MikeB82 Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 I usually play new balls, but during the leaf season here in NC balls can be easily lost. In the past, I have had good luck with balls from lostgolfballs.com. There was an occasional dud ball, but not very many. Apparently, the lostgolfballs.com grading quality standards have changed. I just received 2 dozen "Mint" Bridgestone Tour BRXS balls. Out of the 24 balls, 7 of them had huge sharpie or magic marker "player markings" on them. I don't mind a small mark on some balls, but these looked like crap. Other than the huge markings, these balls were in good shape, but still not Mint. I complained to lostgolfballs.com and was told that their description of "Mint" allows for "player markings." Apparently the size of the markings is no longer considered. Balls with huge, unsightly markings can still be graded "Mint." Would you play a ball on which someone had drawn huge red hearts with a Sharpie, or a ball with giant green Ms on it? These went straight to the shag bag. This is too bad, as lostgolfballs.com used to be a solid company that listened to their customers. No more used balls for me. I'll just play cheaper new balls during the leaf season. JoshsGolfQuest, Bobbers and cksurfdude 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbers Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 58 minutes ago, MikeB82 said: I usually play new balls, but during the leaf season here in NC balls can be easily lost. In the past, I have had good luck with balls from lostgolfballs.com. There was an occasional dud ball, but not very many. Apparently, the lostgolfballs.com grading quality standards have changed. I just received 2 dozen "Mint" Bridgestone Tour BRXS balls. Out of the 24 balls, 7 of them had huge sharpie or magic marker "player markings" on them. I don't mind a small mark on some balls, but these looked like crap. Other than the huge markings, these balls were in good shape, but still not Mint. I complained to lostgolfballs.com and was told that their description of "Mint" allows for "player markings." Apparently the size of the markings is no longer considered. Balls with huge, unsightly markings can still be graded "Mint." Would you play a ball on which someone had drawn huge red hearts with a Sharpie, or a ball with giant green Ms on it? These went straight to the shag bag. This is too bad, as lostgolfballs.com used to be a solid company that listened to their customers. No more used balls for me. I'll just play cheaper new balls during the leaf season. Yeah, there does come a point where the markings start to be a distraction. I, personally, wouldn't be happy with 7/24 being in that condition. cksurfdude and tony@CIC 2 Quote Ping G430 Max 10.5* Ping G430 SFT 3 wood and Ping G430 HL 7 wood SR flex Ping G430 4,5,6,7 hybrids SR flex Cleveland Launcher XL Halo 8,9,P,G, SW irons A Flex Cleveland Smart Sole S wedge A Flex Cobra Nova putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfSpy_APH Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 MGS blog has done a few articles on used or referb golf balls and why it's often better to buy new. Muckinfiddle, chisag, sirchunksalot and 3 others 4 2 Quote as of Oct 5, 2024 (Past WITB) Driver: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ - check out the Driver Shootout! Wood: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ shaft (still love my Cobra F7's) Irons: T Series - T200 5 Iron T150 6-9 Iron Wedge: Toura Golf - A Spec 53,57 or SM10 45,49,53,57 degree wedges Putter: LINK! Full putter shootout incoming Balls: Vice Pro Plus Drip (Blue/Orange) Golf Bag: Ghost Anyday 5.0 Golf bag - Maverick colorway with MGS Logo Other: Vortex Anarch Rangefinder, searching for electric cart, Red Rooster The Root Glove and more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony@CIC Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 With some many DTC companies offering deep discounts on tour quality balls (i.e. Vice) it doesn't make sense to buy used 'mint' condition balls. DIsclaimer: I use to buy 5A Prov V's all the time from Lostgolfballs.com but switched a couple of years ago to DTC. PMookie, sirchunksalot, cardia10 and 3 others 6 Quote Left Hand orientation SIM 2 D Max with Fujikura Air Speeder Shaft Cobra Radspeed 3W/RIptide Shaft 410 Hybrids 22*, 26* Cobra Speed Zone 6-GP/Recoil ESX 460 F3 Shafts SM7 54* Wedge Glide 3.0 60* Wedge O Works putter V3 NX9-HD - 4 Wheel EZGO TXT 48v cart - too many shoes to list and so many to buy And BAG Boy Golf Balls: Vice Pro Plus 2020 Official Tester Beginning Driver Speed - 78 2019 Official Tester 410 Driver 2018 Official Tester C300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilM75072 Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 If a Sharpie was used to make those markings, soaking in and/or scrubbing with some rubbing alcohol can probably remove most of them. Shouldn't harm the covers. silver & black and cksurfdude 2 Quote In my TaylorMade Supreme Golf Bag: Driver: PXG Gen 6 0311 10.5° with Motore X F3 R Shaft 45" 3W: Callaway 3W Mavrik Max w/ UST Helium Black 4F2 5W: Callaway Epic Flash (+1/N) w/ Project X Evenflow Green R Flex Hybrid: Callaway Big Bertha 4H (+1/N) w/ UST Recoil 760 ES F2 Irons: Callaway Apex CF19 with UST Recoil F2 shafts Wedges: Callaway MD5 54° and 58° with KBS steel shafts. Putter: Seemore Original FGP Mallet or Toulon Portland Ball: Currently Bridgestone Tour B RX Mindset Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRebound Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 I've been using LostGolfBalls.com for a couple of years and I did notice player markings on a couple of balls that I've received. I really didn't think anything about it. I knew I was buying a used ball and that some people mark balls up rather oddly. I did take one ball that was heavily marked and took a good draftsman-quality Helix pencil eraser to it and the markings vanished. Rubbing the ball in that way did not damage the surface of the ball or its playability, in fact I used it about a week later to shoot my low round of the year. My real problem with using LostGolfBalls.com has become price. I realize that my game ball is rare, yellow ProV1 2021 model. But even when applying the present 15% discount my ball is $45 with tax and shipping. I can go to Golf Galaxy and buy a brand-new dozen for $50. That is one of the reasons that I've switched to a Maxfli Tour for off season golf. It doesn't hurt the wallet as much to drive one into a pile of leaves that Mother Nature has blown in the way. cardia10, TheOther1, silver & black and 1 other 4 Quote Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Max-D 9 degree Fairway and hybrids: Callaway X2 Pro Irons: Mizuno JPX 825 Wedges: Mizuno JPX 825 Pro Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LebanonOz Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 (edited) I've had good luck this year (2022) with golfballsdirect.com. When looking for a supplier I read several complaints about the decline in quality at lostgolfballs and decided to give someone else a try. All of the balls I received out 7 dozen really were mint except one that had two dimples colored with sharpie. Between me and my wife we bought Titleist ProV1, ProV1x, TruFeel and Srixon Soft Feel. Shipping is $9.99 flat rate or free if you spend $90 or more. The last batch was the beginning of October and they were all good. I buy the yellow ones so I don't have any personal feedback on whether the gloss white are up to the same standard if that is what you use. Could be worth a shot if you want to stick with used market. We used to use Snell but it has been hard to get the yellow ones so I switched to MaxFli Tours since I could get them locally. The mint used ProV1s cost about the same as the sale price of new MaxFli Tours which I also like. Edited January 6, 2023 by LebanonOz corrected spelling cksurfdude and Kenny B 2 Quote G425 LST 10.5* - Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI 70 Regular G425 3Hybrid 19* - Fujikura Pro 2.0 Hybrid 7 - Regular G425 4Hybrid 22* - Ping Tour 2.0 85/R Mizuno 5i-GW - JPX 923 Hot Metal Pro - KBS Tour 120 Stiff (soft stepped) RTX ZipCore 56* - Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Black White Hot OG 7S, Garsen Quad Tour non-tapered grip Titleist ProV1x Left Dash; ProV1 Shot Scope X5 watch; Bushnell Pro X2 Range Finder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny B Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 16 minutes ago, LebanonOz said: I've had good luck this year (2022) with goldballsdirect.com. When looking for a supplier I read several complaints about the decline in quality at lostgolfballs and decided to give someone else a try. All of the balls I received out 7 dozen really were mint except one that had two dimples colored with sharpie. Between me and my wife we bought Titleist ProV1, ProV1x, TruFeel and Srixon Soft Feel. Shipping is $9.99 flat rate or free if you spend $90 or more. The last batch was the beginning of October and they were all good. I buy the yellow ones so I don't have any personal feedback on whether the gloss white are up to the same standard if that is what you use. Could be worth a shot if you want to stick with used market. We used to use Snell but it has been hard to get the yellow ones so I switched to MaxFli Tours since I could get them locally. The mint used ProV1s cost about the same as the sale price of new MaxFli Tours which I also like. I've been using golfballsdirect.com for the last couple of years. My wife only plays Yellow balls and likes the Titleist TruFeel; last fall I bought a couple dozen of the Titleist Tour Soft in Yellow as my winter ball. It works fine as the turf/greens are very firm/frozen most of the winter and nothing spins much anyway. I still have some left for this winter. I have had no issues with golfballsdirect.com and will continue using them for the TruFeels. I have been using the Maxfli Tour X all summer and like it; thought I'd try the Tour in Yellow to see if it's work, but the mint Tour Softs are much cheaper, and who needs an expensive ball when it's this cold outside!! cksurfdude, tony@CIC and silver & black 3 Quote “We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardia10 Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 4 hours ago, NoRebound said: I've been using LostGolfBalls.com for a couple of years and I did notice player markings on a couple of balls that I've received. I really didn't think anything about it. I knew I was buying a used ball and that some people mark balls up rather oddly. I did take one ball that was heavily marked and took a good draftsman-quality Helix pencil eraser to it and the markings vanished. Rubbing the ball in that way did not damage the surface of the ball or its playability, in fact I used it about a week later to shoot my low round of the year. My real problem with using LostGolfBalls.com has become price. I realize that my game ball is rare, yellow ProV1 2021 model. But even when applying the present 15% discount my ball is $45 with tax and shipping. I can go to Golf Galaxy and buy a brand-new dozen for $50. That is one of the reasons that I've switched to a Maxfli Tour for off season golf. It doesn't hurt the wallet as much to drive one into a pile of leaves that Mother Nature has blown in the way. That is my gripe. If I'm paying near retail levels for a used ball, I'd love proof that it has not been soaking in a pond for a year. These companies are so good at cleaning them up, there is no telling where they have been. tony@CIC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfSpy_APH Posted November 15, 2022 Share Posted November 15, 2022 18 hours ago, cardia10 said: That is my gripe. If I'm paying near retail levels for a used ball, I'd love proof that it has not been soaking in a pond for a year. These companies are so good at cleaning them up, there is no telling where they have been. How about proof that the ball isn't repainted to say its not a pinnacle or noodle? I know a lot of these are rerun balls meaning lost and found then cleaned, however take a look at MGS twitter and some of the photos they have been sent or found with golf balls that are labled as one thing and actually another and it is somewhat shocking. tony@CIC and cardia10 1 1 Quote as of Oct 5, 2024 (Past WITB) Driver: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ - check out the Driver Shootout! Wood: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ shaft (still love my Cobra F7's) Irons: T Series - T200 5 Iron T150 6-9 Iron Wedge: Toura Golf - A Spec 53,57 or SM10 45,49,53,57 degree wedges Putter: LINK! Full putter shootout incoming Balls: Vice Pro Plus Drip (Blue/Orange) Golf Bag: Ghost Anyday 5.0 Golf bag - Maverick colorway with MGS Logo Other: Vortex Anarch Rangefinder, searching for electric cart, Red Rooster The Root Glove and more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlH Posted November 15, 2022 Share Posted November 15, 2022 At the prices of DTC balls that are proven to be worthy of comparing to other premium balls, why buy used/refurbished? And if "cheap balls" is what you're seeking, there are plenty of available brand new balls at bargain pricing. Shoot, just take a walk along the outer edges of golf courses and pick up all the free balls you want! tony@CIC 1 Quote Driver: Black Ops 12* with Cypher 50 5.0 Fairway: Black Ops 3 wood with Cypher 50 5.0 Hybrids: Black Ops 19* and 22* with Cypher 50 5.0 Irons: Gen6 6, 7, 8, 9, W, G with Cypher 50 5.0 Wedges: Sugar Daddy II 52* and 56* with Cypher 50 5.0 Putter: DF 2.1 -- BGT Stability shaft @ 34" Ball: Tour, Chrome Tour, Pro V1 Other: C10 Bag, glove My Photography can be seen at Smugmug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMidnightHandyman Posted November 15, 2022 Share Posted November 15, 2022 A lot of people here are saying "just buy DTC, don't buy used/refurb." A HUGE caveat to this is that "used" and "refurb" are NOT the same thing. MyGolfSpy Ball Lab has pretty conclusively demonstrated that it's NEVER a good idea to buy refurbished balls, but used balls, in good condition, perform exactly like new ones. DTC balls are great. If a DTC ball fits your swing profile, buy it. But if you can buy a dozen used, mint condition left-dash for $35 bucks, and if that's the ball that fits your swing profile, why compromise buying a DTC ball that may not fit your swing? silver & black, FightingScot82 and TheOther1 3 Quote Driver: Srixon Tour Van Z785 - 8.5* 4-PW - Mizuno JPX 921 Forged 52, 56, 60 - Vokey SM6 Putter - Scotty Cameron California Monterey Ball - Titleist ProV1x - Left Dash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardia10 Posted November 15, 2022 Share Posted November 15, 2022 24 minutes ago, TheMidnightHandyman said: A lot of people here are saying "just buy DTC, don't buy used/refurb." A HUGE caveat to this is that "used" and "refurb" are NOT the same thing. MyGolfSpy Ball Lab has pretty conclusively demonstrated that it's NEVER a good idea to buy refurbished balls, but used balls, in good condition, perform exactly like new ones. DTC balls are great. If a DTC ball fits your swing profile, buy it. But if you can buy a dozen used, mint condition left-dash for $35 bucks, and if that's the ball that fits your swing profile, why compromise buying a DTC ball that may not fit your swing? I think the question is where has that used left dash been living until it was found? In a desert or deep in a pond. That can be a significant difference and while it may look great, it brings the quality level down to that less of a DTC ball. Golfspy_CG2, PhilM75072 and tony@CIC 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesmandan76 Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 My last purchase from lostgolfballs was in April... a bucket of 48 Mint ProV1's. There were a few refurbished ones in the bucket. Not too happy with that. But it's still a good deal. 4 dozen ProV1's for about $100. Hard to beat, even with a few duds in there. I play those or buy Kirkland's ball, which is pretty good, too. I've played DTC Snell balls, too, and like them, but haven't used them in a few years. Quote Driver: TM M1 9.5* 4W: Wishon bent FLAT Irons: Mizuno MP20MB Wedges: 50/55/60 Mizuno Putter: Evnroll ER2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaDawg Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 On 11/13/2022 at 12:14 PM, MikeB82 said: I usually play new balls, but during the leaf season here in NC balls can be easily lost. In the past, I have had good luck with balls from lostgolfballs.com. There was an occasional dud ball, but not very many. Apparently, the lostgolfballs.com grading quality standards have changed. I just received 2 dozen "Mint" Bridgestone Tour BRXS balls. Out of the 24 balls, 7 of them had huge sharpie or magic marker "player markings" on them. I don't mind a small mark on some balls, but these looked like crap. Other than the huge markings, these balls were in good shape, but still not Mint. I complained to lostgolfballs.com and was told that their description of "Mint" allows for "player markings." Apparently the size of the markings is no longer considered. Balls with huge, unsightly markings can still be graded "Mint." Would you play a ball on which someone had drawn huge red hearts with a Sharpie, or a ball with giant green Ms on it? These went straight to the shag bag. This is too bad, as lostgolfballs.com used to be a solid company that listened to their customers. No more used balls for me. I'll just play cheaper new balls during the leaf season. Not sure what you paid for those golf balls, but you should try the Maxlfi Tour balls. They are excellent and you should be able to pick them up 2 dz for $60 at Dick's. tony@CIC and cardia10 2 Quote Driver: TSI3 - 10*, Hzrdus Smoke 6.0 Stiff Driver: Qi10 - 10.5*, Hzrdus Smoke RDX 6.0 Stiff 3 Wood: Qi10 - 15*, Graphite Design Tour AD DJ5 Stiff 5 Wood: Qi10 - Ventus TR Reg Irons: 5 - PW T150, with Nippon Zelos 7 Reg, 4 iron - U505 with Project X HZRDUS Black Stiff Wedges: Vokey SM 9 - 50*, 60* Standard Wedge Shafts Wedge: Milled Grind 3 MG3 56* S200 shaft Putter: Studio Select Newport 1.5 Putter: Phantom X 5.5 Ball: Pro V1x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BombAndGouge Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 I cannot in good conscience play a "used" ball. You don't know if the ball is actually what it purports to be. You don't know how long it had been sitting in the elements. You don't know if it is water logged. Maybe it's non-concentric and was a reason it got lost. There are just so many potential issues that I would be nervous relying on a used ball. I want to eliminate equipment issues as a reason for a bad shot. What percentage would be acceptable? If a used ball is 99% good, is that good? What if it has only 5% defect or issues? 10%? Even if these balls are mostly good, and you can't confirm that, then you are risking bad shots or offline good shots, distance losses, spin issues etc. If you care about your score or try to play competitively, this just ain't it. If you play once a week and don't want to spend too much on balls and don't track your handicap, do whatever you want. GregGarner 1 Quote TaylorMade M6 10.5 (Sleeve @ 9.0) - PX HZRDUS Evenflow Black 75 (6.5) (Tipped 1in) TaylorMade Stealth Plus Rescue 2-17 - PX HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX HY (6.5) (Tipped addl. .5in + .25in short) TaylorMade Sim2 Rescue 4-22 (Sleeve @ 20.5) - PX HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX HY (6.5) (Tipped addl. .5in + .25in short) 2021 Callaway Apex Pro (4-PW) - DG X100 Sub70 286 Forged 50*-10 / 54*-12 (Black) - DG S400 Sub70 JB Forged 58*-06 (Black) - DG X100 Wilson Buckingham Infinite Putter - SuperStroke Traxion Claw (Cut to 33.5in) Primary Ball: Rotation (Snell MTB-X, 2019 Left Dash, 2021 Pro-V1) Wilson Staff Tour Bag BagBoy Nitron Push Cart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FightingScot82 Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 On 11/13/2022 at 1:16 PM, GolfSpy_APH said: MGS blog has done a few articles on used or referb golf balls and why it's often better to buy new. They've highlighted companies like Lost Golf Balls before and lauded them. My only concern is if and for how long they were submerged...or what elements they were subjected to sitting outside before being "found." But MGS has only criticized "refurbished" because they repaint the cover the ball was designed to have. Recycled is not much different from finding a ball on the course. GaDawg and silver & black 2 Quote Driver: Wilson Staff Cortex 9* Atmos Blue 6 3 Wood: Ping G25 3 Hybrid: Tour Edge Exotics C721 4 Hybrid: TaylorMade Aeroburner Irons 5-AW: Sub 70 699, True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 115g Sand Wedge: Ping CBX4 56* Putter: Wilson Staff Infinite Bucktown 34" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony@CIC Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Somewhat remotely related - how many rounds before you retire a ball? I'll generally use one for a couple of rounds before it goes into the shag bag. Now back to the original topic - if that ball was washes/cleaned of scuff marks would I use it even in a 'friendly' round ? Probably not and especially not in a competitive/league round. So a nice clean lost Pro V looks pretty good but you don't know how many rounds it's been through - was it dunked off the first tee or did it go through several rounds. As I said in an earlier post with DTC (take your pic) the price/value proposition makes more sense. Quote Left Hand orientation SIM 2 D Max with Fujikura Air Speeder Shaft Cobra Radspeed 3W/RIptide Shaft 410 Hybrids 22*, 26* Cobra Speed Zone 6-GP/Recoil ESX 460 F3 Shafts SM7 54* Wedge Glide 3.0 60* Wedge O Works putter V3 NX9-HD - 4 Wheel EZGO TXT 48v cart - too many shoes to list and so many to buy And BAG Boy Golf Balls: Vice Pro Plus 2020 Official Tester Beginning Driver Speed - 78 2019 Official Tester 410 Driver 2018 Official Tester C300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver & black Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 On 11/13/2022 at 12:14 PM, MikeB82 said: Would you play a ball on which someone had drawn huge red hearts with a Sharpie, or a ball with giant green Ms on it? Sure.... not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LebanonOz Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Checked golfballsdirect.com today and discovered that they are now the same company as Lostgolfballs.com. Less competition and higher prices. I really wish I could get MaxFli Tour X in yellow . Quote G425 LST 10.5* - Aldila Rogue White 130 MSI 70 Regular G425 3Hybrid 19* - Fujikura Pro 2.0 Hybrid 7 - Regular G425 4Hybrid 22* - Ping Tour 2.0 85/R Mizuno 5i-GW - JPX 923 Hot Metal Pro - KBS Tour 120 Stiff (soft stepped) RTX ZipCore 56* - Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Black White Hot OG 7S, Garsen Quad Tour non-tapered grip Titleist ProV1x Left Dash; ProV1 Shot Scope X5 watch; Bushnell Pro X2 Range Finder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepred Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Maxfli will be available in yellow again but not until August? In the mean time the Wilson Triad should be available in yellow within the next month or so. Wasn’t GolfBallsDirect part of Nitro and yes the used ball prices definitely went up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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