Which Golf Ball Should I play?

 

Which golf ball should I be playing is a question that I get quite often. My wife asks me this almost every time we play golf. There are a couple of important factors that come into this when I attempt to answer that question. It is not a "one size fits all" response.  

One of the first questions we need to explore is where are you in your journey with the game of golf?  Are you new to the game-we call this a newby-or are you a seasoned veteran? Do you fall somewhere in between these two categories. What is your swing like? Do you hit the ball straight and a country mile or do you struggle to get the ball airborne? Do you lose a lot of balls when you play golf?  I would add that if you were new to the game, but I know a lot of seasoned golfers who lose a lot of balls as well. 

You don't want the cost of a dozen golf balls to send you to the poor house if your balls disappear quite readily. Sometimes they do that on purpose, so you might consider using a less expensive ball and maybe ProV's don't fit your budgetary constraints. There are a good number of economically priced golf balls out there .  I would strongly recommend these less expensive, non-budgetary breaking balls for the newer golfer. There are still balls out there for under $20 a dozen and some even are 18 packs. Believe it or not, most of them are not that bad. I won't recommend a brand here, because there are so many, from Nitro (yuck) to Srixon, Callaway and Titleist. I am kind of partial to Dick's Sporting Goods as they have the Top Flite line and the Maxli line as well. 

OK boys and girls, are you ready for a bedtime story?  Well, it's really not a bedtime story and I am going to tell it to you anyway. How many of you have heard of the Precept ball?  Bridgestone Tire and Rubber Company wanted to get into the golf ball manufacturing business but didn't want to use Bridgestone for the name on their ball because they didn't want people to think that their ball was just a small tire. They came up with the name Precept, and it was a very good ball.

The rulers at Bridgestone/Precept wanted to offer women a lady's ball so they came out with what they called The Lady Precept. It was an exceptional ball and actually out performed their flagship ball. It went further and was very responsive around the greens. You could tell it was a lady's ball because the writing on it was a hot pink and it was sold in a pink box and the sleeves were pink.  After all, it was a lady's ball. 

An odd thing happened to the Lady Precept. Men discovered the ball and were buying it.  However, there was a bit of a thing in that men didn't want to be seen buying and playing a lady's ball. Sales of the ball went through the roof and it wasn't just women who were buying the ball. After a while, the ball became known as the "paper bag ball" because men would buy the ball and would insist that the ball be placed in a brown paper bag so that it would not be discovered that a guy was playing a lady's ball-after all, that could prove to be embarrassing to the average macho guy. 

So, what did Bridgestone/Precept do?  The solution was pretty simple.  They knew they had a great ball on their hands but had to come up with a creative solution to get the ball into the hands of guys and take away the stigma of playing a lady's ball. They changed the packaging and the name of the ball from "Lady Precept" to "Precept Laddie". They still made the Lady Precept and packaged it in its pink box with pink lettering, but the new "men's" ball, The Laddie, would be packaged in a new silver and green box and sleeves.  The printing on the ball was black and "Laddie" would be printed on the ball itself. This move was brilliant in that the ball was the same but now men were not hesitant to buy the ball. I used to play "The Laddie"  almost exclusively and it was a great ball.  They still make it, but I have switched to a different ball manufacturer because as Bridgestone transitioned to the Bridgestone name on its balls, they phased out the "Precept" name.

Let's move on here and talk about the seasoned player.  What ball should the experienced golfer play?  My answer to this is it depends o the individual golfer and what they like.  Let's not forget that golf balls are subject to the regulations of The USGA and Royal and Ancient Golf Association as far as the specifications of golf balls. Golf balls have to conform to the regulations set forth by these two organizations as far as ball statistics and performance. I can't hit their balls because of their Bridgestone logo on the balls.

There is not a whole lot of difference between premium balls. A ProV has certain subtle differences than say a Callaway or other premium ball but they all have to conform to golf ball specifications as set forth by the ruling bodies. The "Feel" of the ball is what most golfers go by.  How do you like the feel of the ball? Does it feel hard or does it compress and have a soft feel coming off the club?  How does it perform around the green?  What is the ball flight of a particular ball?  How does it feel coming off an iron shot?  Most golfers have personal preferences and choose a ball based upon those questions. 

Keep in mind that golf ball manufacturers spend a lot of money on the promotion of their golf balls. How much do you think they spend on sponsorships as far as the golf playing professional? What does Callaway pay Xander to endorse their balls? What about TV advertising. I would like to have 1000th of the money Titleist spends promoting ProVs.  It is a probably the finest ball out there and I have played the ball, but I cringe at the fact that I have to shell out over $50 for a dozen balls. Do I really have to help pay for Jordan to fill up his jet?  I have problem scraping up the cost of a fill up on my Hyundai Venue.

As I said, I don't play ProVs because of the price.  I also must admit that I am a bit of a golf ball prude.  When Nike came out with their ball, and it was a good ball, I couldn't play it because of the logo on the ball.  The same is true with Calaway balls.  I can't play Callaways and I have tried.  My eye just hates looking at that Callaway logo and how it is placed on the ball.  They make a great ball, I just can't hit it with that huge logo. I have the same problem as far as the logo on the ball as Taylormade and I have already mentioned Bridgestone. I have played Srixon, and I am not impressed as far as my game is concerned. All these brand name balls are great balls, I just don't like the looks of them as far as how  they set up for my eye.

Do I avoid Titleists? Actually, I don't.  Every now and then I will change up my routine and buy a dozen True Speed Titleists.  I was part of the developement program when Titleist brought out the prototypes and I was one of the first to buy one of those unmarked white boxes. I liked them and they performed well for me.  The feel was a little bit softer than a ProV and they did well around the greens in my short game. I do like ProV's as well, but at their price point I only buy them when I win on a huge lottery ticket or when I win big at the casino.

OK, it's time to do the great reveal.  What ball do I prefer to play?  I have always been a Maxfli man.  I played the ball that had the red dot on it and was a wound ball-I wonder how man of you know what I am talking about when I say wound ball? There is a history around Maxfli where Taylormade bought it and made it their low-end line and the balls didn't sell. The Maxfli line was sold off to Dick's Sporting Goods-as was Top Flite-and rescaled the ball to become an excellent high end, the Maxfli Tour X ball line that was economical and would compare quite closely to the ProV.  Testing has shown that the performance of the Maxfli Tour line can stand up to the ProV line.

PXG has entered the golf ball market.  I tried the original PXG ball and loved it.  The ball stops on a dime when hit on the green. I found that it was just a bit hard for my tastes and was not that much better than my Maxfli Tours.  I stayed with the Maxflis, although I played a couple of dozen PXGs. 

PXG has come out with a new ball, the PXG Tour X.  I fell in love with the ball immediately after hitting it. The ball was a noted improvement over the original PXG ball and the performance is a step above my Maxflis.  I will be playing this ball for a long time, but I still have a couple of dozen Maxflis to fall back on.

What is my advice as to which ball to play?  Try as many as you can and find one that fits your game and you like. 

 

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