The scene at pro-shop counters this spring can be described as confusion. The colorful packaging of a dozen or more brands of golf balls beckon consumers from behind the counters. For retailers, the task is even more daunting — ball selections are so extensive, they stretch over two aisles.

        Distance balls, performance balls, titanium-core balls. One-piece, two-piece, three-piece. Low-compression, high-launch. Hexagonal patterns.

        About 75 percent of the cost of golf balls goes toward marketing, which includes endorsement money for top pros and intense advertising campaigns. Hardly a break goes by on weekend golf telecasts without at least one ball commercial.

        But beyond the prestige of playing Tiger's ball (or Sergio's, Arnie's or Annika's, for that matter), what's in it for you? How does an average golfer, with a different weakness for every day of the week, make an informed decision?

        Don't be afraid to rely on your pro, said longtime area professional Bob Hauer.

        “It's just like doctors recommending a medicine to you,” he said. “It's very hard for you to do on your own.”

        Said Luke Reese, vice president and general manager of Wilson Golf: “If you're talking about a 30-handicapper, then don't waste a lot of time making the decision. They've got other issues. But if it's a player with a 20 handicap or below, someone who has shot a round of 90 before, it is relevant.”

Balanced is better

        Reese is at the center of the biggest controversy in golf this year. Wilson wowed attendees at the annual PGA Merchandise show in January with its new Staff True balls, billed as the first perfectly balanced ball in the game.

        Wilson said science was on its side, using a putting robot to hit more than 24,000 balls to show that some perfectly struck putts of unbalanced balls, at 10 feet out, miss the hole altogether. And Wilson named names.

        Spalding, whose Strata balls did not perform well in Wilson's tests, has filed suit. Others also have been vocal in their protests.

        Wilson has successfully opened up another front in the golf ball marketing wars. No one had pursued balance as a selling point, then Wilson got ahold of the technology to make it an issue.

        The Staff True balls can never be out of balance because the ball's core — the flawed part of unbalanced balls — weighs the same as the ball's cover.

        Reese was in town last week, using the time-honored technique of floating balls in a salt-water solution to determine if they were balanced. Every Staff True ball checked out, while competitors purchased off the shelf in the pro shop didn't fare so well. For one brand, eight of the first nine balls settled with the same spot facing up — a failing score.

        Said Reese: “It all comes down to this: Do you want a ball that might cause you to miss?”

Distance, feel still key

        The science looks sound, but golf does not approach a science for most players. Extra distance and better feel — the calling cards of the last two sensations in ball marketing, the Lady Precept and the Titleist ProV1 — will continue to be powerful selling points.

        “The best thing is to go to a place that sells all these balls and ask someone who would know what to do,” Hauer said. “Tell them, "This is how I hit the ball normally, but this is how I want it to go,' and see how they can help you.”

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