New balls please!

[Farneyman]

What is the best value ball for a high handicaper.

I dont fancy buying pro v's to lose them off the first tee!!

Are reconditioned balls ok, good value for money. I have in the past used any balls I can get my hands on but I am hopefully getting into a club this June and want to get a batch of balls that are suitable for me. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mick]

the pts roll or carry look pretty good though i have never used them,i did use the pts so/lo which was a pretty good ball,the nxt's aren't to bad either.having only used titleist at any notable time i can't really comment on other makes.

 

[blindpete]

I have been getting Srixon AD 333's from:

www.bargaingolfequipment.co.uk

Buying 3 dozen works out at £1 per ball which is good value in my eyes.

 

[Basher]

Lakeballs!!!

I see no possible advantage in playing top quality brand new balls such as Pro V's etc.

Refurbished Titleist are ideal, as are lakeballs.

 

[HTL]

Wilson Staff Px3 all the way for a soft golf ball.

The ad333 is loved by loads on this forum, they are always raving on about it.

But a few sleeves and see what you prefer, hard, soft etc

 

[GB72]

PX3 for me as well. Managed to buy 3 dozen of last years stock from Direct Golf for £25.00

 

[rgs]

Avoid lake balls-you cannot get any consistency as you cannot tell how long the balls were in the water.

Have used the PTS carry today and was impressed-

The sxiron AD333 or trispeed are also useful.

 

[medwayjon]

lake balls/refurbs are a complete waste of money in my eyes. Buy the best balls you can afford to lose.

Try the Maxfli Noodle @ £10 per dozen, these balls are fantastic for the price.

 

[Basher]

rgs, I hear what you are saying, but do you think for a high handicapper or beginner to the game that lake/refurbished balls will have any real affect on that persons game?

 

[rgs]

Basher try this test-take a few lakes balls and a few new balls-(PTS roll/carry-AD333-Maxfli noodle)-an eight iron and hit all balls then mesure the distances achieved with each ball-(ignore the really poor shots)-and see if there is any difference in distance and performance.

 

[medwayjon]

RGS, you are thinking exactly along the same lines as me here.

How can a beginner learn things like distance control with balls that offer no consistency.

I know that my 5I is 170-180 yards when I hit it correctly, this is because I have learned my distances by hitting good balls.

 

[brendy]

Fellas, the term lake balls is a bit misleading.
They can be finders, seconds (cosmetics), tour practice balls (you know, the little pyramids of prov1's at each pro event) and finally some may have been in the water but Id wager for a very short period of time as the same locations will be harvested regularly.
I ball that has sat in a water hazard for any amount of time is severely discoloured due to how it settles in the silt/mud.
I have no problems playing with pearly white lake balls but would never play with refurbished balls as the paint falls off them within a couple of holes.

Acushnet (owners of Titleist™) assert that “the refurbishing process produces a golf ball that bears no resemblance to a genuine Acushnet product in performance, quality or appearance” and that the refurbishing process so alters the basic composition of Acushnet's golf balls that "it would be a misnomer to call the article by its original name.”

 

[3636]

basher i was told years ago if a balls been in a lake
for a week it will obsorb water,thats now good. The
people that re-furb balls make a very good job off
makeing them look like new.Your better off getting
cheaper new balls than lake refurbs.
3636 billy

 

[brendy]

Where does the water go, the urethane and ionomers that are used in golf ball production are water resistant and are really packed in there, there is no real place for water to be absorbed.
Seriously, pearl grade lake balls are fine, anything less are still ok but would be inclined to use them in the practice bag.

 

[3636]

Ok brendy why dont they go like new balls,there full
off moisture thats why.Moisture gets it a lot off things
look at your brakes on you car moisture gets in the brake
fluid thats why you should have changed every two years.
3636 billy

 

[TonyN]

I would have said lake balls are fine but after using them for a few months and then moving to new balls, i think there is a difference.

Nothing like a nice new shiney ball.

Srixon AD333's are top balls. If you are a beginner, i would suggest going with the lake balls untill you stop loosing them.

Then when you do get consistent, you have the new balls to look forward too.

 

[brendy]

Billy, brake fluid is just that, fluid.
A golf ball is made of several kinds of plastics and rubbers which dont inherantly hold onto water. Even if it did absorb a millilitre of moisture, when its been removed from the water for any amount of time surely it would work its way back out into the atmosphere. We arnt talking old leather caser footballs here, these are solid objects.
Ive used them before and will use them again when the time comes (as long as I have credit in my pro shop account Ill use brand new pro v1's) Its purely an economic thing for me, performance isnt affected, my driver still goes a good distance, my irons go and stop as expected and the ball doesnt make any squishy noises with the putter.
To me there is no difference and would rather play these than have any other make in my bag (except for callaway hx tour 56's, they are a good ball also, nice and soft)

 

[Farneyman]

Cheers folks,

Thanks for the info.
I think I will go with lake balls until I stop losing so many!! If I get 5 rounds in a row without losing a ball I will buy some brand new balls.

 

[viscount17]

brake fluid, and most other hydraulic fluids, are hydroscopic - that is, they absorb water.

apparently the covers on golf balls are porous (see link). If they have been in water sufficiently long for the air in the ball to be displaced by water then yes distance will be affected. I suspect that in order to displace any absorbed water they would need to be pressure treated, which I'm sure isn't done even if they're pearl grade.

That said, a ball that is going to travel a few yards less is not going to significantly affect a beginner learning to swing. I started out using AG's 50 for £9.99 lake balls. You'll get a real mix of balls and some may be worse than others, but you also know you're going to lose some which hopefully will be the bad ones. Anyway at that price do you care? (I've seen car booters trying to sell a pile of really rubbish balls dearer than this.)

as you improve, dump the cheapies and get a consistent ball but it may take a while to find one that suits you.

http://probablegolfinstruction.com/PGINewsletter/news07-18-05.htm

 

[haplesshacker]

Cheers folks,

Thanks for the info.
I think I will go with lake balls until I stop losing so many!! If I get 5 rounds in a row without losing a ball I will buy some brand new balls.

5 rounds is a lot of shots! Don't know many people that can say that they haven't lost a ball in 5 rounds. Gotta admit the more I pay for a ball the less likely it is that I'll lose it, not sure why Personally buy the most expensive ball that you can afford to lose.

As for what. Start off puting a few, rule out the ones you don't like, chip what's left, rule out the ones you don't like, then smack a few, rule out etc. What's left is a nice little ball that you like the feel of in any situation.

Where do you get so many to try? All those ones that you find on the course that aren't yours.

Got to admit that the short game has improved since using better balls.