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Is a Two Piece Ball a Step Back?


Girevik

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Q Star Tour is a good middle ground due to the urethane cover. Still not on the same level as a “tour” ball for green side spin, but better than anything surlyn.

That being said, I think most people would find they can get along just fine with the limited spin of a two-piece ball after a brief adjustment period.

Personally, I stay away from used balls as potential inconsistencies due to water exposure, etc would always be in the back of my mind. There are plenty of inexpensive options out there for new balls.

And to wrap it all up, I’ll echo what I’ve read here and many other places - the most important thing is to pick a ball and play it exclusively. Being familiar enough with any ball to know how it performs, especially around the green, will be far and away better for your game than any performance differences between balls.

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I don't see it as a step back. There is no rule that you have to play a premium urethane ball if you want to take your game to the "next level". I've played with several low handicap players and they play cheap 2 piece balls and have no issues scoring. Conversely I've played with a slew of high handicap players that insist on ProV1's or other premium offerings from the big names even though they struggle mightily to break 100.

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been Using a two piece ball for 40+ years . My hcp at one time was a 6. But then again I don’t play on tour condition greens.

Driver: Callaway Paradym 9 set to 10 Draw

3W Callaway  Epic Flash

5w Callaway Epic Flash
Hybrids: 4-5 Epic Flash    
               6-7 Big Bertha 

               7 Ping G430 played as an 8 

Irons: PXG Gen4 XP 9-GW

Wedges: PXG 0311 52 56 degree Forged

Putter: Odyssey Rossie Pro 2.0 

 

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Start with the cheapest ball, the Wilson Duo Soft and Fifty can be found for $15 and under and play with them if you are satisfied with the short game aspects of them then stick with it. I would also add, if the courses you often play do not have multi level elevated greens then extra spin really isn't all that needed. I have played for over 40 years with two principles, never hit a high shot if a low one will do and if you don't normally hit the ball past the pin, why do you need backspin?

 

Cleveland Classic XL Driver
KE4 5 wood 17* 43”
Maltby MXU 23* 
Maltby Tricept TU 5 Iron
Wilson Pi5 6-PW
Wilson JP 55* SW
Ram Watson Troon Grind 58
Ray Cook M2 Mallet

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I tried the soft feel a few years back and it seemed me, at lest at the time, that the cover wasn't very durable. And for someone who struggles to keep a ball in his pocket very long it was frustrating to have to toss server due to scuffs. Has this issue been resolved.

Most of what I've read seems to indicate that used balls perform on par with new, so I'm thinking I may at least give them a shot. I have a neighbor who's played used Pro V1s for years and not had an issue.

Sto Pro Veritate

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As cheap as you can find new balls with all the sales and deals now there is no reason in my opinion to risk buying used ones. I’ve bought top of the line Srixon XV’s at $18/dz to Top Flite Gamers at $13/dz. You are already spending money on greens fees/membership, clothes, shoes, clubs, your time...not worth risking playing with a f’ed up ball to save literally a couple bucks.

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I can lose balls of any layer in the woods with ease. My best rounds have come with inexpensive 2 piece balls like the SoftFli and the Duo. My driver swing is mid 90's and I just don't generate enough speed with any of my clubs to take advantage of spin, so why pay a premium for it? I don't see moving to a 2 piece as a downgrade at all, and given the OP & I seem to have some things in common with our swings, I'm betting the adjustment period will be pretty quick and painless.

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I am seeing the Srixon Soft Feel for about $12 a dozen right now, which is what I'm paying for the Kirkland. I suppose it's worth giving them a shot, but I am concerned about cover durability.

I actually feel like I'm on the verge of a nice step up in play. I've actually played pretty well in stretches for a bit but need to get that more consistent. But until I can keep balls longer (and the course I play does have a lot of trouble), I just really don't want to pay more than about $15 a dozen. I could maybe go 20 if I got a dramatic improvement.

Sto Pro Veritate

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I've played the 3pc Kirkland a little bit myself and some of my friends play them every round. If you've got a Costco membership and can buy those, I can't imagine any reason in the world to play some 2pc ball instead. At less than $15/dozen for the Kirkland you just can't save more than a few cents a ball on the 2pc alternatives. That's not worth giving up the performance.

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I've always been concerned about the talk of the Kirkland being "spinny" off the driver as I think that's one of my issues (although I have been improving; hit the drive of my life each of the last two rounds, although that was with the new 4 piece ball I'm working through the last of). Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I'm likely not good enough that it matters what ball I play.

Actually, the Kirkland are cheaper than most of the 2 piece I'm looking at. $12 a dozen is tough to beat price wise. I just wonder if there's a better ball for my game.

Sto Pro Veritate

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But what performance is a higher handicapper getting out of the Kirkland over a 2 piece ball? You actually need to strike the ball very crisp and very consistent to be able to take advantage of the added spin of a urethane ball. It also depends on your course conditions and how you play. I live in the Mid Atlantic and play on muni/public courses and have no issues holding greens with approach shots and when I do miss the green I play more of a bump and run style so 2 piece balls work fine for my game as I am sure they work fine for others. In no way do I feel that I'm being held back playing a 2 piece ball.

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Depends on your game, skill level and course conditions.

I played several 2 piece balls over the years, which worked fine. Likely dating myself, hey I'm old, but Precept EV Extra Spin, Spalding Tour Edition, Tour Z Balata, to name a few.

I can stop an e6, Cally Supersoft with an iron shot, not like a urethane, but you simply adjust for additional run out, etc.

Try a few, give it a few rounds, see if you 'need' a 3 piece urethane covered ball.

2021 Bag Update:

 

Epic Max LS - MMT 60S

Epic Flash 5 Wood

Epic 3/4 Hybrids

Apex '21 Irons 5-7  MMT95 TT

Apex Pro '21 Irons 8-A  MMT95 TT

PM Grind Slate Wedges 58/64

Odyssey Exo Mini 7s

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Maybe I should as it another way. Given that the 3 piece Kirkland is cheaper than even most of the 2 pieces (2 doz for $25), will I get any BENEFIT from switching, or are the two piece balls equal or below what I'm playing? No sense paying more for something that would be at best a break even and could could be a step down in performance so it's starting to sound like I should just play the cheaper Kirkland.

Sto Pro Veritate

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If your game were anything like mine (and the guys I play with) I'd tell you it's a no-brainer. Any 2pc ball is definitely a "step down" from the 3pc Kirkland. Although in truth, there's only much good or bad that a ball is going to do so I don't want to oversell the difference.

The only exception I can think of is if you swing faster than average and have trouble with iron and wedge shots ballooning. It is one heck of a spinny ball off a short iron. But I've not seen any difference off driver or long irons, just that PW on down seems to spin more.

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I'm not sure I'd know a "ballooning" ball if I saw one (I do think my iron swing is on the higher side, but that's probably to my detriment right now). But anyway, it sounds like much like the clubs I play that are far nicer than I deserve, the Kirkland ball probably isn't holding me back but just has more capability than I can coax out of it. Guess I should just stick with the chipper chicken for now.

Sto Pro Veritate

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I've played majority of the season last year using Soft Feel from Srixon. It did not affect my play and I was able to finish the season a few lower than my handicap. Like you, we have the same swing speed on the driver. Before that, I was bouncing back and forth from urethane and surlyn golf balls. From whatever reason I like surlyn golf balls. This year I started playing Project S that I got for $10 per dozen. I was able to even lower my handicap even more. I am currently sitting at 7.5. I still have some TP5X practice that I bought cheap but I am afraid that if I switch golf balls, I might mess up what I have right now.

I tried the Kirkland's last year and I did not like them at all. I ended up giving them to my buddies.

From what I remember playing urethane golf balls, where I notice the difference is the wedge spin. I can stop the ball on a dime with urethane whereas the surlyn I need to adjust for the roll out a bit. Other than that, I find them similar. This year, my wedge game has been the best that it has been. In the last 10 games my scrambling has been sitting at 48%. That is all due to being able to chip it close. I keep on wondering if I play urethane if it will get even better or not.

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You will most likely notice a difference around the greens. Don't listen to the people who are acting like you have to have some special skill set to spin a urethane ball. You wont spin it off the green like a pro but you will definitely notice a difference when you chip 20 yards off the green, esp on bump and run type shots.

 

I don't have a damn clue how to put more or less spin on a shot but i definitely notice a difference between my softfli and qstar tours. I'm about a 13 handicap. If you hit a solid iron or wedge shot solid (sounds like you can do that for the most part) you will notice spin differences.

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One of the bigger things that a tour level ball gets you is consistency and quality control.

Crossfield has done some interesting tests (within the Srixon range), and shown that the spin and launch characteristics for the more expensive balls was in a tighter range than the cheaper balls. You might be fine with a ball that spins less on approach shots, but are you ok with a ball that spins 2000 RPM less on some shots than others?

The site that can't be named here is also currently doing tests of balls and finding that some balls have different compression within the same dozen, have different compression when measuring different points on the ball, are sometimes not round, and are sometimes non-conforming in weight and size. This seems to be more prevalent as the price of the ball goes down. And this is just what's measured. Uneven cover thickness, uneven dimples, and other defects can have a pretty big impact on the performance of the ball. The difference in compression would explain much of the spin inconsistencies for instance.

If a two piece ball behaved the same way every time it was struck the same, I think you could probably play it without effecting your scores much at all. You'd simply adjust to how it performs and change your game accordingly. However, that doesn't seem to necessarily be possible.

All that being said, we aren't talking massive gains here. You'd probably need hundreds of rounds which each ball to measure the difference on scoring.

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IMO, it really depends what you mean by a, "step back". You will give up some spin around the green but its really nothing that you cant work around if you just land your shots a bit short and let them roll up to the hole. I play mostly 2-piece balls (Maxfli Softfli) and I dont feel like Im giving up much.

I simply go by the front of the green yardage, aim for a few yards beyond that and if the ball rolls out 10 feet or so, its fine.

You can also work around the lesser spin but simply hitting higher shots. Spin isnt the only way that you can get a ball to stop on a green, although spin does help.

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It's a cheap experiment to find out... buy cheap golf balls and hit them. If you don't like them, you are out $10... if you do like them, you'll save money in the long run... They perform differently than "tour" balls, but that doesn't mean they perform worse. At your club speed and skill level, you shouldn't worry to much about the ball... just keep improving your contact until it matters.

As of  10/11/2021

9 Callaway Mavrk Sub Zero with Ventus Black 7X

13 Degree Srixon 3 wood Project X Black 6.5

19 Degree Sub70 939 Pro with Proforce V2

4 Utility Sub70 699u 22 degree Proforce V2

5-GW Srixon Zx5 with Project X 6.5

Sub70 286 54

Sub70 JB Low Bounce 58

SeeMore milled Tri-Mallet fit and built at SeeMore 

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Will it save me money? Most of the 2 piece balls I'm looking at are in the $15 - $20 range unless I buy used. The Kirkland 3 pice balls are $12.50 a doz. Unless there is a 2 piece ball to regularly be had for closer to the $10 range I'm not sure it's worth it. Is there a ball that I could regularly get (not a couple times a year on sale) in that $10 range?

Sto Pro Veritate

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I think the d2 feel? If you are happy with the Kirkland for price and performance, I wouldn’t worry about it... I felt they were spinny and it was costing me distance, but my club head speed is fairly high.

what are you looking to improve with a golf ball? If you are looking to gain distance, I’d recommend looking into improving club head speed. If you want more spin and control, stick with urethane balls.

if you just want to try something new, pick out some balls to try and try them. Order snell “get some” balls. It’s good to learn how different equipment performs as it can show you what can be improved by practice and what can be improved by gear.

As of  10/11/2021

9 Callaway Mavrk Sub Zero with Ventus Black 7X

13 Degree Srixon 3 wood Project X Black 6.5

19 Degree Sub70 939 Pro with Proforce V2

4 Utility Sub70 699u 22 degree Proforce V2

5-GW Srixon Zx5 with Project X 6.5

Sub70 286 54

Sub70 JB Low Bounce 58

SeeMore milled Tri-Mallet fit and built at SeeMore 

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