AskMyGolfSpy Vol. 41

AskMyGolfSpy is an opportunity to submit questions to our experts here at MGS.  

It’s ball test week, so all of this week’s questions are about golf balls.  

If you’ve got a question for a future edition of AskMyGolfSpy, you can pass it along to the team on Twitter,  Facebook,  Instagram , or right here in the comments section below!   

Q: What’s the best way to find the right golf ball? I’m choosing mine based on the box and my swing speed. Anything else I should consider?  

There are a few schools of thought on how to choose a golf ball. Most manufacturers will tell you to start at the green and work your way out. Given that average golfers miss more greens than they hit, having a ball that matches your short game needs is paramount. 

With irons, you should be looking to optimize flight and spin based on your swing characteristics.  

Finally, given that most drivers are adjustable, there’s likely something to Titleist’s philosophy of fitting the ball to your irons and your driver to the ball. 

The one exception might be for those looking to the ball to help reduce driver spin. If that’s your biggest concern, you might want to toss everything else out the window. Keeping the ball in play will save you more strokes than anything else you can do via the golf ball. 

As far as what it says on the box, I wouldn’t put too much stock in that. The descriptions are typically only relatable to the manufacturer’s own lineup. One brand’s highest-flying ball might be closer to another’s mid and, of course, everyone claims no worse than high greenside spin for every ball in the lineup. 

Q: At what point should I be switching my golf ball? Between soft and harder compression when is it time (if any) to switch it up?  

Anytime your swing changes, it’s probably worth a look. It’s also worth taking a look any time a new ball comes out. For all the talk of “better”, most of the time a new model is a bit different than what came before it. 

Sometimes that can be better but, in other cases, changes to your favorite ball might mean it won’t work as well for you. 

Q: Is soft still slow?  

Yes. The laws of physics remain undefeated. 

Q: How much does price have to do with performance?  

Urethane/multi-layer balls are more costly to produce than ionomer constructions so there is going to be some correlation between price and performance. 

The bigger correlation is going to be price and quality. That’s not to say every expensive ball is made to a tighter quality spec than a cheap one but tighter tolerances cost more and not everyone is willing to pay for them. 

Q: Colored golf balls…any performance difference?  

It’s something we’re looking at. Over the years, there’s been chatter that yellow versions of popular balls spin a touch less than their white counterparts. While I suppose we could argue we found a small difference with Srixon Z-Star’s we tested a few years back, it was, at most, minimal.  

We should have data on the yellow Pro V1 soon. 

Q: There are a lot of new golf balls this year – any surprises or disappointments? 

It’s probably too soon to say with any certainty (there’s a lot of new stuff we’re working through Ball Lab) but, for the most part, things have been as expected.  

Q: How much does the finish of a golf ball have to do with performance? Matte vs. gloss?  

There’s a reason why there aren’t any matte balls in play on Tour. When moisture is introduced, and that can come from dew or from grass compression between the face and the ball as it does with shots out of the rough, launch and spin properties of matte balls change significantly more than they do with gloss finish balls. 

Q: There’s no way I am good enough to notice a difference in my golf ball. Right?  

Maybe but we must understand there’s a world of difference between not noticing something and that same something not existing. Just because you don’t notice something doesn’t mean it isn’t real or that you don’t benefit from it. 

Whether you notice that a shot flew 10 yards offline because of the ball, it still did. So why not play a higher-quality ball that rewards your best shots regardless of your skill level? 

Q: Yes or No: Kirkland golf balls? 

At the risk of repeating myself, I’m generally a “no” because the excessively high spin properties make it more of a niche ball. It’s not going to be a good fit for most golfers. 

Our preliminary measurements also suggest quality control isn’t as tight as it should be. Call it a classic case of getting what you pay for. 

All of that said, if you want a urethane ball (and you should) and don’t want to spend any real money to get it, it’s an option. 

Q: What is the main metric I should be looking for when choosing a golf ball? Distance? Spin? Dispersion?  

Flight and spin are what matters most. 

Q: How can I run a quick test for myself (without a $200,000 robot) to see how my golf ball is performing?  

How much time do you have?  

There are a few different ways to do it. On course, the best approach is to play two balls for an entire round (or multiple rounds) to see which performs best. Easier said than done but if you’re the last one out and chasing daylight, you might be able to do it. 

Another approach is to think of it as a process of elimination. Work from the green out (a launch monitor might help) and, as you move from one shot type to the next, you can start dropping the balls you don’t like. 

As with anything else worth doing, it’s a process. 

More Questions?    

As always, if you have any questions for the MGS crew (and they don’t have to be about the golf ball), drop them below for a chance to be featured in next week’s #AskMyGolfSpy!