Every year at the Bob and Brian Open, avid linksman (yet atrocious ball-striker) Mr. Madden likes to march up to a tee-box full of participants and demand a fresh Titleist ProV1 golf ball for him to – shwack! – far (and often crooked) into the Wisconsin wilderness.
He does this as sort of sadistic $5 sacrifice to the golfing gods, knowing full well that said golf ball is about to commence its final mission, before coming to a watery grave, or being left for dead among un-navigable brambles and underbrush.
Well, now the golf world is confronted with a fascinating new discovery: a golf ball that actually OUT-performs the industry leading ProV1, at a fraction of the price! Or at least, that’s what MyGolfSpy claims in their controlled user tests, backed by state of the art launch monitor numbers.
A ball that spins more than a ProV1 AND is nearly 10 yards longer! And it costs $1.10 per pellet, not close to $4.99??? Gettouttahere!
Already, the golf balls are (temporarily) sold out, so you know there must be something to them. Perhaps Titleist’s parent company – Acushnet, which just went public as a company for the first time last month – might want to fire up it’s lawyers, or send some spies to the Chinese factory where these are no doubt being made, three shifts a day!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for better things at cheaper prices. It’s what America is all about! But if you are losing so many ProV1’s per round that it’s killing your budget, then chances are you shouldn’t be playing those balls in the first place. Perhaps an oversized onion bag of lake balls, is more your thing. I suck as an 8-handicap who rarely breaks 80 anymore, and even I don’t lose more than 3 balls a round except on rare occasions (it helps to actually pay attention to where your shot lands!)
I just can’t wait for the first Tour pro to show up on the first tee, and proudly tell the guy with the vaunted “Darrell Survey” – “What are you playing?” Pro: “Kirkland 4, mate!”
My guess is that most *sniff* “elite” golfers, will turn their nose up at this ball, much like Eddie Murphy’s “Better Than MACdonalds?” riff from years ago.
The markup on golf balls has to be enormous, wouldn’t you think? What is Titleist’s unit cost?
I can watch old timers walk the perimeter of a city course from my kitchen and find a dozen balls. Yes, a brand new $5 ball is exquisite when hit well. But we’ve really been sold a con-job on how much we “need” brand new expensive balls.
I haven’t bought a new ball in years because of the aforementioned city course across a creek from my yard. My “golf ball annuity” pays a few balls a week into the hopper. Jon in Indy