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GuaranteedGolfballs.com - Review


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Introduction:

 

Who doesn't like to get their balls at discounted prices? Play Pro V1 for $2.20 per ball vs. $4.17 per ball? Callaway Warbird for $.75 per ball vs. $1.08 per ball, or Nike One Tour for $1.54 vs. $2.50 each?

 

If you're like me, you're always looking for a deal, and for some, that leads you to lightly used golf balls. But really, what does light use entail. Is it really worth taking the chance on a used ball that was rated by someone you've never met before?

 

This is why I contacted the folks with GuaranteedGolfBalls.com to ask them if they'd send me a sampling of their different ratings so I could see for myself and share with you guys.

 

The Details

 

Guaranteed Golfballs offers three main ratings of their balls - Mint, Near Mint, and Standard Grade. (they also offer old practice balls and shag grade balls, but in my mind, these are just balls you'd find on any day in the bushes while looking for the last ball you sliced out of bounds)

 

From Guaranteed Golfballs on their ratings:

MINT quality recycled golf balls look and feel like brand new balls, you'll probably think they've only been used on one hole! There are no X Outs but you may get some balls with corporate or sport team logos and minor player markings.

 

NEAR MINT recycled golf balls are clean, playable and may have one or two small surface blemishes, minor to moderate ink marks, and/or corporate or sport team logos. They retain the integrity of the original cover. Therefore, even though we have three (3) different grades, these balls are much closer to the MINT grade, and are not considered our "Middle Grade".

 

The blemishes will not affect the ball's design and playability. Although these balls are slightly cosmetically challenged, they have no significant cuts or creases. They are similar to a ball you've played a few holes with, so you'll still be able to shoot your best score with these!

 

STANDARD grade recycled golf balls - may have surface blemishes and discoloration, they have no serious cuts or damage and are totally playable. X outs and Practice balls may be included in the mix. These balls are perfect for short game practice or high-volume playing!!

 

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The site also points out that some Near Mint balls with softer covers such as Nike One, Bridgestone B330 may have minor discoloration, but that the balls meet their other requirements.

 

They also note that they sell hand pickups by greens keepers and cart cleaners from the 150+ major golf courses in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area (I had no clue there were that many courses in this area) And that they do not sell water retrieval balls.

 

They do NOT offer refurbished or refinished golf balls.

 

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My Experience and Thoughts

 

If you do a search on Google for companies selling used golf balls, there are a bunch of them out there. For me, the first step is how easy is the website to use and how quickly can I understand exactly what I'm buying.

 

While some sites seemed to contain too much information/options, and some sites seemed just the opposite, I feel that GuaranteedGolfballs.com does a great job of making everything really straightforward.

 

With three straightforward grading levels, I found it easy to read through and see what interested me (though receiving the balls in hand truly helped me get a feel for how much use a ball has seen) – When they describe that a near mint ball looks like I may have played it for a couple of holes, I realize this changes with the course and the golfer.

 

Reading the description of their Mint balls and upon inspecting these balls, at first you could have fooled me and gotten away with saying they were new out of a box. Of the Mint balls I received to review, one looked straight out of the box, while another at first looked the same, but upon really looking closely I could see a very minor scuff mark on the ball from probably where it struck the face of a club.

 

The Near Mint balls are awfully close to the Mint balls, and at $1.45 per ball is a hard deal to pass up. Quick inspection shows that the Near Mint balls are slightly more used than their Mint counterparts, but not by much. Maybe the scuff is slightly more noticeable, or covers a slightly bigger area, but in my mind, they are similar enough that on ordering balls in the future, I'd probably opt for the Near Mint.

 

The Standard Grade balls definitely stand out as used balls upon first glance more so than the others, but still not to the point of being garbage. (if my mother-in-law gifted them to me for Christmas, I'd smile and appreciate it, but I'd also realize she doesn't understand how much I enjoy new gear, and new balls)

 

That said, I don't know that with my skill level (or lack there of) that I could really tell you upon striking any of these balls that I knew which grading it was. These are all balls that if I was on the course and it was the ball I'd started my round with, I would keep playing through the round with the ball.

 

None of the balls that I received had any sort of “deep” scuffs. I think the worst thing besides scuffs was a few of the balls looked like they had been played out of the sand and had minor pieces of sand embedded into the surface (this is being REALLY picky and seriously holding a ball in my hands for 30 seconds looking for something to write about)

 

If you handed me a Standard ball and tried to pass it off as brand new, I'd call you out right away. If you handed me a Near Mint ball and said you just pulled it out of the box, I'd probably trust you and play it without noticing, and a Mint ball, I'd definitely believe it.

 

Ordering

 

While some used golf ball sites will allow you to order as little as 1 dozen balls, GuaranteedGolfballs.com does require that you purchase a minimum of 2 dozen balls at a time.

 

Also, some of the other sites give bigger discounts the more balls you order, GuaranteedGolfballs.com does not offer any bulk rates until you order a mixed lot of 500 balls.

 

For myself, if I'm getting golf balls at a discount and ordering online, I'm not likely to order just a dozen balls anyway, so being forced into a minimum order of 24 balls isn't a negative.

 

I do wish they offered discount for buying more, but their prices seemed pretty fair when comparing to most other sites, and their site is one of the more straightforward to use and understand exactly what you're getting.

 

There are some specials on the site if you order 4 dozen, you receive a dozen free, which is great, but doesn't look like it is always available on the particular balls you are ordering.

 

Value

 

The entire idea of buying used balls is value. Are you saving enough money to make it worth buying balls that someone else has already had their go with.

 

Personally, I have a hard time justifying $4 per ball for brand new balls. I'm just not that good of a player to notice a difference, so to me after reviewing GuaranteedGolfballs.com I probably will always first look to order some Near Mint graded balls in the future when it comes time to buy more balls.

 

Sure, I'll still buy new balls when it's last minute at the course, but hopefully I can plan ahead in the future to have a stock of slightly used balls ready for play.

 

Conclusion

 

I have no problem giving GauranteedGolfballs.com an A for what they are doing. I believe their ratings are fair, accurate, and that their quality controls are solid and in place.

 

Next time you're in the market for a good discount on some used balls, I would definitely suggest taking a look at these guys first.

 

Grade: A

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They also note that they sell hand pickups by greens keepers and cart cleaners from the 150+ major golf courses in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area (I had no clue there were that many courses in this area) And that they do not sell water retrieval balls.

 

They do NOT off refurbished or refinished golf balls.

 

Are water retrieved balls lower quality? Or does the water affect the quality of the ball?

:cobra-small: SpeedZone 9* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 60 S
:callaway-small: X2 Hot 3 Deep 14.5* w/ Aldila Tour Green 75 S
:taylormade-small: JetSpeed 5W 19* w/ Matrix Velox T 69 S OR :adams-small: Super LS 3H 19* w/ Kuro Kage Black 80 S
:mizuno-small: JPX919 Forged 4-PW w/ Modus3 105 S
:titelist-small: Vokey SM7 50/08F, 54/14F & 58/08M w/ Modus3 115 Wedge
:EVNROLL: ER1 34" w/ SuperStroke Fatso 2.0
MfleKCg.jpg Pro / 9dZCgaF.jpgH2NO Lite Cart Bag / :Clicgear: 3.0 / :918457628_PrecisionPro: NX7 Pro LRF

My reviews: MLA Putter // Titleist SM7 // PING i500 // PuttOUT

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You know, in my mind I remember pulling old balls from the water and them being pretty ruined - but then again, it seems like this would be a quick quality control check, and no matter wet or dry it'd either make the cut or not...

 

I sent my contact the question and hopefully they'll get back to me, or a representative will be able to log in here and share their knowledge.

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I guess it would depend on how long have the balls been submerged. Some people say it affects their distance the longer they are in water, others say it doesn't affect as long as the ball doesn't have any cuts.

 

*shrug*

:cobra-small: SpeedZone 9* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 60 S
:callaway-small: X2 Hot 3 Deep 14.5* w/ Aldila Tour Green 75 S
:taylormade-small: JetSpeed 5W 19* w/ Matrix Velox T 69 S OR :adams-small: Super LS 3H 19* w/ Kuro Kage Black 80 S
:mizuno-small: JPX919 Forged 4-PW w/ Modus3 105 S
:titelist-small: Vokey SM7 50/08F, 54/14F & 58/08M w/ Modus3 115 Wedge
:EVNROLL: ER1 34" w/ SuperStroke Fatso 2.0
MfleKCg.jpg Pro / 9dZCgaF.jpgH2NO Lite Cart Bag / :Clicgear: 3.0 / :918457628_PrecisionPro: NX7 Pro LRF

My reviews: MLA Putter // Titleist SM7 // PING i500 // PuttOUT

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agreed.

 

I've also pulled clean balls from the water that looked like someone just dropped them in. I wiped them off and they played fine.

 

Curious to see what their reason is for avoiding them.

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I'm always looking for a good deal and this site might be a good find. The prices aren't quite as cheap as lostgolfballs.com, but I'm guessing that the later site gets most of their balls from the water.

 

I got curious about how water affects golf balls, so I started searching around and found the following article:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/playerschamp06/columns/story?columnist=rovell_darren&id=2380969

 

Although some see this as a bargain, golf ball manufacturers are not thrilled. Executives with the top companies have said that washed or recoated balls might look new but that sitting in water for months affects the aerodynamic qualities of the ball. That contention was confirmed by a 1996 Golf Digest study, which reported that the longer a ball was submerged in water, the higher the odds were that it would lose distance.

 

This has been requoted many times, but for the life of me I can't find the original 1996 study or the supposed study done by Army Research Labs (why the hell would ARL study golf balls?)

 

Perhaps the water = bad theory is just an urban myth promoted by companies wanting to sell new balls? On paper it makes sense that if golf balls are porous then soaking them in water will increase their density or size and lead to poor compression or aerodynamics, but you'd think someone somewhere would have tested this out.

 

Now I'm tempted to put a few balls in a bucket of water for two months and compare their size/weight to fresh balls...

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From what I've read, the newer covers on balls are not as susceptible to water damage as the older softer covers we used to play.. ie. balata and the like. I still have a difficult time buying a used golf ball. (might be due to the fact that I have 5 doz free balls sitting around the house right now..)

Driver - Ping G430 Max 9° | Ventus Blue TR 
Hybrid - :srixon-small: ZX 16° & 18° | GD Tour IZ S

2 Iron - :srixon-small: ZU65 17° | AeroTech SteelFiber 110icw S

Irons -  :srixon-small: ZX7 MKII  4-Pw | TTDGTI S400, std length  1° flat
Wedges - :cleveland-small: RTX 6 Tour Rack 50° 54° 58° | TTDGTI S400, std length 1° flat

Putter -  L.A.B. Golf Link.1 | LA Golf P135 shaft | Garsen Quad Tour grip
 

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  • 3 months later...

I read your review and did a price comparison to the web site www.lostgolfballs.com and found they offer better deals and also seperate by year and brand if that is important to you. I have read that some people prefer a certain year model for balls as technology changes.

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  • 8 months later...

I know this post is OLD but I have a quick question. I actually was Google-ing reviews of the standard grade and this was the first thing that came up. So, instead of making a new post, I decided to just comment. Alright, here it goes. I can buy 2 dozen of my golfball from them for $10 total ($15 with shipping) in the standard grade. Would there be any issues playing the standard grade? I would be using it for my 2-3 rounds per week (not short game like the website says). For the deal, I guess I can't go wrong, but I want your opinion first. I am not the kind of guy that gets satisfaction from pulling a clean, new ball out of the sleeve. I just like saving money :D So, any issues playing it? Or should I forget about it?

Inside My Blue Callaway Warbird X Golf Stand Bag:

Driver:Nike SQ 10.5* with Graphite Design Y6+

3W:Cobra S2 14*

4W: Nike SQ Dymo 17*

3H and 4H: Taylormade Rescue 19* and 22*

5H: Cleveland Mashie 23*

6H: Adams a3os Hollow-Back

7Iron-Sand Wedge:Callaway X-20 Series with Callaway Steel

Lob Wedge (60*):Cleveland CG-12 Black Pearl with Cleveland TRaction Steel Wedge Flex

Putter: Odyssey Versa #9

Golfball: Callaway Hex Black Tour

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Alright thanks. Purchasing now!

Inside My Blue Callaway Warbird X Golf Stand Bag:

Driver:Nike SQ 10.5* with Graphite Design Y6+

3W:Cobra S2 14*

4W: Nike SQ Dymo 17*

3H and 4H: Taylormade Rescue 19* and 22*

5H: Cleveland Mashie 23*

6H: Adams a3os Hollow-Back

7Iron-Sand Wedge:Callaway X-20 Series with Callaway Steel

Lob Wedge (60*):Cleveland CG-12 Black Pearl with Cleveland TRaction Steel Wedge Flex

Putter: Odyssey Versa #9

Golfball: Callaway Hex Black Tour

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I know this post is OLD but I have a quick question. I actually was Google-ing reviews of the standard grade and this was the first thing that came up. So, instead of making a new post, I decided to just comment. Alright, here it goes. I can buy 2 dozen of my golfball from them for $10 total ($15 with shipping) in the standard grade. Would there be any issues playing the standard grade? I would be using it for my 2-3 rounds per week (not short game like the website says). For the deal, I guess I can't go wrong, but I want your opinion first. I am not the kind of guy that gets satisfaction from pulling a clean, new ball out of the sleeve. I just like saving money :D So, any issues playing it? Or should I forget about it?

 

 

There is another thread on here somewhere from a week or so ago where we bandied this issue about. Do not remember the title and it may have been one of those discussion where we "evolved" to this subject but I and several other guys have been using these balls for years. I personally have played one side by side with a brand new one and could not tell the difference. If I had "the rent money" riding on a golf game I might spend $5 a ball but since I do not, I play used golf balls. Technically speaking, once you have teed off, you are using a used golfball. I have played one of these my record is 73 holes in a row. I could not tell the difference in it. As much as I would like to say that it was the balls fault when I lost it, I would be lying. A brand new golf ball would not have bounce of the water any better than that one did not.

 

 

I rarely buy brand new balls. The last box I bought I opened the sleeve and pulled the first one 80 yards left into the water, I hit the second one 40 yards right into the driving range. $9 worth of balls, Hitting 5 off of the tee box, I decided to use "Used GolfBalls" from then on. I still drown one more often than I would like, but it feels better knowing that I did not just throw a five dollar bill in the lake.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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There is another thread on here somewhere from a week or so ago where we bandied this issue about. Do not remember the title and it may have been one of those discussion where we "evolved" to this subject but I and several other guys have been using these balls for years. I personally have played one side by side with a brand new one and could not tell the difference. If I had "the rent money" riding on a golf game I might spend $5 a ball but since I do not, I play used golf balls. Technically speaking, once you have teed off, you are using a used golfball. I have played one of these my record is 73 holes in a row. I could not tell the difference in it. As much as I would like to say that it was the balls fault when I lost it, I would be lying. A brand new golf ball would not have bounce of the water any better than that one did not.

 

 

I rarely buy brand new balls. The last box I bought I opened the sleeve and pulled the first one 80 yards left into the water, I hit the second one 40 yards right into the driving range. $9 worth of balls, Hitting 5 off of the tee box, I decided to use "Used GolfBalls" from then on. I still drown one more often than I would like, but it feels better knowing that I did not just throw a five dollar bill in the lake.

 

I know. I started that discussion haha I am glad to hear that you have had so much success with them though. I was more curious with this specific website because I have not ordered from them before. As mentioned in that post, I have mostly bought just from LostGolfBalls and AAAusedgolfballs. But, for the deal I am getting on these ($15 for two dozen e-series golf balls) I wanted to make sure that this website wasnt going to give me the absolute worst golf balls in their batch. Thanks for the heads up though!

Inside My Blue Callaway Warbird X Golf Stand Bag:

Driver:Nike SQ 10.5* with Graphite Design Y6+

3W:Cobra S2 14*

4W: Nike SQ Dymo 17*

3H and 4H: Taylormade Rescue 19* and 22*

5H: Cleveland Mashie 23*

6H: Adams a3os Hollow-Back

7Iron-Sand Wedge:Callaway X-20 Series with Callaway Steel

Lob Wedge (60*):Cleveland CG-12 Black Pearl with Cleveland TRaction Steel Wedge Flex

Putter: Odyssey Versa #9

Golfball: Callaway Hex Black Tour

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I just realized that it made it sound like I buy only from one reseller. That is not the case. I put "Used GolfBalls" in quotations and that actually looks like someone in particular. It may be but I meant to say used golf balls. Just to clarify that for future readers.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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Go for it. I buy MINT condition for tournaments and AAA for normal rounds. When they start looking old, I toss them to my practice stash.

 

Premium balls in mint condition for $2? Can't beat that :lol: Too bad I lose them before they are cut or scuffed :angry:

:cobra-small: SpeedZone 9* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 60 S
:callaway-small: X2 Hot 3 Deep 14.5* w/ Aldila Tour Green 75 S
:taylormade-small: JetSpeed 5W 19* w/ Matrix Velox T 69 S OR :adams-small: Super LS 3H 19* w/ Kuro Kage Black 80 S
:mizuno-small: JPX919 Forged 4-PW w/ Modus3 105 S
:titelist-small: Vokey SM7 50/08F, 54/14F & 58/08M w/ Modus3 115 Wedge
:EVNROLL: ER1 34" w/ SuperStroke Fatso 2.0
MfleKCg.jpg Pro / 9dZCgaF.jpgH2NO Lite Cart Bag / :Clicgear: 3.0 / :918457628_PrecisionPro: NX7 Pro LRF

My reviews: MLA Putter // Titleist SM7 // PING i500 // PuttOUT

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  • 2 months later...

I placed my first order with GuaranteedGolfballs and was very pleased. I ordered 2 dozen Titleist SoLos in near mint grade, and paid less for 2 dozen (with shipping) than I would have for 1 dozen new. I inspected each ball after arrival and found them to be in great shape. I found the following; 8 of them were what I would consider mint and I couldn't tell they had ever been hit. The other 14 had some players marks/logos (nothing extreme) and had some very minor scuff mark somewhere on the ball. None of the 14 looked like they had been hit more than a few times. None of the balls were discolored in anyway. I knew when I placed the order that they don't seperate golf balls by year, so was pleased to find nearly half of them were the 2012 model, and the others were 2010.

 

Performance: I could tell no difference from a new ball.

 

I have ordered from another on line used golf ball company in the past, and while satisified with them I found GuaranteedGolfballs to be a few dollars cheaper. Shipping was fast and ordering was very easy. I highly recommend this company, and will use them again.

 

I refuse to pay retail for new balls; after the first hit, isn't it a used ball anyway?

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This seems like a good place to ask the question. I get emails periodically from Knet golf and have been tempted to buy the grade A bucket of 2010 ProV1x because I hate hitting expensive balls anywhere I might lose it :).

 

Anyone have experience with the difference between mint and grade a? (grade a is one step down from mint). I'm talking recycled balls, not refurbished. ($170 - whatever their current discount is for 10 dozen)

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