The Worst Golf Ball We’ve Ever Tested
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The Worst Golf Ball We’ve Ever Tested

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The Worst Golf Ball We’ve Ever Tested
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Q: You guys have been testing golf balls for a long time. What’s the worst ball you’ve tested?

It’s actually one that we tested recently, Snell Prime 3. 0.

Dean probably has one of the best pedigrees for golf ball design. He was one of the co-inventors of the Pro V1, which is the most popular golf ball of all time.

When he first launched with MTBX, it was a hit, right? It tested well for us, but he had to move factories. More than once. Anybody can make a golf ball really good one time. The difference is, can you make that same golf ball a million times as good as one? The Snell ball finished 13 out of 100. It is by far the worst scoring golf ball that we’ve ever had at MyGolfSpy.

There’s two ways we test golf balls at MyGolfSpy. There’s performance and there’s quality control. Performance here is robot tested. Quality control is what we do here called Ball Lab. We have a lot of fancy machinery that can test diameter, weight, all those things to make sure people are making the same ball over and over and over.

We buy balls from multiple retailers as well. So we do not get any of these balls from the same place because golfers are buying them from all over the country. We try to buy them from three different locations at three different times, but we also don’t want the OEM or manufacturer supplying the balls to us because that would be an unfair advantage.

Here are the four reasons why we think you should not be playing the Snell Prime 3. 0.

  1. Almost all the balls we tested were overweight. You could actually not even play these balls in a tournament. 62 ounces. 20 of the 36 balls we tested were overweight, which is by far the most we have ever seen.
  2. Inconsistent Compression. Theoretically you want every ball to be the same compression. That way you go the same distance when you hit the shot. On average of the 36 balls, we had a 17. 8 difference in compression. That’s the difference between a hard ball and a soft ball. You would see major performance implications of that on the golf course.
  3. Roundness. You want your golf balls to be round, right? So you 6 of the 36 balls were deemed not round. Not good.
  4. Layer concentricity. So nerd talk, basically you’re going to have inconsistent layers or inconsistent thickness from one layer to the next. Once again, It just shows a sign of inconsistent quality control from ball to ball.

This is the worst scoring golf ball that we have ever tested. So we will not and cannot recommend that any of our readers go out and buy these balls until they improve the quality control of what they’ve got going on here.

For You

For You

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Connor Lindeman

Connor Lindeman

Connor Lindeman

Connor is MyGolfSpy's resident sneakerhead and the authority on all things golf shoe performance. He's tested over 150 different pairs (and counting). When he isn't scrolling Twitter to find his next golf shoe purchase, you can find him at the piano or trying a new dessert place with his wife and daughter. #Lefty

Connor Lindeman

Connor Lindeman

Connor Lindeman

Connor Lindeman

Connor Lindeman





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      Duffer1

      2 years ago

      How does this compare the the Kirkland ball, which was so bad test parameters had to be adjusted?

      Reply

      Dave

      2 years ago

      The Snell Prime 3.0 is the best “bad” ball I’ve ever played.

      Reply

      Tom Newsted

      2 years ago

      I think it would be nice to show people how bad these balls are vs the ProV1, Tour Chrome and TP5 by doing a video with the robot. That way people can see a completely un bias test with the same exact club and same exact swing. I think many weekend golfers think that these bargain brands will work just as well as the big names will. I am not saying everyone should only play one of the big three but there is a difference

      Reply

      J

      2 years ago

      From the guys (MGS) that literally ruined the greatest ball on earth…the 2019 Chrome Soft.

      Reply

      Cruz

      2 years ago

      MGS is the antidote to catchy marketing. They’re like the Consumer Reports of golf. A good product testing methodology and process is so important.

      Reply

      Vince

      2 years ago

      Sorry if I missed it, but have you do robot testing on the Snell Prime 3.0 golf balls yet? The link you have above talking about robot testing went to last year’s robot tests. I found some similar things with the quality control as you guys but lack the ability to do robot testing like you do and would be super interested to see how that poor quality control translates into performance.

      Reply

      Micool

      2 years ago

      Go ahead and buy them! This way when the ball rolls by the hole, you can blame the ball! ” no way, i’m not taking a 5, put me down for 4, that ball is defective!
      It’s not a hit piece, It’s the Truth

      Reply

      Mark Blake

      2 years ago

      Didnt Dean Snell respond to this report on August 5th with a video on the news section of his website?
      Seems like this report has been rehashed a month later and made it to be new “news”

      Reply

      MyGolfSpy

      2 years ago

      We have 20 million readers/followers. These people find our information on different platforms. Website/Instagram/Facebook etc. Our job is to tell consumers when a product performs well and also when it doesn’t. In order for all our readers/followers to see this information it needs to be posted on these different platforms.

      Not rehashed, it’s called doing our job. And we will continue to do that whether you like a brand or not. We don;t see brands we see performance.

      When his ball performed well in the past we told all the platforms the same. And when it did bad we will do the same thing.

      Reply

      MGS fan

      2 years ago

      Will there be a ball test this year so that we can see how a ball actually performs?

      Rog

      2 years ago

      Thanks for doing what you do. I started using Snell balls cuz of favorable review here some time ago. It works both ways. I hope Dean fixes his problems. We all want him to succeed.

      Lloyd Davis

      2 years ago

      My brother is a former Snell guy, who changed to Vice a year or two ago. Apparently Snell still had him on their mailing list, and he received a letter about the MGS report (which was first published a few weeks back), and how the bad balls were a limited number, and they’d changed their processes to ensure the highest quality, etc.
      The bottom line is that MGS ratings matter, and that informed golfers can drive change.
      Thanks for the good work and honest reporting.

      Reply

      Don Gau

      2 years ago

      With this much variation in balls there is zero chance Dean didn’t know about it, but he chose to sell the balls anyway (likely because eating the costs of throwing out the bad balls would put him out of business). Yes for the average player they might not notice the differences, but there are other ball brands at the same price point that don’t have variations as large as snell. Yes the Chinese factory screwed him, but it ultimately is his business and he made the call to knowingly sell these balls.

      Reply

      C0mbat

      2 years ago

      Exactly. It’s not that difficult to measure the things that MGS so. My granny could do it. So he definitely knew about the issues. Fraudster!

      Reply

      Kuso

      2 years ago

      He could have just re-painted them, and sold them as range balls somewhere, it would have at least made up for some of the cost. Dunno why he chose to let it get out into the world into the hands of reviewers

      Reply

      Harry P.

      2 years ago

      I really like your golf ball performance testing and since it is the only piece of golf equipment that I buy every year, wish the test was every year, in the spring, when it would be most useful. Construction quality is nice but only indicative of performance. Would think that there are 2 piece balls that would do well on a construction quality test but I wouldn’t use them.

      Reply

      Doug Snell

      2 years ago

      I play Snell golf balls and score 75 to 84 ever since bought them. And I buy their gokf balls every year. Maybe your testung is bad.

      Reply

      Mike Bernhardt

      2 years ago

      Not sure that your golf ball test is a good indicator of performance. After your review, I bought two dozen to see if they performed as badly as your test parameters. The ball performed amazingly well. Carry, spin, durability and overall performance were on par or exceeded various other balls in the same price range I have tried this summer. I am a single digit handicapper, and I have not experienced any noticeable negative performance indicators when actually playing the balls. I think that your criticism on cores off center and a different ball in a batch are valid, but did somebody at MGS actually play the balls before skewering the company??

      Reply

      Kyle

      2 years ago

      Same here. For me, it’s a Pro-V @ almost half the price savings. Might get one round less out of it, compared to the big dog.
      Maybe they got a ‘bad’ batch, or we got a ‘good’ one?????
      A recreational 5 index….

      Reply

      J

      2 years ago

      Likewise, I thought the yellow 3.0’s were amazing. I’m solid 10-12 and could bomb these, check and hold and hop and stop at will. Very SOFT feel too (like thats a bad thing lol) Just ordered the 5 doz pack.

      Nick

      2 years ago

      Have you retested to see if the QC issues are fixed (as Snell says they are)? I’ve been playing Snell balls for years – black, prime, now 3.0 and I have never had a performance issue (3 index, for whatever that’s worth, so I think I’d notice if the balls were absolute garbage or wildly inconsistent).

      Running an article once conveying your results is totally reasonable, even if you run it months after the company says issues are fixed. Those are the results you got, after all, but running it again without retesting, and with no actual performance data, is at minimum sloppy as hell, but not really surprising from MGS.

      Reply

      J

      2 years ago

      +1

      Reply

      Rog

      2 years ago

      Dean promised the Monday after this report came out to fully address and rebut the findings. I keep checking the website, but I have not seen that yet. Has anyone else seen it? Big (former) Snell fan here.

      Reply

      Peejer

      2 years ago

      A family member posted comments here earlier today. MGS is filtering comments. Not a good look.

      Reply

      El_Kid

      2 years ago

      Typical MGS trash!

      Reply

      WoodieB

      2 years ago

      So Snell wouldn’t pony up when you tried to squeeze the for some ad $$ eh😆

      Reply

      Robin

      2 years ago

      After all Dean did for you and you splat in his face reshowing this article.
      Are you going to reshow the review a third time next week.
      Get out here

      Reply

      Keith

      2 years ago

      Tell your husband you complained to mygolfspy on their website

      Reply

      David Brodette

      2 years ago

      I agree. Saw this posted before. Do you guys have a vendetta?

      Reply

      Soonapa

      2 years ago

      No it’s not. They are not here to make friends. They are here to inform the consumer. They acknowledged Deans past. And it should have been incumbent of Dean ( especially) with his past, to have monitored the QC before the product went out. Or did Dean know they were doing this and b/c he was having issues securing a manufacturing site he let it slide, which is inexcusable with his reputation

      Reply

      Hopp

      2 years ago

      Snell fan boy attack, SMH.

      Reply

      Jamie Danbrook

      2 years ago

      I know Dean mentioned in his reply that a lot of the issues were resolved. Great to hear that, but I guess my question is how many of the overweight or “bad” balls are still out in circulation? Were they able to pull those from shops or are they still readily available for purchase. And to that end, are there differences in packaging or anything to be able to spot what was from the prior batches from the newer ones that are supposedly fixed?

      Reply

      Mark R

      2 years ago

      Agree Snell deserves another chance, but:

      Snell either knowingly sold POS balls because of cash shortage, or Snell didn’t perform proper QC. Take your pick.

      The golf consumer shouldn’t get stuck with bad balls.

      Snell should have waited until the product was ready for market.

      Reply

      Stealers

      2 years ago

      The 2023 version had some complaints too. Is the 2023 version snell better than the 2024?

      Reply

      Robert Dwyer

      2 years ago

      Before you decide to destroy someone’s business maybe you should explore the backstory of why defects were found in a new product release.
      I’m fairly certain that if you test some other golf balls that were produced after the Tiwan golf plant fire, in different locations, I think you would not doubt find the same issues.
      I think your assessment was grossly unfair and a retest is called for here as the first test was not objective or fair by any measure.
      If MYGOLFSPY wishes to remain a creatable and reliable source of golf information, you owe this to Dean Snell !

      Reply

      Vinny The Consumer

      2 years ago

      You can’t be serious. This is not the publisher’s decision to wreck a business, it’s the publisher’s decision to explore, test and report on test results, whether or not you like the results is your problem. It is not mygolfspy’s responsiility to do what Snell should have done in the first place; insured the QC and expose any defects in what they are making PRE RELEASE, if MGS can find the equipment and testing capabilities then so can Snell.

      Companys that sell poorly made products get what they deserve. And what Dean Snell deserves is a swift kick in the — have you considered the people that wasted their money on this product? The QC @ Snell appears to be no better than what you’d get buying cheap knock off clubs that merely have the cosmetics and none of the performance of the real thing.

      What makes this even worse than a counterfeit product is that it’s a real product and they seem to have no problem putting it out there for you to buy despite it’s practical uselessness and failure to meet the USGAs specs for a ball.

      Reply

      Robert Dwyer

      2 years ago

      Where exactually did you notice and USGA failure of this golf ball. It does not exist! Get your fact straight or your comment is as dishonest as MGS article on the ball.

      MrHogan

      2 years ago

      100%. In the world of golf ball development, Dean is the man and MGS at the very least needs to reach out to him (if you haven’t already ) and have a discussion regarding your testing.
      This hit piece is nothing short of unprofessional and Dean Snell is owed an apology.

      Reply

      RD

      2 years ago

      Professional is you report your findings regardless. Unprofessional is calling out Calloway and not Snell.

      Tiny trumps cheats at golf

      2 years ago

      MGS owes you a swift kick in your pie. MSG tested the balls and let everyone know the results if you get butt hurt over the results us adults will get you a crying towel or a clean tampon. Hit job my azz great reporting, if the owner of the crappy ball let this ball out to the public reporting the results is far from a hit job step child. Us adults don’t get all butt hurt over great reporting of a company trying to pull a fast one on us golfers by selling garbage, non conforming, different compression from ball to ball crap.

      Jay Nichols

      2 years ago

      FYI….The Taiwan golf ball factory fire, Foremost has nothing to do with Snell’s junk balls as that factory only made 2 piece balls.
      Also, I find it amazing the number of comments here are single digit handicaps who choose to play a ball that’s not even USGA rated, their not listed as conforming golf balls, and with all the players on every professional tour, not one player uses a Snell ball. So many people here expect to buy golf balls that are as good as Pro V1 & Pro V1x, but they want them to have the same quality & performance as the #1 Ball in Golf, and that’s just never going to happen unless Costco/Kirkland infringes on Titleist Pro V1 & Pro V1x as their first model did, that’s why the lawsuit was filed against them and they can’t make a comparable ball.

      Reply

      Greg P

      2 years ago

      Played the previous version of the 4. Pretty darn good ball. Only issue I had was with cover durability, which was supposedly addressed in the latest version. I’d definitely buy again.

      Reply

      Dean

      2 years ago

      This is Dean. I did reply to this. And since MGS is about truth and transparency, they do not seem to tell you guys that Tony had called me about these issues 2 weeks prior to the first report. I told Tony that we were aware of them, have already worked with the factory and changed the specs and this was corrected in the factory a month prior to the first report. We have implemented weight checks on EVERY golf balls for all balls made the last 2 months since the checked heavier balls were seen. MGS knew this… Knows this, but still continues to post these claims that are simply not true. I have tried to contact MGS to have me LIVE on the podcast to address each one of the issues they continue to post, but have not heard anything back at all.. So if truly for the consumers, lets do a live podcast, you can ask me any questions about anything in golf balls and performance and I will gladly share what I can.

      Reply

      Steve Johnson

      2 years ago

      I have used Snell balls for about 4 years. Loved the MTB and recently bought 2 dozen of the 3.0. I have seen no issues with them other than I’m not a fan of the yellow color, I think they look too much like range balls. Very durable, love the spin around the green, and good ball flight.

      Reply

      Dave Hamilton

      2 years ago

      Have you seen Dean’s response to the review? Seems a follow up review may be needed.

      Reply

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