Originally Posted by Fourputt

And this about sums it up. I agree wholeheartedly that the typical bogey golfer is just fooling himself if he thinks that a $55 a dozen ball is going to automatically improve his game. I think it's more important to always play balls with the same characteristics in order to develop some consistency. By that I mean, use the same type of ball for all rounds. Learn how it reacts to all shots and situations. Then if you want to experiment, by all means do so, but have a yardstick to compare the new ball to. A ball may seem to "feel" better and actually be hurting your game, but without any sort of stats or baseline to work from, you may never know. Scoring well for one round with a new ball doesn't mean a thing. Those "softer" feeling balls also tend to spin more, and that includes sidespin. If your problem is hitting fairways and greens (i.e. hooking and slicing), try a ball with less spin. It may not stop as precisely on the green, but you should hit them more often, resulting in lower scores overall.