How do I know if a golf ball is faulty?

[Duke945]

My Golf Spy often points out that some golf balls have a small percentage that might not be usable. (Example: 3% of balls might have off center cores or concentricity issues). Presumably a PGA golfer would never use one of these balls. But how do they know if they have a faulty ball in order not to use it? Is there a way to determine ball quality without cutting them open??? 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Duke945 said:

My Golf Spy often points out that some golf balls have a small percentage that might not be usable. (Example: 3% of balls might have off center cores or concentricity issues). Presumably a PGA golfer would never use one of these balls. But how do they know if they have a faulty ball in order not to use it? Is there a way to determine ball quality without cutting them open??? 

x-ray, epsom salts, check go device. 

[Snakster]

My assumption is that the ones that fly off into the woods are the bad ones. 

[Brinkie]

All these years blaming the equipment for my scores and thanks to MGS I finally have data to back it up!!!

[Hook DeLoft]

Serious answer:  I don’t think you can. Joking answer:  If you miss a putt, the ball is faulty. 

[Middler]

You can if you have the equipment and knowledge Tony has https://mygolfspy.com/mygolfspy-ball-lab/

Almost no amateur could justify that. And if it was easy to tell, all amateurs would be “testing” and ball makers would be faced with more complaints, maybe forcing them to improve. That said, most modern balls are probably (way) more consistent than previous generations even if there are some outliers.

The irony is the ball makers e.g. Titleist, TM, Callaway etc. sort out the bad ones for the PGA players, they never see them so they don’t have to measure. The factory quality tolerances (that the rest of us buy) are looser than those that are given to touring pros.

[TR1PTIK]

When it comes to the Pros, they are supplied balls directly from the manufacturer, and in some cases, specially designed balls not available to the consumer. This is totally presumptive on my part, but I'd wager that these balls being sent out undergo a slightly more stringent QA process. Or, they may undergo the same QA process, but only those in the upper percentile are packaged for tour use.

Otherwise, I'd suggest X-ray or epsom salts like @cnosil mentioned above. I don't personally care for the check-go device though, and my reasoning is simple. The science may be perfectly sound, but I don't believe you can build in the tolerances required for a truly effective product at just $30. I know there are plenty of golfers who use the device and swear by it, but I wouldn't touch it with a 10' pole, and I think it's something well worth a look by the MGS team. EDIT: I'd love for MGS to prove me wrong.  

[Ell]

Roll it on a level floor. If it veers off course it's defective. During the era of Nelson, Hogan, Snead and Demerit they would buy 2 dozen balls and roll them on the floor, Out of the 2 dozen only a half dozen rolled true and they still shot lights out. Sorry, but pros today are too persnickety.

[Larryw]

Floating in Epsom salt will work if you are meticulous in your marking. But unless it is a really bad ball, it is doubtful that a person will be able to see a difference caused by the ball being bad. Of course there is always the mental benefit of one less thing of concern, and we all know how mental Golf can be sometimes.

Try it by finding "bad" balls and playing them to see if a difference can be noted and if so - then float your balls.