Golf ball quiz: which golf ball is best for me?
Which golf ball is right for you? Answer seven quick questions and get three balls that fit your game, with today's used and new prices. Free, no sign-up, and your answers never leave this page.
Which golf ball should I use?
The one that suits how you play and what you are willing to lose. Start with what matters most to you: stopping the ball on the greens points to a urethane cover, more distance or straighter drives to a ball with low spin off the driver, and a soft feel to a lower-compression ball. Then look at what you lose: if two or three balls go in the water each round, a tour ball costs you more than any gain it brings. The quiz above weighs all of that, using each manufacturer's own description of its balls.
Best golf balls for slower swing speeds and seniors
Balls whose makers say they are built for slower or moderate swing speeds, cheapest used dozen first. Slower swings get more from a low-compression core and a high launch; the finder above also weighs feel and what you lose.
- Vice Drive (lower swing speeds) — used dozen $7.19 · new $19.99. vicegolf.com
- Vice Pro Air (low to medium swing speeds) — used dozen $20.99 · new $39.99. vicegolf.com
- OnCore AVANT 55 (lower/moderate swing speeds) — new $20.00. oncoregolf.com
- Mizuno RB 566 (mid and slower swing speeds) — new $21.99. mizunogolf.com
- Snell Prime 2.0 (7-iron 125 yds or less (leisurely swing speeds)) — new $21.99. snellgolf.com
Which golf ball has the lowest compression?
The lowest compression figures that manufacturers publish themselves. Titleist, Callaway, Bridgestone and Wilson publish none for their balls, so theirs are not in this list.
| Ball | Compression | Used dozen | New dozen | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TaylorMade Noodle Long & Soft | 34 | — | $15.19 | taylormadegolf.com |
| Vice Tour Junior | 50 | — | $19.99 | vicegolf.com |
| OnCore AVANT 55 | 55 | — | $20.00 | oncoregolf.com |
| Srixon SOFT FEEL LADY | 56 | $8.99 | — | Srixon press release |
| Srixon SOFT FEEL | 58 | $7.99 | $24.99 | eu.dunlopsports.com |
| Cut Red | 60 | — | $16.00 | cutgolf.co |
| Seed SD-15 Country Mile | 64 | — | $25.00 | seedgolf.co |
| Snell Get Sum | 65-70 | — | $18.99 | snellgolf.com |
| TaylorMade Tour Response | 70 | $11.99 | $42.99 | taylormadegolf.com |
| Vice Pro Junior | 70 | — | $39.99 | vicegolf.com |
| Srixon Q-STAR TOUR | 74 | $15.29 | $39.99 | eu.dunlopsports.com |
| Vice Pro Air | 75 | $20.99 | $39.99 | vicegolf.com |
Which golf ball goes the farthest?
No ball goes furthest for everyone, so the best golf ball for distance depends on your swing. Every ball approved for play has to pass the USGA and R&A Overall Distance Standard, which limits how far it carries and rolls in a robot test, so the gaps between balls are small. What changes your distance is a ball that suits your swing speed: low spin off the driver for most golfers, a softer core for slower swings.
The balls their makers sell as distance balls, cheapest first:
- Vice Drive — used dozen $7.19 · new $19.99. vicegolf.com
- Titleist Velocity — used dozen $7.19 · new $30.00. titleist.com
- Callaway Warbird — used dozen $8.09 · new $21.99. callawaygolf.com
- Callaway Superfast — used dozen $11.99 · new $26.39. callawaygolf.com
- Callaway ERC Soft — used dozen $12.99 · new $39.99. callawaygolf.com
- Bridgestone e12 Splash — used dozen $12.99. bridgestonegolf.com
Which golf balls are the best?
There is no single best ball, only the best one for your game. The top of each maker's range is what it calls its tour balls: they spin the most around the greens and cost the most new, though used they often cost a fraction of that.
- Titleist: AVX, Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash
- TaylorMade: TP5, TP5x
- Callaway: Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft X, Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour Triple Diamond, Chrome Tour X
- Srixon: Z-STAR, Z-STAR DIAMOND, Z-STAR XV
- Bridgestone: Tour B RX, Tour B RXS, Tour B X, Tour B XS
- Maxfli: Tour, Tour S, Tour X, Tour X-LS
- Mizuno: Pro S, Pro X
The best value of each type today, by the cheapest used dozen:
- Tour balls: Titleist AVX, used dozen $9.89 (new $50.00)
- Mid-price urethane: Titleist Tour Soft, used dozen $9.89 (new $40.00)
- Soft balls: Srixon SOFT FEEL, used dozen $7.99 (new $24.99)
- Distance balls: Vice Drive, used dozen $7.19 (new $19.99)
How the quiz picks
Each ball is scored on what its manufacturer publishes about it: the kind of ball it is, its flight, spin off the driver and around the green, its feel, its compression and the swing speed it is made for. Every one of those comes from the brand's own website, linked under each result. Where a brand gives no swing speed, we estimate a range from the compression it publishes, or else from the type of ball, and the result says so.
Your drive length stands in for swing speed (roughly 2.3 to 2.5 yards of total distance per mile per hour of driver speed). Your lost balls set what a ball really costs you: lose two or three a round, and a $4.83 ball costs you about $12 a round, a $0.60 used ball about $1.50. Prices are today's cheapest dozen, from the same stores and brand list prices as the main table.
Brands don't agree on swing speed. Bridgestone sells its Tour B balls by it (over or under 105 mph); Titleist says "the ball doesn't know who is hitting it" and fits on flight, spin and feel instead. So swing speed is one factor here, not the whole answer.
These are the brands' own descriptions, not our tests: we don't robot-test balls. A fitting with a launch monitor beats any quiz. Specs checked Oct 28, 2026 for 93 of 99 balls; a ball without published specs is matched on its cover and layers only.