Golf balls, lost balls, and tightwads

Feb 16

Golf balls, lost balls, and tightwads

So yesterday, I argued that all golf balls are not ideal for all golfers, much the same way as golf clubs. I furthermore proposed that people get fitted for club and ball combinations.

One problem with this is that we switch balls more often than we switch clubs. It’s also hard to test different kinds of balls, because usually we hit range balls or shag balls, which are very different from the ones we play on the course.

In fact, for tightwads like me, how we come to play one ball versus another is largely accidental: I play balls I find in the woods, rough, and lakes where I tend to spend a certain portion of each round.

Legendary golf course architect Alister MacKenzie once wrote, “My Scotch blood comes to the fore again in prejudicing me against any hazards which created the expense, annoyance and irritation of losing balls or even searching for them.”

Amen! And this goes tenfold for those balls that cost $50+ per dozen. I don’t know about you, but as for Alister and me, we’re not the sort to just toss $5 into the woods without a fight.

Although I often go a round without losing a ball, I cannot ever recall a round in which I did not have to search for one, often fending off ticks, copperheads, and irate homeowners berating me for hooking my tee shot into their yard. (Hey—don’t buy a house 275 yards down the fairway, you moron!)

If I did not have to search for my ball, I’m not sure how I’d restock my ammunition.

This brings me to some poll questions:

1) How do you (the three or so readers of my blogs) obtain most of your golf balls? Are they gifts, purchases, or discoveries?

2) What is the maximum you will pay for a dozen balls? What’s the average price you pay?

3) Do you have a favorite ball? If so, what is it and why? Is there a ball you won’t play at all? What and why?

I have a feeling, there are more folks like me and Alister our there than there are folks who strive to find the perfect ball for their game (despite my previous admonitions).

« New golf balls aren't for everyone

Golf balls should be custom-fit, too »

10 comments

§ One-Putt said on : 02/16/06 @ 13:42
My in-depth research shows that one can hook a cheaper ball into the woods at the same angle and distance as the most expensive model.
§ Michael Jackson said on : 02/16/06 @ 13:47
Any little, white balls are okay by me!
§ Jason said on : 02/16/06 @ 13:56
Purchases, $45, and Titleist ProV1(old style). I like the distance and performance around the greens(though last year i hit so few greens it really didn't matter) and I won't play any Pinnacle ball, those things are like rocks. You get decent distance, but good luck getting the ball to stop on the greens. I must also admit that I'm not above playing with a found ball or two. Keil, slightly off topic, but you have a blog on junior sets of clubs and I wondered if 2 years is too early to start my son out with a set? He had a toy plastic set that he smashed to bits by a year(great club head speed) and he's been trying to swing my clubs since about 18 months. Now at two he seems really interested in going out on the golf cart and, "hitting balls with Daddy". He is extremely big for his age, about the size of the average 4-5 year old. Any suggestions?
§ jpcorbeil said on : 02/16/06 @ 14:20
Not that I think any golf ball is worth 50$ to 60$ a dozen. However here is how a golf season breaks (for northern parts of the continent where a season lasts 6 months excluding winter trips). Fees : 4 000 $ membership or 80 gammes at 50 $ or 4 000 $. Clubs: 2 000 $ for a decent set of irons, driver, fairway woods, putter, wedges, hybrids...whatever. Clubhouse bills or drinks, food...?? If you buy 8 dozens of ball per season, given that some will go at least 2 rounds and that you will often find new balls that you'l play with, gifts etc... you end up spending around 400 $ instead of 200 $ if your ball is 25 $ a dozen. Final real cost of playing with good balls you like and have confidence in: 200 $ per season. Figure in there shirts, hats, shoes and everything else and you find out that trying to save on the ball you like to play is absolutely academic. For everything else there's Master Card. Have a good season.
§ Kiel Christianson® said on : 02/16/06 @ 16:10
Jason--My son is also two, and posesses a better weight-shift and follow-through than I do. Doesn't have the clubead speed of your son though, so the plastic ones are doing fine for now.

Given your son's interest and size, I'd say it is a good time to get him some real clubs.

La Jolla Golf has been in the junior club business for a long time, so they'd be my first choice. They produce sets for 3-yr-olds on up.

A related great product for kids (and adults) is the AlmostGolf Ball. (almostgolf.com, (800) 998-1077, MSRP $12/doz.) These are made of a solid foam that cannot hurt anyone or anything, but they don't get deformed and they spin almost like real balls, but only go 100 yds or so with a full swing. Great for adults chipping and little kids who want to swing away in the yard.
§ Jason said on : 02/17/06 @ 14:22
Kiel---thank you for responding so quickly to my inquiry. I will check out La Jolla Golf and also the AlmostGolf Ball, gotta hurt less then a real one. In the interest of full disclousure, most of my sons plastic clubs were broken over/on various parts of my body, so I'm not holding out hope for another Tiger, but I can't think of a better sport for him to pick-up. The, "he's gonna be a football player" comments are getting a little old. Thanks again for your help.
§ Ron Mon® said on : 02/17/06 @ 19:06
Hee, hee ... Michael Jackson and little white balls ... inspired. I buy my pro-vs on ebay, so I wait a little for the good deal. As a hs golf coach, I spend a bit of time in the woods, inevitably finding the balls that competitors hit in there. It's more enjoyable when we compete at a nice club, as the Titleists and Callaways outweigh the Top Flites and Slazengers. You are wrong, one-putt. The cheaper ball will stay out of the crap with greater frequency than the expensive one. There is no pressure to carry the water or avoid the woods with the culls. Unwrap a nice new Molitor (whoa, 1980s flashback) and see how it is magnetically attracted to wood and hydrogen-oxygen compounds.
§ Ron Mon® said on : 02/17/06 @ 19:10
Hey, Kiel. Did you see the new blog? I discovered that you and Roberta Isleib have a thing going? Does Cassie know?
§ mary said on : 02/19/06 @ 00:40
Ron's right - my nice pretty new MC Lady Precepts disappear into the first dead steam they see, whereas the grungy balls I find when the swamp dries out, hang around forever.
I guess that's because I got them pre-trained.
§ speedy 2003 said on : 02/25/06 @ 15:34
I am a professional caddie with over 30 years experience, and I can honestly say that there is nothing on the market that compares with the Titleist Pro V 1, even the Pro V 1 x's are not as good. Luckily, for us all the technology has caught up with the game, with clubs and what not. However the Pro V 1's go straight even for an average player, which is what is all about, Thankyou and good by. Speedy 2003

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