Bawlz

[DougE]

I heard Kirkland ballz are only available online, people are buying them in bulk and ebaying

They were in stores, but were selling out within a day of stocking, once all the positive reviews about them started coming out. I have 2 left from my original sleeve that was given to me. Wanna buy 'em? $1 each, plus $25 shipping

[gpickin]

Ha. I play mojos, even got the clown colored ones, 24 for $20.

I also have some yellow slazengers when I was trying Dicks balls ( dirty sounding )... I always like knowing where my ball was. I won club champs with a yellow top flute and a yellow hat

I had some yellow titlest but I don't think they make much of a difference with my game.

I think I scoop irons, not hit down.
Yesterday one of the guys I joined said he plays the best of the best, that way it's all his fault. I liked that philosphy.

I thought at one point, top flites with no spin might have actually helped me off the tee... Since I was getting &500 rpm backspin

[DougE]

Haven't even read the story yet, but it looks like the Costco Kirkland Tour Ball is done!

https://www.mygolfspy.com/costco-suspen ... roduction/

[legitimatebeef]

Haven't even read the story yet, but it looks like the Costco Kirkland Tour Ball is done!

https://www.mygolfspy.com/costco-suspen ... roduction/

Pffft typical Costco. Whether it's golf balls or granola bars or undershirts you can't get too attached to the stuff they sell because eventually you're gonna go in to pick up another supersize pack of your favorite whatever and boom, it'll be gone, never to sit on top of a Costco pallet ever again.

[jasonfish11]

Oh well there are other balls that are just as good for nearly the same price (to be fair I didn't try the k-sig ball, my accusation is based on testing I've seen).

[DougE]

Oh well there are other ballz that are just as good for nearly the same price (to be fair I didn't try the k-sig ball, my accusation is based on testing I've seen).

Like the MG-C4 you play and for only 5 bucks more.

[jasonfish11]

Oh well there are other ballz that are just as good for nearly the same price (to be fair I didn't try the k-sig ball, my accusation is based on testing I've seen).

Like the MG-C4 you play and for only 5 bucks more.

That be the one.

[Duke of Hazards]

Who cares about K-sigs, when there are literally thousands of twice hit Pro V's for $1/ea on ebay?

[legitimatebeef]

Who cares about K-sigs, when there are literally thousands of twice hit Pro V's for $1/ea on ebay?

I guess people wanted something to believe in. They wanted someone to take on the establishment, rid the swamp of overpriced big-brand golf balls.

[Duke of Hazards]

Yeah, if you read Doug's post from MyGolfSpy, it doesn't look like that model was sustainable. Interesting read in that it gives insight into manufacturing in general and how Costco operates.

[jattruia]

I really liked the KSigs, and i think people were just excited that there was a tour ball out there for what we all see as a 'reasonable' price; it gave us all hope. RIP kirkland.

But, after all the MG hype i've been hearing on here, i think i'll pick up a couple dozen and see if they hold up. This may be my next ball of choice.

[bkuehn1952]

Haven't even read the story yet, but it looks like the Costco Kirkland Tour Ball is done!

Nice find Doug on the article. Very interesting and it provides a perfect explanation for the K-sig phenomenon. I have never found a K-sig while scrounging but I will keep my eyes open now.

[CeeBee]

I havn't found any either but Pro v's are abundant.

[jfurr]

Bubba Watson is playing Volvik balls now?

[jfurr]

Word of the day: Quasi-Cuboctahedron (dimple pattern)

[srogers13]

http://thecomeback.com/golf/costcos-inc ... -deal.html

So it looks like the Kirkland Balls were overruns of high end Taylor Made golf balls.

But what made the balls a hot item among fanatical golfers is the revelation that, by some accounts, they perform like rivals that sell for more than twice as much.

That idea sent shock waves through a billion-dollar industry, left Costco out of stock for weeks at a time and caused secondary-market prices for the ball to soar. Its popularity is threatening one of the sport’s long-held consumer beliefs: when it comes to the quality of golf balls, you generally get what you pay for.

“This is just a perception killer,” said Adam Beach, owner of an equipment review website called MyGolfSpy, which bills itself as the Consumer Reports of golf. “This will change the entire industry.”

…

The balls were made at a factory in South Korea by a company called Nassau Golf, which also manufactures balls for TaylorMade, one of the major equipment manufacturers. According to Nassau officials, the company had an excess supply that it sold to Costco through a third-party trader. But that supply appears to have been exhausted by overwhelming demand.

So that’s a mystery solved. They’re essentially a top-end TaylorMade ball, rebranded with the Kirkland label. So they really are quality balls. As for what happens next, well, you should be able to guess:

The same low prices that sparked a frenzy for the Kirkland ball may also have endangered its future. According to a Nassau executive based in Europe, the company believes the expected retail price for the ball would be closer to $45 per dozen, all costs considered.

This executive said that both Nassau and TaylorMade, its biggest client, are unhappy with the rise of the $1.25 golf ball and that the company won’t sell excess supply in such large quantities again. A TaylorMade spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

[MattF]

Actually, they are over runs of the Nassau Quattro ball that sells in Europe...that factoid comes from Nassau themselves.

[legitimatebeef]

Looks like the Costco flew too close to the sun.

[legitimatebeef]

This could actually be good news for Costco's Kirkland brand. I always assumed that people are turned off by such one-step-above-generic labels. But people went bonkers for these things. Even gave 'em a cool nickname. "The K-Sig". That is freakin' hilarious. IMO this opens the door to a whole bevy of new "Kirkland Signature" products. How about a luxury sedan? "Yup, I drive a K-Sig". That would be awesome.

[DougE]

Rather than start a new thread, I just stuck with this one since it is about ba!ls.

I did a little experiment today. I was out in the garage cleaning a hundred or so of the bal!s I pulled out of the pond on our 10th hole a few days ago. (It was a crappy day and no one was on the course, so I took a bucket and my long ball retriever and killed an hour and a half of my not-so-busy schedule.) I have always wondered what the difference is between a water-logged ball and a perfectly good one. Many of the bal!s I pulled out were the newest versions of popular bal!s, so I know they couldn't have been in that pond for more than a season. Others looked like they had been there for a few years.

So, I picked out a bunch of what seemed like good, present model specimens and some which were obviously old and water-logged. I then pulled out the scale I use for weighing small mixtures of epoxy where mixing exact quantities to the 10th of a gram is required. I put a brand new, still-in-the-sleeve Pro V1 on the scale and got a reading of 45.7 grams. To be sure about that weight, I put 2 more Pro V1s from 2 different boxes and got the same reading. Then I took a Pro V1, same 2016 version as the others that had been in the water for some time this year. 45.8 grams. Another 45.7, same as the new ones. Then I found an older Pro V1 model, which looked like it had been in that pond awhile longer. 46.3 grams. Finally I found an old Callaway HX Tour. Could have been there for years. I bounced it on the concrete. Thud. Like a rock. Weighed it. Came in at 48.4 grams.

My advice, don't buy just any old version of used bal!s. Stick with the most recent version. Even if they were in the water for a time, that time can't be that long if it's a new version of the ball. Consequently, it would likely not be affected by any water intrusion to speak of.

On a side note, two of the ba!ls I found in the pond were my own! They had been customized by Titleist with my 3 lines of copy, a custom number, as well as my personal Sharpee marks. So I know they were mine. They were Pro V1x models, which I was playing early in the year. (I switched back to the Pro V1 model in the mid summer.) So they were in there at least for 5 or 6 months. Weighed in at 45.7, just like my new ones.

[jfurr]

Rather than start a new thread, I just stuck with this one since it is about ba!ls.

I did a little experiment today. I was out in the garage cleaning a hundred or so of the bal!s I pulled out of the pond on our 10th hole a few days ago. (It was a crappy day and no one was on the course, so I took a bucket and my long ball retriever and killed an hour and a half of my not-so-busy schedule.) I have always wondered what the difference is between a water-logged ball and a perfectly good one. Many of the bal!s I pulled out were the newest versions of popular bal!s, so I know they couldn't have been in that pond for more than a season. Others looked like they had been there for a few years.

So, I picked out a bunch of what seemed like good, present model specimens and some which were obviously old and water-logged. I then pulled out the scale I use for weighing small mixtures of epoxy where mixing exact quantities to the 10th of a gram is required. I put a brand new, still-in-the-sleeve Pro V1 on the scale and got a reading of 45.7 grams. To be sure about that weight, I put 2 more Pro V1s from 2 different boxes and got the same reading. Then I took a Pro V1, same 2016 version as the others that had been in the water for some time this year. 45.8 grams. Another 45.7, same as the new ones. Then I found an older Pro V1 model, which looked like it had been in that pond awhile longer. 46.3 grams. Finally I found an old Callaway HX Tour. Could have been there for years. I bounced it on the concrete. Thud. Like a rock. Weighed it. Came in at 48.4 grams.

My advice, don't buy just any old version of used bal!s. Stick with the most recent version. Even if they were in the water for a time, that time can't be that long if it's a new version of the ball. Consequently, it would likely not be affected by any water intrusion to speak of.

On a side note, two of the ba!ls I found in the pond were my own! They had been customized by Titleist with my 3 lines of copy, a custom number, as well as my personal Sharpee marks. So I know they were mine. They were Pro V1x models, which I was playing early in the year. (I switched back to the Pro V1 model in the mid summer.) So they were in there at least for 5 or 6 months. Weighed in at 45.7, just like my new ones.

Excellent post, Dr. DougE

Plus you got two good ProV1x's back!

[bkuehn1952]

...I did a little experiment today...

Very cool idea. Thanks for sharing the results.

[jasonfish11]

I use to buy used prov's then I got one batch that was pretty jacked up.

I rinsed a ball on my 2nd shot dropped a new one and wanted to hit an 8i to about the 80 yard mark. It was a 150 yards to get there 125 of it over water. I hit it and it felt perfect but barely cleared the lake.

I didn't think much of it. Figured being out of the rough I got some bad feedback on contact.

Next hole after an oddly short poor tee shot I had 155. Again hit a perfect 8i that came up 30 yards short. This time from the fairway. I chucked the ball in the woods after that hole.

Next hole a 157 yard par 3 pin back. I flew an 8i over the green with a new ball. So 3 8is that felt perfect 2 went less than 130 yards one carried just over 160.

Since then I switched to new mgc4s.

I was buying the highest rated AAA or AAAA (can't remember the rating system) balls from lostgolfballs.com

[jattruia]

Rather than start a new thread, I just stuck with this one since it is about ba!ls.

I did a little experiment today. I was out in the garage cleaning a hundred or so of the bal!s I pulled out of the pond on our 10th hole a few days ago. (It was a crappy day and no one was on the course, so I took a bucket and my long ball retriever and killed an hour and a half of my not-so-busy schedule.) I have always wondered what the difference is between a water-logged ball and a perfectly good one. Many of the bal!s I pulled out were the newest versions of popular bal!s, so I know they couldn't have been in that pond for more than a season. Others looked like they had been there for a few years.

So, I picked out a bunch of what seemed like good, present model specimens and some which were obviously old and water-logged. I then pulled out the scale I use for weighing small mixtures of epoxy where mixing exact quantities to the 10th of a gram is required. I put a brand new, still-in-the-sleeve Pro V1 on the scale and got a reading of 45.7 grams. To be sure about that weight, I put 2 more Pro V1s from 2 different boxes and got the same reading. Then I took a Pro V1, same 2016 version as the others that had been in the water for some time this year. 45.8 grams. Another 45.7, same as the new ones. Then I found an older Pro V1 model, which looked like it had been in that pond awhile longer. 46.3 grams. Finally I found an old Callaway HX Tour. Could have been there for years. I bounced it on the concrete. Thud. Like a rock. Weighed it. Came in at 48.4 grams.

My advice, don't buy just any old version of used bal!s. Stick with the most recent version. Even if they were in the water for a time, that time can't be that long if it's a new version of the ball. Consequently, it would likely not be affected by any water intrusion to speak of.

On a side note, two of the ba!ls I found in the pond were my own! They had been customized by Titleist with my 3 lines of copy, a custom number, as well as my personal Sharpee marks. So I know they were mine. They were Pro V1x models, which I was playing early in the year. (I switched back to the Pro V1 model in the mid summer.) So they were in there at least for 5 or 6 months. Weighed in at 45.7, just like my new ones.

This is awesome, thanks for doing it!

[legitimatebeef]

Doug that was a truly awesome consumer report. This thread and this whole goddamn board is better for it.