Are You "Loyal" to One Golf Ball?

[xrayvizhen]

I'm probably an outlier, but I have so many brand new balls in boxes from a variety of companies, there's no way I could be devoted to one brand. Presents, free sleeve samples handed out at big box stores, boxes of balls won at various company golf outings, etc. Plus, I'm not adverse to reusing found balls as long as they're in decent condition. Also, when my swing goes haywire, as it has recently, I hate staring down at a brand now Pro V1. All I see at that moment is a five-dollar bill with the real potential to go sailing off into the woods so that's usually when the found balls get put on the tee. 

[phillyk]

As a Srixon staffer, I mainly use the z star xv. However, the -prov1x is a really good ball for my game. If I find other balls, I give them away to friends. 

[The Flush]

If my ball was loyal to me, I would be loyal to it. But it only goes where I hit, not where I want it to go, so I see no reason for loyalty.

[gbogey]

I'm a HUGE believer in being golf ball loyal and really believe that anyone who's serious about golf (or too serious about golf like me) should use the same ball all the time.

For the last 10 years or so I've played Bridgestone RX. As part of trying to break out of an extended slump, I decided to try some new balls out. Now I know that the slump was caused by the golfer and not the balls or the clubs, but I have decided that either the newest version doesn't play as well around and into the green or more likely, the Bridgestone is not the best ball for the courses at my club since my move last year. 

Regardless, I'm now between Srixon Z-Star Diamond or a Z-Star. I think I like the Diamond better, but it doesn't come in yellow and I sometimes struggle to see a white ball. 

[deadon500]

I have played Bridgestone balls for about 12- 15 yrs.      4 to 5 types the last 3 yrs. I play the E6 its the ball I know and trust.................

[NHpro]

Top-flite Gamer.

Edited December 2, 2024 by NHpro

[03Bird]

Yes. I believe in using the same ball all of the time, including chipping and putting practice.

I use the orange Callaway Supersoft.  Only $25 per dozen, and sometimes on sale for $20.

[HitemHard]

I am loyal to the same ball for as long as the model is current. If they change the specs of the ball, I'll give some other balls a try and decide from the results. I'm in the process of switching out of the ProV1x into the ProV1 in an attempt to reduce spin off my driver. I've played many different brands over the years but stay with a single ball for as long as possible during a season or two. I also commit to chipping and putting only with my gamer as well. It's not just a feel thing but to learn how the ball reacts from different lies and different shots. 

[NHpro]

On 12/13/2024 at 6:25 PM, HitemHard said:

I am loyal to the same ball for as long as the model is current. If they change the specs of the ball, I'll give some other balls a try and decide from the results. I'm in the process of switching out of the ProV1x into the ProV1 in an attempt to reduce spin off my driver. I've played many different brands over the years but stay with a single ball for as long as possible during a season or two. I also commit to chipping and putting only with my gamer as well. It's not just a feel thing but to learn how the ball reacts from different lies and different shots. 

Same here, good advice.

[Bluefin646]

Interesting that no one is gaming the maxfli tour, whether the Tour, the S, or the X….it’s a quality urethane ball and a mid-level price sub $30 / dozen….and Maxfli Tour players out here….I will be playing it next summer as I just stocked up on them….4 dozen for $110 and Dicks has the occasional spend $100, get $20 off which drops it even lower…so far my preference is X just slightly ahead of Tour, and the S trailing pretty far behind…Like many of you, I have played many different balls over the years and trying to dial in a ball / price combo that works…so far the Maxfli Tour and Tour X are my front runners.  
 

fyi, so far, dick’s is not paying me any promo / nil money, lol.

 

Happy New Year Y’all!

Edited December 29, 2024 by Bluefin646

[retoid]

On 7/13/2024 at 10:25 AM, Vinsk said:

I don’t think it matters period. Well, I should say there is only recognizable differences among the extremes. If you play with a good ole Pinnacle rock ball compared to a Chrome Soft you’ll see differences in green activity. I don’t deny there are changes period …I just don’t buy how those changes aren’t negligible. ‘Oh…I gain 0.025 strokes with this ball.’ ‘I hit that ball 1.4yds further on average.’ I mean, it’s fun to throw those numbers out there and delve into the hobby…but that’s really all it is; entertaining.😃

I agree with you, at least in regards to myself and playing. I can't really speak much for others. I assume that some people who are playing golf very often can notice more drastic differences.
That being said, I do notice some differences here and there and sound and feel definitely have some say in which ball I end up liking. But that seems more psychological than physical.
I've only been playing golf regularly for a year now and I'll play almost any ball since I often lose balls. However, since I've been able to get out once a week for a while now, I am down to losing only about 2-3 balls from losing 10-14 per round. Which feels huge for me and so I've begun to narrow down the balls I choose to play with.
I've gone through a box of Vice Pro Plus, Vice Pro, Sugar, Titleist DT Trufeel and Kirklands. Bought a bucket of 350 used balls which had a majority of Srixon Soft Feels in there. I decided to give the Soft Feels a try and have really been enjoying them quite a bit. Only yesterday did I hit a Pro V1 for the first time and it felt quite nice. However, that all being said, I have to admit, I've played my best overall with Vice Pro Plus balls. I get the most distance from these balls and am able to hit them quite well. I am not sure on green side spin/grip, I think I'd prefer them to check up a bit more. But I believe one really big factor for me with these balls is that I usually club down when hitting them because I gain so much distance off of them and I also tend to bring my swing speed down which causes me to have a more accurate swing and ball strike. As opposed to trying to whack the snot out of the ball each time, which ends up in a slice 75% of the time.
I do love testing out new balls though, sound and feel is always fun to experience.

[NZ Golfer]

when I go for a practice round I just play whatever ball I have thats not my new prem balls TP5-PROv1 etc ... surprising how good they can play like these new pinnacle super soft I got for free ..  

[MrSteven37]

Nike RZN Tour Platinum. Best ball I've ever used and I wish I could play them for the rest of my life, but I'm down to about 30 stock.

[Elmer]

Played Bridgestone E6 for years.
I was lucky because my father mowed the lawn at a local course, so he game me all the golf balls I needed.
When i ran out of E6, I moved on to E12.

However, at the beginning of this year the first ball I pulled out of my bag was a Vice Tour Pro.
It did me well.
So for time since I started playing golf 20 years ago, I bought a dozen!

[ChetlovesMer]

On 12/31/2024 at 8:23 PM, retoid said:

I agree with you, at least in regards to myself and playing. I can't really speak much for others. I assume that some people who are playing golf very often can notice more drastic differences.
That being said, I do notice some differences here and there and sound and feel definitely have some say in which ball I end up liking. But that seems more psychological than physical.
I've only been playing golf regularly for a year now and I'll play almost any ball since I often lose balls. However, since I've been able to get out once a week for a while now, I am down to losing only about 2-3 balls from losing 10-14 per round. Which feels huge for me and so I've begun to narrow down the balls I choose to play with.
I've gone through a box of Vice Pro Plus, Vice Pro, Sugar, Titleist DT Trufeel and Kirklands. Bought a bucket of 350 used balls which had a majority of Srixon Soft Feels in there. I decided to give the Soft Feels a try and have really been enjoying them quite a bit. Only yesterday did I hit a Pro V1 for the first time and it felt quite nice. However, that all being said, I have to admit, I've played my best overall with Vice Pro Plus balls. I get the most distance from these balls and am able to hit them quite well. I am not sure on green side spin/grip, I think I'd prefer them to check up a bit more. But I believe one really big factor for me with these balls is that I usually club down when hitting them because I gain so much distance off of them and I also tend to bring my swing speed down which causes me to have a more accurate swing and ball strike. As opposed to trying to whack the snot out of the ball each time, which ends up in a slice 75% of the time.
I do love testing out new balls though, sound and feel is always fun to experience.

Here's something to try. (I did this about 3 years ago. I found it fascinating.) 

Get 5 PROV1's (don't care which exact kind) Get 5 Titleist Velocity Golf Balls. Have a friend set up all 10 balls about 10 feet or so off the green. Have the friend set them up so that the Titleist is pointing up. So, you can't tell which is a velocity and which is a PROV1. (in reality this only really works with the yellow version. The white Velocities are a lot shinier than the white PROV1's, but have your friend try to disguise them as best you can. Giving each ball a similar lie.) Then chip all 10 balls toward the same hole and have your friend record where they come to rest. 

I did this very test a couple of years ago and I found that the Velocities came to rest about 11-12 feet on average farther away then did the PROV1's. As a matter of fact the shortest chip I hit with the Velocity was about the same as the longest chip I hit with the PROV1. 

If I hit them with the driver, I doubt I'd notice much of a difference. But when chipping there was a huge difference. (BTW - Putting was the same way.) 

I'm not sure it matters which one you play. I mean you would eventually get used to how far the Velocity rolls out and how far the PROV1 rolls out and you'd adjust accordingly. But one thing I can tell you for sure is that if you're short sided, it's easier with the PROV1. 

I'm not sure I can tell a PROV1 from a PROV1x. Or even a Titleist Tour-Soft from a Callaway SuperSoft or a Taylormade Tour Speed Soft. But I can definitely tell a difference between a PROV1 and a Velocity. ... So can you. I equate it to fine wine. There are folks out there who can tell the difference between a very good wine and an exceptional wine. I'm not one of them. But I can tell the difference between an exceptional wine and a cheap wine. ... Again, so can you. 

[Shindig]

I have been thinking of this a fair bit lately and I'd like to hear others' thoughts on where I am.

I started using the Snell Get Sum in 2016 or so.  It's a great ball.  At some point, I think in 2017, I bought six dozen.  I really like the ball.  They were very good to me for a while;  they're the ball I used in each of my first two sub-80 rounds, one of which was my so-far-only no-sixes round.  In fact, I'd say they were never not good to me.

In mid-2022, I (thought -- see below) I was about to run out, and went to buy more;  it turns out they had run out too.

At the time, I found in my closet a dozen Nike One Vapor Speeds, and I figured those were a decent substitute for a while.  A ball can often last 36-54 holes for me;  I don't lose a ball often, and the only time I insist on starting with a new ball is a tournament round (I haven't played a tournament in over three years now... I should fix that), and I have no problem using a ball I played in a tournament in a follow-up casual round.  So that dozen lasted a bit, although I was playing tournaments frequently in that era.  I miss those days.  

When (I thought -- see below) those ran out, Snell was still showing no supply for Get Sum, and I was in Costco with a friend and bought a dozen Kirkland.  Those played well enough, and I ended up asking them to buy several more for me (yes, I paid them for this).

Meanwhile, I recently was cleaning out a closet and found that I still have a dozen Get Sum[1].  I also found another sleeve of the Nike One Vapors and two dozen of some other Nike balls (when did I acquire any 20XI? Maybe they were a gift.  I think there's a dozen RZNs in there too).  And two sleeves of MTB for some reason.

(Hmmm, as I was typing out this post, I put some music on YouTube and an ad for Snell MTB came up;  someone is telling me something)

So, in conclusion, I was loyal to a ball, and I think I will be again.  Snell has Get Sum back in stock (probably has for a while, but I didn't play much in 2023-24), and their ball suggestion tells me to try their 3.0.  I haven't bought golf balls in ages, so I experienced a bit of sticker shock, but now that I think of it, $3/ball isn't that bad.  Adjusted to give a dollars-to-real-dollars comparison to what I used to pay, it isn't much more, and for the most part, balls last me 2-3 rounds.  For what I pay for golf, and I do have a golf budget anyway, I should be playing the right ball for my game, if not now, then at least in the not too distant future.

On the other hand, it also feels wasteful to me to not use up my supply.  I have plenty of never-been-used, perfectly good golf balls sitting around that aren't a misfit.  If they were TopFlite Strata or something, I might feel differently.  I have enough good-condition-but-I-won't-use-these balls that I use as "range balls" for my home practice anyway -- if I had very few of those, I might just repurpose this and have a Kirkland range or something.  Maybe it's an old mentality of mine;  my first six years of playing golf were in graduate school, and I had to be very careful with my money -- not that I'm not careful with my money today, many years removed from graduate school.  

And then (and here I'm not sure if this is the first hand again or if there's some mutation going on), a friend of mine insists that the Kirkland balls cost me distance, and even got me some Bridgestone e12s to use;  anecdotally, it feels like I do hit those a bit further.  Maybe I should ask ShotScope for a feature where I tell them which ball I played which round, and then I can compare SG in rounds across balls.  That's the sort of experiment I had hoped to get some anecdotal evidence for yesterday (different story).  I care more about SG than distance, but I recognize of course that distance is an important component of having more strokes gained.   I know that a ball that goes 20 yards past another, with otherwise similar characteristics, is not just longer, it's worth more SG.  

And, at least at some point, I think Snell was a sponsor for TST, and that's the sort of thing that does get a positive view from me.

In any case, I want your thoughts on this if you'll share.  If you were in my situation, would you use up the supply and then go back to figuring out what I want to play?  Or would you do something else?

(and it's probably a topic for another thread if the Kirkland I have are actually good or not, along with whether I'm going to play Get Sum or Snell 3.0 upon a switch)

[1] See, kids, keeping your rooms clean can be a good thing!  If I had kept my rooms clean and organized, I might not have had to experiment with the switch.