Used golf ball grades explained: Mint, 5A, 4A, AAA and Pearl

By Julien Levadoux · Updated Oct 26, 2026

There is no industry standard for used golf ball grades: every store sets its own, and the same label can mean different things. Most US stores use the same four or five steps, though, and the grade describes the one thing that affects performance, the cover. Here is how eight stores' grades line up, what each grade costs, and what tests show.

Grades compared across stores

Store	Pristine	Mint	Near Mint	Good	Fair
LostGolfBalls	Pristine	Mint (5A)	Near Mint (4A)	Good (3A)	–
Found Golf Balls	Pristine / 5A No Logo	5A / Mint	4A / Near Mint	3A / Good	Premium Practice
Two Guys with Balls	–	Eagle (A)	Birdie (B)	Par (C)	–
Golf Ball Planet	–	Mint	Grade A	Grade B	Hit Away
California Golf Balls	–	5A / Mint (“Pearl”)	4A / Grade A	3A / Grade B	–
Golf Ball Monkey	–	AAAAA / Mint	AAAA / Near Mint	AAA / Good	–
Golf Ball Divers	–	Mint (AAAAA)	Near Mint (AAAA)	Value (AAA)	–
Nordica Golf (UK)	–	Grade A (“Pearl”)	Grade B	Grade C	–

From each store's own grading page (linked), opened October 26, 2026. A dash means the store has no grade at that level. Some stores word their grades differently on other pages; we use the grading page.

Watch out for "AAA". At most stores 3A or AAA is the third grade, Good. At GlobalGolf it is the second grade, below Mint, described as "like new" (GlobalGolf), and its AA grade is "near perfect." At Nordica Golf, AAA is the second grade (Near Mint) too. Read the store's own definition before you compare letters.

What each grade looks like

Pristine

Looks and feels new, with no wear, and no logos or player markings. Only a few stores sort for it, and Found Golf Balls says only about 5% of the balls it sorts qualify.

Mint

Looks and plays like new, with little or no wear. Player markings and team or company logos can be present. Also sold as 5A, AAAAA, 1st Quality, Eagle or Pearl.

Near Mint

Like a ball played for a few holes: light blemishes, slight discoloration or loss of gloss that stores say doesn't affect play. Also sold as 4A, AAAA or Grade A (or Birdie, Grade B).

Good

Visible scuffs, discoloration and faded print, but no cuts. Higher-grade practice and X-Out balls may be mixed in. Also sold as 3A, AAA, Value or Grade B/C.

Fair

Practice and range only: heavy blemishes, and at some stores cut or out-of-round balls. Golf Ball Planet says it doesn't recommend playing a round with its Hit Away grade.

Drawings, not photos: each shows the kind of wear a store allows in that grade. Real balls carry their own brand and model.

What each grade costs

Higher grades cost more for the same ball. On October 25, 2026, Two Guys with Balls priced a dozen 2025 Titleist Pro V1x at $41.99 in Eagle ($3.50 a ball), $33.99 in Birdie ($2.83) and $23.99 in Par ($2.00). Titleist's list price for a new dozen was $58.00 ($4.83 a ball), so the top used grade saved about 28% that day and the lowest about 59%.

This section switches to live prices by grade, across stores, as recycled listings are added to the main table.

Which grade to buy

Competitive rounds, or you want the ball to look new: Mint. Two Guys with Balls recommends its Eagle (Mint) grade for low handicaps and competitive golf.
Everyday rounds: Near Mint. The marks are cosmetic, and the price per ball drops noticeably.
Courses with lots of water, or you lose several balls a round: Good. It costs the least per playable ball, though visible scuffs can affect flight.
Practice and the range: Fair, practice or Hit Away grades.

Choose the ball model first (see golf ball construction), then the grade.

Do used balls perform like new? What tests show

Balls left in ponds for up to a year

Raffel & Long, peer-reviewed, 2023

Tested: New Pro V1s caged in three ponds for 1, 3, 5 and 12 months, then hit by a driving robot
Found: No significant loss in distance (a non-significant trend of about 1 yard, 0.5%) or accuracy. Yellowing didn't predict performance.
Caveats: Funded by Golf Ball Divers, one of the stores above; one ball model; new balls, not played ones; driver only.

Used grades vs new

Plugged In Golf

Tested: LostGolfBalls 5A, 4A, 3A and refinished Pro V1s vs new, 50 shots each with wedge, 7-iron and driver
Found: No consistent difference in ball speed, smash factor or spin; testers putting with their eyes closed couldn't tell them apart.
Caveats: Human testers on a launch monitor; the author notes scuffs on lower grades could matter outdoors. Undated.

Scuffed covers

MyGolfSpy, Aug 2023

Tested: Balls with light and moderate scuffs hit with a driver at 100 mph
Found: A moderate scuff cut carry to 205 yards, over 40 yards short, and sent the ball more than 45 yards off line. A light scuff: over 8 yards off line.
Caveats: Damage applied on purpose; shot count and ball model not stated.

Refinished (repainted) balls

MyGolfSpy, 2021

Tested: 24 ReLoad refinished Pro V1s (2015 and 2017 models) vs a new 2021 Pro V1, robot-tested at three swing speeds
Found: 6 to 13 yards shorter with the driver; compression 99 vs 87; 23 of 24 over the 1.620 oz weight limit.
Caveats: One refinisher; Plugged In Golf found LostGolfBalls' refinished balls matched new.

What it adds up to: the cover decides performance. A clean, undamaged cover plays like new even after months underwater, which is why the grade, a description of the cover, is the thing to check. Scuffs are what cost distance and accuracy. Refinished balls are the one category with a measured loss, and results vary by refinisher.

Two common claims don't hold up. Figures like "6 yards lost after 8 days in water" circulate with no traceable test: Golf News Net repeats them without naming a source. A 1996 Golf Digest experiment cited by Raffel and Long did report carry losses (about 9 yards for two-piece Surlyn balls and 17 for balata-covered ones) after up to six months underwater, but it predates modern multilayer urethane balls, and Raffel and Long's 2023 test of Pro V1s found no significant loss. And manufacturers' warnings deserve context: Titleist told GOLF.com a ball with an unknown history probably won't perform as designed (GOLF.com), while its parent company, Acushnet, owns PG Golf, which recovers and resells used balls (Acushnet 10-K).

Recycled, refinished, practice, X-Out and overrun

Recycled (lake balls)

Played balls recovered from courses and ponds, washed, sorted by model and graded, but not repainted. One recycler told Freakonomics he pays divers and courses 10 to 12 cents a ball, and that only about 20 percent of the balls he recovers are flawless (Freakonomics).

Refinished (refurbished)

Stripped, repainted or clear-coated, and restamped, so they look new whatever their history. Refinishers typically stamp them "Refinished" or "Used & Refurbished". In 2003 a federal appeals court declined to block a refinisher from selling repainted balls under the original brand, noting that buyers of used goods expect differences and that the balls were stamped as used and refurbished; it was a ruling on a preliminary injunction (Nitro v. Acushnet). On Used Ball Finder they are a separate condition, not a grade.

Practice and X-Out

Factory balls sold as seconds, usually for a cosmetic flaw. "Practice" balls are conforming balls stamped that way; X-Outs have the brand crossed out. Stores mix higher-grade ones into Good and practice grades.

Logo overrun

New balls printed with a company or event logo and sold off as surplus. They are new, not used: the table lists them as "Overrun".

Questions golfers ask

What do 5A, 4A and 3A mean on used golf balls?

At most US stores they are the top three recycled grades: 5A (AAAAA) is Mint, 4A (AAAA) is Near Mint and 3A (AAA) is Good. See the table.

Is AAA the same at every store?

No. At GlobalGolf, AAA is the second-best grade and means "like new" (GlobalGolf). At Nordica Golf it is the second grade too. At most other stores 3A or AAA is the third tier, Good.

What does Pearl mean?

Pearl is another name for the top grade, the equivalent of Mint or 5A. It is common in the UK (Nordica Golf's Grade A) and also used by some US stores (California Golf Balls).

Are used golf balls as good as new?

In the best grades, the tests we found showed little or no difference. The cover is what matters: scuffs cost distance and accuracy, while time in water with an intact cover mattered little. See what tests show.

Is Mint worth paying extra over Near Mint?

For most golfers, no: Near Mint marks are cosmetic. Mint makes sense for competitive rounds or if you like a ball that looks new.

What is the difference between recycled and refinished balls?

Recycled balls are cleaned and graded as found. Refinished balls are stripped and repainted, are usually marked as such, and one independent test found them shorter than new balls. See refinished.

Can I use X-Out or refinished balls in a tournament?

Usually, yes, unless the event uses the List of Conforming Golf Balls local rule: then X-Out and refurbished balls are not allowed, while "Practice"-stamped balls of listed models are (R&A Interpretation 4.2a(1)/2). A refinished ball over the weight limit would not conform anywhere: MyGolfSpy found 23 of 24 refinished Pro V1s it tested overweight.

How Used Ball Finder shows grades

Every recycled row in our table shows its grade on the five-step scale above (Pristine, Mint, Near Mint, Good, Fair), placed using that store's own definition. When a lot mixes two grades ("Eagle/Birdie mix"), we show the lower one. The store's own page has the final word on what you'll receive.