Costco Kirkland Ball

[NM Golf]

A buddy gave me one of the Kirklands, I wish I knew which one it was. Either way it was quite a bit shorter off the tee and did not perform well for me at all, not to mention the fact I had to take it out of play after 9 holes because the cover showed so much wear.

[cooke119]

1 hour ago, NM Golf said:

A buddy gave me one of the Kirklands, I wish I knew which one it was. Either way it was quite a bit shorter off the tee and did not perform well for me at all, not to mention the fact I had to take it out of play after 9 holes because the cover showed so much wear.

Good to know, thanks, I wont buy any if they come to a Costco near me.

[Marty2019]

I played with them for the first time last week.   Normally I do not play a "premium" golf ball.  I normally play balls that are about $21 a dozen, like a Callaway Super Soft.  Also, I don't think my swing speed is very high; I usually hit my driver about 220-230, occasionally 250. 

So I played the Kirkland 4-piece ball last week for the first time, and I must say, I hit the longest drives of my life.  I hit more than one drive in the 280-290 range.   Now, that may have been the result of course conditions, hard fairways, etc, and it may have had something to do with me taking extra warmups with my driver on the range before playing, but nonetheless, those were my results. 

I drove the green on a 296 yard par 4.  I played driver-4 hybrid to the back of the green on a 450 yard par 5, I hit a driver to the edge of a creek that was 280 yards away on the last hole. 

Granted, there's no explaining an increase from 230 to 290.  My understanding is that the difference between a "premium" ball and the balls I usually play should be just a few yards at most, like 5-7 yards. 

But nonetheless, with all the caveats I have given:

1) mediocre inconsistent golfer, 2) extra warmups, 3) course conditions, 4) results way outside any reasonable golf-ball-related explanation...

...nevertheless, those were my results from the first time I played a Kirkland golf ball.  

[RickPro]

i bought the old ball that they started selling about 2 months ago i think. they made a new costco ball, and it isn't as good as the old ball. old balls were a 4 piece like a prov1x, new ball is a 3 piece, I can't remember if they said it was a urethane cover. It is also cheaper then the original costco ball.

[Marty2019]

1 hour ago, RickPro said:

i bought the old ball that they started selling about 2 months ago i think. they made a new costco ball, and it isn't as good as the old ball. old balls were a 4 piece like a prov1x, new ball is a 3 piece, I can't remember if they said it was a urethane cover. It is also cheaper then the original costco ball.

At my local Costco, they are still selling a 4 piece ball with a urethane cover. 

I keep seeing a lot of reports of a new ball that is not a 4 piece ball, but has anyone actually seen it?  I know there is more than one type of Costco ball on the USGA Conforming Ball list, but I haven't heard of anyone who's actually bought or seen one. 

[Valleygolfer]

Mildly funny video on the subject.

[tehuti]

7 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

At my local Costco, they are still selling a 4 piece ball with a urethane cover. 

I keep seeing a lot of reports of a new ball that is not a 4 piece ball, but has anyone actually seen it?  I know there is more than one type of Costco ball on the USGA Conforming Ball list, but I haven't heard of anyone who's actually bought or seen one. 

I’d be willing to try either one, but I have yet to see ANY K-Sig balls online or in store in Orange County, CA.

[cooke119]

I just did an on-line chat with Erika at Costco. Their purchasing department is working to get more balls for a spring release. I told her the ball had to be the same as the original release, i.e., four piece construction, urethane cover, etc. She said she'd pass it on to the purchasing department, we'll see but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

 

[Marty2019]

34 minutes ago, cooke119 said:

I just did an on-line chat with Erika at Costco. Their purchasing department is working to get more balls for a spring release. I told her the ball had to be the same as the original release, i.e., four piece construction, urethane cover, etc. She said she'd pass it on to the purchasing department, we'll see but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

 

Why would you not hold out much hope?  Is there any actual evidence of a different ball?  They're selling the 4 piece urethane covered ball right now in Jacksonville.  There are stacks of them in the store I go to. 

[iacas]

16 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

Why would you not hold out much hope?  Is there any actual evidence of a different ball?  They're selling the 4 piece urethane covered ball right now in Jacksonville.  There are stacks of them in the store I go to. 

Apparently there are other balls in other stores, they were sued, Dean Snell has said there won’t be anymore of those balls, etc.

A LOT of evidence that there will be no more.

And I’m not saying it’s true but maybe they’re just using the old boxes on the new balls? Highly unlikely as that would be illegal I think.

Maybe instead of posting here about them, @Marty2019, you should go buy a bunch and sell them on eBay!

[Marty2019]

19 hours ago, iacas said:

Apparently there are other balls in other stores, they were sued, Dean Snell has said there won’t be anymore of those balls, etc.

A LOT of evidence that there will be no more.

And I’m not saying it’s true but maybe they’re just using the old boxes on the new balls? Highly unlikely as that would be illegal I think.

Maybe instead of posting here about them, @Marty2019, you should go buy a bunch and sell them on eBay!

No, I'm much to lazy for that.  

The whole thing is a big mystery to me.  Are these balls any good?  Where do they come from?  IF they are any good, how do they sell them so cheap, and why do they sell them so cheap?  (IF they are any good.)   And IF they are any good, and IF they continue to sell them, what are the implications for the golf industry?  What are the components that go into the manufacturing/marketing/distribution costs of a Titleist or other golf balls or other golf equipment?    Etc etc etc. 

But I sense you'd like for me to give it a rest, so I'll do that. 

 

 

[Lihu]

18 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

The whole thing is a big mystery to me.  Are these balls any good?  Where do they come from?  IF they are any good, how do they sell them so cheap, and why do they sell them so cheap?  (IF they are any good.)   And IF they are any good, and IF they continue to sell them, what are the implications for the golf industry?  What are the components that go into the manufacturing/marketing/distribution costs of a Titleist or other golf balls or other golf equipment?    Etc etc etc. 

Probably as good as any Pro-V1. If they stopped making the non premium style balls which at this point in time I can't imagine cost much more if more at all, then they'd have to mark down all the balls. You'd be getting ProV1s for $20 a dozen.

Marketing is a bigger part of the game than the true technical aspects. The entire lawsuit thing is probably to save the ball market from collapsing.

Thinking about it, I get a smash factor of 1.38 maximum out of partially reduced one piece range balls and 1.49 from premium balls. There's a lot of different balls between these two extremes and I'm sure they'd perform just as well as the better balls.

That being said, I still pay extra for Pro-V1 balls simply because I can depend upon them.

That and it doesn't really save me a lot per round to use a ball that's $1 versus $4.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Marty2019 said:

But I sense you'd like for me to give it a rest, so I'll do that.

You sense wrong. I'm just finding the story of these things personally… whatever. I don't care. Others may, you do. So post whatever.

It's something like this, though: TaylorMade (I believe) had some extra golf balls made, and then the company was able to off-load them to Costco. They slapped their brand on them and sold them cheaply, around cost. But for various reasons - legal and supply mostly - the balls were only available in the initial quantity.

Or something like that.

[MuniGrit]

The cult following of this ball is comical. Just buy used, Cut, MTB, Snell, vice or one of the many other off brand tour ball.

[Lihu]

On ‎2‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:41 AM, MuniGrit said:

The cult following of this ball is comical. Just buy used, Cut, MTB, Snell, vice or one of the many other off brand tour ball.

All cult followings are ridiculous. I agree that pretty much any premium ball is going to be as good as any other, but it's just a personal preference just like our choices with many things we do. I'm just happy that Kirkland is in the market as well. When I run out of Titleist balls, I'll probably try out the latest Signature ball or the Chrome Soft they are selling.

[MuniGrit]

7 hours ago, Lihu said:

All cult followings are ridiculous. I agree that pretty much any premium ball is going to be as good as any other, but it's just a personal preference just like our choices with many things we do. I'm just happy that Kirkland is in the market as well. When I run out of Titleist balls, I'll probably try out the latest Signature ball or the Chrome Soft they are selling.

I play chrome softs and never seen them at Costco. They sell a Callaway supersoft distance type ball.

[Lihu]

10 hours ago, MuniGrit said:

I play chrome softs and never seen them at Costco. They sell a Callaway supersoft distance type ball.

For some reason, I thought they were the same, but I guess not?

[xrayvizhen]

I'm one of those cynics who think that at our level, with the swing speeds being what they are, in a blind "taste test" of golf balls were there such a thing, we (or at least I) wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Pro V1, the original Kirlkand, or just about any other premium or mid-level ball on the market today. My swing isn't exactly Iron Byron.

My son bought a few boxes of the original 4 piece Kirkland balls at Costco last year and gave me a dozen. I still I have 3 sleeves left and IMHO it's a ball pretty much like any other ball. I couldn't tell the difference. Then again, I have a hard time telling the difference between a Pro V1 a DT, Pinnacle or you name it.  If I hit it well, it will go where I aim it at or around the distance it's supposed to go. If I hit it crappy, it won't.

I'm also one of those guys if I'm standing on the tee addressing my ball and I look down at the logo, I don't see "Pro V1", I see $4.00, blinking in flashing red and yellow lights which doesn't help the situation one iota.

Edited March 4, 2018 by xrayvizhen