The Mystery of the Golf Ball…….

Why do golfers salivate when they hear Pro V1, is it truly the secret weapon of scratch golfers? If I am willing to spend $6 a ball will I drop 10 strokes? Golf ball manufacturers continue to confuse consumers with their wordy marketing descriptions and attempts to convince everyone to play tour level balls. Let’s keep it simple, what makes a ball $20 a dozen vs $75 a dozen, and will it affect my game? Lets start off by creating three groups, high handicappers (90+), mid handicappers (80-90), and low handicappers (72-80), balls play different roles for each of these individuals. Now characteristics of balls will be grouped into 3 more categories, compression, spin, and distance, each play a vital role for every player type. Starting off with the average joe, our high handicappers, now unfortunately at this point in your career it is a cost based analysis. High handicap players traditionally lose a good amount of balls per round, and their skillsets don’t match up with what premium balls can offer, losing the least amount of money in balls should be your main goal. Now, I’m not saying you should be playing balls you find out of the bush, as worn balls have a big hinderance on ball flight. In many cases you can lose 20+ yards from scuffed/worn balls, and you need every yard you can get. Try out a couple different inexpensive golf balls and whatever feels good off the face, especially with chipping and putting, go with that and don’t overcomplicate it. For a mid handicapper it’s a different story, your swing has gotten to a point where you can start to feel compression, distance and spin with different types of balls. Compression and distance really tie into swing speed, most tour level golf balls require above 100-105 to be effective, so understanding where you’re at will play into selection. When a ball has low compression, it is assisting you in distance, but offers significantly less short game feel. Mid handicappers will want the type of ball that suits their game, whether you struggle off the tee, or around the green, different balls have different characteristics to help you. Low handicap golfers traditionally will not struggle off of the tee, so they look to outfit themselves with balls that offer the most spin and short game control. Most premium tour balls will offer an “X version” (TP5x, ProV1x) which are even firmer versions of their tour level balls, offering even more distance for high swing speeds.

High Handicap Recommendation

• Titleist TruFeel, still a good looking ball from a reputable name, low compression to help you off the tee, and inexpensive.

Mid Handicap Recommendation

• Bridgestone e12 contact, great spin and control around the greens, forgiving off the tee, generously priced.

Low Handicapper Recommendation

I am not going to sit here and recommend a ball for golfers who are better then me, when you’re good enough to have a ball preference for actual reasons, stick with what you know.

US OPEN Picks

My top three into this weekend, note that this was written morning of, are Homa, Fowler, and Fleetwood. Homa is at home, Ricky has been on the uptrend for months now, and Fleetwood is coming for revenge after last weekend.

Thank you for all the support!