Best golf ball: our 7 rankings

Every year, 1.2 billion golf balls are manufactured by the biggest brands: Callaway, Titleist, Srixon, Wilson. Each model offers unique characteristics: distance, spin, feel, speed, control. The choice of brand and price significantly influences the quality of your game. But before comparing logos, bear in mind the factor that affects your distance and feel the most: the ball's compression relative to your swing speed. A ball that is too hard for your swing stays rigid at impact and costs you yards; a well-matched ball compresses, returns energy and gives it back to you. We return to this factor in each ranking.

We have ranked the balls according to decisive criteria to help you choose the best golf ball. Our 7 rankings:

• The favourite golf ball of professional players
• The best cheap golf ball 2025
• The best used balls
• The best ball by number of customer reviews on Amazon
• The best ball for experienced players
• The best golf ball for beginners
• The best golf ball for distance

What is the favourite golf ball of professional players?

To start this ranking, let us look at professionals — those who seek performance at every tournament to perfect their game. The ball is a key element that influences results. Its composition and the technological innovations built into it directly affect its behaviour, whether at the tee, in flight, at impact or on the green. Professional players therefore attach great importance to their choice of ball, although sponsorship also plays a role in the choices of the world's best golfers.

On tour, the reference is almost always a multi-layer ball with a urethane cover: this construction delivers the high spin that stops the ball on the green, while maintaining driver speed. These are also high-compression balls, designed for fast swing speeds.

Our selection:

• Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x: played by 4 of the world's top 8 golfers, including current world number 1 Scottie Scheffler. High compression, exact values in our compression chart.
• TaylorMade TP5 (compression 85): played by the world's number 3 and 4, a 5-piece construction that seeks driver speed and controlled spin in the short game.

Recommended skill level: these highly technical balls can be played by amateurs, but their full potential is unlocked by experienced golfers who can generate the swing speed needed to compress the ball.

The best cheap golf ball in 2025?

The price of a dozen golf balls ranges from £7 to £70. The gap is obviously significant, and it is not purely a matter of marketing. A quality product costs relatively more, and it is difficult to reproduce the performance of a premium ball in a budget ball.

Premium balls often have several layers (three, four or five), offering better control and a softer feel. Two-piece balls, usually the cheapest, are ideal for beginners or for practice. Their cover is generally made of Surlyn, which is more durable than the urethane used on tour balls, at the cost of slightly less spin around the green.

Our selection:

• Srixon AD333 (compression 68, from £9.99 used): a low-to-medium compression 2-piece ball, forgiving and easy to play, one of the best-sellers on the market year after year.
• Inesis 100: the entry-level ball designed for beginners, prioritising distance and forgiveness so you can learn your swing without breaking the bank every time a ball is lost.
• Mix Pro: 100 mixed pro tour quality balls (Pro V1, Pro V1x, AVX, TP5, TP5 Pix, TP5x, TP5x Pix, Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft X), the cheapest way to play premium models.

And the best value for money remains the refurbished used ball: the refurbishment process does not affect the internal structure of the ball (the core and compression), only the appearance changes. You play exactly the same model as at the new price, for a fraction of the cost.

Recommended skill level: occasional or beginner players with a handicap above 30 will appreciate the durability of these balls, ideal for improving their swing without excessive frustration when a ball is lost.

The best used balls?

Used balls are not necessarily of lower quality. For example, our grade AAA balls retain 100% of a new ball's performance while being priced up to 70% lower. Each ball is calibrated, cleaned and carefully inspected to guarantee excellent condition.

Unlike new balls, used balls may show signs of use, without any impact on their intrinsic qualities at the tee or on the green. The compression, the core and the number of layers remain those of the original model: this is precisely what makes a refurbished ball fly like a new one. Any wear is cosmetic, not mechanical.

Our selection:

• Titleist Pro V1: the world's number 1 ball, available with savings of up to 60% compared to the new price.
• Callaway Chrome Soft (compression 72, from £21.99 used): a reference in professional golf, notably used by Jon Rahm. A multi-layer ball with a urethane cover that maintains excellent feel. You save around £30 on the new price for a dozen grade AAA balls.

See used balls

What is the best golf ball for distance?

Several factors influence carry distance:

• Ball compression (its ability to store and release energy)
• Weather conditions
• Swing speed
• Spin imparted on the ball (slice or hook)
• Dimple pattern
• Golfer's technique

Some balls are specially designed to improve aerodynamics. But before looking at the model, look at your swing: the same ball does not add distance for every golfer. The real lever is matching the ball's compression to your swing speed. With a slow swing, a low-compression ball deforms more at impact and returns more energy; with a fast swing, the effect reverses and a high compression takes back the advantage. Add to this driver spin (less spin means a flatter trajectory and more roll) and construction (a soft 2-piece for the average golfer, a premium multi-layer beyond 100 mph).

How many metres to expect based on your swing speed

Before changing ball, find your baseline. Here are the average driver distances expected by swing speed, from a slow swing to a tour player's swing.

Reference points to find your level: the average male amateur swings around 93 mph (approximately 196 m of drive), a senior between 80 and 90 mph, a female amateur between 75 and 80 mph. If your swing is at or below the amateur average, your distance lever is low compression, not the tour ball. Details by profile and by club are on our golf swing speed page.

Our distance selection

The most distance-oriented models:

• Laddie Extreme
• Maxfli Tour S
• TaylorMade TP5x (compression 97, for very fast swings)
• Srixon Z-Star XV (the high-compression version of the Z-Star range, for fast swings)

And our distance selection available in refurbished condition, sorted from the lowest to the highest compression: slow swing, your ball is at the top of the table; fast swing, at the bottom.

For model-by-model figures, see our compression comparison chart.

Best ball by number of customer reviews on Amazon?

Buying golf balls online is becoming increasingly common. The American giant is obviously a key player and allows us to rank the balls with the most positive reviews. This is a good indicator of popularity and satisfaction, not to be confused with a pure performance ranking: a best-selling ball is not necessarily the best suited to your swing.

What is the best golf ball for a beginner?

Inesis offers a complete range of golf balls suited to every skill level, allowing step-by-step progression. For a beginner, the goal is not tour-level spin but distance and forgiveness: a soft, low-compression ball forgives off-centre strikes and travels far even without a high swing speed.

• Inesis 100: designed for beginners, this ball offers increased distance and error tolerance, making it easier to learn golf.
• Inesis 500: designed for intermediate players, it combines distance and control, helping to refine your game while maintaining good performance.
• Inesis 900: a technical ball for experienced golfers, offering optimal control and sensations close to tour balls, ideal for those considering moving up to models such as the Titleist Pro V1.

To assess your level and find out whether you are ready to move up in range, calculate your handicap with our handicap calculator.

Top 5 best-selling balls at Golfiller

Here is our selection of the five best-selling used golf balls in our shop over the last twelve months:

• Titleist Pro V1
• Srixon AD333 (compression 68, from £9.99 used)
• Titleist Pro V1x
• Callaway Supersoft
• Srixon Z-Star (compression 88, from £15.99 used)

See all models

Frequently asked questions