Hi Dewayne,

Thanks for the question. We would not recommend recycled, refurbished or second-chance Titleist golf balls for anyone's game - regardless of a person's ability or the type of round you are playing.  One thing to keep in mind is that there is no way to know the history of the golf ball you are about to put in play if it is not coming directly from Titleist. 

Steps to refurbishing a ProV1:

Step 1. Find ProV1 on golf course. Typical places include deep rough, woods, or lake.

Step 2. Wipe dirt or mud off ProV1. 

I don't think much goes into "refurbishing" a golf ball.  That is marketing for "used" or "old" golf balls.  You might as well call it "pre-owned" like the car business.

Thanks for the help that was what i was thinking but was not for sure thanks again

Basically it is a used golf ball someone has cleaned up. They are good for shag bags and possibly rounds where you are just going out for fun.

Caution as they can be soaked in a light bleach solution and appear to be good as new but have actually been sitting in the water or out in the sun for years.

If you were to get anything other than new Pro V's I would get the ones marked "PRACTICE" they are cheaper and just like the ones in the new box. They are also legal for tournament play.

These companies that refurbish golf balls spend many hours diving/crawling in lakes and ponds on golf courses for golf balls. We see them on our course a couple of times a year. We have about 55,000 rounds a year at our course. Think how many balls are in our 15 holes that have water in play. Does everyone that hits a ball into the water necessarily hit a brand new ball? Some as I have seen on courses replace their new clean ball with an older ball. Water balls can be there for extended periods of time. I for one would not want to play a refurbished golf ball. Be real, it happens. I do not feel that they would give you the same performance or feel. They are used. If you walk along the tree line and find a brand new Prov1, you pick it up and use it. That ball will most likely perform as it should. It has not been washed, bleached and heaven knows what else and it's performance diminished. If you are looking to save money and want to play a Titleist ball, play down to their lesser expensive balls. They perform very well and do not have a premium cost on them. With respect. cz

It would be valuable to see legitimate scientific testing regarding the performance of used versus new golf balls. I’m not convinced by the type of conjecture in this thread.

He is an article that one used golf ball company posted based on research that was done thru a lab. No mention of refurbished golf balls.

r.search.yahoo.com/.../RS=c32zsh4LQDsLhd9iMdrJ3SD88EE-

I have had different experiences with the refurbished pro v1s. I had to stop using them because the last 2 times I purchased them the balls underperformed terribly.

Dewayne, main difference in refurbished and recycled is refurbished balls are repainted and recycled balls are just cleaned up to look as new as possible. I got one cannot afford to buy new AVXs every time, so I buy the near mint recycled AVX. If you noticed on a lot of the refurbs, the “Titleist” logo and number are a thicker font than from the factory.

Dewayne started this thread 10 years ago...he's probably not around to answer!

There has been some great info/opinions posted lately though making it an interesting read.

IMO, life's too short to play crappy balls...

Agree that refurbished balls are no longer factory specs once repainted.

One issue I have with used balls is multiple releases are often co-mingled. The 2017 Pro-V1 was more than evolutionary compared to the 2015. Likewise the 2021 X out performed the 2019 based on a ball fitting with a Trackman. It is bad enough that I’m a variable in how a shot performs. So having the ball response not be a variable is important

Isn't every ball a used ball after you tee off?

That’s how I look at it. I’d you’re willing to play a ball for an entire round, why aren’t you willing to play one that someone else has hit, maybe a handful of times.

Because you don't know that is what it is. I would recommend a person wanting to save a few dollars, to get logo overruns or official factory seconds marked as "practice" before going to refurbished/reconditioned. A few companies are legit and you get what is advertised. Many others are painted over and re-stamped names. The extra layer of paint does affect performance and I have personally seen some that had a dimple pattern that were not Titleist's even though they had repainted and stamped Titleist on the ball. If you can't break 100 and go through 2 dozen golf balls a round, okay, get whatever you can find. If you are serious about performance and consistency, stay away from the unknown. Anyway, that's my thoughts on the topic.

As a few have said, this is a bit of a “luck of the draw” type scenario if you happen to find one that works well. I know Rick Shiels did a video stating they’re not that different, but at my swingspeed (120+ driver) I have never found a refurbished ball that worked properly...

Food for thought!