4 Black Golf Balls Guaranteed to Turn Heads
Black golf balls are almost unheard of, but here are four options you can play that will turn heads
Black golf balls? Black golf balls.
When golfers stray from the traditional white golf balls, they typically choose between yellow, green or orange. However, the most daring golfers may choose to put a black golf ball in play. There are a handful of black golf balls available, and perhaps surprisingly, there’s a range that fits every type of player, including low-handicap, high-swing-speed golfers.
Here’s everything you need to know, and likely more, about black golf balls.
Why Black Golf Balls
I’m still hanging on to my 30s, but my aging eyes struggle to track even my not-so-long bombs off the tee. That brings black golf balls into question. Are they easier to see than white or colored balls, or harder?
The answer is both. It can be easier to track black golf balls through the air than a white ball, but once a black golf ball is backdropped by trees or sitting on grass (or even worse, in rough) it can be harder to see than a traditional ball. A black ball could easily blend in with shadows or divots in the fairway, and can even be hard to see on the putting green, especially when compared to white balls.
Of course, there is the novelty factor. Most players, no matter how long they’ve been playing golf, have never seen a black golf ball in person, so if you want a conversation piece, a black ball is a great option.
Regardless of your motives, here are four (well, three and a half) black golf balls to choose from.
Vice Pro Plus Limited Edition Black Golf Balls
The Vice Pro Plus is a serious golf ball. Despite the unorthodox black cover on this special edition Pro Plus, the DNA of the ball is all business. The urethane cover and four-piece construction puts the Pro Plus squarely in the premium ball category, making it a great option for players with faster swing speeds and low-handicap players. The glossy black finish is sure to spark conversation on the first tee, but you can let the ball do the talking from there.
Deadspin DS Tour
If you've never heard of Deadspin golf balls before, join the club. However, if you're searching for black golf balls, you're going to have to make some compromises, and name-brand recognition is likely to be one of them. Nonetheless, this matte black ball is a urethane-covered, 3-piece ball built for distance and greenside performance. It's got some appealing branding to it, if you like the edgy, non-traditional elements, but given the lack of name-brand notoriety, we'd be weary of quality control. Give it a try if you want a unique ball, but maybe leave them at home for the club championship.
Blackswing Pure Black Distance Ball
Here's a black golf ball that's not trying to appeal to the elite player, because let's face it, the lower a player's scoring potential is, the more they're going to expect their ball to help them reach it. And a black golf ball doesn't help you shoot lower scores when you're taking penalty strokes because you can't find it. Instead, the Blackswing Pure Black Distance is a distance offering, complete with a surlyn cover and a matte finish.
Nitro Eclipse Golf Balls
The Nitro Eclipse golf balls get a half-point and honorable mention spot on our list of black golf balls. They're half black, with orange, pink, and yellow as options for the other half. The half-and-half look functions as an alignment aid on the putting green (a design Srixon uses as well), and having a half-colored cover helps you find the ball, which is always nice.
Black and White
While it may be fun to experiment with a black golf ball, or pull one out on a special occasion, there’s a reason black golf balls are a novelty item, and not the norm. It reminds me of a quote from the 2000 movie Road Trip.
“It’s supposed to be a challenge, that’s why it’s called a short cut. If it was easy, it would just be the way.”
My point is, if black golf balls were better than white golf balls, everybody would use them.