Golf Ball Fitting Made Easy: Does Golf Galaxy’s Free Tool Measure Up?

Golf ball fitting finally has some momentum. Now, in a perfect world, every ball fitting experience would involve actually hitting golf balls. That’s how Titleist and Bridgestone approach it but it’s not lost on me that access to in-person fitting options is limited.

To backfill the void, just about everyone who makes a golf ball and even some that don’t (I’m looking at you, PING) have created online fitting tools designed to help golfers home in the right golf ball.

Can any of them replace an in-person fitting? Not really but it’s also true that most are a step or two above not getting fitted at all.

One of the more recent entries in the online ball fitting world is Golf Galaxy’s Golf Ball Assistant.  

About Golf Galaxy’s Golf Ball Assistant

Before we get to how well it works, I want to start by saying I believe that the Golf Ball Assistant’s basic approach to ball fitting is better than most. Like some other ball fitting tools we’ve looked at, it’s not contrived to be as much a marketing tool as a golf ball recommender.

It doesn’t ask about your gender or your dexterity (Golf Galaxy won’t fit you into a left-handed golf ball) and it’s straightforward in explaining that it’s helping you find the best ball based on flight (the entire picture of trajectory) and spin.

Nailed it.

Those are absolutely the two most important factors when selecting a golf ball.

The tool also emphasizes starting with the short game and working back to the tee. That’s a relatively common approach although I think some tools overemphasize driver performance.

How it works

The fitting process is simple: for wedges, irons and drivers, you’ll be asked two questions:

• What type of ball flight do you desire?
• How would you describe your spin control?

The first question gives you a choice between high, mid and low flight. The second question presents options like “Ball lands on the green and stops too quickly”.

What becomes apparent is that the tool is trying to ascertain whether, for driver, irons and wedges, you want high, mid or low flight and whether you want to pair it with high, mid or low spin.

It takes a roundabout approach to understanding your spin preference but there may be something in asking about it in on-course terms.

The bonus round

Once you’ve provided answers to the three sets of flight and spin questions, you’re presented with a final question: “What look do you prefer?”

You’re given a choice between white, high-visibility yellow and “has a prominent visual aid.” Regardless of your visual preference, I suggest you choose white. Once you’ve got your recommendations, work backwards (or perhaps sideways) to see if alternative color or visual tech options are available among your recommendations.

What Golf Galaxy’s ball fitting tool doesn’t ask

Golf Galaxy’s ball fitting tool doesn’t ask two questions that most ball fitting apps do. And while I appreciate the approach, the missing bits could probably be integrated in a way that maintains the performance-driven approach to ball fitting while avoiding some of the tripwires that come with catering to preference-driven golfers.

What am I talking about?

Swing speed

The Golf Galaxy ball fitting tool doesn’t ask for your swing speed.

I love this because the myth that you need to find the right golf ball for your swing speed needs to be killed with fire and the ashes buried at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

As I’ve said a billion times, many slower swing speed players would be better off playing firmer golf balls with premium (three or more piece) construction. Stop believing you don’t swing fast enough to compress the core.

The pitfall in ignoring swing speed is that it risks recommending a golf ball that’s too soft for the typical higher swing speed player.

In one of my test cases, the top recommendation was TOUR B RXS. It’s the softest ball in the TOUR B lineup and the one that’s most likely to cost higher swing speed players distance because of it.

Feel

The fitting tool also doesn’t ask about feel preferences. Again, I fundamentally agree with this approach as most golfers would be better served by avoiding soft golf balls. That said, it’s undeniable that some golfers overvalue feel and while I think that hurts more than it helps, there needs to be some effort to guide golfers to a sensible middle ground between a Pro V1x and a Supersoft.

How well does it work?

As my most truthful test case, I entered the following combinations:

Wedges: Low flight, ball lands on the green and rolls out more quickly than I’d like (aka I want more spin)

Irons: Mid flight, ball lands on the green and stops where I’d like it to (aka mid spin)

Off the tee: High flight, roll distance (aka give me low spin)

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Somehow, that landed me on the TaylorMade TP5.

I’ve played TP5 and while it is a ball I would consider for par-3s (high flight, high spin), it’s definitely not the right ball for me in most situations. In my estimation, it’s a recommendation that exposes one of the holes in Golf Galaxy’s approach (more on that below).

Next on the recommendation list is the TP5x. That’s undoubtedly the best TaylorMade ball for me but it’s slightly odd to have both TaylorMade balls in the same recommendation set.

I tried several more scenarios including choosing “mid” across the board.

That landed me on Chrome Tour Triple Diamond with Chrome Tour and two generations of Srixon Z-Star XV (that’s a spinny ball, dog) in the alternate set. Interestingly, all four models checked every box (mid) across the board.

It’s a result that makes me wonder how Golf Galaxy is arriving at its flight and spin classifications.

What’s missing from the recommendation tool

While it might be nice to see a “swing speed” option as a means to eliminate softer balls from the result set, there are a couple of things I believe need to be integrated into Golf Galaxy’s golf ball fitting tool.

A point of comparison

Every ball fitting tool, whether in-person or online, should ask about what ball you’re playing now. If you don’t have a preferred ball, that’s fine (we can start in the middle) but if I’m looking to change golf balls, it’s because I’m trying to improve on what I’m playing currently.

And, with that, what golfers are looking to improve (or change) as it relates to flight and spin will be significantly different based on what ball they’re playing now. Even if the answers are identical, the reality of what a current AVX golfer wants to change will likely be very different for a Pro V1x player.

In any fitting scenario it’s helpful, if not necessary, to establish a baseline.

Budget

Budget is a bit a like feel in that it’s about preference, not performance. At the same time, brand-agnostic golf ball fitting tools shouldn’t overlook the reality that not every golfer is willing to spend US$54.99 on a dozen golf balls. So, while I fundamentally agree with (apparently) excluding two-piece ionomer balls from a performance-based fitting tool, there’s no reason why the recommendation engine shouldn’t steer self-identifying budget-conscious drivers towards lower-cost offerings like the Maxlfi Tour or prior-generation big OEM options.

The other stuff

Here are some other things to know about the Golf Galaxy Golf Ball Advisor.

It won’t recommend anything not sold at Golf Galaxy/DICK’S Sporting Goods

While you may lament the lack of DTC options from brands like Vice and Snell in the result set, it strikes me as reasonable. I wouldn’t expect the Titleist fitting tool to recommend a Vice. Likewise, Vice’s tool isn’t going to suggest a Callaway Chrome Tour.

It doesn’t over-recommend Maxfli

As the DICK’S/Galaxy house brand, it wouldn’t be surprise to see Maxfli pop up frequently. In the scenarios I ran, that’s not the case. The Maxfli Tour X and the Tour S popped up in scenarios I ran but neither were they the top recommendation and, in all cases, the recommendation made sense.

It will recommend discounted prior-generation products

In the test cases I ran, I was recommended prior generations of golf balls from Srixon, Mizuno and Maxfli.

I love that. While new balls often perform differently, they don’t render the performance of the prior-generation product obsolete. While not the best fit for every golfer, buying prior-generation golf balls is a great way to save money without sacrificing performance.

Some thoughts for the road

The Golf Galaxy golf ball fitting tool isn’t nearly as robust as PING’s Ballnamic but it does have the advantage of being free. It’s a solid option if you’re ready to dip your toes into the ball fitting world. Said another way, it’s not a bad start when you have no idea where to start.

With that, it’s not a substitute for in-person golf ball fitting (Golf Galaxy offers those as well)

As the tool evolves (hopefully), there are plenty of opportunities for refinement. There’s more nuance in golf ball performance than the high, mid, low approach allows for. Frankly, it’s confounding that the Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash shows up in the same result set with Callaway Chrome Soft and Titleist AVX.

Are there some similarities? Sure.

Similar enough to fit the same golfer? Probably not.

Along similar lines, while I applaud Golf Galaxy giving golfers options, between the top pick and the alternatives, it recommends up to eight different models. I think we can dial that back a bit (and capturing more performance granularity should help reduce overlap).

As I said, I’m always going to suggest an in-person fitting and while Ballnamic is a better fitting tool, as a free option, the Golf Galaxy fitting tool can take some of the guesswork out of finding the right golf ball.

I’d encourage you to try the Golf Galaxy Golf Ball Selector and let us know how it goes.