Ten of the Best: Golf Balls under

In our ninth in-depth test, we survey ten of the latest golf balls that you can purchase for less than £30 per dozen.

What is the difference between expensive and cheaper golf balls?

If there is one aspect of your game you can improve without burning a hole in the wallet, it’s choosing the right golf balls.

Whilst you cannot improve your game massively without practice, patience and skill, teeing up the correct dimples to match your game can certainly help speed up the process. There are balls for every type of golfer, from those who require better control on the greens to golfers who want that extra bit of distance with their drives.

The main difference between golf balls at the lower and higher price end has much to do with the materials placed in the cover of the ball. Cheaper balls typically have a surlyn ionomer cover, which is basically a plastic with very elastic properties.

One of the benefits of using a ball with an ionomer cover is that it will typically last significantly longer and be less susceptible to scuff marks than the higher end balls. So if price is often a deciding factor for you, an ionomer cover ball will typically be cheaper and last longer. Perfect for the budget golfer. 

But not all balls in this test utilise an ionomer cover as some favour urethane - a cover typically found in better player golf balls. Urethane is a rubber that’s very similar to skateboard wheels, and is much softer than it’s ionomer counterpart. We find it grips much better with the grooves off the club face and imparts much more spin. 

About the test

Golfmagic's equipment writer Andy Roberts, a 7-handicapper, and staff writer Charlie Lemay, off 12, were joined by former European Tour professional Carl Watts at the stunning Mannings Heath Golf Club in West Sussex.

The same procedure to the test was applied as the first ball test. Andy and Charlie marked each ball out of five for appearance and out of ten for both feel and performance.

Andy and Charlie both scored separately without consultation and the score presented for each ball is an average of the two. This generated an overall score out of 25 and the final scores and conclusion can be found on the last page of this feature.

Click here to see how our testing went.

(If you would like to skip straight to the results page, click here).