What Are Lake Golf Balls? In this video, I’m going to tell you exactly why I think more amateur golfers should be saving money by buying and using lake golf balls, but before I do that, let’s talk a little bit more about what lake golf balls actually are. As the name suggests, lake golf balls are used golf balls which have been retrieved by teams of experienced divers from lakes, ponds, or water hazards on golf courses and resorts across the world. Lake balls are occasionally referred to as used or recycled golf balls, but should never be confused with refinished or refurbished golf balls, which are something completely different, more on those later in this video. Once the divers have retrieved these balls, they will either sell them directly to the consumer, or often they will sell them onto resellers who will then take these golf balls, they will clean them, sort them, and grade them before selling them to us golfers. As lake balls are technically used golf balls, they are often sold at prices considerably less than that of brand new golf balls, often up to around about 40% cheaper. Take for example a brand new box of Titleist Pro V1 golf balls. Now the margins are so small to be made on these particular golf balls that usually you’ll struggle to find a brand new box for less than around about £42-£45. By contrast, if you order 12 Titleist Pro V1 golf balls in mint condition from the likes of Mail Order Golf, you can get those for around about £32, which works out a saving of roughly £13 or over £1 per ball. In fact, if you use my Mail Order Golf 10% promo code in the description below, you’ll be able to get your Pro V1s even cheaper. It’s worth mentioning however that the price you pay will depend on the make and model of golf ball you order, the quantity, and of course, the quality, which brings us nicely on to grading. Grading System When you buy a box of golf balls from your club professional or from a golf store, the chances are you’re usually buying a brand new box of balls straight from the factory. When you buy a lake golf ball, you’re almost always buying a used golf ball, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been hit hundreds of times or is in terrible condition. When lake ball companies take delivery off their golf balls, the first thing they’ll usually do is sort them by make and model. During this part of the process, they’ll also carefully inspect those golf balls so that they can sort them and grade them. Now, whilst there isn’t a universal grading system that all lake ball companies use, most will use a similar system to Mail Order Golf. Mail Order Golf grade golf balls as Mint or also known as Pearl, Grade A, Grade B also sometimes known as Very Good, Practice, and Refinished, with the refinished golf balls being the cheapest and the mint golf balls being the most expensive. Mint or Pearl grade golf balls have usually only ever been hit once and will largely be in an almost perfect condition. Visually, it’s usually very difficult to tell the difference between a brand new golf ball and a mint quality lake ball. Grade A golf balls will be in lightly used condition and may have slight discoloration, but will usually be free from any scratches or scuffs and will be perfectly usable out on the golf course. Grade B or Very Good golf balls are best used for social occasions and will likely have a couple of light scuffs or scores, but allow you to save your best golf balls for those competitive rounds. Practice grade golf balls, as the name suggests, are best kept for use on the practice area or the driving range. These golf balls will likely have scuffs and scores and will probably have more noticeable discoloration. Finally, refinished golf balls are the lowest quality golf balls of then the cheapest, and in my opinion, the golf balls that you should steer well clear of, and here’s why. Refinished Golf Balls Refinished or occasionally referred to as refurbished golf balls are golf balls which have had their outer cover removed through a process known as sandblasting before being repainted and rebranded. During the sandblasting process, the golf ball’s infrastructure will be altered, and there’s a high chance that when it’s repainted it won’t be properly sealed. Due to these two factors, it’s almost a certainty that there will be performance issues with refinished golf balls. If you’re interested in seeing just how badly refinished golf balls perform, Rick Shields tested them out on the golf course in this video, and well, to be honest, the results weren’t all that surprising. I’ve popped the link to that particular video in the description below, but whilst you’re there, make sure you hit the like and subscribe buttons if you’re enjoying this video. Now that we’re up to date with what lake golf balls are and how they’re graded, let’s talk about some of their main pros and cons. Pros of Lake Golf Balls Let’s first of all talk about the positives of lake golf balls. The first benefit is, of course, their price. As mentioned earlier in this video, you can save up to around about 40% when buying compared to brand new golf balls. The second benefit of the lake golf balls is the variety of golf balls available. You can buy anything from a Titleist to a TaylorMade or from a Pinnacle to a Dunlop. Whatever type of golf ball you’re looking for, the chances are you’ll be able to find it and they’re often available in a wide range of different colors. Finally, buying and using lake balls is actually a more environmentally friendly option. A standard golf ball will take anywhere between 100 and 1,000 years to properly break down, and as it does so, it will release harmful chemicals into the environment. Because lake balls are removed from lakes and ponds and reused, they’re not being left to slowly degrade in this way, which means by using them you do your part for the environment too. Also, from a packaging point of view, your lake balls will usually come inside one single cardboard box which can be easily recycled. If you buy a brand new box of golf balls, usually that box contains four smaller boxes, most of which will end up in the general waste bin next to the first tee and not being recycled. So, those are just some of the main benefits of using lake golf balls. Cons of Lake Golf Balls But what about the drawbacks? Firstly, and probably the biggest concern from people who don’t use lake golf balls, is you don’t truly know the history of that ball. You don’t know how many times it’s been hit, you don’t know how long it’s been submerged in water, and you don’t truly know how well that golf ball will perform. Secondly, there is a potential for these golf balls to be inconsistent with each other in terms of performance. If you buy a brand new box of golf balls from say Titleist or TaylorMade, the likelihood is you’re going to get the same make and model of golf ball produced in the same factory and from the same batch. However, if you’re buying lake golf balls, whilst you might buy the same make and model, they will likely have come from different batches and of course they’ll have been used in different conditions. Finally, your order is likely to be made up of golf balls with different numbers, different logos, and probably different markings, which may not suit your style. On the subject of lake golf ball pros and cons, drop a comment below to let me know what your initial thoughts on using lake balls are. Do you currently use lake balls or are you completely against them, and if so, why? Personal Experience and Recommendation Now, after hearing some of those lake ball pros and cons, and in particular the cons, you could be forgiven for wondering why on Earth I personally use lake balls but also promote their use for other amateurs. But bear with me. You see, I have been buying and using lake golf balls for over 10 years now and I’ve genuinely never wondered if I would have played better golf or shot a lower score if I was using a premium golf ball, never. It is worth mentioning though that I’m talking about using mint or pearl quality lake golf balls and not some of the lower quality balls that we talked about earlier. Almost exclusively using used golf balls, I’ve managed to bring my handicap down from 22 to 7 and I generally consider myself to be a fairly competent golfer. But to be honest, like most amateur golfers, I don’t have the perfect golf swing, I can’t hit every shot shape on demand, and I very seldom could tell the difference between hitting a brand new out-of-the-box Titleist Pro V1 and a mint quality lake ball. And to be honest, I don’t think most amateurs could either. Two of my lowest ever rounds were both achieved using lake balls, and I even managed to go around the Old Course in St Andrews only five over, where in fact I was actually one under par through 12 holes, all using a lake ball. But on none of these occasions have I thought to myself that I probably would have shot a lower score had I been using a brand new premium golf ball. That’s the honest truth. Of course, I’d be lying to you if I was to say I haven’t shot high scores using lake balls, but I’ve also shot high scores using new golf balls. For me though, I’ll only ever use brand new golf balls if I’ve won them in a competition, if I’ve been given them as a gift, or if I have some money for the Pro Shop which I don’t know what else to buy with, I’ll maybe buy some new golf balls then, but generally speaking, I pretty much always use lake balls. On the subject of saving money, I genuinely believe that more amateur golfers would be better off simply switching new balls for lake balls. I’ve lost track of the amount of times I’ve seen golfers open brand new boxes of golf balls on the first tee only to lose a couple out of bounds or in the thick rough, and to be honest, that usually continues as the round goes on, and I can’t help but think that they would be better off just simply buying used golf balls. Of course, when it comes to the individual, it’s completely up to them what they want to spend their hard-earned money on, and if that’s brand new golf balls, that’s absolutely fine. The main issue that I can tell as far as speaking to other amateur golfers about using lake golf balls is that they’re not sure about where they come from and they’re concerned about the lack of quality that these golf balls offer and whether or not it will impact their performance. They’ve either been told by somebody that lake golf balls are terrible, they’ve confused refinished with recycled golf balls, or they’ve read an article online that tells them that if a golf ball lies in the water for more than one month it will lose 30 yards in distance. But the fact of the matter is, whilst the odd club champion or scratch golfer here and there may notice a negligible difference between a lake ball and a brand new golf ball, the vast majority of you who are playing golf on a Saturday morning or with your friends really won’t. You’ll notice a far bigger drop in the amount of money you’re wasting by buying and losing brand new golf balls. Where to Buy Now, after hearing my passionate plea for lake balls, if you are thinking about giving them a try, you’re probably wondering where you can buy them. You can buy lake balls from Amazon, from Facebook Marketplace, from Gumtree, or from a whole host of reputable online lake ball stores. As mentioned earlier in this video, I ordered my golf balls for Mail Order Golf. Personally, I’ve always been really happy with the price, the speed of the delivery, but most importantly, the quality of the golf balls that I’ve received, and that’s why I would happily recommend them to anybody looking to buy lake balls. If you do decide to order some balls for Mail Order Golf, I’ve put the link in the description below, and I’ve also popped that exclusive 10% discount code in there to save you a little bit of extra money. Irrespective of where you decide to order your lake balls from, just make sure you take your time and do a little bit of research first. Be sure to check the product descriptions, photographs, read reviews, and make sure you check the grading system in use on the website. If you want to be extra safe, it’s maybe a good idea to order a smaller quantity of golf balls initially, then check the quality of them, and if you’re happy, then proceed with a larger order. In creating this video, it is my hope it has in some way challenged the way that you currently think about lake balls, and perhaps made you consider ordering some next time you’re looking to buy some golf balls. Not only will you be doing your bit for your personal finances, but you’ll also be doing your bit for the environment, which I’m sure you can agree is something we can all do a little bit more of. Now, I’ve spoken at length in this video about lake balls, but if you want to see me try to break 80 using one, check out this video here.