Just Golf

[BullNBear52]

Golf Balls Not All Created Equal, but They’re Getting Better

By BILL PENNINGTON


Of all the golf equipment advancements in the last 15 years, nothing compares to the improvements made to the once simple, flawed golf ball. The most expensive golf balls are technological marvels, and the best values are probably one step below the highest end of the market.

Meanwhile, high handicappers who lose a lot of golf balls and therefore do not want to spend more than 75 cents per new ball are no longer relegated to rock hard, inferior orbs found only in discount racks where you would pick through a collection of what seemed like industry rejects.

It’s a different world now. I was recently at a Golf Galaxy, and they were selling two 15-ball boxes of the Noodle golf ball for $25. The Noodle may not be a premium ball, but it is especially helpful for those with swing speeds of about 85 miles an hour or less (the majority of golfers). And it’s a deal.

Near the Noodle, they were selling a dozen Top-Flite Gamer V2 balls for $20. That may be the best three-piece ball by price you will find anywhere. And it tends to sell out quickly.

At the high end of the category, where balls sell for $40 a dozen or more, it’s hard to go wrong with any brand. They’re all high-performance balls. The Titleist Pro V1 and V1x ($48) are the runaway best sellers for a reason. But Nike’s 20XI balls ($46 a dozen) have made technological advances. Callaway, unlike most everyone else, has done us all a service and lowered the confusion by combining its premium offerings into one ball: the Hex Black Tour ($46).

But the most fruitful place to shop for golf balls if you aren’t losing, say, six balls per round is in the middle of the pack. A few favorites: Callaway’s Hex Chrome ($36), which is a tour quality golf ball in disguise; Titleist’s Velocity ($27), a distance ball from the industry leader; and Nike’s Vapor Black ($25), forgiving and longer at a nice price.