Golf Ball ...Help

[Thumper696]

So this may be a silly question, but I need help with which golf balls to buy. I am new to golf and have only had a few lessons but want to go out and play. I was at the PGA store by me and they had so many choices of golf balls to pick from. 

Which golf balls should I be looking to pick up and Why ?

[billchao]

16 minutes ago, Thumper696 said:

So this may be a silly question, but I need help with which golf balls to buy. I am new to golf and have only had a few lessons but want to go out and play. I was at the PGA store by me and they had so many choices of golf balls to pick from. 

Which golf balls should I be looking to pick up and Why ?

As a new player I don't think you'll be able to get the most out of any specific ball, so I'd say just buy whatever is cheap, go out, and have fun.

[dennyjones]

29 minutes ago, billchao said:

As a new player I don't think you'll be able to get the most out of any specific ball, so I'd say just buy whatever is cheap, go out, and have fun.

This... 

[Hacker James]

++1 on above suggestions.  Target has a fifteen pack of Wilson Ultra 500 for $9.99.  I have found them to be a pretty decent ball.

[Thumper696]

37 minutes ago, Hacker James said:

++1 on above suggestions.  Target has a fifteen pack of Wilson Ultra 500 for $9.99.  I have found them to be a pretty decent ball.

Thanks for the info, I will head over to Target and pick up 2 packs of balls and start there.

[Molina00]

Amazon sells a 24-ball pack of Wilson Smart Core for $15.97.  I think I saw these at Wal-Mart once too.  I haven't tried them so I can't say how good they are, but they are very affordable.  Also when I started playing last year I bought two large lots of used balls for cheap on eBay. 

[RussUK]

Another option would be lakeballs. I have played them in the past and as long as you go for the top two quality ratings (different suppliers have different ratings like pearl, AAAA etc.) then you cant go too far wrong. You can often find the likes of Pinnacles, Noodles and Callaway Warbirds in large boxes for not much cash and Topflites for next to nothing.

Once my last dozen AD333's run out i'll probably go back to recycled Titleist golf balls. Stay away from refinished though.

[Thumper696]

Was at the PGA store yesterday and it seems like 98% of what they have in balls are "Soft". Did not see any labeled otherwise, and trying to get someone to help seemed like it was an inconvenience to them so no joy.

[RussUK]

1 minute ago, Thumper696 said:

Was at the PGA store yesterday and it seems like 98% of what they have in balls are "Soft". Did not see any labeled otherwise, and trying to get someone to help seemed like it was an inconvenience to them so no joy.

It depends what you want from a golf ball. If you struggle for distance or have a slow swing speed the new lines of soft balls like DT Trusoft, Callaway Supersoft etc. may help you in that respect or you may like the "feel" of a soft ball. What do you play at the moment?

[Sandhills Golfer]

On 8/18/2018 at 8:11 AM, Thumper696 said:

So this may be a silly question, but I need help with which golf balls to buy. I am new to golf and have only had a few lessons but want to go out and play. I was at the PGA store by me and they had so many choices of golf balls to pick from. 

Which golf balls should I be looking to pick up and Why ?

There are many options. As said, before certainly as a new golfer, you will lose balls. So, something cost effective is a good idea. Wilson 50 Elites at Walmart are cheap yet have a nice feel to them. Academy Sports usually have balls on clearance. They also have used recycled balls.

Keep Dick's sporting good balls in mind for Black Friday 2 fer sales. As an example, you can get Top Flight D2 Feels 2 for 1. So, 2 dozen at 17.99. 

You can also get good deals on "consumer direct balls" sold on line. Cut Golf's White (3 piece) and Red (2 piece) are 15 and 10 bucks per dozen. and MG (Master Grip) C4 balls are premium urethane balls at 20 bucks a dozen.

 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Sandhills Golfe

[Wally Fairway]

Thumper - I used to work with a guy who never bought golf balls. There are a couple of courses locally that have holes with trouble on several holes (woods, water, etc) and he would walk the boundary of the hazards and find more ball than he could use.
This is a great way to try a variety of balls, at a low cost. Sure some of them were mud covered or dirty but that can be cleaned up, and some were not playable, but he got enough to keep himself well stocked and he always shared some of the excess.

[rehmwa]

51 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Thumper - I used to work with a guy who never bought golf balls. There are a couple of courses locally that have holes with trouble on several holes (woods, water, etc) and he would walk the boundary of the hazards and find more ball than he could use.
This is a great way to try a variety of balls, at a low cost. Sure some of them were mud covered or dirty but that can be cleaned up, and some were not playable, but he got enough to keep himself well stocked and he always shared some of the excess.

this ^....  I played a simple par 3 course yesterday - 9 holes, maybe 60 minutes.  Just walking and helping the other 3 find their balls and then walking along the edge of the fairway, I come home with a dozen.  Mostly on two different holes.  No delay, no issues, never missed shot or made anyone wait for me.  Of course there were two beginners in the group, so I had a lot of down time between shots.

I have much more extreme examples from days where it's slow and the course is penal.

[easyjay39402]

I live near a golf course and I walk my grand-dog there most mornings. We walk the right side rough on the first hole on Mondays to gather Nature’s bounty from weekend play. We find a nice assortment of once-hit balls. Amazing how many golfers who slice play Pro V1. Sometimes the balls have my mark on them 😀

Anyways, for a new golfer I would suggest an inexpensive “soft feel” ball that would be less jarring when you mis-hit it ... which will be often. 

Also, you might invest in a ball retriever. You will not be the only golfer hitting balls into gnarly locations. Lose one and find two while you are searching. Be mindful of pace of play, however, as I have a friend who can be sidetracked from golf whilst looking for balls besides his own 😎

[NM Golf]

Some courses, my own included, sell "experienced" balls for next to nothing. Ours aren't even lake balls, they are just balls that are found by the marshall or accidentally hit into our range. We sell them for $5 a dozen. 

[Kalnoky]

Start with a soft 2-pcs ball, they are cheaper and usually go farther, at the expense of less greenside spin.. 

[dbuck]

If you are a rank beginner, using the second hand balls (not lake balls) works fine as you might discover which one you like.  As your swing becomes more consistent, you will want to start using the same ball all the time so that you have consistent feel and distance from shot to shot.

Edited August 29, 2018 by dbuck

[rehmwa]

33 minutes ago, dbuck said:

If you are a rank beginner, using the second hand balls (not lake balls) works fine as you might discover which one you like.  As your swing becomes more consistent, you will want to start using the same ball all the time so that you have consistent feel and distance from shot to shot.

Studies on modern golf balls have shown that lake balls don't really perform much worse.  I'll try to find a link.  Of course the retailers and ball companies aren't a fan of that 

I figure if I can clean the ball up and it looks new or the staining is VERY minor, then it plays like new.  If it looks like it has deep stains that won't come out, it goes into the range bag.

Edit:  here's one anyway - https://pluggedingolf.com/used-golf-balls-good-new-golf-myths-unplugged/

note - 20-30 years ago, waterlogged balls were definitely much worse.

Edited August 29, 2018 by rehmwa

[Thumper696]

5 hours ago, rehmwa said:

Studies on modern golf balls have shown that lake balls don't really perform much worse.  I'll try to find a link.  Of course the retailers and ball companies aren't a fan of that 

I figure if I can clean the ball up and it looks new or the staining is VERY minor, then it plays like new.  If it looks like it has deep stains that won't come out, it goes into the range bag.

Edit:  here's one anyway - https://pluggedingolf.com/used-golf-balls-good-new-golf-myths-unplugged/

note - 20-30 years ago, waterlogged balls were definitely much worse.

Thanks for the link, it was a great read. And as dbuck said it gives me a chance to try a few different make/models of balls with out making a large $$$ outlay.

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Thumper696