[Golfballsdirect out of business] Best used golf ball site?

[prorobo]

For over a decade I used Golfballsdirect and their regular sales to score Pro V1x’s for cheapish and was always happy with their 5A balls with no logos that looked practically brand new every time. To my dismay, the company is no longer in business.

 

Tried my hand with Lostgolfballs and their 5A offering and the quality was so bad I’d rather pay full price at Golf Galaxy.

 

Anyone use any of the other sites and have a good experience?

[tander69]

I think FoundGolfBalls bought out Golf Ball Direct. I tried FoundGolfBalls and was also disappointed. The quality was just not there for mint golf balls. There is another company called Golf Ball Planet, might try them next.

[North Texas]

12 hours ago, tander69 said:

I think FoundGolfBalls bought out Golf Ball Direct. I tried FoundGolfBalls and was also disappointed. The quality was just not there for mint golf balls. There is another company called Golf Ball Planet, might try them next.

 

Just ordered 3 dozen ProV1 X's from Golf Ball Planet a couple of weeks ago. Didn't have "mint" in what I ordered but was still quite pleased with the next level down. 

[cristphoto]

The problem with all these companies is they are selling water balls retrieved from course ponds. After I retired I worked in a course proshop. I came up with a great scheme for getting balls cheap. I paid the three  cart boys $10 a dozen for Prov1's. They new all the good places to look for balls. Since most of these were one-hit wonders (and didn't spend any prolonged periods in water) it was a good deal. The one ranger heard about this so I put him on the "payroll" too. 

[st1800e]

1 hour ago, cristphoto said:

The problem with all these companies is they are selling water balls retrieved from course ponds.

Exactly.   Ive seen the crews in action. Dragline across the pond, back and forth with  4' wide  rubber grooved cylinders, unbelievable how many balls came out.  And its evident the ones in the middle of the pond, many are one hit wonders, no scuffs or marks, but in the pond for years.  

[hammergolf]

With the deals that can be had on Vice Pro, Snell, Maxfli Tour and other balls I don’t understand why anyone would take the gamble and pay more for used balls. Testing proves these new golf balls perform just as well as new Pro V1X balls and definitely better than any waterlogged used balls.

[ksher84]

I have had pretty good luck with sellers planet24 and planet24usa on eBay

[RSinSG]

In addition to having the best name, twoguyswithballs.com sometimes has good deals if you’re looking for used balls.

[tander69]

20 hours ago, hammergolf said:

With the deals that can be had on Vice Pro, Snell, Maxfli Tour and other balls I don’t understand why anyone would take the gamble and pay more for used balls. Testing proves these new golf balls perform just as well as new Pro V1X balls and definitely better than any waterlogged used balls.

 I have used Golf Ball Direct for years. I hit their AVX better than a new box of Vice soft. The AVX's were also cheaper.

[prorobo]

On 8/19/2023 at 8:53 PM, st1800e said:

Exactly.   Ive seen the crews in action. Dragline across the pond, back and forth with  4' wide  rubber grooved cylinders, unbelievable how many balls came out.  And its evident the ones in the middle of the pond, many are one hit wonders, no scuffs or marks, but in the pond for years.  

 

Golfballsdirect had “mint” balls by year and I’d regularly get current or last year’s Pro V1x’s. Those things were definitely not sitting in ponds for years.

[hammergolf]

15 hours ago, prorobo said:

 

Golfballsdirect had “mint” balls by year and I’d regularly get current or last year’s Pro V1x’s. Those things were definitely not sitting in ponds for years.

A golf ball will absorb its weight in water within 24hrs of being submerged. 
 

https://honestgolfers.com/do-golf-balls-get-waterlogged/

[Kmagnuss]

12 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

A golf ball will absorb its weight in water within 24hrs of being submerged. 
 

https://honestgolfers.com/do-golf-balls-get-waterlogged/

Without clicking the link, my BS radar is in full alarm on this one.

 

Time for an experiment of my own.

[MattC555]

4 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

A golf ball will absorb its weight in water within 24hrs of being submerged. 
 

https://honestgolfers.com/do-golf-balls-get-waterlogged/

 

I'm calling baloney on this.  I'm a scratch handicap that typically orders last years Pro V1 model 5 star used.  I've been doing this for probably 20 years.  I also play new golf balls.  I see zero difference.  None.  Nada. 

 

Further, from your own link:

 

Quote

A new ball can be in the water for weeks or months without becoming waterlogged.

 

Balls that do not have scuffs extending through the cover will by and large be totally fine.  My advice:  Stay away from refurbished balls.  Stay away from damaged golf balls and discolored ones.  I use lostgolfballs.com . 

[hammergolf]

2 minutes ago, MattC555 said:

 

I'm calling baloney on this.  I'm a scratch handicap that typically orders last years Pro V1 model 5 star used.  I've been doing this for probably 20 years.  I also play new golf balls.  I see zero difference.  None.  Nada. 

 

Further, from your own link:

 

 

Balls that do not have scuffs extending through the cover will by and large be totally fine.  My advice:  Stay away from refurbished balls.  Stay away from damaged golf balls and discolored ones.  I use lostgolfballs.com . 

That’s certainly your prerogative, but many tests have been done comparing water balls to new balls.

[prorobo]

3 hours ago, hammergolf said:

A golf ball will absorb its weight in water within 24hrs of being submerged. 
 

https://honestgolfers.com/do-golf-balls-get-waterlogged/

 

Could’ve stopped reading right there. But that entire article provided zero evidence or study results. It read like a blog post.

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, prorobo said:

 

Could’ve stopped reading right there. But that entire article provided zero evidence or study results. It read like a blog post.

Once again, you’re free to believe as you wish. One thing that is a fact is that golf balls submerged in water absorb water. What happens to the weight of the ball when this happens?? Is the ball non confirming because it’s too heavy? Does it lose ball speed because it’s waterlogged? I’ve had discussions about it with almost every OEM. I’m sure companies that sell water balls will tell you there’s no difference in performance, but engineers say it does. But as I stated in my original point, why risk performance on a water ball when for the same or cheaper price you can have a new ball that performs just as good as a new Titleist? To each his own, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe it’s the same phenomenon as buying fake Rolex’s or Louis Vuitton bags….

[loneacer]

I've compared new and used balls at home on a Skytrak and a Mevo+ launch monitor and the difference was negligible.  I'm not good enough to hit two shots the same of course, but averaging a few dozen of each gave very similar results.  

 

I bought refurbished one time and sent them back after playing a round with a couple.  Coating was flaking off and the distance was 75% of non refurbished balls.

Edited August 23, 2023 by loneacer

[prorobo]

1 hour ago, hammergolf said:

Once again, you’re free to believe as you wish. One thing that is a fact is that golf balls submerged in water absorb water. What happens to the weight of the ball when this happens?? Is the ball non confirming because it’s too heavy? Does it lose ball speed because it’s waterlogged? I’ve had discussions about it with almost every OEM. I’m sure companies that sell water balls will tell you there’s no difference in performance, but engineers say it does. But as I stated in my original point, why risk performance on a water ball when for the same or cheaper price you can have a new ball that performs just as good as a new Titleist? To each his own, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe it’s the same phenomenon as buying fake Rolex’s or Louis Vuitton bags….

 

Your analogy falls flat. A fake Rolex or Louis Vuitton is just that, fake. Used Pro V1x’s are actual Pro V1x’s. Your blog post even mentions that balls with covers that aren’t cut or otherwise compromised can withstand water for prolonged periods of time. For every article about waterlogged balls there’s one refuting it.

[ilikegolf26]

14 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Once again, you’re free to believe as you wish. One thing that is a fact is that golf balls submerged in water absorb water. What happens to the weight of the ball when this happens?? Is the ball non confirming because it’s too heavy? Does it lose ball speed because it’s waterlogged? I’ve had discussions about it with almost every OEM. I’m sure companies that sell water balls will tell you there’s no difference in performance, but engineers say it does. But as I stated in my original point, why risk performance on a water ball when for the same or cheaper price you can have a new ball that performs just as good as a new Titleist? To each his own, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe it’s the same phenomenon as buying fake Rolex’s or Louis Vuitton bags….

Can’t you just weigh these used balls and tell whether they are waterlogged or not?

[ahenderX]

On 8/19/2023 at 12:00 AM, prorobo said:

For over a decade I used Golfballsdirect and their regular sales to score Pro V1x’s for cheapish and was always happy with their 5A balls with no logos that looked practically brand new every time. To my dismay, the company is no longer in business.

 

Tried my hand with Lostgolfballs and their 5A offering and the quality was so bad I’d rather pay full price at Golf Galaxy.

 

Anyone use any of the other sites and have a good experience?

Try Golf Ball Hero. I have used Found Golf Balls and Lost Golf Balls in the past but now prefer Golf Ball Hero when buying used balls. 

[cgasucks]

I'm Canadian and I personally use golfballplanet/golfballs.ca for ammo.  They've been around for a long time, with reasonable prices and their grading is very fair.  What you see is what you get.  I get their shipments super fast since their main warehouse is only 15 min away from me. 🙂

[cristphoto]

On 8/22/2023 at 10:11 PM, prorobo said:

 

Your analogy falls flat. A fake Rolex or Louis Vuitton is just that, fake. Used Pro V1x’s are actual Pro V1x’s. Your blog post even mentions that balls with covers that aren’t cut or otherwise compromised can withstand water for prolonged periods of time. For every article about waterlogged balls there’s one refuting it.

 

Can you show any articles refuting water ball performance issues? Over the past 20 years I have seen several articles confirming poor performance of water balls. To me it's a false economy. You're out playing for four hours and assuming you don't loose any balls what is the cost difference between a water ball and a new ball? Certainly not worth it to me. 

[tander69]

I had a sleeve of brand new, never used Titileist AVX balls. I weighed them on my gram/pound scale and they weighed 46 grams. I took 15 mint used balls from Found Golf balls and weighed them, they all weighed the same as the new balls, 46 grams, no gain in weight. Play what you want but I buy twice the balls for the same price as new balls. I see absolutely no difference in performance but then I am not a pro.

[1mcozik]

I’ll buy used golf balls and laugh when I find your new golf balls on the course. 

[Bad9]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:41 PM, hammergolf said:

One thing that is a fact is that golf balls submerged in water absorb water.

 

Please provide some actual evidence to prove your "fact". And for the record i don't buy used golf balls or have any interest in them. I just like for when stuff gets thrown around here as "facts" and "truths" that the thrower provide some actual evidence. And anonymous, anecdotal conversations with OEMs is not evidence.

[hammergolf]

49 minutes ago, Bad9 said:

 

Please provide some actual evidence to prove your "fact". And for the record i don't buy used golf balls or have any interest in them. I just like for when stuff gets thrown around here as "facts" and "truths" that the thrower provide some actual evidence. And anonymous, anecdotal conversations with OEMs is not evidence.

Google has loads of independent tests showing it. Do your own research. Calling conversations with polymer scientists who are the most knowledgeable people when it comes to golf balls and their construction anecdotal ?? Makes perfect sense….

[hammergolf]

On 8/25/2023 at 7:21 PM, tander69 said:

I had a sleeve of brand new, never used Titileist AVX balls. I weighed them on my gram/pound scale and they weighed 46 grams. I took 15 mint used balls from Found Golf balls and weighed them, they all weighed the same as the new balls, 46 grams, no gain in weight. Play what you want but I buy twice the balls for the same price as new balls. I see absolutely no difference in performance but then I am not a pro.

If they weren’t in water, you wouldn’t see any weight or performance difference. 

[Bad9]

The old "I can't prove my facts so you do it" response.

[Mych]

On 8/19/2023 at 11:32 PM, ksher84 said:

I have had pretty good luck with sellers planet24 and planet24usa on eBay

I second planet24

[Fwitz11]

Is there any way to test a ball at home to see if it’s ridiculously waterlogged? Throw it on a kitchen scale?