What ball, and why

[Rainmaker]

I like Callaway balls the best - I just like the way the logo looks.  I bought a bunch of HEX Chrome a couple years ago and am still playing them. 

I'm not too picky, though.  I can't say I notice a huge difference between most decent balls.  I have a personal rule that if I pick up a ball on the course, I *have* to play it until either lose it or find another one. 

[newtogolf]

I've been playing the Volvik Vista IS orange golf ball this spring.  It took a while to get used to looking down at an orange ball but the number of balls I've lost has gone down significantly and it's not all due to my improved swing.  I find the orange ball is easier to track off the club and much easier to find in the rough, woods and even water hazards.  It's improved my pace of play because I don't waste much time looking for my ball or inspecting every white ball I find in the woods.  

As for the ball itself, it seems to work well with my swing.  I've had some of my longest drives ever with it and it reacts as well as the Callaway Chrome Soft around and on the green so I will probably stick with it through the spring.  

[vangator]

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 10:25 PM, Buckeyebowman said:

You know what, vangator? I never really looked closely enough at the box to determine who made the Ultra. All I know for sure is that the Wilson "W" did not appear on the ball. As for being a rock, that's why I quit using them. I'm talking maybe 20-25 years ago. Also, some time ago I bought a dozen Wilson "Smart Core" balls. How could I not? They offered a free golf shirt and hat with the purchase of a dozen! Huh?! So, I put some in the bag and used them. They were definitely a soft cover, "spinny" ball. After every approach I'd mark my ball, and when cleaning it find "pigtails" of cover material spiraling off of it. I used one ball for an entire round, and by the end of that round the cover was basically chopped off of it! 

I think that balls with deeper dimples would fly higher due to increased air turbulence. An increased number of shallower dimples might be an attempt at a compromise between spin and distance.

I remember the good old days of square grooves.  The Ultras are Wilson.  The only Wilson ball I like is the FG Tour.  That's a real nice ball.  Can't find them though.  I think they're discontinued?

I think Top Flite used to have balls called High Trajectory, Regular Trajectory and Low Trajectory.  I think the High Trajectory had the higher, shallower dimples and the Low Trajectory had fewer larger dimples.  That's the extent of my knowledge.

23 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I've been playing the Volvik Vista IS orange golf ball this spring.  It took a while to get used to looking down at an orange ball but the number of balls I've lost has gone down significantly and it's not all due to my improved swing.  I find the orange ball is easier to track off the club and much easier to find in the rough, woods and even water hazards.  It's improved my pace of play because I don't waste much time looking for my ball or inspecting every white ball I find in the woods.  

As for the ball itself, it seems to work well with my swing.  I've had some of my longest drives ever with it and it reacts as well as the Callaway Chrome Soft around and on the green so I will probably stick with it through the spring.  

I'm a Volvik player. I tried to like the iS, but it just didn't fly as far as the iV or S3.  Also, it consistently just fell out of the air.  I've never had another ball do that.  I guess it was really spinning.

I like the S3 because it is longer than the iS and spins more than the iV.  It's as long as the iV as well.  Super ball.

[Valleygolfer]

I say yes it matters but only for what you expect the ball to do. If you expect the ball to roll out or check up you can plan for it.

I generally use ProV1s. I know that it's made well and will perform the same with similar shots. Yes there are other balls that might do this but they are not as readily available. I find a lot of pro v1's around the course and I can always count on them to still play as well as ones that are brand new as long as they're not hacked up. I am starting the year off with roughly 60 Pro v1's  and half of them are and half of them are brand new while the other half are fairly decent with some that could be used early-season without concern of losing them. And since I seem to find more than I lose I don't ever seem to be short any Pro V1 golf balls. I find it hard to spend $5 on a new or different ball when these walls seem to replenish themselves and play well enough to keep me happy.

[saevel25]

My top picks,

Snell - My Tour ball
Titleist - Pro-V1x
Bridgestone - B330

They have the combination of good spin of the driver, and great feel around the greens. I tend to bulk buy the My Tour ball because it's like $27/dozen if you buy 6 dozen of them. 
 

[Gunther]

Bridgestone Tour B330.  Because it's the longest ball I've ever hit.  Not as much spin as a ProV but spin has hurt me more than helped throughout my golfing career.

[phillyk]

I get free ProV1s customized so I stick with them :)

But, other than that, I enjoy playing with Srixon Q Star and Z star.  I also like the Bridgestone B330-S.  All of them feel generally the same, but I trust the ProV1 the most especially at a course where they run the greens above a 13 and are rather firm.

[Noles20]

I tend to get a few dozen premium balls when they are on a super sale.  

[DrvFrShow]

For a 25+ handicapper, Callaway Supersofts.

[GangGreen]

I play Callaway Supersofts in the beginning and the end of the season because of the colder weather and the fact that I lose a lot more balls those times of the year (knocking the rust off in the spring, too many leaves in the fall).  I switch to the ProV1x during the peak season, yeah, probably more ball then someone at my level needs but I just can't find a ball that I like off the putter like the ProV1x so I'll stick with it for now.

[b101]

I went through the Titleist online fitting module about a year ago and it recommended the NXT Tour-S. Whilst I've dabbled with different types of balls since then, it's always the one I keep coming back to - feels really nice off the putter and around the green and it's long off the driver. I've now gotten to the stage where I'm rarely losing balls, so I could probably justify moving to Pro V1/V1x, but I see no real reason to change when I like this ball and it's cheaper.

[70sSanO]

For my slower swing speed, I use Top Flite D2+ Feel and it seems to work quite well.  I have been using a lower compression ball for a number of years.  Not sure how much the Dimple in the Dimple does, but when I can get 2 boxes of 15 balls on sale for $25, it is pretty easy decision.

Nike PD Soft is interesting because it has changed over the years.  My understanding is that Nike golf balls used to, and maybe still are, made by Bridgestone.  Originally the PD's had 432 dimples and in my opinion, were suspiciously similar in specs to Bridgestone's Precept McLady.  I still have a bunch of boxes of McLady's, (I bought them at $6 a box), that I am starting to go through.  Since when I first played Nike PD balls in 2008, they have gone the more prevalent lower dimple 314/332 route.  My son who still plays them says they are not the same, as in not as good, but I'm sure that is just preference.

John

[PhxHacker]

Bridgestone e6. The price point is good for my budget and I like the feel. I can't say that I could tell too much difference between different ball characteristics, that being said though, I would like a really soft cover ball. Ive played with them in the past and always liked the way they felt both with any club and with a putter.

i like when you putt a soft ball and you don't hear that contact click sound.

[Lihu]

54 minutes ago, PhxHacker said:

Bridgestone e6. The price point is good for my budget and I like the feel. I can't say that I could tell too much difference between different ball characteristics, that being said though, I would like a really soft cover ball. Ive played with them in the past and always liked the way they felt both with any club and with a putter.

i like when you putt a soft ball and you don't hear that contact click sound.

The new e6 don't seem to have that clack sound any more? I've been playing one that I found for the last couple rounds.

[kpaulhus]

So recently I have switched to the Callaway Chrome Soft. Its a great ball all around for $33. I use the Chrome Softs when Im playing my casual rounds, so 75% of the time. 

This weekend in our match play qualifier tournament Ill be back to playing the ProV1x. I think for me, thats always given me the best and consistent results. I can throw a pitch shot at a flag and it will stop. It goes plenty off the tee...but $45+ a dozen makes losing one that much more painful. 

[markie]

If you’re at the point where you’ve noticed a bit of improvement in your score, it might be time to switch to the three-piece Wilson Staff Duo golf ball. Have a look here and check further: http://www.golfgearlab.com/best-golf-balls-for-high-handicappers/

[SavvySwede]

29 minutes ago, markie said:

If you’re at the point where you’ve noticed a bit of improvement in your score, it might be time to switch to the three-piece Wilson Staff Duo golf ball. Have a look here and check further: http://www.golfgearlab.com/best-golf-balls-for-high-handicappers/

That's a pretty cringe-worthy list. One of them isn't even legal and with the exception of the DUO they are all  no better than Pinnacle Golds.

[gregsandiego]

On 3/30/2016 at 6:59 PM, Osnola said:

What ever ball is on sale...I can shoot 100 or 90 with the same ball, so I really think that it makes no difference for me...Being serious, I have played $5 balls and balls that cost .50...If the more expensive ball makes your game better, go for it.  But I am convinced that a good golfer will still be a good golfer with a cheap ball and that a shitty golfer will still be a shitty golfer with an expensive ball...

I use cheapo's and put my initial on it. The only reason I might pick one brand is so when someone asks what I hit I could say TItleist 2 instead of "I don't know but it had an orange G" on it.