

I really liked the original 4 piece Kirkland ball. The 3 piece was just ok and seemed shorter hitting to me. I’ve started the year playing the 3 piece though as I don’t want to use the good balls I have yet.

1 Like
#45

yeah, I loaded up some of the 3 piece into the golf cart for times when I want to hit something decent but also not worry about losing it…

If the 4 piece ball is competitive with any of the top tier brands, I’ll likely play it all season… This assumes a number of things, but if all else fails, I can get 2 dozen Snell shipped here in a week.

#46

I grabbed 2 dozen of the Maxfli Tour X. They were $55 shipped for 2 boxes and then I had a $10 Dick’s coupon so I thought that was a good deal. I like the Bridgestone better, but I found the Maxfli to be good enough for me. We’re trying to get our pro shop to carry more balls than just Titleist and Taylormade, but most everyone just seems to want Titleist. I have $400 in credit from last year and there is nothing in stock and not much available lol.

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#47

I played the Maxfli for a bit last year… they are a perfectly fine premium golf ball… especially if you have a Dick’s coupon (which aren’t rare).

I have a hard time justifying the $45 a dozen for the major brands, but also don’t want to commit $120 to the buy three get 4 deal until I find try the Costco balls… It doesn’t REALLY matter, I don’t lose a ton of balls but if I can get a similar ball for a third of the cost it just makes sense…

I have no idea what I’d spend $400 of credit on… probably a driver shaft, honestly… not even sure if that’s an option… but I’d get a Ventus Blue and just call it a day (if I could)… or just buy my wife 8 quarter zips. She loves those things.

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#48

I bought my myself, my wife and my girls these really nice hoodies from our club that were $80 each, but I still have $400 left. I tried to order a TM putter, but I waited 3 months and then they said it was discontinued…although it’s back on their website? I have an Odyssey 7S putter I Iike, so I may order the Toulon version which is $450. I would order a high end shaft, but I was told they can’t do that. There are other things I could order, but most may not come in until June. It’s hard to find grips as the ship carrying tons of Golf Pride grips sank and Lamkin got overwhelmed with orders lol.

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#49

I was unaware of the grip shortage! Fortunately, I’m mostly done tinkering (not really, but it’s a comforting lie).

That’s weird they can’t order you a shaft… I haven’t done men’s day events in a bit, so I haven’t had shop credit to burn… Hopefully this year I’ll find out what I can and can’t spend it on!

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#50

Crabbers, that’s always a good investment. Planning ahead is important.

#51

I get that it’s a money thing for many guys and we do go through a lot of balls over the season but the golf ball is the one thing I use on every shot - I am not compromising on the trust and quality of my golf ball - it’s Pro V1x’s for me until I can’t hit it over 200 yards and I have 1 foot in the grave.

On good days it gets used 67-68 times and on bad days it gets used 80 times. I use my putter 26-36 times and no other club gets used more than 12-14 times as round. Even my glove gets taken off for putting but the ball is there for every shot.

Getting fit and optimized and spending $500 on a driver every year or two and then another $200-$300 for a hybrid that you hit 4 times a round doesn’t make sense to me if you are playing a sub-standard, discount ball or simply one that doesn’t fit their game just to save $1-$2 a round.

Many people pay $30 a round to ride and don’t blink at an extra beer at the turn or off the cart but refuse to pay up for a ball that fits their game.

Everyone is different but that is one place I won’t sacrifice.

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