Are expensive golf balls worth it?

[Maddog10]

Expensive balls are worth it to me, but not to the point of paying full price. I go on eBay and buy AAAA Pro-V1's and can usually get them for just over $1 a piece. I just picked up 25 4A Pro-V's for $30. Some you can see have had slight use (no cartpath marks or scrapes), but most look brand new and just have company logos or player markings on them. If you can deal with that, it's a great way to get a good ball at a cheap price. Yesterday I played a ProV that did not have the slightest blemish, looked brand new, but had a FedEx Cup logo on it. Basically a brand new ProV for $1.20.

In the past I have bought a dozen new Pro-V's at the beginning of the year to use as tournament balls and use the 4A's for practice balls, but seeing that there is such little difference between the two I have stopped paying those jacked up prices.

[WUTiger]

If you are making good contact and want a bit more stopping power, you might switch from D2.Distance to D2.Feel. I have used D2.Feel in the past, and upgraded to TopFlite Gamer. But, I may go back to D2.Feel until next spring.

The expensive balls spin more, which means more hook spin and slice spin for average golfers. This side spin helps you go really deep into the rough on off-center hits. Basically, they cost more and are easier to lose because of the spin.

[Golfingdad]

I'm sort of bending the topic a tad here, but does anybody have any strong opinions about Srixon balls?  They have Z-star ($45), Z-star XV ($45) and Q-star ($25).  At least the first two would certainly qualify as "expensive."  I have a gift card to Dicks to spend and I need new golf balls.  I've never tried Srixon and thought if anybody liked them, maybe I'd give them a shot. :)

[nick1998bunker]

I'm sort of bending the topic a tad here, but does anybody have any strong opinions about Srixon balls?  They have Z-star ($45), Z-star XV ($45) and Q-star ($25).  At least the first two would certainly qualify as "expensive."  I have a gift card to Dicks to spend and I need new golf balls.  I've never tried Srixon and thought if anybody liked them, maybe I'd give them a shot. :)

I hit some and if I remember they are very soft. Too soft for me. But I think there are better balls for the same price. Bridgestones are probably the best for their price

[saevel25]

They're a good golf ball, the premium golf balls are similar to other premium golf balls.

I think the best bang for your buck is the Callaway hex Chrome and Chrome +. They are 30-35 per dozen, but play like a 45-50 dollar golf ball. I haven't played a cheaper golf ball in a long time, so I can't say about other golf balls.

[Golfingdad]

I hit some and if I remember they are very soft. Too soft for me. But I think there are better balls for the same price. Bridgestones are probably the best for their price

[quote name="saevel25" url="/t/70331/are-expensive-golf-balls-worth-it/30#post_906676"]They're a good golf ball, the premium golf balls are similar to other premium golf balls.  I think the best bang for your buck is the Callaway hex Chrome and Chrome +. They are 30-35 per dozen, but play like a 45-50 dollar golf ball. I haven't played a cheaper golf ball in a long time, so I can't say about other golf balls.  [/quote]Because they were all on sale, I decided to grab a dozen each of Bridgestone B330-S, Nike 20 XI, and Titleist NXT tour S. :)

[nick1998bunker]

Because they were all on sale, I decided to grab a dozen each of Bridgestone B330-S, Nike 20 XI, and Titleist NXT tour S. :)

How do you like the 20xi I was going to get some

[Golfingdad]

How do you like the 20xi I was going to get some

I dont know. I just bought them a couple of hours ago ;) but ill let you guys know after I've had a chance to try them out. Hopefully this weekend.

[Strandly]

Dick's had Callaway Diablo Tour balls on sale here, 2 dozen for $35.  I picked up a couple boxes, will see how they go.

[JCRuzanski]

I'm going to agree with the use the same ball camp... I think it's more important than which ball.

[GingerGolfer]

I think it's all personal preference. To me it comes down to how soft the ball is usually. When I putt I really like a ball that is soft feeling so I usually go with a softer ball, which in some case can be cheaper, they usually are more control oriented and spin more than a harder ball.

[Golfingdad]

Nobody's really mentioned the $$$ angle to this yet.  We're talking about whether or not a ball is "worth it" based on how we play, but that's only half of it.  If you are a retired millionaire with nothing better to spend your money on, and you're a 30 handicap that would only benefit maybe 0.5 shots per round, then I'd argue that expensive balls are absolutely worth "it" to you, because "it" is a drop in the bucket.

On the other hand, if you're a high school player hovering around a 3 handicap, however, your parents require you to fund your own game, then maybe you're better off being a 4 handicap with top flite gamers and a girlfriend who you can afford to take to the movies on the weekend, rather than being a 2 handicap with no friends and an addiction to online porn.

[nick1998bunker]

Nobody's really mentioned the $$$ angle to this yet.  We're talking about whether or not a ball is "worth it" based on how we play, but that's only half of it.  If you are a retired millionaire with nothing better to spend your money on, and you're a 30 handicap that would only benefit maybe 0.5 shots per round, then I'd argue that expensive balls are absolutely worth "it" to you, because "it" is a drop in the bucket. On the other hand, if you're a high school player hovering around a 3 handicap, however, your parents require you to fund your own game, then maybe you're better off being a 4 handicap with top flite gamers and a girlfriend who you can afford to take to the movies on the weekend, rather than being a 2 handicap with no friends and an addiction to online porn.

Yeah I like the expensive balls Kidding

[Archie Bunker]

Just keep in mind that expensive balls never seem to make it over the pond, while range balls always seem to land on the green...;)

[GingerGolfer]

Money wise I guess it just depends on how picky you are. Some people can only use one golf ball and others can use multiple, the lower you go with your handicap and better you become it will be more noticeable in the differences in balls, I think you should really buy a sleeve of balls and test out different brands and balls to find out what suits you best, if you find there's not a whole lot of difference than buy the cheap ones, but if you really like the expensive ones, buy them, you always want to be comfortable. That's also why you hear a lot of tour players playing a very specific ball I believe Rory Mcilroy plays the 2009 titleist pro v1 (or did when he was with titleist)

[Hotrodjrd]

OK guys, so I played a round yesterday and used some Titleist ProV1X balls.  I bought the 2012 version since they were on sale at Dicks Sporting Goods for like $35 for 12 balls.  I used the driver on Hole #1, teed off, and my first reaction was "HOLY *#%&"...it was 100% different from the cheapies I've been hitting.  It felt so much softer and just felt like I crushed the ball every time I used the driver.  It was further than usual and I typically have a rather bad slice.  With these balls it wasn't as exaggerated as before.  I could tell it was less spin as it would still slice just a tad but almost every drive was either on the edge of the fairway or just into the rough...and not 10 feet off into the woods somewhere!  It also has a lower flight than my others that I used.  With the irons, I didn't really tell much difference overall other than just the feel of it being much softer.  Almost made my cheapies feel like I hitting a rock with those.  The wedge and putting was WAY different with these ProV's and has so much better feel.  Granted I didn't suddenly play like Tiger, and it didn't take tons of strokes off my game, although, I did shoot a lower score than usual.  The fact that I'm not scared to use my driver, and the boost in confidence was well worth the $35 for them and I'll probably keep buying these after this round!

[nick1998bunker]

OK guys, so I played a round yesterday and used some Titleist ProV1X balls.  I bought the 2012 version since they were on sale at Dicks Sporting Goods for like $35 for 12 balls.  I used the driver on Hole #1, teed off, and my first reaction was "HOLY *#%&"...it was 100% different from the cheapies I've been hitting.  It felt so much softer and just felt like I crushed the ball every time I used the driver.  It was further than usual and I typically have a rather bad slice.  With these balls it wasn't as exaggerated as before.  I could tell it was less spin as it would still slice just a tad but almost every drive was either on the edge of the fairway or just into the rough...and not 10 feet off into the woods somewhere!  It also has a lower flight than my others that I used.  With the irons, I didn't really tell much difference overall other than just the feel of it being much softer.  Almost made my cheapies feel like I hitting a rock with those.  The wedge and putting was WAY different with these ProV's and has so much better feel.  Granted I didn't suddenly play like Tiger, and it didn't take tons of strokes off my game, although, I did shoot a lower score than usual.  The fact that I'm not scared to use my driver, and the boost in confidence was well worth the $35 for them and I'll probably keep buying these after this round!

Yep that's about right

[Golfingdad]

Because they were all on sale, I decided to grab a dozen each of Bridgestone B330-S, Nike 20 XI, and Titleist NXT tour S. :)

How do you like the 20xi I was going to get some

Hey @nick1998bunker ,

I played with the Nike 20xi for 9 holes on Sunday and I can tell you that I really didn't care for them that much.  There was nothing noticeably good or bad about them tee to green - distance was OK, feel was fine, spin was not abnormal, but I didn't like putting with them really at all.  They felt (sounded) very clicky and "plastic," if that makes sense.  Not soft at all.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I was putting poorly because of it, and like I said, tee to green they were fine, AND it was only 9 holes.  I will keep using them, but after I'm through the dozen, if I feel the same way, I won't be buying them again.

For the other 9 holes I used a Bridgestone 330-S, and that one felt pretty good.  Again, nothing stood out tee to green, but they felt familiar and soft while putting.