41 replies to this topic

[TASperth]

there are alot of golf balls out there for higher handicaps but whitch ones i like the callaway HX hot bite.

[kyan]

definitely a ball that you can without too much slice or hook spin. but something soft, so you have some feel around the greens

[joekelli]

Try the Bridgestone E6.  Those love to go straight!!!!

[TCMP]

There are so many options. If I was a high handicapper i would probably go with one of these:

Bridgestone E6
Top Flight Gamer V2
Srixon Trispeed/Trispeed Tour
Srixon AD333

[Hateto3Putt]

I would say anything in the used bin.

At that level you're losing lots of pellets to the water, woods and hazards.

[233211]

Maxfli noodle or intech limbo

[mozgolf]

Without being sarcastic, there really are dozens of really playable balls for a 20 capper that are a vast improvement over older low cost balls. Given that most 20 cappers will probably loose more than a few its not really worth spending over $20-25 a dozen IMHO.

Sixon AD 333
Srixon Soft Feel
Nike Juice, PD Soft

Titleist DTs, NXTs

Noodles

Wilson 50s, now C25 I think

Pinnacle Soft

Cally HX Hot,

Bridgestone Treosoft, e6 or e5

Top Flite Gamers, or F2 Feels

and probably many more

You could go and try a few sleeves or else just buy a couple of boxes of whats on sale and just game them and get used to em (my normal hi tech approach to ball buying)

[sanderslongdrive]

Since returning to golf, and essentially spending three years fulltime, studying and researching equipment (a very difficult thing to do in an industry operated through misleading sales' hype as opposed to facts) I have come to more and more to realise that I can only partly explain why 40 years on I now drive 130 yards further by examining heads, shafts, grips, and arguably new technique.

The other part of the explanation of course lies in the golf ball. Yet, notwithstanding its numerous construction permutations most golfers appear to give it only the most superficial of consideration. And indeed sometimes even change the type of ball being played during a round without any thought. As serious an issue as say changing one's driver or putter in the middle of play.

I have to personally confess to essentially being ignorant of the ins and outs of golf ball science but do nevertheless realise its importance.  I have not had to personally concern myself with such as a Longdrive competitor. I play with the same balls provided for everyone. It's as simple as that. If I were a golfer with choice then alarm bells would ring.  

I have of course read most of the elementary stuff written about golfballs, such as:

http://www.golfalot....golfballs.shtml

I see however that Advanced Golf Solutions (a company with whom I have never contacted let alone have any connections) have researched golf ball issues:

http://www.advancedg....com/index.aspx

And, a fitting service is provided. Surely such makes sense?

Has any reader been golfball fitted and if so with what result?

[skilikeme]

If you're a 20-29 hcp, I'd say go with lessons first. Not as an insult, but in all honesty, at that level you still have plenty to learn and a decent cheap ball won't do as much as a lesson or two.

Just my .02

Good luck!
Jon

[tbowles411]

But after those lessons, anything used like the Bridgestone B330-RX or the e6, Titleist NXT.  Anything that helps limit excess spin to help keep the ball online.

[storm319]

If you are over a 20 handicap, you likely wont be able to tell that much of a difference between balls and will be losing them at such a high rate that expensive balls wouldnt be of any benefit. Look at all balls under $20/dozen and pick the one that feels that best to you.

[Golfo5]

Maybe the question is, what are you looking for..

Max. distance:
- Burner
- Diablo

Straight flight:
- Burner
- Crush
- E6

Lower flight:
- E7 (for ss > 90 mph)

"good" spin/short game for less money:
- Diablo
- E6
- Gamer

If you play faster greens or spend more money:
- Wilson FG Tour (3-piece),
- Taylormade TP Red (4-piece)
- Bridgestone RXS
are awesome balls (long and straight off the tee and very good for short game).

[timinsprings]

Range balls. And a teaching pro watching you hit them, telling you how to improve that handicap.

[buttuh]

I would say something that has minimal side spin off of the tee.

[RJRJRJ]

As a mid capper myself, I can relate to what you probably want.  The "go get lessons" posts get tiresome.  Sure, a range ball might work, but I like to play a quality ball that will help with my confidence, as well as help me with a bit of distance or around the greens.  

On the cheap end, Nike PD Soft are great.  Nice and soft, with pretty good distance.  I use these as my secondary ball in my bag when I lose too many good balls, or on high risk holes (over a lake or canyon type deal, assuming I dont have a junk ball in the bag).  When I run out of these, I may consider moving to the Srixon AD333 since I think they should give me a bit more distance while still retaining a fair amount of spin.  If I can find them for about $16/doz ill probably give them  go.

As my good ball ive settled on the Nike Vapor Speed.  Its got really nice distance and still has decent spin.  At $25/doz, these work for me.  Other balls that should compare are the Srixon Trispeed and the Titleist NXT Tour.

I played top end stuff for about 6 months as well (Pro V1, Nike One Tour, 330RX [nice ball but$$$]) but generally got too much slice action for my liking.

Hope that helps.

[aiyyer]

Like RJRJRJ mentioned, if he was asking for lessons, then some of the responses would make sense.
If you enjoy hitting your driver, go for the $15 balls. if you enjoy the short game, go with the HX Hotbite, Nike Vapor, Gamer V2 balls. if you really like your wedges and can play them well, use a high end ball like the prov1 or the 330 rx. it's about how you play your game not the handicap.

[LottaBalata]

The Srixon D333 or "Soft Feel" is my suggestion.

I'm a 12 to 14 h-cap, and I don't like to buy new balls for myself.  They're just too expensive, there's no reason to buy new constantly when 1/2 get chucked into the woods or whatever else.

Personally I would go to ebay and search Srixon AD333 AAAA.  These balls will be close to perfect but may have ink, or a small scuff, maybe a bunch of logo balls, but generally you can get a lot for really, really cheap.

I bought like 6 dozen used AD333's last year for like $35 or something crazy like that.

Top Flight Infinity balls are great, great balls around the greens, feel great off the tee and are really cheap.   hard to find them still though.

The B-stone 330 RX would be another one, but try and find them used, they're expensive as heck.

[IIdiceII]

lostgolfballs.com

get a 100 ball bucket of AAA grade or practice balls.

they had a 100 ball bucket of practice grade titleist nxt's for 17 bucks! black sharpie the word practice out on the ball and boo-yahhh...no need spending STUPID amounts of money on new balls. just save yourself money and use the balls that the next high handicapper on the tee box hits into the woods on the first hole

[MadBombR]

Nike SFT you can get a 2dz pack for around $25

Nike PD soft ~$15

Pinnacle soft or long ~$15 for a 15pk

TM Burner ~$15/dz

Noodle probabaly the best of the "budget" bunch

All are pretty good balls especially since you most likely wont be getting too attached to them.  Trust me been there done that.

[mozgolf]

Golfo5, on 29 June 2010 - 07:46 AM, said:

Maybe the question is, what are you looking for..

Max. distance:
- Burner
- Diablo

Straight flight:
- Burner
- Crush
- E6

Lower flight:
- E7 (for ss > 90 mph)

"good" spin/short game for less money:
- Diablo
- E6
- Gamer

If you play faster greens or spend more money:
- Wilson FG Tour (3-piece),
- Taylormade TP Red (4-piece)
- Bridgestone RXS
are awesome balls (long and straight off the tee and very good for short game).

Damn good post............ A nice quick summary/ ready reckoner. On that basis I might just check out the Burner and Diablos that I had never even considered

Edited by mozgolf, 01 July 2010 - 05:30 AM.

[cake1979]

mozgolf, on 01 July 2010 - 05:28 AM, said:

Golfo5, on 29 June 2010 - 07:46 AM, said:

Maybe the question is, what are you looking for..

Max. distance:
- Burner
- Diablo

Straight flight:
- Burner
- Crush
- E6

Lower flight:
- E7 (for ss > 90 mph)

"good" spin/short game for less money:
- Diablo
- E6
- Gamer

If you play faster greens or spend more money:
- Wilson FG Tour (3-piece),
- Taylormade TP Red (4-piece)
- Bridgestone RXS
are awesome balls (long and straight off the tee and very good for short game).

Damn good post............ A nice quick summary/ ready reckoner. On that basis I might just check out the Burner and Diablos that I had never even considered

That is a great post.  Helpful things like this make me glad to be a member of this site.  Looks like I might need to spend some quality time with a few Bridgestone E6's.

[hackingsince08]

this season i really spent some time considering my equipment and the ball i hit. my 1st two seasons were with a retired set of clubs from a friends old man and whatever ball i could find. i too am a high handicapper.

here's my recommendation and please consider.. my misses are big slices to the right with the driver. i dont really have that issue with other clubs. i needed a ball that was very straight off the driver and for me that ball ended up being the taylormade burner LDP. these run about $20 a dozen.

i tried the srixon soft feel.. to much side spin with my swing, same for the e6 and the topflight d2. that said... i'd recommend trying at least te srixon soft feel and the e6 as well. my buddy loves the e6 for his game and he likes the d2 as well.

if your misses are similar to mine give the burner ldp ball a try, i dont worry about lack of spin near the greens too much because i dont have that aspect incorporated into my game yet. my goals are fairways and greens and i'll gladly play for the roll out on approaches if that approach is coming from the fairway more often. i read somewhere recently that high handicap players need to disregard the flag stick much more than we currently do. aim middle of the green more often and get to the flat stick quicker.

this seasons goal for me was to break 100.. i did that 2 rounds ago (a 99) and then my last round i bested that accomplishment by shooting a 90.. all with the burner ldp. good ball.

Edited by hackingsince08, 01 July 2010 - 03:33 PM.

[mattyjacks]

I think that warbird plus golf balls are good for people that have a big slice but the downfall is around the greens

Regards

[smiling_bob]

+1 on the Burner LDP.  Messed around with most of the budget balls including the Topflight D2 series, Nike PD Soft, Noodle, Callaway Diablo, etc. and settled on the Burner.  Have played it from a 35 handicap down to a 23 (and dropping).  

Less spin off the driver (my miss is a BIG hook) helps me find the fairway more.  Roll out on the approaches isn't a problem since I am usually just trying to find the middle of the green, which is MUCH easier from the fairway than from 10+ feet into the woods on the left side.  Also feels great off the putter.

As an added bonus places like golfballs.com and rockbottom.com seem to have these on sale every time I need more - I think rockbottom currently has them for $14 a dozen if you buy 3 dozen.

Bob

[bluedot]

1.  I was told a number of years ago by a player who is now one of the top-ranked seniors in the country that it doesn't matter nearly as much what ball you play as it does that you play the same ball ALL the time.  His reasoning, which I find unarguable, is that balls react differently on chips and putts, and using the same one all the time give you the best feedback and the best results.  Keep that in mind.

2.  Unless you have an unusually high swing speed (unlikely), consider using one of the low compression balls; Noodle, SoLo, etc.  They will give you the best performance around the greens, at least relative to other lower cost balls like Pinnacles and Top Flites.

3.  Ignore the posters who tell you to not worry about it until you get better.  Worry about ALL of it!  That's part of the fun of the game, and that's the way you get better.  My guess is that a player who is worried about what ball to play is not that likely to be ignoring practice and lessons anyway.

[PingTJ]

My club fitter says to only play Titleist balls.  He sells components, so doesn't personally sell Titleist products, but he says they are the most consistant made ball.

Whether it's his lessons or his ball suggestions, whatever it is it's working.

My goal is always to break 100, so I know what you are going through.  

I started playing Dt Solo's this year per his suggestion and today I shot 90.  Not great compared to most members here, but to us high cappers, it was a good day.  Third straight week under 100, even had a snowman on the front and back nine.....lol.

What ever you choose, stick with it.  Jumping around with different compression type balls will affect your putting.  And 3 putts will kill your score.

Good Luck!

[SPNCHeel]

There are some interesting, if not predictable, responses to the question. I don't know that the OP has given enough info. I do agree with the suggestion of going with a more affordable ball due to loss, but that's about as far as one could go.

The reason I say this is that we don't know why the  OP has a 20+ handicap. In my 30-year golf life, I have always hit the ball fairly straight by my handicap has been anywhere from a 5 to a 23 depending on how much I played at the time (several times a week vs. several times a year). A low spin ball would only hurt my game beacuse it would hurt my short game and do nothing to straighten an already pretty straight ball flight. True, most guys as bad as me usually do slice or hook a lot, but there are MANY ways to shoot high scores on the course and a banana ball is only one.

[divot46]

I agree that you should get something inexpensive. A ball I like is the Precept Laddie X. 2 dozen for $20 and a decent ball. Since you'll be losing some, that shouldn't break the bank. Pinnacles are ok too. You don't have to play expensive balls to enjoy the game. The other suggestions in the $20-25 range were good too. Find one you like and stay with it.

[thenewbie]

When I was that high I used whatever was around.  I can't imagine being able to tell a difference with that much inconsistency.