Types of golf balls
Thursday September 6th, 2007 4:39PMIn order to select the right kind of golf balls for your game, you need to know what are the various types of golf balls in the market. You need to know how they are constructed and what they are designed for. What is their advantages and disadvantages?
Golf ball in general are designed for distance or spin or a combination of both. You will hear terms like 2-piece, 3-piece, wound ball, multi-layer ball. These terms describe the golf ball construction. And the difference in construction will give different feel and performance.
Let’s look at each of them in detail:
Two-Piece Balls
Two-piece balls consist of large solid inner core covered by thin outer layer. The covers are usually made from tough material like Surlyn, making the balls durable and almost indestructible.
This design produces less spin and longer distance. Most “distance” balls on the market use this design. The solid nature means that balls will fly the longest off the tee and the lower spin means it won’t hold the green very well. Also, they have a harder feel when struck. the harder the core material, the further the ball travels.
They are by far the most common golfs ball among average golfer. It is cheap and cut-resistant make it a good choice for player who mishit often. The longer distance is also welcome advantage that the high handicapped golfers so desperately need.
Some golf ball manufacturers have improved the 2-piece design with better material to produce a softer feel and higher spin rate without too much compromise on the distance. Lower spin means the slice or hook will be less severe.
Three-Piece Balls (wound balata)
Three-piece balata balls consist of solid core wound with rubber thread. The balls are covered with a soft rubber-like material called balata.
The wound core constructions and balata covering gives these balls a soft feel and high spin rate. But the driving distance is shorter than the two-piece balls. The wound balls have some other shortcoming. It is expensive and loses its compression much faster because the rubber winding do not hold up very well to strain. In addition, the soft balata cover is more prone to cuts and damage.
These balls are only for the very good player and tour professionally who needed the ball to stop dead on the green. Shorter distance, high spin rate, high cost and poor durability are factors that the high handicapper should beware.
With advance in golf ball technology, the multi-layer balls are gradually replacing the wound balata balls by offering similar strengths but limited downside.
Multi-layer balls
Multi-layer balls usually come in 3 or 4 piece construction. They have solid core with one or two more layer of hi-tech material and followed by a soft covering (usually urethane). The reason for the multiple layers is to target the key performance area like distance, control and feel. They give good distance without much sacrifice for spin or feel.
These golf balls are increasing in popularity. A lot of tour player used them. But they don’t come cheap. And probably more suitable for better player who are able to take advantage of the benefits these balls offer.
