Waterlogged Golf Balls: Fact or Fiction?

When you have been in the business of selling used golf balls for as long as we have, there is one statement that you will hear more than any other… “A golf ball that has been in the water does not travel as far as one that hasn’t.” Customers and critics alike assert this “waterlogged” claim as if it was an irrefutable fact that should be common knowledge to any logically minded person. In their assumptions, a golf ball will act like a sponge and absorb water which will affect its performance if it is played again. At GolfBallNut, we are here to investigate the facts and set the record straight. The answer to the question of “Can a golf ball become waterlogged?” can be narrowed down to two words…

It depends.

Golf balls are designed with a protective coating around the exterior that is not water permeable. As long as this coating is intact, a golf ball will not absorb water. However, if there are small cracks and scrapes in the coating, water can be absorbed in as little as 6 hours under water. At GolfBallNut, we take pride in grading our golf balls on a 4-level scale and allowing our customers to pick the quality and price point based on their needs. Our highest grade (mint) are balls that were only struck a few times and still have the undamaged original protective coating. For the sake of this argument, these are the used golf balls that we will focus on. Golf balls of this quality, even if hit into the water, will not become waterlogged and will maintain their top performance. This has actually been scientifically studied and confirmed:

A few years back, a study was carried out by Golf Ball Divers. They commissioned a University-run, independent research study to compare the performance of brand new balls with balls that had spent either 1 month, 3 months, or 5 months at the bottom of an actual golf course pond. You can read all about the study here, but here’s the summary: They basically found that there was almost no difference in the performance of all of the golf balls. Using Trackman to trackball flight, carry distance, and roll distance, their testing revealed that golf balls that had been submerged for as long as 5 months performed just as well as brand new golf balls.

So, what does that mean to you? Well, that means you can purchase mint or near-mint golf balls from GolfBallNut.com, at a fraction of the price (70-80% off retail), in all of the top brands available, and still have the same performance as new golf balls. The next time you hear someone talking about waterlogged used golf balls, send them our way. Not only will we prove to them that this myth can be busted, but we can also save them big time on their favorite models.