Kirkland Signature (Costco) golf balls (MERGED) (NO BST POSTS)

[tsecor]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

[jerry1967]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

DO really believe that Titleist doesn't pay their players to use their equipment? Besides being a great ball if you win a tournament with a titleist ball my understanding is you are paid a good sum of money. I suppose someone is going to come on here and say just the opposite.

[North Butte]

And do TM, Callaway, Bridgestone, Srixon balls not pay a bonus for winning?

[jpdx]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

 

are you a tour player that's not being paid to play the ball? if....so you might want to get a new agent as I'd be very surprised to hear that they don't pay tour players to play their ball...

 

I could see them giving balls and not paying high level amateurs/d1 players..even web.com. but a tour pro? I just don't see it happening. if it's pro golf is how you make a living would you play a prov or v1x even though Costco paid you to play the ksig, or taylormade paid you to play the tp5/tp5x? - I know I wouldn't.

[Bad9]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

 

uhm, no. They don't pay as much individually which is why they don't keep stars but they pay everybody.

[clubber]

I absolutely love the ksig. I disagree with people saying the ball doesn't spin as well with short or long shots. I think it is actually 'spinner' on full shots....but these forums are about opinions and people are entitled. This thread doesn't have to be all love. But I love the ball...BUT...if I were a tour player I would not play the ball. I would play one of the other high profile urethane balls and not miss a beat.

[spartan6910]

I agree with clubber. It's a spinner. Too much for my liking. Gonna be sticking with the TP5.

[TsarBomba]

People are getting hung up on semantics and the details of the titleist budget.

 

"Marketing Hype" was the topic.

 

Costco spent virtually zilch on that. Made up. Fake news. There was zero "Marketing" hype, and no twisting of reality can correlate the other means this ball became popular as "Marketing".

 

Part of the interesting story of this ball IS the complete absence of marketing - AND the corresponding price that reflects THAT.

 

The complete opposite of the product for which it is being compared is Titleist. Who, literally, spend the most, on MARKETING. Seriously. If you pay retail, for Titliest, what percentage of YOUR money was spent convincing YOU to buy it??

[clubber]

I think how skinny it is on full iron shots might be my favorite thing but I am not s high spin player. If I were there probably would be a better ball for me but it is pretty much perfect.

 

On the subject of titleist the frustrating thing about them in this situation is when they sent breed and other out on almost the same day talking about how then all didn't compare (quality etc) when it really does.

 

I always struggled picking between a v1 and v1x and I absolutely agree with those who say this ball is between those two.

[tsecor]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

 

uhm, no. They don't pay as much individually which is why they don't keep stars but they pay everybody.

the quote above says "they pay big bucks" which is why I said they are known for NOT paying their players, as in big money.....You guys think titleist pays over 8000 tour players big money to use their balls? that's how many tour players use titleist in the world. it just isn't feasible. Maybe they give them free balls or something but in 2009, titleist was offering only $1000 to tour players to use their drivers for any given tournament...I just disagree with the statement above....

[tsecor]

I played these after all the hype. No comparison to the feel of the titleist......sorry

 

the Wilson staff duo is a much better comparison and they are only 1999 a doz

 

The Duo? Really? It's a low compression very soft ball but without the urethane cover it is completely different around the green. it's no Kirkland. Ksig feels like a V1x........not sorry :)

opinions vary and everyone has one. unless you are swinging over 105mph for your driver, amateurs can benefit from a lower compression ball. Prov1x is a high compression ball which very few amateurs can maximize, but then again golf is the only sport where amateurs think they are tiger woods on any given day. 19.99 vs 45.00.....the value is in the Wilson ball and it feels better than the Costco balls which is selling like hot cakes because of marketing hype.......again, my opinion

 

the whole swing speed to compression thing has been debunked many times over, but keep spreading that false info.

 

and MARKETING HYPE? From Costco? L-O-Freaking-L.

I hope this guy isn't the hulk underneath all this rage :) #physics

[Driver 501]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

 

uhm, no. They don't pay as much individually which is why they don't keep stars but they pay everybody.

the quote above says "they pay big bucks" which is why I said they are known for NOT paying their players, as in big money.....You guys think titleist pays over 8000 tour players big money to use their balls? that's how many tour players use titleist in the world. it just isn't feasible. Maybe they give them free balls or something but in 2009, titleist was offering only $1000 to tour players to use their drivers for any given tournament...I just disagree with the statement above....

 

Titleist, which has about 80 percent of the players on tour using its ball, operates the ''money game.'' Each week, the 15 leading players using a Titleist ball get cash prizes. The top finisher gets $2,000, and if he also wins the tournament, he gets $10,000 more. Dunlop has a similar money game with a smaller purse.

 

(NYT/Mark Lennihan)

[tsecor]

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

 

uhm, no. They don't pay as much individually which is why they don't keep stars but they pay everybody.

the quote above says "they pay big bucks" which is why I said they are known for NOT paying their players, as in big money.....You guys think titleist pays over 8000 tour players big money to use their balls? that's how many tour players use titleist in the world. it just isn't feasible. Maybe they give them free balls or something but in 2009, titleist was offering only $1000 to tour players to use their drivers for any given tournament...I just disagree with the statement above....

 

Titleist, which has about 80 percent of the players on tour using its ball, operates the ''money game.'' Each week, the 15 leading players using a Titleist ball get cash prizes. The top finisher gets $2,000, and if he also wins the tournament, he gets $10,000 more. Dunlop has a similar money game with a smaller purse.

 

(NYT/Mark Lennihan)

Seems to make sense....far from "big money", but decent if you win

[Hehateme]

So, I played the Kirkland ball yesterday for the first time, 2 dozen delivered to my door for $37.70. I have been playing the Chrome soft X and 2017 PV1. I was surprised, pleasantly, with how it played. Full club spin is on par with the others, seemed to be a little longer off the driver than the others, partial club spin seemed a little less, ball seemed to hit, spin then release. I need another round with them and on a course with a lot of grass on the greens. But, they will get more opportunities with me. I liked them

 

I played another round on quality greens yesterday. The ball spins fine on full iron shots, but around the green spin is definitely a grab and release and not a back spin. And I am one of those spin the ball and back it up types. One thing I am convinced of is that the ball is long off of the tee, longer than my PV1 and Chrome X. And, the lack of spin actually helps my game in that I have a tendency to pull the ball back too far.

[suprfli6]

To each his own. I spent half an hour chipping before my league last night and was doing KSig and ProV1s side by side and had virtually identical results on similar strikes. Almost nothing matters when it comes to chipping spin other than having a urethane cover when it comes to balls since you're not compressing them or anything.

[PuttCurseRepeat]

Golf Channel, Golf Digest, Golfweek and various online forums and social media sites putting on a full-court press is the new "word of mouth" I suppose.

 

I'm older than 45 and don't get it. I remember when "word of mouth" meant you heard things from guys you played golf with, worked with or saw on a day to day basis. It now means "stuff I read on the Internet". The difference is, the old type of word of mouth wasn't getting paid by the click or monetizing page views.

 

We've been over this multiple times in this thread. To the extent we talk about marketing and hype concerning the K-Sig, we are basically talking about the MGS evaluation. MGS clearly stated what their test was and how it was conducted. The results appeared to reflect the anecdotal experience of many who have used both balls prior to, and since, their publishing. Some have had dissimilar results, but looking objectively at the consensus, I don't think the MGS opinion can be characterized as an "outlier". Also, I'm not aware of any testing of equal or greater veracity which contradicts MGS's findings.

 

Regarding "word of mouth", I feel that forums like these - or, this forum, since there isn't another one quite like it ;) - are the near equivalent to talking with guys and gals we golf and work with. I'm not going to discount it just because I read it on the internet. I'm not sure what North Butte's motivations are for his prolific activity in this thread, but mine is strictly that of an enthusiast.

 

 

Yes, there is a reason why Titleist is number one on tour. They pay "BIG BUCKS" to those that play their ball to maintain that position! No one denies it isn't a good ball, it's just not number unless the money is there.

That's not true at all. Titleist is known for NOT paying players to use their equipment.

 

Wut?

[North Butte]

I am a prolific poster on many threads. Not all of them last for months, though, so it adds up to quite a few posts on this one.

 

I am an enthusiast about golf, golf equipment and particularly golf balls. My only motivation for being in this discussion is the fact that we're talking about a golf ball of the type (urethane "Tour" balls) that I use. If you think about, probably 10-20% of the golf ball discussion on this forum over the past 6+ months has been K-Sig related one way or another.

 

P.S. In my opinion, we need another term rather than "word of mouth" to describe stuff we read online. I guess "read it online" doesn't have the same way of rolling off the tongue as "word of mouth".

[TsarBomba]

I am a prolific poster on many threads. Not all of them last for months, though, so it adds up to quite a few posts on this one.

 

I am an enthusiast about golf, golf equipment and particularly golf balls. My only motivation for being in this discussion is the fact that we're talking about a golf ball of the type (urethane "Tour" balls) that I use. If you think about, probably 10-20% of the golf ball discussion on this forum over the past 6+ months has been K-Sig related one way or another.

 

P.S. In my opinion, we need another term rather than "word of mouth" to describe stuff we read online. I guess "read it online" doesn't have the same way of rolling off the tongue as "word of mouth".

 

Also, "read on-line" carried a negative connotation historically...as-in I read on line there is this great male performance enhancing drug, all natural. Or simply annectdotal bits.

 

Huge threads with a large number of commenters creating enough data points to recognize patterns from could be some of the most useful sources we have. I consider this forum a much better resource than asking around as your drawing such a large data pool. If I had asked around about this ball, I would have gotten only snickers lasted year and even this spring. Guys that have no idea will quite willfully, and proudly blurt out their preconceived notions - like sometimes happens here in this thread. But here it stands out at least. Like that guy a few pages back that claimed to be a pro and could not get the k-sig to sit on Full lob wedge strikes..lol. We've all played the ball and know better than that.

 

Anyway - "read it online" actually does mean something now days to those who know how to screen their sources and interpret the data. That's my take anyway.

 

 

 

 

[ctay61983]

So, I played the Kirkland ball yesterday for the first time, 2 dozen delivered to my door for $37.70. I have been playing the Chrome soft X and 2017 PV1. I was surprised, pleasantly, with how it played. Full club spin is on par with the others, seemed to be a little longer off the driver than the others, partial club spin seemed a little less, ball seemed to hit, spin then release. I need another round with them and on a course with a lot of grass on the greens. But, they will get more opportunities with me. I liked them

 

I played another round on quality greens yesterday. The ball spins fine on full iron shots, but around the green spin is definitely a grab and release and not a back spin. And I am one of those spin the ball and back it up types. One thing I am convinced of is that the ball is long off of the tee, longer than my PV1 and Chrome X. And, the lack of spin actually helps my game in that I have a tendency to pull the ball back too far.

 

Agreed with the spin comment. It's not as long off the tee as the Z-Star XV for me but the difference is negligible.

[Driver 501]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to “Forbes,” first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company’s hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

[Shilgy]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to “Forbes,” first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company’s hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

It sounds like it but with the volume of balls they sell their entire marketing is certainly not even $5 a dozen I would venture to guess.

[cane700]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to “Forbes,” first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company’s hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

It sounds like it but with the volume of balls they sell their entire marketing is certainly not even $5 a dozen I would venture to guess.

I don't see mention of a golf ball

[North Butte]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to "Forbes," first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company's hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

It sounds like it but with the volume of balls they sell their entire marketing is certainly not even $5 a dozen I would venture to guess.

I don't see mention of a golf ball

 

I was wondering that too. Everything mentioned so far is for Titleist clubs or Titleist bag or whatever, not golf ball specifically.

[Break81]

And do TM, Callaway, Bridgestone, Srixon balls not pay a bonus for winning?

They all have players under contract. What Titleist does more than others is get lower ranked players to play their balls every week with free stuff and bonuses if they rank high on the leaderboard. Like mini week to week contracts from guys you barely know.

 

So when an event has 125 players in the field say the top 50 is a mix of Titleist, Cally, TM, Bridgestone and Srixon..... The other 75 are players without a LTC that Titleist gets the most to play their balls simply because they offer those players the most free stuff. Then they can say every week they are the number 1 ball on tour.

 

If it was illegal to give players free stuff it would be interesting to see what ball the other 75 played.

[Shilgy]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to "Forbes," first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company's hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

It sounds like it but with the volume of balls they sell their entire marketing is certainly not even $5 a dozen I would venture to guess.

I don't see mention of a golf ball

 

I was wondering that too. Everything mentioned so far is for Titleist clubs or Titleist bag or whatever, not golf ball specifically.

All that post mentioned was hat glove and bag. I was just guessing he put something in the bag. And it's a ball thread.

This is the current setup.

http://www.titleist.com/tour/1905/ben-martin

[tsecor]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to “Forbes,” first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company’s hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

lol...that is peanuts.....rory gets big bucks..Dj gets big bucks....big bucks is millions....not 150k, which is debatable anyways.

[bubbagumpshrimp]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to “Forbes,” first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company’s hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

lol...that is peanuts.....rory gets big bucks..Dj gets big bucks....big bucks is millions....not 150k, which is debatable anyways.

 

The key words there are "mandatory minimum." I would imagine that the only person that's going to settle for that is someone that just made the cut, no one has ever heard of, and has no leverage to work a better deal elsewhere. You can bet that the average person is getting a lot more than that.

 

That and put it in perspective...the average guy out there would give his left nut to make $150k+/year just for showing up to a course, wearing a hat and glove, and using a particular bag. You can bet that guys in that boat are getting another chunk from a clothing company and additional from a club company.

 

The kind of money that Rory and others are making is "ludicrous" money...not "big bucks." People paying someone $10M/year to club a f*****g ball around brings the "lol" for me.

[TsarBomba]

Rookies Cash In

 

 

Even new tour players can cash in on hat sponsorships. In 2010, according to “Forbes,” first-year tour pro Ben Martin signed a contract with Titleist the day after he turned pro. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, Forbes noted that Titleist's standard minimum for a PGA Tour player is $150,000. At any rate, Martin wore the company’s hat and glove and carried a Titleist bag.

 

M.L. Rose has worked as a print and online journalist for more than 20 years. He has contributed to a variety of national and local publications, specializing in sports writing. Rose holds a B.A. in communications.

 

From Golf Week magazine! Yeah that is big bucks!

lol...that is peanuts.....rory gets big bucks..Dj gets big bucks....big bucks is millions....not 150k, which is debatable anyways.

 

Well, 150k is a tad bit more than the "zero" that they were supposedly "known" for paying their players.

 

150k for the lower end was the same value I had heard severall years ago from a lower end pga tour player...for what it's worth. Did not see the checks. But that's what I was told.

 

Also I wonder what all the guys in the commercials get for doing those?

[North Butte]

But how does that compare to TM/Callaway/Bridgestone/Srixon deals?

[TsarBomba]

More than the Kirkland players?? Lol

 

Honestly have no idea about the others.