Say it ain't true.....

Down here in Oz, we pay around $80 for a dozen Titleist ProV1 from the local Pro shop which is pretty rich when they don't float . Then I hear one of the lads at the course saying that they are not the same ProV's that the pros hit..... is this true And if there is a grade above this then I can only guess at how much$$ they would set you back per dozen

In the states we pay $40 - $45 per dozen. Their are two pro -vs. The Vix spins less, goes a little further. The black number pro -v spins more. It's the same ball all pro's and good amateur golfers play.

There are more balls being used on tour, that are not available to the general public, than most people realize. I know you cannot use the same ball that Tiger uses, even though it may look the same. Then again no one else has Tiger's swing, so why use the same ball? The price of balls, and other golf equipment relates soley to R & D costs, advertisments, endorsements, bonuses, manufacturing costs, and/or the over all ROI the manufacturer is looking to net from their investment on that particular product.

Most golfers cannot tell the difference with regards to playability when using a ball that cost a dollar, or one that cost three dollars. GJS

Just goes to show how much us Brits are ripped off by the goverment. I smuggled 10 boxes back in my case from New York in May 07. This is because over here in rip off briton a box would set you back £40 or US$80. So I was over the moon when got discount from the golf store and each box he gave me was $30 or in UK£15 per box had a smirk on my face once out of airport I can tell you.

Cheers
Mark

Marc is spot on with us being ripped off in the UK. Earlier this year when in Chicago I purchased a Ping G5i putter for $110, in my local pro shop it is on sale for £115, 5O% More.

Balls are a matter of some debate these days. If you buy 4 dozen Pro-V1's a year you have (in rip off Britain) dropped £160. This is a lesser advertised cost of golf in this country.

Its back to the debate about regulating the ball to reduce the distances. The manufacturers arent going to stop making premium level balls and replace them with balls that go the same distance as an NXT Tour cos then why would anyone pay anything from half as much again to twice as much for the same ball. Yet when they ask to change the drivers over, the bast**ds cant wait to make a whole generation of drivers obsolete so they can screw another £250 out of us for a new driver.

Back onto topic, most of the top level pros have access to the latest developments in the ball and guys like Tiger and Sergio who are the marquee names for their brands will have balls specifically made for their swings and the characteristics they desire. Some of these developments will eventually make their way into the ball you and I can buy if they are deemed to improve the ball for the average player.

D.

__________________
Longniddry Golf Club Champ 2005.

In the Taylor Made Bag:

Callaway FT-3 Tour 9.5 Aldila NV 65S

Callaway Steelhead 3 Wood

Callaway Steelhead 5 Wood

Callaway X-16 3-PW

MacGregor Tourney 52 Degree

Cobra Phil Rodgers 59 Degree Rusty

Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Callaway Tour iX

LMAO....oh please, give me a break, golf ball companies are going to retool just to make golf balls for a specific person then not sell them to anyone...lol...the only difference between what any pro including Tiger's golf ball and yours is they get them free, and special markings have been provided (as in Tiger has Tiger, printed on his), which in no way effects the construction or playability. They are pulled off the line completely at random. Golf balls can not be manufactured to any specifics other then what the USGA has specified as to diameter and weight, so exactly what is being matched to Tigers swing, think about it, do you really think a golf ball company would even do that if they could, where is the payoff, Tiger ain't giving them any money.

They might get the lastest tech before the public, but it wasn't made for them, it is a marketing thing only, play on Sunday, sell on Monday. They won't be the only with them for long, a week at best.

There are no golf balls being played on tour that you can not buy, please, the only reason I can't get the balls Tiger has is because they were provided with his name on them, and Tiger has a trademark on his name, so they don't sell them, but they are the exact same ball I can buy minus his name. If Tiger gave me one of his balls, I could play with it in any tournament, any time all day until I lost it, and it is completely legal.

Yes you can tell the difference, more expensive balls usually have a higher spin rate and softer cover, they don't last as long, but they do hold the greens. Even a pro has a hard time holding a green with a cheap ball. The main reason pros are using these expensive balls...they don't pay for them...period.

OK let settle this golf ball thing. I don't know the exact figure, but I would guess that better then 80% of the tour plays Titlelist golf balls, why, because Titlelist has been giving golf balls to any pro anywhere for as long as they have been in business, without a contract, with no obligation. They know, that when that TV camera shows that close-up of them putting and that Titlelist name gets seen, it is free publicity. I guaranty you call Titlelist and tell them you are going to be on TV in a golf tournament and they will send you some free golf balls too. Other golf manufacturers are doing this now as well, and top players are now actually being paid to play their golf balls. When Tiger first hit the scene, he played Titlelist, why, because they were free, he now plays Nike, because they pay him too.

So true,

A friend of mine that works at one our golf courses here played a nationwide tour event awhile back and we got to talking about his experiences with that and he said this guy came up to him and asked him what kind of ball he was going to play with and he said pro v1,well he thought that was the end of that,I think he said he went to the range or putting green or whatever and after that went back to his locker and found a box of pro v1's along with 3 or 4 titlest gloves something like that in his locker.......

__________________

Dawg

Yep Titlelist is a really big company, they can afford to ear mark several thousand balls a year to just give to anybody, to corporation, charities, any thing that will most likely garner them some publicity. Gamble on any new pro is a good bet, because if or when he becomes a big name, who is is gonna appreciate, Titlelist, because when he was broke and starving on tour, he got a whole bunch of free stuff...lol...not rocket science, just good marketing. Other golf ball companies hate that, because they have to do it too, and when that pro becomes a big name, they have to offer big checks to get them to switch, Nike is having a big problem with this, their ball sucks, and pros are dropping their contracts right and left with them and going back too Titlelist. First Jason Gore left Nike (because he hated their ball). Now he seems to be with Cobra and playing a Titleist ball, though I'm not sure that's been formally done up in a contract. Today I read that Chris Couch was "caught" playing a Titleist ball in competition, most recently at the Travelers. He's one of the longest tenured Nike players, and now he's left. He's playing a mish-mash of clubs, but a Titleist ball. I am sure there are many more. More and more now, pros are amending their contracts to not include golf balls, and staying with Titlelist, I wonder why?

Cos Titleist are the best, and its what most of the guys out there got used to in college. As far as I was told, Tiger doesnt even play a Nike ball, just one stamped with a Swoosh, his ball is the same as the Bridgestone B330 apparently.

I still say that the balls the top boys are using are prototype balls that are using the most cutting edge design and technology. If they arent re-tooling the overall manufacture of the ball they are certainly finishing them individually cos Sergios ball is numbered 00 and has his name printed on it, and it certainly isnt doen with one of those stamper things. And if they finish the ball differently theres no reason the covers cant be slightly different to the standard ball.

D.

__________________
Longniddry Golf Club Champ 2005.

In the Taylor Made Bag:

Callaway FT-3 Tour 9.5 Aldila NV 65S

Callaway Steelhead 3 Wood

Callaway Steelhead 5 Wood

Callaway X-16 3-PW

MacGregor Tourney 52 Degree

Cobra Phil Rodgers 59 Degree Rusty

Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Callaway Tour iX

Here is the site if you would care to order your own personal titleists. You can order "Tiger" on the ball if you like.

Titleist Custom Imprinting

Perhaps I am wrong, but I just go by what I read:
Nike admits that you can't buy ball that Tiger uses
The horse's mouth so to speak.

Also, I posted that "most" golfers can't tell the difference in golf balls. If you can tell the difference between a 3 piece ball versus a 2 piece, if you can make the 3 piece ball work for you, then you are not one of the "most" golfers I speak about. There are several million golfers world wide, with only a very small percentage who can consider themselves "very" good golfers. That very small percentage I would guess would also include the pro ranks. I use to be a "very" good golfer, (not a pro) but time takes it toll. I am just a "decent" golfer now. .....LOL.... GJS

I did not know that, one more reason I hate Nike...lol.. the article also mentions they are being sued, and they should be, maybe Tiger should be included too. I, and many other I would think, believe it is just wrong for any pro to be playing something the general public doesn't get to have, charge an arm and leg, no problem, they have a right to make money, but not just prevent some one from buying it. I think that is called...whats the word I am looking for...oh ya...elitism. That type of attitude by these big companies can start a chicken and the egg thing. Can't become a pro without the equipment they use, can't get the equipment unless your a pro...lol.

I also think maybe if was Tiger I would get away from that situation quick, before other pros get together and start saying maybe Tiger ain't as good as everyone thinks, he just has specual equipment, could really hurt his reputation, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and the like were not using special equipment.

Personally, I think the pro equipment should go back to wood heads and limits on shafts and balls that evens out the playing field. After all pro baseball does it, they can't use metal bats, because they are so much better then wood, but it keeps them from having to make the fields bigger, maybe golf should do the same. Make them all use the same ball, wood heads and cut them down to 10 clubs, take away their yardage book, make the caddie just carry clubs and shutup...hehehe...now that would be interesting to watch.