Free Golf Balls? Where Do I Sign Up?

Ah, the quest to make golf cheaper took a turn this weekend when I saw my first commercial for the “Free Balls Club” online. In a somewhat funny, but very “questionable” advertisement that talks all about free-balling on the course, the FBC highlights how golf balls are too expensive, but you shouldn’t need to dig them out of ponds, find them in the trees or play inferior products while you are on the course. Instead, they offer you an alternative, playing their high quality 3 piece design “tour quality” balls for free. So, how does this really stack up and are the balls any good?

Starting off, the program is rather simple. You join the FBC for a $15 a month fee. After that, you pay nothing but $10 shipping and handling for as many balls as you would like. Now, the $10 a dozen shipping is a pretty great deal, but when you add the fact that you are $15 in the hole starting out, you’ll need more than a few dozen to make this deal pan out. Right out of the gate, 1 dozen balls will cost you $2.08 per ball. Somehow if you can manage to go through 2 dozen a month, the price drops to $1.45 a ball. Even bigger savings can be had if you are able to go through 4 dozen balls in a month. That price drops to $1.15 per ball.

Now when you start seeing balls like the Vice Tour ($1.32 per ball when you buy 5 dozen) or the Cut Golf Co. White Ball in bulk ($1.25 per ball when you buy 3 dozen) or even the Costco Kirkland Signature Ball ($1.46 per ball when you buy 2 dozen), it becomes very hard to suggest joining the FBC. It’s even harder when you think about the fact that you’ll be paying for months that you don’t use every year during the winter months or if things get busy during the summer and you forget to cancel. Overall, in a normal scenario, the club will cost you $180 a year and another $120 to have a dozen balls shipped to you each month. That pins the cost per ball at $2.08 per ball, or about the same as ordering through Snell, Vice, Cut or even Aris Golf’s subscription plan.

To make a long story short, I’m not going to bother signing up for the Free Balls Club and you should think long and hard to see if it’s right for you. The only real way I see this paying off and making the balls affordable would be signing up for one month, ordering about 6+ dozen balls and then cancelling. The issue there, you may end up with 70 balls that you hate. As for me, I’ll continue playing my $.86 Wilson Staff Zips or some of the Duo models that are around for about a buck a ball to save my money. When those are gone, I’ll be looking long and hard at the Aris line, and maybe those Snell MTB’s if the weather is dry and I won’t lose a ball that plugs in a fairway.

What are your thoughts on the Free Balls Club? Let me know in the comments below!cale