Let me start out by stating the obvious: Kids, don’t try this at home. And grown-ups, you might not want to do this either. Using pipe cutters and hacking up a few dozen golf balls to reveal what they look like inside gets expensive.
In general, the outer appearance of golf balls has remained fairly unchanged for more than a century. Tiny depressions called dimples cover the balls to improve their aerodynamic properties. White is still the most popular color, but yellow balls are common and several manufacturers even offer red, orange and green balls. Some offer balls that feature high-visibility patterns that involve multiple colors.
Under the outer cover, golf balls have transformed in recent decades and they all look different. Manufacturers are consistently trying to develop cores (or multi-core systems) that transfer energy from the club to the shot more effectively. The rubber materials that are used are all synthetic, because natural rubber varies too much in quality. Those materials are often blended with other materials into a mass that looks like cake batter. The core material is mixed and rolled into sheets before it is cut into plugs that look like D-sized batteries. The cores are then placed into molds that are heated and pressed, forcing the core material into a round shape.
Joel Botelho works in the core molding area at Titleist Ball Plant III in Fairhaven, MA.–(Golfweek/Tracy Wilcox)
The color of a golf ball’s core does not mean anything. According to a spokesman for Titleist, different colors are added to rubber mixtures so factory workers can quickly identify material batches for different balls and keep them organized. Red, blue, purple, orange: The colors are irrelevant. But neatly cutting a ball in half reveals its layers and just looks cool. Below are several popular balls, cut in half, to show you what they look like under the cover.
Bridgestone e12 Contact (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $29.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Three-piece Surlyn-covered balls available in white, matte red, matte yellow and matte green
The core and the casing layer have not changed meaningfully (in the 2021 e12), and if you hold an e12 Contact in your hand and look at it quickly, you might not notice anything different than previous years’ balls, either. But if you look closely, something jumps out: The dimples are different. They are partially filled, with a raised, circular section in the center of each dimple. More …
Bridgestone Tour B X (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $45.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland)
Specs: Three-piece urethane-covered balls
The key technology in the second generation of Tour B balls is a new type of urethane used in the cover. Bridgestone calls it Reactiv urethane, and it contains an impact modifier that helps the material do some unique things. More …
Bridgestone Tour B RX (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $45.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland)
Specs: Three-piece urethane-covered balls
Callaway Chrome Soft (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $47.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece, dual-core design with a urethane cover
The Chrome Soft is a four-piece, dual-core ball with a urethane cover. Like the previous Chrome Soft, the inner core is very soft, but for 2020 it is 34 percent larger, which should give this version of Chrome Soft more speed and a higher launch angle. More …
Callaway Chrome Soft X (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $47.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece, dual-mantle-layer ball with a urethane cover.
The updated Chrome Soft X is also a four-piece ball, but instead of having a dual-core system like the last version, the new Chrome Soft X has one massive core. It’s 117 percent larger than the inner core of the 2018 ball and is made from a more resilient rubber to maximize speed. More …
Callaway Chrome Soft X LS (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $47.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece, urethane-covered ball. Available in white or yellow and with Triple Track alignment lines
The Chrome Soft X, a four-piece ball with a urethane cover, is the most-played Callaway ball on the PGA Tour, and it was the inspiration for the Chrome Soft X LS. The new low-spin version also features a large core, a dual mantle system and a proprietary urethane cover to enhance spin around the greens. More …
Mizuno RB Tour (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $34.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece construction with a urethane cover
Using a wind tunnel inside Mizuno’s test center in Yoro, Japan, engineers developed the Cone Profile Dimple. Referred to as the C-Dimple, it is not cup-shaped like other dimples, instead having a bottom point in the center and gradually rising. Mizuno said this design keeps the fast-moving air flowing close to the ball for more time, resulting in reduced drag, a more boring flight and increased distance. More …
OnCore Vero X1 (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $39.99 per dozen (at oncoregolf.com and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece ball with cast urethane cover
The only four-piece ball in the OnCore lineup, the Vero X1 features a large core for increased ball speed and distance off the tee. However, OnCore infuses metal into the mantle layer to shift more of the Vero X1’s overall weight to the perimeter. According to the company, the Vero X1 delivers low spin off the tee, but extra spin around the greens and with short irons to enhance control.
Srixon Z-Star (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $42.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball. Available in white and yellow.
The three-piece Z-Star features a large core that is very soft in the center and gradually gets firmer near its edges. Srixon refers to it as a FastLayer core, and it is designed to provide more ball speed off the tee with a softer feel. More …
Srixon Z-Star XV (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $42.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece, urethane-covered ball. Available in white and yellow.
With the four-piece Z-Star XV, Srixon put a greater emphasis on increasing distance. The ball has a soft, fast inner core that was updated for 2021 to be “more springy” for enhanced ball speed. By encasing it in a firmer core, then a mid-layer that is firmer still, Srixon can reduce spin off the tee and with longer clubs while still maintaining speed. More …
Srixon Q-Star Tour Divide (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $32.99 per dozen (at Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball with matte yellow and orange coloration
The Q-Star Tour Divide is a three-piece ball with a core that is very soft in the center that becomes gradually firmer in its outer areas. Srixon calls it a FastLayer core, and it helps provide a soft feel and more ball speed.
TaylorMade TP5 (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $47.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Five-layer, urethane-covered balls
As with (its) predecessors, the 2021 TP5 (was) designed with five pieces. The softer inner core is designed to create speed, and it is encased in three increasingly stiff layers and a cast urethane cover. On pitches, chips and short approach shots, the grooves in wedges can easily grab the cover to boost spin. However, on fuller shots the three layers found under the cover and over the core help transfer energy more efficiently for better performance. More …
TaylorMade TP5x (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $48 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Five-layer, urethane-covered balls
TaylorMade changed the recipe for the cast urethane cover on the TP5x to make it softer. As a result, the grooves in wedges and short irons bite into it more easily, so it spins more than the previous TP5x for increased control around the green. More …
Titleist Pro V1 (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $49.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball
The 2021 Pro V1 has a softer core encased in a new, more rigid casing layer. The firmer casing layer increases ball speed and lowers spin on high-speed shots, but the softer core offsets the firmer feel that otherwise would be created. Over those layers, Titleist designed and applied a softer thermoset cast-urethane cover that features a new 388-dimple pattern. It is the first new dimple pattern for the Pro V1 since 2011, and the company said it makes the Pro V1 more aerodynamic and consistent. More …
Titleist Pro V1x (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $49.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece, urethane-covered ball
After testing 32 dimple patterns, Titleist found a new 348-dimple pattern developed in 2012 that delivers the combination of aerodynamic stability and speed the company wanted to pair with the newly enhanced core and casing layers. Like the Pro V1, the 2021 Pro V1x has a softer thermoset cast urethane than was used in previous years. More …
Wilson Staff Model (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $49.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: Four-piece construction with a cast urethane cover
The Wilson Staff Model golf ball was created with better players in mind and with the help of Wilson’s tour players such as Gary Woodland, Brendan Steele and Kevin Streelman. It’s a four-piece ball that features a synthetic rubber core that is encased in a dual-mantle system. The inner mantle is designed using the same soft, DuPont-created HPF material found in the Wilson Staff Duo Urethane ball, while the firmer outer mantle is made from an ionomer material. Working together, the core and dual-mantle system help create more ball speed, especially with woods and long irons, for increased distance. More …
Wilson Duo Soft (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $22.99 per dozen (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s Sporting Goods)
Specs: 36-compression, two-piece ball with Surlyn cover
The Staff DUO Soft+ is a two-piece ball designed to provide golfers with more distance thanks to VelocitiCor, a new core formulation. The company said it helps the Staff DUO Soft+ produce 1 to 1.5 mph more ball speed, which translates to about 4 to 6 more yards of distance.” More …
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