From those forgotten centuries when the featherie ruled to the gutta-percha and then the Haskell, all the way to the scientifically crafted products of today, the golf ball has evolved in tandem with the game itself, with each groundbreaking innovation leading to unlocked potential in terms of performance.
Engineering has crafted balls that deliver greater distance and feel in all manner of conditions, helping elite players to maximise their skill but also allowing everyday golfers the opportunity to get a little more from their best shots.
It's big business too. Generating revenue into the billions of dollars each year, it's no wonder that all manner of brands, both established and emerging, are seeking to edge their way into this market and to capture a significant piece.
This explains why golf balls can be expensive - which is a costly outlay if you are someone who loses too many on the course.
Perceptions would anticipate that the lower handicappers at a typical club, those who are less likely to run through a sleeve of balls in rapid time, will be the ones who are minded to spend on the most acclaimed models of golf balls, while the rest of us are more suited to searching for bargains, perhaps buying second-hand and refurbished balls, or choosing to instead take our chances that we'll find enough lost balls in our frequent searches through the deep rough to keep our personal stock up.
Logical thinking, perhaps, but just how close are those sweeping statements to the reality of the situation?
That's why we surveyed 3,000 golfers to understand more about their golf ball purchasing habits and to discover which brands and designs they favoured above the rest.
Which Brand of Ball Do Most Golfers Choose to Play?
(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)
We asked the survey respondents this key question: Which brand of golf ball do you currently play most often?
25.31% stated that they were regular users of Titleist golf balls, with Callaway coming in second at 19.89%, Srixon third at 15.86% and TaylorMade in fourth with 12.95% of all golfers regularly playing with their products.
But when you break the data down further you quickly discover distinctive patterns.
Low handicap golfers massively side with Titleist (41.39%), with the Pro V1 and Pro V1x leading the way. TaylorMade also takes a greater slice of this segment of the golfing population, as 18.44% of lower handicappers play with balls such as the TP5 range.
Although the likes of Callaway and Srixon lose ground here, they take control elsewhere. Both claim 21% of the higher handicap golfers, with the former upping its overall average by securing 22.28% of mid-handicap golfers.
It's fair to say that some golfers don't really have a favoured brand, but that is more likely to be said of higher handicappers (12.54%) than lower handicappers (4.92%).
Titleist is the most popular with golfers aged both under 45 (21.31%) and those aged between 45 and 64 (30.69%), but Callaway edges ahead with golfers aged 65 and over, with 23.07% of them choosing to play with the likes of Chrome Soft.
Other brands like Wilson (4.36%) and Bridgestone (3.44%) have grabbed the attention of a more modest return from the golfers who responded to us.
However, these figures aren't in concrete as golfers have shown themselves to be extremely flexible with the golf ball manufacturer they favour.
Just 18.55% of golfers said they either rarely or never tried a different brand. That leaves over 80% of consumers who are more than happy to give other products a try.
But what are they looking for?
Do Golfers Value Distance More Than Anything Else With Golf Balls?
Given much of the advertising that we see on TV and social media, you might think that distance is the ultimate factor that golfers are keen to embrace, but only 33.82% of them cited that as being one of the main reasons they chose a particular ball.
There isn't a great spread between different categories, either, with distance being a key for 35.66% of lower handicappers, 34.52% of mid handicappers and 30.72% of high handicappers.
But feel was everything for many. 73.77% of low handicappers ticked this box, as did 64.14% of mid handicappers, but only 48.59% of higher handicap golfers worried about this.
Mid and high handicappers are far more likely to concern themselves about the price than low handicappers, who in turn are way ahead of the rest when it comes to being conscious of the greenside spin (43.03%) offered by the model of golf ball.
Splitting the groups into clear preferences, low handicap golfers favour more expensive balls that promote greater feel and spin, while mid and higher handicap golfers are less concerned about the performance characteristics of the product and instead are more thoughtful when it comes to the cost of what they are buying.
How do you compare to these players and are your consumer habits reflective of other golfers at your level of ability?
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