Time to upgrade but ball but oh man!?

[stealthhwk]

Tried every two piece and several three piece balls. Cant keep my longer approaches ( which is the majority of them) on the green. 8-w it stays on but rolls away from its landing spot. Anything longer it rolls off and into bunkers or water which is killing my scores. I prefer soft feel, Im on a budget, and I struggle with low ball flight. As long as the ball has high trajectory its not an issue. Urethane holds greens but i seem to have trouble launching them high enough to get good distance. Unless yall have some other ideas, Im gonna buy tf gamer tours as theyre cheapest, and work my way up the price ladder til Im happy or hit 35 a dozen. Im gonna miss my two piece for trajectory and feel but Im more interested in lower scores, so here goes nothin!

[Golfingdad]

I highly recommend the Snell "My Tour Ball." http://snellgolf.com/products/my-tour-ball/

It performs equally with ProV1, Chrome Soft, and all other premiums, and it's considerably cheaper.

[Shindig]

Second on Snell.  I've gone back and forth between the Bridgestone e6 and the Snell "Get Sum" ball for a while now.  When I next need to buy balls, it'll almost certainly be the Snell ones.  There's even a sampler pack if you can't decide which model.

[Patch]

The ball only does what the club face allows it to do. The club face only does what the golfer's swing allows it to do. 

I play Bridgestone balls when ever I can. That said,  I can't make any ball spin backwards and or stop when it hits the green.  I just don't have that technique. 

When I need a ball to stop close to where it lands, I hit a flop shot. My distance is still determined by club selection. The flop part comes from how much I open the club face, and the stance I take. 

[vangator]

I've said before that a golfer will never score unless they can get the ball to stop quickly on the greens.  You need to be able to throw the ball at the pin and have it stick.

If price is a problem, get some used balls.  I like the Volvik S3 because its a long ball that spins.  But they cost around $40 per dozen and I can't find used ones.  My second favorite ball is the Srixon Z-Star.  You can pick them up at Dick's for $30.  I got a dozen at Christmas for $25.  Excellent ball that spins.  Plus they come in yellow!

I picked up 4 Kick-X balls at the flea market in the $1 bin.  Heard good things about them.  They are long off the tee, but I can't get them to hold a green.  I'll save them for a scramble off the tee and replace them on the approach shot with a ball that spins better.

Edited February 12, 2016 by vangator

[Club Rat]

5 hours ago, stealthhwk said:

I struggle with low ball flight

No ball is going to help with "low ball" flight. Two things that might help would be finding clubs which get shots airborne or a better swing.

If your swing speed is low, softer flex shafts can launch the shot higher.

If your swing speed is fast and your still hitting low shots, then you may possible be playing the ball too far back in your stance.

 

[SavvySwede]

3 minutes ago, Club Rat said:

No ball is going to help with "low ball" flight. Two things that might help would be finding clubs which get shots airborne or a better swing.

If your swing speed is low, softer flex shafts can launch the shot higher.

If your swing speed is fast and your still hitting low shots, then you may possible be playing the ball too far back in your stance.

 

This was what I used to think. But I then I started a thread about it and learned that lower compression balls do launch higher. Not a huge difference obviously but something to consider. Based on what I know now, I'd say @stealthhwk would be best off with the Callaway Chrome Soft. Lower compression for higher launch and still has a urethane cover for the short game.

 

[Club Rat]

9 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

This was what I used to think.

Another thought. @stealth golfs in Texas. Could be on the "O'l Texas Hardpan", with tight lies and windy conditions which also create adverse effects.

A 22 handicapper leads me to think it's the swing mainly, versus a ball which needs changing.

I suspect he thins many irons.

[SavvySwede]

Just now, Club Rat said:

Another thought. @stealth golfs in Texas. Could be on the "O'l Texas Hardpan", with tight lies and windy conditions which also create adverse effects.

A 22 handicapper leads me to think it's the swing mainly, versus a ball which needs changing.

I suspect he thins many irons.

Low compression ball could at least save him from some pain if that is the case.

[vangator]

Chrome Soft is a good choice.  Also, a ball with more dimples will fly higher than a low dimple count ball.  Remember the Top Flite XL's that used to say "Low Trajectory" and "High Trajectory"?  It was dimple count.  However, high dimple count balls will also be affected by the wind more especially ballooning into a wind.  That's not good.  I've read where the hex dimple patterns and the dimple in dimple (like Bridgestone) iare great in the wind.  The S3 cuts through the wind like it wasn't there.

I'm an extremely low ball hitter.  My wedge goes about as high as most people's 7 iron.  I compensate by playing a urethane ball that will spin.  I find a lower ball is a straighter ball.

[Golfingdad]

55 minutes ago, vangator said:

Chrome Soft is a good choice.  Also, a ball with more dimples will fly higher than a low dimple count ball.  Remember the Top Flite XL's that used to say "Low Trajectory" and "High Trajectory"?  It was dimple count.  However, high dimple count balls will also be affected by the wind more especially ballooning into a wind.  That's not good.  I've read where the hex dimple patterns and the dimple in dimple (like Bridgestone) iare great in the wind.  The S3 cuts through the wind like it wasn't there.

I'm an extremely low ball hitter.  My wedge goes about as high as most people's 7 iron.  I compensate by playing a urethane ball that will spin.  I find a lower ball is a straighter ball.

Chrome Soft is a great ball, totally agree.  Unfortunately, it's not cheap.

Somebody else hinted above at used balls, and I think that is a good option for the OP as well, or anybody that wants to try out premium balls at less than premium prices.  I e bought from lostgolfballs.com in the past and had no troubles.  I believe that there are several other similar websites as well.

[stealthhwk]

9 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Another thought. @stealth golfs in Texas. Could be on the "O'l Texas Hardpan", with tight lies and windy conditions which also create adverse effects.

A 22 handicapper leads me to think it's the swing mainly, versus a ball which needs changing.

I suspect he thins many irons.

Dont thin many irons actually. But I DO live in Texas. Playing conditions in Texas are never soft at municipal courses. The environment produces a lot of my problems with spin. Only time greens are soft is after substantial rainfall and thats fairly rare around here. A day or two after significant rains, and I never have trouble spinning the ball and getting it to hold greens.

[stealthhwk]

Playing tuesday hopefully and Im ready to figure this out. So I got a double dozen of tf gamer tours for 35 at dsg. That makes it roughly 1.46 a ball. Which is about 40 cents cheaper than my non urethane callaway supersofts. This at least gives me a chance to test the theory. I have played the ball in the past and seem to remember being pleased so Im starting as cheaply as possible and Ill post back with results. We'll see if its the indian or the arrow. Thanks to all who replied. Good recommendations on where to go next.

[RussUK]

Do you guys in the States get the AD333 Tour? Its a decent 3 piece. sort of between the AD333 (still in production in the UK) and the Z star. 

Its very good by all accounts

[9wood]

17 hours ago, stealthhwk said:

Tried every two piece and several three piece balls. Cant keep my longer approaches ( which is the majority of them) on the green. 8-w it stays on but rolls away from its landing spot. Anything longer it rolls off and into bunkers or water which is killing my scores. I prefer soft feel, Im on a budget, and I struggle with low ball flight. As long as the ball has high trajectory its not an issue. Urethane holds greens but i seem to have trouble launching them high enough to get good distance. Unless yall have some other ideas, Im gonna buy tf gamer tours as theyre cheapest, and work my way up the price ladder til Im happy or hit 35 a dozen. Im gonna miss my two piece for trajectory and feel but Im more interested in lower scores, so here goes nothin!

What happens when you hit short of the green? Does your ball roll up onto the green and stop or does it go off the other side of the green? But I'm guessing you simply have to work on getting better loft. Also if your club head is too closed, that can result in less loft and more roll. Perhaps you might want to try opening the club face a bit and see if you get better results.

[stealthhwk]

14 minutes ago, 9wood said:

What happens when you hit short of the green? Does your ball roll up onto the green and stop or does it go off the other side of the green? But I'm guessing you simply have to work on getting better loft. Also if your club head is too closed, that can result in less loft and more roll. Perhaps you might want to try opening the club face a bit and see if you get better results.

When i land a bit short it either dies right where it lands or bounces on and stops. Its 50/50. Tried to land short and bounce up, but with it being a 50/50 it proved unreliable. Tried opening the face a little but that IS one thing I definitely dont have the skill for as it leads to a bladed shot or being way right of target. Found some unmilled wilson wedges that have a smart sole that looks to make that much easier but just bought new 588s so cant justify the purchase. Also its more of a long approach problem as Ive been trying more of a bump and run approach around the greens and have seen better success in tight with that shot. Its mainly when I dont get the ball quite high enough or have to hit 4,5, or 6 into the greens.

Another thing too is the ss i play just feels dead off the putter. NEVER thought Id say this but that ball just might be too soft altogether. The gamers felt amazing on the putting mat at home making it much easier to gauge speed. Didnt feel hard mind u, just solid.

[stealthhwk]

Just noticed the title of my own thread. Thanks to the type os, thats a pretty funny name for a thread. Lol! :)

[pganapathy]

A simpler suggestion might well be to take your set and go to a big store with simulators and try out the various golf balls and then figure out your launch angle with clubs and pick a ball accordingly.  You do need a good pro there to guide you, but even if you do need to pay a bit for that, it is worth it.  You get the ball without having to experiment with a dozen balls of each before finally lucking onto your ball