Round and Dimples pt. 1

The golf ball. Could this be the most underrated piece of equipment in your golf bag? If you had your driver, irons, wedges, and putter fitted to your swing and have not addressed the golf ball in depth, you could be costing yourself strokes.

There are about 100 different golf balls to choose from out there. Each one promises increased distance with great feel and spin. Each one promises lightning in a bottle, or sleeve, in this case. But do they actually deliver and does it really matter in the whole scheme of my golf game? In a simple answer, YES!!!

At the 1998 Masters, arguably, the greatest golfer that has ever played the game, Jack Nicklaus proposed a “scaling back” of the golf ball for professional tournaments. In essence, he proposed a tournament golf ball. Here is the greatest player in the world suggesting that the golf ball is making an impact, greater than that of driver or iron technology, on the world of golf. Can I afford to ignore this in my own game?

Golf balls tend to come in two classes. Distance balls and “performance” balls. “Performance” is a fancy name for spin balls. Now every manufacturer will tell you that their distance balls have performance and their performance balls have distance, but it is important to realize that in the world of golf balls, there is a trade off between the two.

I happen to have enough distance to play most courses. I also happen to be 5’11” and about 30 pounds overweight. For those of you that have experience in swing types vs. body types, you can guess that I have a fairly shallow angle of attack and have very little turn when I swing. Because of that, I do not spin the ball very well. Because of that, I play a ball that spins for me.

I play the Bridgestone E5+ most of the time I play. I will get into when and what I change to in part 2 of this series. I find that this ball has a fair amount of distance off the tee, but spins like a top around the greens. I have tried other balls in this “performance” class and found them all to be adequate, but I like this one the best.

If you are a golfer that tends to hit the ball shorter than you would like or more erratically than you would like, this ball might not be for you. If you are looking for distance, take a look at balls like the Pinnacle Platinum Distance. These balls will give you serious pop. The sacrifice is the spin around the greens, but if you live in an area that has softer greens, you might not need the spin that other balls provide.

I know what you are going to say. “Tom, I like the distance and all, but they feel hard and I cant stand that jarring feel of impact that distance balls have.” Well there is a solution. Most of the golf ball manufacturers have produced a soft feeling distance ball. Check out the Callaway Hx Hot if you like a ball that goes and goes but hate a harsh sound or feel at impact,

The golf ball. THE most underrated piece of equipment in your golf bag. Hopefully this helps clear up a little confusion. Next time we will talk about different conditions that might affect what ball you play and some choices based on your current ball you like.