Updated on January 24th, 2023 at 05:47 pm
You don’t have to be a seasoned golfer to be playing with premium, tour-quality golf balls. However, our lack of golf skills usually means that at least half of those overpriced golf balls will end up in the woods or the water hazards. So, it doesn’t make much sense to invest in lavish golf balls that will soon be gone, does it?
If you consider premium just those golf balls made by Titleist, TaylorMade, Bridgestone, or Callaway, you’ll probably say yes to the question above. If you’ve been long enough on the course, you must have heard at least something about inexpensive, premium golf balls, such as Snell or Vice.
Unfortunately, for many golfers, the price is the only indication of whether a particular model is worthy or not, and never give a second thought of cheaper alternatives.
Well, I do hope that this article will be insightful enough so that you can at least give Snail or Vice golf balls a chance and test their performance unless you are particularly loyal to a specific brand, of course.
Let’s now take a better look at what makes Snail and Vice golf balls comparable to Titleist or TaylorMade premium golf balls.
Snell Golf Balls
When the first Snell golf balls appeared about five years ago, nobody took Dean Snell as seriously as now. It wasn’t easy for him to promote his new, affordable, premium golf balls for almost half the price. Once you realize he was the man who contributed to designing the legendary Pro V1, you perceive Snell golf balls differently.
Low Price, High Quality
If you ever posed a question to this concept, you’re not the first one, but the fact that Snell Golf has over 40 golf balls patents will clear many things up.
So, Dean Snell’s idea is to offer affordable prices of tour-quality golf balls since the company’s marketing strategy is to sell directly without extra expenditure on sponsorships.
Snell Golf Range
The success Snell Golf has had with the refined version of the initial Tour Ball released in 2018, ranked the company high. The My Tour Ball line (MTB black) and (MTB red) for higher spins, match the performance of the Pro V1 or TaylorMade TP5.
The latest MTB X and MTB Black have finally got everyone’s attention when Golf Digest gave them GOLD on the 2020 Golf Ball Hotlist for innovation, performance, demand, and feel.
The MTB line
The Original MTB line features a three-piece construction constituting a mid-to-low compression core, a mantle layer, and a cast urethane layer.
The premium feel and performance come from the cast urethane cover used only in tour-quality golf balls. It affects the short game spin and control, and with these balls, it is all about the greenside control.
The MTB-X
The mantle layer makes the difference between this model and the previous one. In this model, it features a higher compression compared it the MTB Black, which has a softer compression. This leads to feel and performance differences. The MTB-X is thicker and firmer, leading to higher spin with the short and mid irons.
Off the tee, you can expect faster speed, low, ball spin, and controlled ball flight even during windy conditions.
Vice Golf Balls
In the attempt to compete with Titleist Pro V and ProV1, big and small companies have come up with a variety of performance, material, design, and price features. For some, it might look like David trying to fight Goliath, and even with that perspective ahead, we’ve seen some success stories.
The German company Vice has been among those that have determined to go ahead and attack the market with the best they have- premium quality and lower prices. This combination has always led to success, as we’ve seen it with Snell and now with Vice golf balls.
Vice offers three ball-type varieties: Driver balls for more speed and velocity, Tour balls for all-around performance, something like the NXT Tour, and Pro balls that resemble the Pro V1.
Are Vice Golf Balls Good?
Vice golf balls have been studied extensively by Vice and found to be just as good or better than the more popular Titleist golf balls. Vice golf balls are competitive with Titleist with each level of balls, but the price tag of a Vice golf ball is only a small fraction of the cost of Titleist.
