How Much Difference Does the Ball Make for Average Player?

[Darkfrog]

49 minutes ago, Larrh7 said:

I was just saying the average golfer doesn't need a ProV1.  

I would even say that unless you are a Titleist staffer getting paid to play them, you don't need to play Pro V1, since there are comparable balls at half the cost. Lately I have been using Snell MTB-X, Vice Pro Plus, and some Srixon Z-star (that I bought heavily discounted) and they are all good balls as far as I can tell.

A friend of mine will only play Titleist Pro V1. He buys them new, usually at the pro shop before a round at about $50/dozen. He's a 22-25 handicap, and probably loses 4-5 per round. But that's what he likes to play, and there is no convincing him otherwise.

[Billy Z]

Comparable for half the price? Wow, which ones?

Another question is, what is an average golfer?

I figure I may be somewhat avg in skillset, maybe a bit above, 12.6 cap. I will play a cheaper ball in the off season, just because I don't really concern myself with my scores as much as I do in the scoring season. Although, even this avg golfer plays a premium ball to obtain it's advantages. If a golfer loses balls during a round on a regular basis, I can see going for the cheaper ones.

 

[Darkfrog]

42 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

Comparable for half the price? Wow, which ones?

Both Snell and Vice have been compared to the Pro V1. Honestly, I only play Pro V1 when I find a nice one on the course, or in my lessons with a launch monitor so I can't make a direct comparison myself. I'm not at an ability level where I really need to dial in a specific ball.

Snell balls are great, IMO. You do need to buy when they have a sale, and in larger quantities to get lower prices. Last time I purchased Snells, they were $130 for 5 dozen, so $26/dozen. The regular price of $33/dozen is still pretty good for a Pro V1 comp.

I like Vice too. Last time I bought Vice, I think I paid $27/dozen.

I have tried Kirkland 3-piece balls. The original Kirkland 4-piece balls were supposed to be very close to the Pro V1, so much in fact that Acushnet filed a lawsuit. I didn't like the Kirkland 3-piece as much as Snell/Vice, but they are dirt cheap for urethane balls, and I still buy and use them for hitting into my net for practice. The covers also got beat up pretty fast.

I tried some Cut golf balls for around $22/dozen. I thought they were okay, but the covers would tear/scratch just by looking at them the wrong way.

[Billy Z]

56 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

Both Snell and Vice have been compared to the Pro V1. Honestly, I only play Pro V1 when I find a nice one on the course, or in my lessons with a launch monitor so I can't make a direct comparison myself. I'm not at an ability level where I really need to dial in a specific ball.

Snell balls are great, IMO. You do need to buy when they have a sale, and in larger quantities to get lower prices. Last time I purchased Snells, they were $130 for 5 dozen, so $26/dozen. The regular price of $33/dozen is still pretty good for a Pro V1 comp.

I like Vice too. Last time I bought Vice, I think I paid $27/dozen.

I have tried Kirkland 3-piece balls. The original Kirkland 4-piece balls were supposed to be very close to the Pro V1, so much in fact that Acushnet filed a lawsuit. I didn't like the Kirkland 3-piece as much as Snell/Vice, but they are dirt cheap for urethane balls, and I still buy and use them for hitting into my net for practice. The covers also got beat up pretty fast.

I tried some Cut golf balls for around $22/dozen. I thought they were okay, but the covers would tear/scratch just by looking at them the wrong way.

I had a $50 gift certificate at Indianwood pro shop to use, so yesterday I drove over and got a dozen ProV1's yellow and the total cost was $53 !!! Lol, so I gave them $3.oo and kindly went my way. Like you, I would not normally spend that kind of money for golf balls, as I can get like new balls from a local 'used golf ball outlet' for about $25/dozen ProV's, and about $22 for Zstars.

Raven Golf Ball Company

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Raven Golf Ball Company, Shelby Township, Michigan. 426 likes · 5 talking about this · 17 were here. Raven Golf Ball Company has been retrieving and...

 

[badbeatj]

I'm mid to high 80s and ball speed is 155-160 mph

Some of my friends play Kirkland performance + so I tested it against balls I usually play which are Bridgestone Tour B XS and Pro V1. 

Kirkland balls BS is slightly slower and feels harder on impact. 

With wedges, Kirkland actually spins more than the Bridgestones but the feel is  not good. 

Same with putting. 

I can safely say that if I did a blindfold test, I'd know which ball is which. 

Now if the question is would I score any differently? Probably not. 

 

The 3-4 mph ball speed difference on drivers  and the harder ball feel might translate to maybe a stroke? 

I think it's more to do with your head. 

For me though, I don't get to go out and play much so I use a premium ball because it feels better when I swing or putt. 

Now if the question was low spin cheap ball VS high spin premium, it definitely matters. 

There are times on a par 3 where I stuck a 150 yd shot on a right pin which was surrounded by water. 

Any other ball and I know it would have bounced 3-5 times into the water. 

That being said, I read LSW and now aim for middle of the green LOL

 

[Shorty]

1 hour ago, badbeatj said:

 

I can safely say that if I did a blindfold test, I'd know which ball is which. 

 

 

 

I would be prepared to bet any amount of money that you couldn't.

 

[Billy Z]

23 minutes ago, Shorty said:

I would be prepared to bet any amount of money that you couldn't.

 

Well if I can tell the difference between golf balls I hit off the driver I suppose anybody can. I'm not saying all of them, but some of them. Although it would be interesting to see a golfer hitting the ball blindfolded.

[badbeatj]

47 minutes ago, Shorty said:

I would be prepared to bet any amount of money that you couldn't.

 

Lol

Bridgestone Tour  B Xs VS Kirkland Performance +? 

LOL guaranteed I can... 

 

 

[Shorty]

20 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

Well if I can tell the difference between golf balls I hit off the driver I suppose anybody can. I'm not saying all of them, but some of them. Although it would be interesting to see a golfer hitting the ball blindfolded.

I would say that you can tell the difference between the sound and feel of the hardest, cheapest balls available or the softest, cheapest balls v the top balls. 

As for a double blind test of a range of balls for all types of shots, I would be surprised if anyone could be right most of the time. And I'm absolutely not saying they're all the same, but I would bet anyone any amount of money to feel the difference off the clubface of a ZStar, ProV1, ProV1X, Bridgestone Tour B XS. You aren't hitting the same shot every time with wedges and you aren't hitting the same part of the green.

I'm talking about the player, not the ball.

[badbeatj]

1 minute ago, Shorty said:

I would say that you can tell the difference between the sound and feel of the hardest, cheapest balls available or the softest, cheapest balls v the top balls. 

As for a double blind test of a range of balls for all types of shots, I would be surprised if anyone could be right most of the time. And I'm absolutely not saying they're all the same, but I would bet anyone any amount of money to feel the difference off the clubface of a ZStar, ProV1, ProV1X, Bridgestone Tour B XS. You aren't hitting the same shot every time with wedges and you aren't hitting the same part of the green.

I'm talking about the player, not the ball.

I see you were saying difference between Pro V1 and Bridgestone Tour B. 

That would be tougher but I do feel that Tour B seems softer? 

Am I right? 

I don't know the composition of the balls. But I have hit a ton of balls in the last couple of months

[Shorty]

5 minutes ago, badbeatj said:

Lol

Bridgestone Tour  B Xs VS Kirkland Performance +? 

LOL guaranteed I can... 

 

 

You can tell "slower BS"? I would love to know what "slower backspin" is, when compared to "faster" backspin?

I'm assuming you mean "backspin" when you say "BS". 

[iacas]

14 minutes ago, Shorty said:

You can tell "slower BS"? I would love to know what "slower backspin" is, when compared to "faster" backspin?

I'm assuming you mean "backspin" when you say "BS". 

Where are you getting “slower BS”?

2 hours ago, badbeatj said:

Kirkland balls BS is slightly slower and feels harder on impact. 

This? I’m not even sure what he means there. How can backspin be “slower”?

[badbeatj]

10 minutes ago, Shorty said:

You can tell "slower BS"? I would love to know what "slower backspin" is, when compared to "faster" backspin?

I'm assuming you mean "backspin" when you say "BS". 

Sorry ball speed. 

The Tour B's have faster ball speed yet feels softer.

Kirkland feels harder and ball speed is slightly slower. 

Backspin wise, Kirkland actually spins slightly more on full wedge shots. 

The only way I would know the difference however is that the Tour B's don't feel as hard on the hands and actually feels good as it comes off the face of the driver. 

[iacas]

Just now, badbeatj said:

The Tour B's have faster ball speed yet feels softer.

Kirkland feels harder and ball speed is slightly slower. 

Highly unlikely. Virtually every ball is at the limit of ball speed.

Sorry, but even Tour players can’t tell the difference just by hitting a few balls on the range. A 15 isn’t going to, either. Not between two balls in the same class.

I hit a Callaway SuperSoft the other day, and besides being bright orange, I could tell the difference between that and the Snell MTB Black I usually play, but those aren’t the same class of ball.

[badbeatj]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

Highly unlikely. Virtually every ball is at the limit of ball speed.

Sorry, but even Tour players can’t tell the difference just by hitting a few balls on the range. A 15 isn’t going to, either. Not between two balls in the same class.

I hit a Callaway SuperSoft the other day, and besides being bright orange, I could tell the difference between that and the Snell MTB Black I usually play, but those aren’t the same class of ball.

Are you saying you can't feel the difference between the 2 balls or can't tell the difference in ball speed? 

If you're talking about 2 balls in the same class, you're probably right. 

The topic of this thread however is not that. It's between a premium ball VS a cheaper ball so I was writing about my experience between a Bridgestone Tour B XS VS Kirkland Performance +

I only know the difference in ball speed from looking at the launch monitor. (no one would be able to tell a 3 mph difference between 157 and 160

The only thing I can feel is that one feels softer on impact.

Is that just in my head? 

[iacas]

I feel I was pretty clear in what I said. 🙂

You can’t tell the difference between balls in the same class. Not by just hitting a few.

Also, I thought we were talking about balls in the same class. I don’t play Kirkland, no Costcos nearby, so I thought the Performance+ was one of their premium balls.

I pretty clearly said I could tell the difference between a SuperHot and an MTB Black.

[Shorty]

2 minutes ago, badbeatj said:

 

The only thing I can feel is that one feels softer on impact.

Is that just in my head? 

It's a can of worms, but you're going to have to define "soft".

There's good soft and there's bad soft. Really shit soft balls feel even shittier on off centre hits. 

One thing you'll find is that if you are in the perfect impact position when you hit a ball - more rare than you might expect - almost any ball will feel OK. But no Tour player is hitting a distance ball on 17 at Sawgrass.

People mistakenly talk about the "soft" feel of forged irons (this topic has been done to death) and it's pretty much BS. Now that's not to say that a perfectly struck Miura or Mizuno doesn't feel fantastic. But.......so does a cast Ping or TM or Callaway.

[badbeatj]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

I feel I was pretty clear in what I said. 🙂

You can’t tell the difference between balls in the same class. Not by just hitting a few.

Also, I thought we were talking about balls in the same class. I don’t play Kirkland, no Costcos nearby, so I thought the Performance+ was one of their premium balls.

I pretty clearly said I could tell the difference between a SuperHot and an MTB Black.

Not to argue but you were clear in what you said

Highly unlikely. Virtually every ball is at the limit of ball speed.

 

That was the comment you wrote when I said I can feel the difference between a Tour B XS VS Kirkland Performance +

By commenting on what I wrote and starting your conversation in that manner is argumentative and  implies that  15 handicappers can't tell the difference between the 2 balls. 

You might not have meant this and meant you can't tell difference between balls in the same class but what you wrote does not convey that clearly