"Lake Balls"

[par_par_par_treble]

Just wondered what everyone else thinks to them?

I normally use Pro Vs, but don’t like to use a new one for practice rounds. Just ran out of my used ones, so had to get some more.

This time I’ve gone for Callaway HX Tour 56 (40 for £28 from eBay). Only ever used one, which I had won. It only lasted 3 holes and now has pride of place on my mantle piece, after an ace.

Does anyone else use lake balls? Do you notice a difference between them and the brand new ones??

 

[billyg]

Hope this helps you with your decision

bill

http://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/forums//sh...=true#Post22928

 

[ACP]

I have recently bought 2 lots of Pro V1x's (12 Pearl Grade for £11 and 20 Grade A for £13 - all from ebay). I must say, i have been pleasantly suprised! They are all respectable playing balls and none are re-finished, damaged or misshapen. They ones I have used thus far perform exactly as new (in the past I have experienced loss of distance when using a slightly damaged misshapen ball).

In my opinion they are good value buys and I will probably get more when my stocks become depleated!!

ACP

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As I said in the previous thread shown above the problem with lake balls is the variance in performance. You may get one or two in a pack that behave like a regular ball but you will also find several that are not as receptive and don't fly as far.

Basically you won't know if its a good un or a dud until you use it. That makes trying to control distances and club selection much harder. The game is difficult enough without adding more variables.

If you can't afford premium Pro V's or equivalent brand I'd look at getting a few sleeves of some of the midd-range balls. You could do worse than a dozen AD333's and now Titleist have rolloed out the two new PTS brands you might find some NXT's or last years PTS SoLo's going cheap

 

[par_par_par_treble]

To be honest, i thought buying 40 of the same ball would help my distance control rather than hinder it.

Hopefully the fact that they are "superb quality" should prevent potential issues...

 

[Glenfish]

Hi
i asked a similar question recently,I guess we are simply looking for consistency from quality balls at a cheap price??
So I decided to buy some Ad333's in bulk(new), I don't see the point in buying lake balls if they may all react differently and you won't know til u hit 'em!

 

[GB72]

I have to say that I have also avoided lake balls. There are a fair number of reasonably priced mid range balls (Srixon AD333, Wilson DX2 Soft, Titleist PTS and NXT) that I never saw the point.

 

[TonyN]

I tried a brand new ad 333 for a round and was impressed with it. Then bought 50 lake ball ad333's of ebay and seen no difference. Except in the price!

 

[Parmo]

Thats good to know Tony, I use them and have been buying new and I know 3 dozen for £37 isnt bad but I could do with saving some cash, I saw 100 pearl/A AD333s on Ebay for £55 the other week which I might try sometime.

 

[TonyN]

thats ounds like a bargain parmo, i bout 50 for 32 quid of ebay. some had logo's on but most were a grade!

 

[Parmo]

Yeah this guy had some Z urs 100 for £65 I think, as mentioned I usual buy new but whats the point after a hole or two they are usually worse than A/Pearl grade so 50 for £35 is v good.

 

[stevo]

I have used AD333 lake balls in pearl condition bought on ebay,They were great and as i was loosing a couple of balls per round they were very cheap.Now using new AD333 or Titliest tour's

 

[teetime72]

Stevo.

Is there a difference in the packaging of the new AD333.

Or how do you tell old from new.

 

[stevo]

I buy the balls from my pro shop now as the price is about the same as ebay if you take into account the postage.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I agree with stevo. Why is there such a desire to buy balls in such huge quantities which at the end of the day are second hand when all is said and done, when you can buy some decent new ones from your local pro at more or less the same price. As we have discussed on here before, the more you use your local pro and he becomes familiar with you the more chance you have of getting soe kind of deal.

He may not be able to necessarily match the price of the balls, but if you buy stuff from him regularly he may be able to knock money off other items like shoes etc

As an example, whenever my pro sells a new driver, or a set of clubs, not only will he try and give members the lowest price he can, but he will always through in at least one sleeve of Pro V's. I use him for all my jumpers (club badge and plain) and shoes and I will always get money knocked off and something extra. When I got a jumper in January he threw in a free Footjoy rain glove (the one that grips better the wetter it gets) which was worth about £10-12 and I only spent £45 on the jumper.

The more you support your local pro the more you will eventually reap the benefit. Is it really worht saving a few quid on second hand bals when the bigger picture may be so much more lucrative

 

[Parmo]

Homer, its because Pro shops are never as cheap as online, fact. You might give your pro an extra 50 squid a year and a sleve of Pro Vs is minimal to the savings made online.

I understand your loyalty to your Pro, but unless Pro shops sort themselves out on the price wise they only have themselves to blame, for example 3 boxes of AD333 in any pro shop is $45+, online they are $37 and 50 pearl/A are $35 secondhand and I must say mainly from PGA pro's themselves (except they charge full cost to Pro shop buyers), and you might buy 3-4 lots a year does not justify a freebie from the Pro.

As mentioned in Scotland local Pro shops have a type of union where they order and they buy in bulk to drop the cost to the consumer, if Pro's in this country and not move with the times as said before they have themselves to blame.

 

[stevo]

I would still prefer to deal with my local pro and build a relationship which would pay dividends later, rather than online

 

[par_par_par_treble]

i think my local pro is great and i support him when i can - lessons, gloves, clubs etc.

Sometimes he can’t come close to prices (£20 less for my 3 wood), other times he doesn’t sell the product i want (my driver or lake balls) and sometimes he cant offer a good enough service (so i got fitted for clubs at the belfry)

i will use him where i can, but im not having my pants pulled down

 

[HomerJSimpson]

£45 from a pro and £37 online. So thats £8 assuming the P&P is included in the online price. Not much of a saving really (the cost of a round of drinks) and the chance to build some goodwill with your pro which I'm sure would have reciprical benefits in the future

 

[par_par_par_treble]

for my example, im getting 40 balls, which will last all year+ for the price of 12...

this will enable me to practice with the ball i use for comps. just hope they are good quality