My Little Experiment with Penn Golf Balls
So, the other day I was digging around in that discount bin at the second-hand sports store, you know the one, full of random stuff. And guess what I found? A dusty sleeve of golf balls with “Penn” written on them. Yeah, Penn. Like the tennis balls. I honestly didn’t even know they made golf balls. Probably haven’t for ages, judging by the look of the box. But they were dirt cheap, like, less than a cup of coffee. So I thought, what the heck, might as well grab ’em and see what happens. Couldn’t hurt to try, right?
I wasn’t expecting much, obviously. Penn is king of the fuzzy yellow ball, not the little white dimpled one. But curiosity got the better of me. Yesterday, I finally took them down to the driving range to give them a whirl. Wasn’t gonna waste a proper round on them just yet, you know?
First, I pulled out my driver. Teed one up. Took a swing. The contact felt… well, hard. Like hitting a little rock. It went reasonably straight, actually, distance wasn’t terrible, maybe a bit shorter than my usual ball, but nothing disastrous. I hit a few more drives with them. Same thing – felt very firm off the clubface, kinda clicky sound.
Then I moved onto the irons. Grabbed my 7-iron. Again, that hard feeling was really noticeable. It’s not a feeling I particularly enjoy, feels a bit dead, if you know what I mean. Here’s what I jotted down:
- Feel: Very hard, almost harsh on impact with irons and driver.
- Distance: Seemed okay-ish with the driver, maybe lost a few yards. Average with irons.
- Spin: Didn’t seem to get much check on the ball with wedge shots on the practice green nearby. They just kinda hit and rolled out. Not great for control around the greens.
- Durability: Got scuffed up pretty quickly. After just a few hits, I could see marks on the cover.
I tried a few putts too. They felt hard off the putter face as well, which made distance control a bit tricky. It was hard to get that soft feel you sometimes want on the greens.
So, what’s the final word on these mysterious Penn golf balls? Honestly? They were pretty much what you’d expect from a super cheap, possibly ancient, off-brand ball. They fly, they roll, but they don’t feel great and don’t offer much in the way of performance, especially around the greens. No magic hidden gem found this time.
Would I buy them again? Nah. Would I use the rest of the sleeve? Maybe for hitting over water hazards where I don’t care if I lose one, or just knocking around in the field. It was a fun little experiment for pocket change, satisfied my curiosity. But yeah, I’ll be sticking to my usual gamers. Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for, especially in golf.
