Cheap golf balls: new, used or refurbished?
Lose three Pro V1s in a round and you are down about twelve pounds. It doesn't take long, once that keeps happening, to start wondering whether a cheaper ball would do the job just as well.
The snag is that "cheap" covers a lot of ground when it comes to golf balls. It might mean a new distance ball, a used tour ball, a re-coated ball, or a net bag with a dozen different models jumbled inside. They can all cost roughly the same, yet you are not buying the same thing.
The smartest cheap ball is not automatically the one with the lowest price per ball. It is the one that suits your game, is easy to buy again, and stays cheap enough that you actually play it week in, week out.
What are you giving up with a new budget ball?
A new 2-piece distance ball with an ionomer cover (ionomer being a firmer, cheaper cover material that spins less) can run a much pricier model surprisingly close off the driver. You cannot read a ball's distance off its price tag. Swing speed, launch, spin and strike quality all have far more to say about it.
| Golf ball | Per ball | Per box | 81 mph | 96 mph | 112 mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Callaway Warbird | £1.50 | £17.95 | 181.3 yds | 233.1 yds | 277.1 yds | Go to shop → |
 Titleist Pro V1 | £3.58 | £42.99 | 181.5 yds | 236.4 yds | 279.6 yds | Go to shop → |
 TaylorMade TP5 | £3.33 | £39.99 | 176.4 yds | 234.0 yds | 278.1 yds | Go to shop → |
 Callaway Chrome Soft | £3.21 | £38.49 | 181.4 yds | 234.4 yds | 277.7 yds | Go to shop → |
The gap tends to open up nearer the green. A urethane tour ball (urethane being a softer, tacky cover that grips the clubface for more greenside spin) will usually bite and check harder on pitches and chips. Hit the same short shot cleanly with an ionomer ball and you get less spin coming back.
Whether that extra spin is worth the extra money is something only your own short game can answer. A player who actively plays with landing spot, spin and release will feel the difference sooner than someone who mostly wants a chip that lands and runs out predictably.
So a budget ball is not a watered-down tour ball. It sets different priorities. For a golfer who loses a few balls a round, that can be exactly the right trade.
Used, lake balls and refurbished are not the same thing
A used premium ball is tempting: the model you already trust, for a fraction of the new price. Just look carefully at what the seller is actually putting in front of you.
- Recycled or lake balls: found, cleaned and sorted by condition. The original cover is still on there.
- Refurbished or refinished: sanded back, re-coated and possibly re-stamped. The outside is no longer fully original.
- Mixed bag: assorted models, frequently from different generations, lumped in together.
A well-sorted used ball with an intact cover can be a sensible buy. A spell underwater does not automatically wreck the performance. One study using Pro V1 balls found no meaningful loss of distance and no rise in dispersion after up to twelve months in a golf pond, measured against control balls. That does not stretch to cover every model or every knackered ball, mind you: cuts, scuffs and sloppy sorting are still good reasons to leave one where it lies.
With a refurbished ball you know less about what is sitting under the new finish. For a knockabout round that may not matter at all. But if you want a particular model to behave the way it is meant to, you are better off with a used ball that still wears its original cover.
A mixed bag is the least consistent option going. One ball comes off the putter hotter, the next launches on a different trajectory, a third scoots further on a chip. If you never know which model you are pulling from the bag, you never get to learn how it behaves either.
A bag full of bargains never plays the same twice
A deal only pays off when the ball itself is a good fit in the first place. A box of Warbird this month, Soft Feel the next, then a sleeve of used Pro V1s after that gives you three keen buys, and three different ball reactions to go with them.
Lose three balls a round at £4.25 apiece and that is £12.75 gone. At £1.75 it is £5.25: a difference of £7.50 a round. That sum sits entirely apart from any fitting, but it does make the point that a ball's price is part of the decision.
That is why OneGolfBall does not just go hunting for the cheapest box. Models are shortlisted first, off the back of your answers about your game, your preferences and your budget. Only inside that shortlist does price come into play. You then see what each ball costs at the partner shops.
Want to stay under two pounds a ball? Let two or three suitable models rise to the top first. Buy whichever is easiest to get hold of, and play it long enough to learn its flight and its roll.
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