Fit to Your Tee

What are the characteristics that make a decent golf ball?

“As long as it’s round and rolls,” says Todd Yoshitake, head golf professional at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, “it should be OK for a large part of the golfing public.”

OK, so why have so many scientists spent so much time and money over the last century studying aerodynamics and dimple design in an effort to develop balls that appeal to golfers’ desire for distance, control and durability?

Like most things in golf, the answer lies in the scorecard.

“As you get better and better,” says Yoshitake, “you realize that the kind of ball you use can help your scoring. Depending on what kind of golfer you are, it can help you hit straighter, or chip and putt better. You can get more height on your shot, or hit it lower. You can adjust your tendency by changing your ball.”

Tom Sargent, head golf professional at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, says developing players do themselves a disservice by not considering if they’re using the right ball.

“A lot of people want to use Titleist because of its dominance on the PGA Tour,” says Sargent, PGA of America’s national golf professional of the year, “but your choice of a ball should be a personal preference. Most companies have a ball for every type of player.”

The trick is finding the one that’s right for your game.

The choices seem endless.

Golf Datatech, a marketing research firm in Kissimmee, Fla., says the $1.2-billion U.S. golf ball market includes more than 100 makes of balls.

And at an average cost of $23.64 per dozen, according to Golf Datatech, it pays to find the ball that best suits your style of play.

“The best thing to do is try a ball,” Sargent says. “Buy a sleeve and try it. Experiment.”

Titleist, the world’s leading golf ball manufacturer, prints a brochure to assist in choosing a ball. Titled “The Best Ball for You,” it includes a questionnaire that asks your average 18-hole score and driving distance and personal preference in terms of distance, spin, feel and durability.

Other manufacturers print similar consumer guides.

Sargent, who used a Slazenger ball for a short time but has mostly used Titleist Professional balls for the last 25 years, agreed to comment on a random selection of 10 popular balls, matching the balls with the players who would benefit most from using them. His comments:

Titleist DT Wound: “For players who want a ball that’s cut-resistant but also has some of the characteristics of a premium ball. It’s for somebody who’s probably not a top-caliber amateur or professional but is still a pretty good player with a low to medium handicap.”

Titleist HP2 Tour: “As the name indicates, they’re marketing this toward the better players, but it hasn’t been accepted by the better players yet. It’s pretty hard. They’re trying to give you some fairly high performance in a two-piece ball [a solid center with a cover]. Generally, three-piece balls [in which the center is wound with rubber bands and topped with a cover] are higher-performance balls for better players, but balls are kind of heading in the direction of two-piece.”

Top-Flite XL: “Rock flites. For an intermediate player who’s looking for durability. It’s a hard ball. Very hard. Mostly for distance. A good ball for a beginner--somebody who’s looking for distance and who doesn’t really care if the ball stops quickly.”

Top-Flite Titanium: “Most of the titanium balls are for distance. By the way, almost every ball has titanium in it.”

Wilson Titanium: “You have your choice of the spin, straight distance or a balata [soft cover]. Straight distance is the hard dude. The spin will have a little more carry and get up a little higher, but it’s still a two-piece hard ball. The balata is designed for soft feel, but it’s still durable. It’s kind of an in-between ball.”

Precept EV: “There you have a ball with extra spin. The intent is to get it to stop. It’s for the upper echelon of players.”

Pinnacle Gold: “A hard ball. It’s like the Top-Flite XL. The ultimate in durability.”

Titleist Professional: “The top-of-the-line ball that most of the tour players use, and it’s actually fairly durable. Very good performance for top-level players. It bites and it carries. It’s not for high-handicap players.”

Top-Flite Strata: “A high-performance two-piece ball. Titleist is the No. 1 ball on the tours, but Strata is beginning to gain some acceptance. Mark O’Meara uses it, so it’s a pretty good ball. It’s designed for better players.”

Titleist Tour Distance: “It’s kind of in the same category as the DT, only it’s a two-piece ball. It has a little more distance, yet it maintains quite a bit of spin. You’re starting to get some good players using this one. Not tour players, but some top amateurs.”