[PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird]
Question: I have a lot of old golf balls in my garage. Do they have an expiration date?
Answer: At some point, we’ve all run low on pellets during a round and been forced to seek out ‘alternative options’ in a nearby pond or trees. The golf balls you find on those expeditions might feature yellowing of the cover, scuff marks or paint loss. Maybe all three.
Those well-worn balls serve a purpose in the moment, but it’s natural to wonder if you’re sacrificing performance by playing something that might be well past its prime.
To answer your question, no, you won’t find an expiration date stamped on a box of golf balls like you do a carton of milk. The cover and core materials aren’t designed to last forever, but you don’t have to sweat a ball that’s 12 or 24 months old wilting away on the course.
Durability has improved exponentially since the days of the ultra-soft balata – when it didn’t take much to shear the cover on a well-struck wedge shot. It’s now possible to play the same ball for 72-plus holes. If that sounds ludicrous, consider that pro Alex Chiarella won PGA Tour Canada’s 2019 Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open using the same Titleist Pro V1x for all four rounds.
Unfortunately, most weekend golfers don’t have the accuracy to play the same ball for that many holes. Inevitably, a wayward ball finds trouble, and you’re forced to reload. It happens.
If you’re one of the lucky few who somehow manages to keep the same ball in play for what seems like an eternity, the only thing you need to keep track of is cover wear. It makes sense to worry about a ball when the paint on the cover starts to come off, but according to Titleist, it’s the dreaded scuff mark that should be your main cause for concern.
“Our rule of thumb for regular golfers is that as long as paint loss, a scuff or defacement of the golf ball is less than the size of a dime, it should be good to go,” an American Titleist representative said.
Again, today’s covers can withstand numerous wedge shots without seeing a dip in performance. The coin-sized marks (an American dime is almost exactly the same size as the old Australian one-cent coin) you need to worry about generally come from an errant shot skipping off a cartpath or grazing a tree. It’s time to find a new ball when you see noticeable gashes and material missing on a section of the cover.
Could you roll the dice and keep playing such a ball? No one is going to pull you off the course for continuing on with a battered egg. The problem is, the wear is enough to alter launch, spin and dispersion, so you run the risk of flushing one and watching it fly in the wrong direction.
For those who like to collect pond balls, be advised that it’s far more difficult to predict performance in the moment. For starters, there’s no telling how long the ball has been submerged in the water, so it’s difficult to say whether performance will take a hit.
Most of today’s premium balls feature a water-resistant coating, so it’s possible that something you find along the bank will still be good to go. But it’s still a gamble.
“All golf-ball materials will absorb moisture at different rates, and anything submerged in water represents the most extreme condition,” our Titleist representative said. “If you don’t know how long it was in the water, there is a high probability that the ball will not perform as designed.”
And if you’re wondering where golf balls should be stored to maintain performance, it’s best to keep them in a dry location where the temperature hovers around 20 to 27 degrees. Think inside a home office or a storage closet where your clubs probably reside.
Following a few simple rules will ensure that your golf balls are good to go for the foreseeable future. The only thing left to worry about is keeping them in play.
