Golf balls that will help your improve your game, without costing as much as your entire round.
For many amateur golfers, it’s tough to justify spending $40, $50, $60 on a box of golf balls. Odds are you’re losing one of the first tee if you had no time to warm up anyway.
It’s important to buy a golf ball that performs well and isn’t going to break the bank.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of some of the best affordable golf balls on the market from brands like Titleist, TaylorMade, Srixon, Callaway and more.
The best balls on the market — Titleist ProV1, TaylorMade TP5, etc. — go for $50-plus a box. So, every deal we found for you is $35 and under.
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GRIPS: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
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Finding the perfect golf ball to match your game and budget can be tricky, so here’s a guide to help you find options.
You can’t play the game without a ball, and while many golfers don’t think they are good enough to tell one ball from another, all of them perform slightly differently.
The golf balls used by stars such as Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are multi-piece balls with urethane covers that reduce spin off the tee to maximize distance, but they spin like crazy for extra control on approach shots, chips and pitches.
However, with prices ranging from $45-$60 per dozen, tour-level performance doesn’t come cheap. Brands know those balls are out of reach for many players, so they offer alternatives at lower prices that cater to specific needs. Some are designed for pure distance, while others have soft feel or enhanced spin.
The best way to find your ideal ball is to think about what you need and how much you are willing to spend, then buy a few three-ball sleeves of a few brands and try them out. Play six holes of an 18-hole round with three different balls and think about how each performed off the tee, from the fairway and around the greens. Many shops also offer two-ball promotional packs of premium balls, which is a great way to see if a tour-level ball is right for you.
Below are many of the golf balls you can test now or that are coming soon in pro shops and golf specialty stores. This is a starting point in your journey to finding your perfect golf ball.
For 2023, Bridgestone has updated the three e-Series balls. Here’s what you need to know.
Golfers who demand the ultimate combination of distance off the tee and spin around the green play premium golf balls that typically come with a premium price. For instance, Bryson DeChambeau plays a Bridgestone Tour B X, Tiger Woods prefers Bridgestone’s Tour B XS and Lexi Thompson opts for a Bridgestone Tour B RX. Each of those balls is loaded with technologies, and they cost $47.99 per dozen.
However, for several years Bridgestone has offered other golf balls in its e-Series that are specifically designed to help different types of players who also want to pay less than the price of Tour B balls.
For 2023, Bridgestone has updated the three e-Series balls. Here’s what you need to know.
In addition to your favorite golfers, plenty of your favorite gear is in PGA Tour 2K23.
After teeing up a Titleist Pro V1, I addressed the ball on the second hole at TPC Boston, soled my TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver behind it and gave the shot a 100-percent effort. The ball rocketed down the fairway with a tight draw, cleared the fairway bunker on the right and came to rest 313 yards away in the center of the fairway. Sporting a pair of white Nike Air Max shoes, a red Nike tee shirt and gray pants, I strolled down the fairway beside my rival, Bubba Watson, and waved at the fans on the other side of the ropes.
As someone who grew up playing Atari and now writes about golf equipment and attends PGA Tour events on a regular basis, I can promise you this: If I turned 22 last Sunday instead of 52, I would starve to death after buying this game. I’d never leave the sofa. I wouldn’t eat. I wouldn’t leave the house. I would become an insomniac with twitchy thumbs, an unbelievable short game and encyclopedic knowledge of places such as TPC Summerlin, Riviera Country Club and The Renaissance Club in Scotland.
I would also have all of the latest gear because, in addition to incredibly detailed recreations of 20 well-known golf courses and the presence of virtual versions of stars such as Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Lydia Ko, 2K included all of today’s hottest clubs, balls, footwear, apparel and accessories. The video below will give you a few peeks.
Your eyes were not deceiving you, that was a Puma logo on Lexi Thompson’s dress, an Adidas triangle on Xander Schauffele’s shirt and a Bridgestone logo on Woods’ golf ball.
The more you play the game, the more virtual currency you can earn and use to buy gear. You can earn virtual currency by achieving things in the game, too, such as hitting a par 5 in two shots and defeating your rival in a match. Of course, the virtual currency also can be bought, using real money, through your video game system.
For companies such as Ping, TaylorMade, Callaway and Titleist, having digital representations of the clubs available now in pro shops is massive.
“To be part of such a popular game and have your products be represented in it and have gamers choose your products is a powerful thing,” said Pete Samuels, Ping’s director of marketing communications. “Naturally we want to be in that space. It reaches a younger demographic, as well.”
A Titleist TSi driver, FootJoy shoes and Titleist Pro V1 ball in PGA Tour 2K23 (2K)
People who play golf already know the companies that make clubs, balls and clothes. but through video games such as PGA Tour 2K23, people who would not know a driver from a divot tool can be introduced to brands and learn what clubs the stars use, what clothes they wear and what shoes they like.
“You get more credibility with a younger, newer audience by being in the game,” said Ethan Ganot, Callaway Golf’s director of marketing. Callaway is not only in PGA Tour 2K23 but also in WGT by Topgolf, another highly detailed golf video game that includes digital versions of real equipment.
Ganot noted that Callaway signed an endorsement deal with Jon Rahm around the time the last version of the game was released, so having Rahm and other Callaway staff players represented authentically in the game is another appeal.
“Step one of getting a return on an investment in a player like Rahm is awareness,” Ganot said. “So making sure that people know that he’s a Callaway guy, a Topgolf guy, a TravisMathew guy, that’s critical for us. It’s brand building to a different audience. After all, it’s very possible that a majority of the people playing these games don’t watch golf on Saturday and Sunday.”
For 2K, adding real clubs and adorning players’ avatars with the logos they wear in real life brings another layer of authenticity to the game. To do it, companies send computer-aided design (CAD) files of their products to 2K along with samples of actual clubs. 2K inputs that information into its systems, sends different versions back to the companies for approval and presto: Gear that is on pro shop walls is also being swung by a virtual Justin Thomas and a digital version of someone sitting on his sofa in Portland, Oregon.
As for me, I beat Bubba Watson on Saturday morning but lost the tournament, then bounced back to win at TPC Deere Run and TPC Summerlin that night after the kids went to sleep. Hoarding my earnings, I’ll be heading to the virtual pro shop again soon.
DeChambeau originally signed with the golf ball manufacturer in 2016.
Bryson DeChambeau originally signed with Bridgestone in 2016 after he turned professional and re-signed his endorsement deal to use the company’s golf balls in 2020, but a few weeks after DeChambeau’s decision to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series, a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, the player and brand have decided to split.
“The PGA Tour is an extremely important part of professional golf, and Bridgestone has a sports marketing relationship with this highly visible series of tournaments,” Bridgestone said in a statement. “In considering that Bryson DeChambeau will no longer be participating in these events, Bridgestone and Bryson have agreed to end their brand ambassador partnership.”
In fact, this isn’t the first time DeChambeau lost a sponsorship due to his decision. On June 9th, Rocket Mortgage ended its relationship with the 2020 U.S. Open winner.
Bridgestone stills rosters names such as Tiger Woods, Jason Day and Lexi Thompson. DeChambeau, who won the 2020 U.S. Open using a Bridgestone ball, is expected to keep Bridgestone’s Tour B X ball in play for the foreseeable future.
Whether it be Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, a birthday, a corporate outing, or anything in between, personalized golf balls are a great gift for any golfer.
Personalized golf balls run the gamut from top-tier balls like a Pro V1 to something more colorful and eye-catching. Either way, this list has you covered.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
The good vibes didn’t last long, however, as the former Arnold Palmer Invitational champ was back in the news on Wednesday after the PGA Tour announced he had withdrawn from the event at Bay Hill.
Day captured the title at this event in 2016 and has finished inside the top 35 thrice since. But this marks the third time in four years the Aussie star has pulled out of the event, citing back issues as the reason for the previous two. There was no official word on why Day left this year.
Day was scheduled as a featured player on PGA Tour Live’s coverage on ESPN+, as he was to be joined by Marc Leishman and Tyrrell Hatton. He’ll be replaced in the field by David Lipsky.
Discover more about the balls you are likely to see in your local pro shops and learn who they are made for how they might help your game.
In a game filled with misconceptions and contradictions, one of the most prevailing is for the average player, golf balls are all the same. The thinking goes that if your swing is inconsistent and if you tend to lose a few balls every time you play, the specific type of ball that you play really doesn’t matter, so you should play the cheapest one you can find.
Sure, unless you get golf balls for free like the pros, the price of all your equipment matters, and modern golf balls with their aerodynamic cover patterns, energetic cores and intricate designs are definitely equipment. However, there can be massive performance differences for you between balls that have nearly the same price. One might be a low-spinning distance ball while the other feels softer and delivers more spin around the green.
Generally, however, the best performing golf balls, the ones that can deliver more distance off the tee and the most greenside control, also tend to be among the most expensive. Costing $40 or more per dozen, they tend to have three, four or five-piece constructions to reduce spin with woods and long irons, along with soft urethane covers to enhance feel and increase spin with short irons and wedges.
There are several excellent, high-performance balls priced just below the premium offerings in the $30-$40 range. Balls in the $20-$30 per dozen range tend to be two-piece constructions and have either Surlyn or ionomer covers for increased durability. Most are distance-oriented balls that perform well off the tee, but they tend not to create the greenside spin of more-premium balls.
The best way to determine your ideal golf ball is to buy a few three-packs and try them. Hit a series of short chip shots and pitch shots first, paying close attention to how quickly the balls stop and how they react coming off your wedges. Then, try them on longer approach shots, iron shots and eventually hit each ball with your driver. When you are done, consider your priorities, how each ball performed and its price.
The list below is a great place to start discovering more about the balls you are likely to see in your local pro shop and golf specialty stores in 2022.
