Are premium balls woth it?

drawboy

drawboy

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Pro v1, Z stars, Cally tour etc, are they worth the price until a player is off low single figures?
I use z stars now and again but I know I don't get the best from them. Sure they feel nice but I don't stop them on a sixpence or back them up. It's nice to use top gear, we all like to when we can but at £40.00 per doz are they really worth it for handicap golfers?
 
Sure they feel nice but I don't stop them on a sixpence or back them up.
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Hey DB..

1 question.

How often, on approach shots are you pitching Pin-High or past the Pin?
Mostly you'll pitch short. So you don't want to stop the ball on a sixpence or back it up -= anyway, backspin like that may look good but it's nigh on impossible for us to control. Had one a few weeks back that pitched a yard short and then spun 20 feet back off the green. I'd rather it had rolled on 10 feet, might have had a putt for a birdie instead of an up'n'down for a par.
The benfit of these balls is around the green. Chipping is easier with them if you have a sound technique, you really can "feel" the ball to the holeside.
 
Is it not also the case that the professional balls require a high clubhead speed in order to compress the ball fully? With a slower speed the ball does not compress and so loses distance?
 
Pro v1, Z stars, Cally tour etc, are they worth the price until a player is off low single figures?
I use z stars now and again but I know I don't get the best from them. Sure they feel nice but I don't stop them on a sixpence or back them up. It's nice to use top gear, we all like to when we can but at £40.00 per doz are they really worth it for handicap golfers?
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Before this morning DB i would have said yes...
But i played in a 4BBB today with my cousin and we were both using Pro V1's....Now you could argue that amateurs dont generate the necessary club head speed to get the best out of those balls but i dont think that club golfers can be tarred with the same brush....

I " Thought " that they were better than cheaper balls....But today i have seen otherwise.....Hard greens and fairways wind and plenty of rough i honestly could not see the difference between them and my Wilson DX2' or 3's for that matter.....My cousin usually plays Srixon AD333's and even he said that he could not tell the difference....

" IF a player can generate enough spin from 100 yards and in with them then yes they are probably better...

But for me they behaved nearly the same as my Wilsons taking 1 bounce and then stopping.....
Also around the greens im usually playing bump and runs to pins i feel more comfortable with that play so i dont try and skim them in to put the brakes on at the flag.....

I wouldnt condone anyone for using them....Each and everyone to their own but i think from now on ill stick to my wilsons....There more reliable for me. :)
 
I don't see any reason why prov's are the price they are other than titleist paying pro's stupid money to use them. I find dx3 mire than ample fir stopping and at £30 for 3 doz alot bloody cheaper than prov's
 
I'd say they probably are although a lot of people use mid-priced balls like the Srixon AD333 which a lot of people on the forum seem to like (including myself). I use the Pro V1X which doesn't spin too much off the driver so it's good when you are hitting the ball a bit curly. For short shots they do spin a lot which means you can lob it close to the pin and the ball stops very quickly. Having said that, given the bone dry conditions at the moment, I don't think I could stop the ball close if it was made of BluTac.
 
I play with any ball between about October and April. Even £10/dozen balls have found their way into my bag. I had a 74 with some Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Titanium once.
This time of year, I move over to a mid-range ball and like to find one to play "the season" with. Last year it was Dx3, this year it's Titleist NXT tour.
I think (personally) that any golfer of any standard ought to be able to hand-on-heart know if they are dropping shots because balls are running through greens etc. This applies to higher h'cap's too because if they are pitching 3rd shots into greens (be it 30 yards or 100 yards) and not stopping even on a decent shot, they are in trouble.
I like Z-stars and to a certain extent Pro-Vs but I don't use them. The only Pro-Vs I have I tend to pull out for 1 or 2 holes (like our first two) because I know I'll be hitting wedges into the greens....but normally I don't bother.
 
Only in Pro or Elite amateur events where there is a one ball rule. Most club golf doesn't have this.
You obviously have to complete the hole with the same one you began with unless you lose it, then you could put a different one in play
 
You obviously have to complete the hole with the same one you began with unless you lose it, then you could put a different one in play
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I'd love to be able to swap balls mid-hole.....especially when there's a 200 yard carry over water!

like the old joke.......

A man gets to tricky island green par 3. He pulls out an old ball and then God shouts down "stop being a wuss, play your best ball".
The man takes a practice swing, steps up to the ball and God shouts down "with that swing, use the old ball!"
 
Ok, here we go.

I find that cheap balls have no feel around the greens, and don't really offer that much more off the tee.

Mid range balls (NXT tour, AD333, etc) are ok. But, I find they get chewed up so quickly taht any saving is negated by replacing them after every three holes.

ProVs are great. They perform ok, they last a little better, I don't lose enough to really worry about the cost.

If I am chipping onto the green, and the ball doesn't check up, do I want to think that would have stopped if it was a ProV?

Currently using Zstars, and not that impressed with the longevity. Will be using Bridgestone 330 RXS for the rest of the season. Bought loads cheap last year.

If I buy last years ProVs when I see them cheap, this to me is a good deal. I have never paid anywhere near £40 a box. Call it £20, and we're getting close. Why compromise?
 
Been using Bridgestone Tour B330s for the last year or so but got last years ProVs cheap in the states so have been using them for a couple of weeks and I'm not happy with them, wish I'd forked out the extra dollars for the Bridgestones. The ProV will be my provisional ball from now on.
 
Been using Bridgestone Tour B330s for the last year or so but got last years ProVs cheap in the states so have been using them for a couple of weeks and I'm not happy with them, wish I'd forked out the extra dollars for the Bridgestones. The ProV will be my provisional ball from now on.
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Use the b330-s aswell, great balls and there's always offers on somewhere so get them for 20 quid or so.
 
I don't think a lot of high handicappers like myself have enough skill in the technique for the balls to make that much difference.

I generate very little spin on the ball, unless i'm coming out of sand for some reason, so getting the ball to check on it's way to the hole is not happening whether I use one from a 12 for 3 quid set of lake balls, or a 12 for for £20 set of 'decent' balls.

I'd sooner save money on balls and improve on technique, until ball spin rate becomes a factor in my game.

The only time I think the ball I chooses makes any difference is when i'm on the green with putter in hand - that's when I notice a difference. Even then it's psychological I reckon. Nike, she's in the hole, Callaway - 3 putt coming up.
 
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