x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
Can changing my golf ball lead to lower scores? | Firsthand with a Fitter
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

InsideGOLF: +$140 value for $39.99

Join Today
Balls

Can changing my golf ball lead to lower scores? | Firsthand with a Fitter

By: Ryan Barath
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Instagram
July 30, 2024
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf balls cut in half cores

Using the right golf ball for your swing can lead to better consistency and performance.

Ryan Barath/GOLF

Welcome to GOLF’s “Firsthand with a Fitter” series, where with the help of True Spec Golf we dive into some of the most common questions golfers have about club fitting, issues they struggle with on the course, and how properly fit equipment can help fix those issues and make the game easier.

For this edition of Firsthand with a Fitter, we dive into a much less discussed component of a proper fitting: golf ball. From two-piece distance options designed to help straighten out ball flight to complex multilayer balls made to fine-tune performance off the tee and around the green, there’s a perfect ball for every golfer. Let’s dive in.

Before we get started, let’s first discuss one of the biggest factors consumers face when it comes to golf balls — price.

Balls
Dozens of golf balls arranged in a circle on grass with a Golf Ball Guide logo in the middle
2024 Golf Ball Guide: 48 golf balls reviewed and recommended for your game
By: GOLF Editors

Compared to less expensive Surlyn or Ionomer-covered balls — geared towards blending value and performance — urethane offerings are generally at the top end of the price spectrum because of the complexity of their construction and the precision tools required to manufacture them.

This doesn’t mean you can’t find value and performance from either category, but it’s important to understand that Surlyn golf balls can’t offer the same kind of control on short game shorts as their urethane counterparts.

True Spec golf Fitting

The Premier Club Fitting Experience

With over 50,000 clubhead and shaft combinations, True Spec Golf will custom fit and hand build you the most well-constructed, precise set of golf clubs you’ve ever played. Guaranteed.
Buy Now from truespecgolf.com

When distance and value are key

Let’s start with two-piece golf balls because even though they might seem similar from the outside there are still a lot of performance variables to consider, including color and cover graphics.

Srixon Q-Star Divide Golf Balls

A NEW WAY TO SEE THE GAME 50/50 MATTE VISUAL PERFORMANCE Meet the all-new Q-STAR TOUR DIVIDE, a golf ball that stands out on the course with its unique 50/50 matte urethane cover. DIVIDE boasts all the drive-boosting, chip-stopping performance of a classic Q-STAR TOUR but comes in three exciting colorways.  SEE YOUR LINE The longer your alignment line, the easier it can be to line up your putts. And with DIVIDE’s one-of-a-kind seam line running around the entire golf ball, you get 360˚ of alignment so you can putt with perfect aim. SEE YOUR SPIN When it comes to pitches and chips around the green, DIVIDE’s unique two-tone cover produces a strobe effect while spinning, revealing the speed and direction of spin on each of your shots. It’s a powerful tool for tracking and improving your consistency, and you can only see it with the Q-STAR TOUR DIVIDE. MORE THAN GOOD LOOKS The new Q-STAR TOUR DIVIDE is a performer, through and through. Unlike painted golf balls, DIVIDE’s entire thermoplastic urethane cover is infused with bright pigments, so the color won’t scratch or tear. Plus, that premium urethane adds spin for plenty of control around the greens. A resilient midlayer increases speed off the tee. And the FastLayer core—which is soft at its center but gradually becomes firm around its edge—provides the distance and softer feel you’d expect from a fully-featured tour ball.
View Product

If you’re a golfer who tends to lose more than a few golf balls a round, choosing one that fits your budget is a great place to start but there are still things to consider. If extra distance and dispersion reduction are what you’re after, then a ball that helps lower driver and long game spin will reduce the amount that a golf ball can go offline — and longer and straighter is always better.

“Although from a performance standpoint, urethane golf balls offer the best of both worlds as far as distance and short game spin, a two-piece distance-focused ball can quickly help reduce dispersion thanks to its low spin performance on all clubs including the driver.” Kris McCormack, VP of Tour and Education at True Spec Golf. 

ERC triple track
Callaway’s ERC Soft offers Triple Track alignment Callaway Golf

As for visual performance, golf balls like the Srixon Q-Star, TaylorMade Distance +, and Callaway’s ERC Soft offer visual aids to help with putting and off-the-tee alignment.

Premium performance variables

Now it’s time to dive into the nitty-gritty.

From low-compression, low-spin options to firm-feeling balls that spin a ton around the green, the premium urethane golf ball category allows any golfer to find one that matches their look, feel, trajectory, and spin preference. This is why working with a fitter using a launch monitor to analyze data is such a crucial step when talking about finding the right one.

GOLF Top 100 Teacher Kellie Stenzel reveals her favorite ways to control wedge trajectory to either can height or spin the ball low
Short game spin and feel can be separated with modern golf ball construction. Golf

Thanks to the multilayer construction of a urethane golf ball, it’s possible to have a golf ball that feels firmer but still offers a lot of spin. This works because the mantle and core are the biggest factors in acoustics and when the soft urethane is compressed between the inner layers of the ball and the face of a wedge it will grab into the face texture and create spin.

Callaway 2024 Chrome Tour X Golf Balls

Chrome Tour X is the new gold standard in Tour Balls. From core to cover, every detail in the new Chrome Tour X has been optimized for the best players seeking speed and the ultimate in control. HYPER FAST SOFT CORE New Hyper Fast Soft Core is designed to produce maximum ball speed for long distance. SEAMLESS TOUR AERO New Seamless Tour Aero delivers a consistent penetrating ball flight on every shot. HIGH-PERFORMANCE TOUR URETHANE SOFT COVER New High-Performance Tour Urethane Soft Cover consistently delivers maximum greenside control.  
View Product

This spin can translate through the bag to help offer various trajectories based on the golf ball model, which can help produce more stopping power and reduce dispersion on approach shots.

Speed and aerodynamics

Off the driver, aerodynamics are a key factor in trajectory because of the speed a golf ball travels, and finding the correct trajectory to fit your game and also your environment can make a huge difference.

The 15th hole at St. Patrick's Links in Ireland.
Links golf conditions could require you to change your golf ball. Clyde Johnson

We certainly don’t recommend switching golf balls for a single round of golf but if you’re a golfer who usually plays at a certain altitude or in particular conditions using a ball that matches up to those can help with control and ball flight consistency. As an example, if you play mostly desert golf without much wind, a golf ball that flies higher can help to produce more carry.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you play where it is windier, a golf ball that creates a lower peak height and a more equally parabolic trajectory can bolster control and help reduce the need to make swing or equipment adjustments to control trajectory.

Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash Golf Balls

Pro V1x Left Dash golf balls are designed for players seeking a high flight similar to Pro V1x with dramatically lower full swing spin and firmer feel. PLAYER BENEFITS Pro V1x Left Dash was originally developed for the PGA Tour as a Titleist Customized Performance Option in 2018. This model delivers a different combination of performance characteristics than Pro V1 and Pro V1x and allows players to finetune their Flight, Feel and Spin. Given positive player feedback, we are now making Pro V1x Left Dash available to golfers via special order.  Extraordinary distance with consistent flight Lower full swing spin than Pro V1x Slightly lower flight than Pro V1x Firmer feel than Pro V1x Drop-and-Stop short game control
View Product

So next time you’re working with a club fitter to dial in your launch conditions, be sure to have the conversation about golf ball performance so you can get the most from your game!

Check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast for more on the latest gear news and information.

Latest In Gear

5 hours ago

What golf ball will teams use at the Zurich? The defending champs have a loophole

11 hours ago

Why Newton Motion shafts are taking over the Champions Tour 

11 hours ago

The spin comeback: Why Tour pros are putting it back in the bag

1 day ago

How the pros get dialed for their drivers, according to an expert Ping fitter

Ryan Barath

Golf.com Editor

Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for equipment. He has an extensive club-fitting and -building background with more than 20 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. Before joining the staff, he was the lead content strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.

  • Author Twitter Account
  • Author Instagram Account

Related Articles

Balls
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry with their golf balls.

What golf ball will teams use at the Zurich? The defending champs have a loophole

By: Jack Hirsh
Gear
Rory McIlroy's approach at the 15th hole at Augusta National.

Why getting fit for height, like Rory McIlroy, helps you go low 

By: Kris McCormack
Balls
Taylormade's Azalea-themed golf balls

These azalea-themed golf balls will get you in the Masters spirit

By: Maddi MacClurg
Gear

The 2 most important clubs to get fit for (and why it's crucial)

By: Kris McCormack
Balls
A group of white golf balls with one yellow golf ball, all of which weigh no more than 1.62 ounces.

How much do golf balls weigh? Here's everything you need to know

By: Kevin Cunningham
Balls
Three dirty golf balls arranged in a line on a white background.

How to clean your golf balls the right way

By: Kevin Cunningham
Gear
driver leaning up against a launch monitor

Why obsessing only over ball speed can actually cost you distance

By: Kris McCormack
Balls
Golf ball with a question mark on it

How to choose the right golf ball for your game 

By: Kris McCormack
Gear
FJ Golf Ball Sale

Select golf balls on sale right now on Fairway Jockey

By: Maddi MacClurg
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.