The best golf ball for high handicappers
Plenty of high handicappers go through three or four different balls in a single round. One finds the water, and out of the bag comes whatever happens to be sitting on top: a found Pro V1, an old Srixon, then maybe a bright yellow distance ball.
It is cheap, but it is not consistent. One ball feels soft off the putter, the next comes off the face harder, and the third runs on further when you chip it. None of those differences has to be big. The trouble is that if you keep switching, you never give yourself the chance to get used to any of them.
So for a lot of players who regularly card more than 90, an affordable 2-piece ball is a sensible place to start. Not because your handicap decides what you should play, but because a ball like that tends to be durable, does not cost a fortune, and is built with the longer shots in mind.
A tour ball can give you more control on pitches and chips, and that benefit is real. But if you lose balls regularly and rarely put greenside spin on the ball on purpose yet, it is fair to ask whether that extra control is worth four or five pounds a ball, every single round.
Do not expect a golf ball to fix your swing
No ball will fix an open clubface. A slice comes, first and foremost, from what you do at impact. A different model can change how much the ball spins and how it flies, but it will not turn a poor swing into a straight drive.
That does not make the ball unimportant. If you strike it inconsistently, a predictable reaction on ordinary shots is worth more to you than the distance of one perfect drive. The ball needs to feel pleasant and be cheap enough that you keep playing the same one.
Five useful candidates
These five non-tour balls do not feel or play the same, so do not read the list as a ranking. What it mainly shows is which direction you can head in.
| Golf ball | Per box | Choose it mainly if… | Bear in mind… | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Callaway Supersoft | £22.95 | you want a distinctly soft feel at impact | less greenside control than a urethane tour ball | Go to shop → |
 Srixon Soft Feel | £14.99 | you want an affordable ball without any extreme character | it does not stand out for any one striking quality | Go to shop → |
 Bridgestone e6 | £18.95 | you want a ball geared towards low spin off the driver | it will not cure a slice or a hook | Go to shop → |
 TaylorMade Distance+ | £17.50 | distance and a firmer feel matter to you | it feels clearly less muted than the softest models | Go to shop → |
 Titleist TruFeel | £21.99 | you like playing Titleist without the Pro V1 price | it is a distance ball, not a cheap Pro V1 | Go to shop → |
The Callaway Supersoft and Srixon Soft Feel sit closest together if what you mainly want is a soft, affordable ball. The Supersoft is the more pronounced of the two; the Soft Feel is the more neutral.
The TaylorMade Distance+ sits at the other end. It feels firmer and leans more openly towards speed and distance. That is no drawback if you prefer a clear strike to a muted feel.
Bridgestone builds the Bridgestone e6 squarely around an efficient, low-spin flight. Do not expect it to be a miracle cure for a slice.
The Titleist TruFeel is at its most honest when you like playing Titleist but do not need the characteristics, or the price, of a tour ball. Buy it as a cheap Pro V1 and you are buying it for the wrong reason.
Start with two, not with five dozen
Use the table to pick two candidates. Buy a sleeve, or a few new balls, and compare them from the same spots. Start around the green, where differences in feel and roll are easy to read over a run of shots. Then hit a few iron shots, and finish with the driver.
Do not look only at which ball goes furthest. The better choice is the ball whose reaction you understand quickest, and that you would happily buy again.
A general list stops there. "High handicap" points you to a useful part of the shelf, but not automatically to the right box. OneGolfBall compares data about your game and your preferences with the balls in its database. You see which models come out on top, why, and what they cost at the partner shops.
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