Updated September 22, 2023. This article was thoroughly audited by multiple golf experts and coaches for its accuracy. You can read more about our rigorous testing protocol here.
There’s only one piece of equipment you have to use for every single golf shot: a golf ball.
A golf ball that’s well-suited to your game can help emphasize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
If you need distance and a straighter ball flight, a lower-spin ball can help. If your short game is the key to scoring well, you’ll want a soft ball you can control around the green.
Seniors often need a combination of distance and feel, so finding the right golf ball can be a bit of a trick.
There are many options out there. We tested and reviewed the 10 best golf balls for seniors to help you find a suitable golf ball for you.
Featured Recommendations
Last updated on 2023-09-27. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.
Table of Contents
Best Golf Balls for Seniors 2023
Callaway SuperSoft 2023 Golf Balls
Best Golf Balls for Seniors
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Vibrant colors offered
- Excellent distance
- Soft feel
- Excellent on the putting green
CONS
- Some golfers may not like the matte finish
- Feel may be too soft to some players
Once an afterthought amongst golf ball manufacturers, Callaway has ascended to the ranks of the elite in recent years.
The SuperSoft is a 2-piece, low compression golf ball that performs well above its rather attractive price tag.
It comes in numerous color options including green, yellow, orange, pink, and matte green. There’s even a plain old white version for traditionalists.
My favorite color option is the Matte Green finish, a distinctive cover that stands out against any background I could find. It was easy to spot in the rough and even in murky streams, making it nearly impossible to lose.
Aerodynamics
Callaway’s distinctive dimples are hexagonal, which they claim helps reduce drag and improve aerodynamics. Given how far this golf ball travels, I’d say they’re onto something. It’s noticeably longer than most other golf balls for seniors in its price range.
But it’s still soft enough to offer a good amount of feel and spin around the greens. Wedge shots hit and grabbed a bit before releasing to the hole.
Since most seniors aren’t trying to “pull the string” and just want a modicum of control around the greens, the SuperSoft offers an attractive level of spin to go with its exceptional distance.
Durability
The proprietary “Trigonometry” cover is nearly as durable as a rock-hard Surlyn cover but offers more softness and compression than pure Surlyn golf balls. The result is a golf ball that won’t scuff up from regular use and may even survive a cart path impact or two.
Titleist Pro V1 Golf Balls
Best Golf Ball for Slow Swing Speeds
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Excellent distance and unmatched feel
- Good spin numbers
CONS
- Urethane cover sacrifices durability
Titleist has long been known as “The #1 Ball In Golf,” and its flagship product, the Pro V1, exemplifies that tagline.
An extremely thin urethane elastomer cover provides an unmatched feel and low enough compression that slow swingers can still get the excellent distance. It provides an exceptional greenside spin and feel.
Urethane doesn’t come cheap or last long
The strength of the Titleist Pro V1, its urethane elastomer cover, is also the source of two of its weaknesses. While the performance of the cover is unquestionable, the price you pay for the performance is higher than with other golf balls.
First off, it’s priced higher than any other golf ball on this list by a good margin. Second, it’s one of the least durable golf balls I tested. Any cart path impact resulted in a nasty scuff deep enough to impact playability. Even cleanly struck wedges occasionally scuffed the ball.
While the scuffs from wedges didn’t materially affect playability, I still found myself swapping out Pro V1s more often than most other golf balls for seniors tested.
With a high price and low durability, it’s hard to recommend the Pro V1 to seniors. If you’re willing to pay a premium for performance that’s just a little bit better than a golf ball half its price, you’ll love the performance.
But most golfers won’t notice the difference that the extra dollars provide. If anything, they’ll see a slight reduction in distance from the 2-piece Surlyn golf balls they’re used to and wonder why they paid extra for the Pro V1.
Quality Control
One other rarely considered aspect of Titleist golf balls is the fact that they have the most rigorous quality control in the industry. Golf fans in the New England area should visit Plant #3 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to see exactly how they’re made.
After I toured the facility, I was able to better understand why Titleist charges such a premium for their golf balls. Their manufacturing and quality control standards are head and shoulders above the others.
While with most manufacturers, you’ll come across the occasional dud ball that just won’t fly right, you just don’t see that from Titleist.
Srixon Soft Feel Golf Balls
Best All Around Golf Ball for Seniors
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Good all-around performance
- Good alignment aid
- Soft Feel indeed
CONS
- Doesn’t stand out in any one category
The Srixon Soft Feel ball is one of the best ones tested this year and is a solid pick for seniors. The Ionomer cover is durable but provides a good feel, and distance is perfect for slow swing speeds.
A compression rating of 60 responds well to a slower golf swing. And the dimple pattern helps get the ball airborne with a good, straight flight.
This golf ball is a classic “jack of all trades, master of none”: it rates well but is not exceptional in pretty much every category. The Soft Feel lives up to its name with a good, soft feel that makes chipping and putting easy.
Distance is very good, and the ball gets up in the air with an excellent trajectory, which can be difficult as swing speeds start to wane.
If you’re looking for a well-rounded golf ball that doesn’t excel and has no notable shortcomings, the Soft Feel from Srixon is a top choice.
Titleist Tour Soft Golf Balls
Best Golf Ball for Single-digit Handicappers
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Soft Feel
- Excellent workability and spin
- Good around the greens
CONS
- Not as durable as most golf balls
- Might not provide enough distance for slower swing speed
The Titleist Tour Soft replaces its predecessor, the NXT Tour, and NXT Tour S line, in Titleist’s popular high-end golf ball lineup.
While it’s not quite as expensive or high-performance as the ProV1 line, the Tour Soft is still a top-performing ball with a price to match. It’s up to the player to weigh whether its particular performance is worth the tradeoff for a higher price and less durability.
It’s in the name: Tour Soft
The first thing you’ll notice about the Titleist Tour Soft is buttery soft and smooth. This is very apparent around the green, as crisp chips will have a noticeable check before release.
It increases your options for playing shots around the green, but senior golfers should note that it still takes a reasonably high swing speed and crisp contact to generate that type of spin and take advantage of a ball like this.
This golf ball is meant for single-digit handicappers, so seniors who are experienced golfers will likely gravitate to it.
Seniors who are desperate for length or who have just taken up the sport in their retirement will probably find a ball like this detracting from their performance instead of enhancing it, as the high spin will tend to send mis-hit shots offline.
The Tour Soft is also not the longest ball for slower swing speed. Other, firmer golf balls will travel further and provide more roll unless you have a medium-to-high swing speed.
Titleist Reputation
Titleist is well-known in the golf world for its elite golf balls and rigorous quality control, and the Tour Soft carries that torch well.
However, the golf balls with Tour in the name aren’t always the best for amateur or senior players. As ball fitting becomes more and more common, it’s a good idea to go and get fit instead of simply buying a ball based on the brand name’s reputation.
However, it’s hard to go wrong with Titleists. The Tour Soft is a top performer for good players looking for spin and control around the greens. If you want to play Titleists but are more interested in distance and straight shots, check out the Velocity or DT TruSoft.
Check our full Titleist Tour Soft Review
TaylorMade Distance Plus Golf Ball
Best Low Spin Golf Ball for Seniors
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Good distance
- Low spin and low trajectory for more roll
- Great value
CONS
- Hard feel
- Tough to stop on the green
The TaylorMade Distance Plus is a ball made for distance through and through. It’s great for seniors who have found their swing speed slow down with age and have had to adjust their game to hit lower golf balls that roll out a good distance.
Seniors who get the best results from the TaylorMade Distance Plus hit the ball short and straight and generally keep their chips low to the ground.
Firm and fast
TaylorMade’s Distance Plus is a very low-spin ball, so there’s not a lot of workabilities here. Instead, it’s a firm, fastball that provides a low, penetrating ball flight.
This is right up your alley for straight hitters looking to get distance by hitting bullets with many rolls.
But be aware that there’s not a lot of feel to these best golf balls for seniors, especially around the green. That firm, fast feel extends to putting and chipping, so these will work best for bump-and-run chips.
Flop shots, high trajectories, and spinning shots simply won’t work with the Distance Plus golf balls, as the cover and core are both too firm to generate a backspin.
Looks and value
The TaylorMade Distance Plus is a clean ball with two good alignment options.
For those who like a long line, you can use the TaylorMade logo above the number. There’s also a nice compact alignment line on the side that says “Distance +” with arrows flanking the words.
It’s much better than their cluttered and unhelpful TP5 line, and a look I wish they’d return to with their other golf balls for seniors.
These durable little guys represent great value at a price point of just under a dollar a ball. In addition to offering great distance, the firm cover is very long-lasting.
It’ll stand up to cart path bounces, thin shots, and tree impacts and live to fight another round. In an age when some golf balls cost nearly $4 apiece and are rendered unusable after one thin shot, the TaylorMade Distance Plus is a refreshing change.
On top of that, the extra distance they provide may help you fly over more water hazards instead of landing in them. It’s a win-win.
Titleist Velocity Golf Balls
Best Golf Ball for Increased Ball Speed
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Great distance
- High ball flight
CONS
- Overly hard feel
- Not great for short game
As you might guess from the name, the Titleist Velocity golf ball is a firm ball built purely for ball speed. And it delivers there: the distance produced is impressive.
Senior golfers with slightly higher-than-average swing speed (think 90mph or so) will see the most gains, but even slow swingers should be pleased with the distance. But some sacrifices may not be worth the price tag.
Ubiquitous
The Titleist Velocity is the ball I frequently find on the golf course. Its middle-of-the-road price point and Titleist’s reputation seem to hit the sweet spot for many players who don’t want to spring for the Pro V1 but still are looking for good performance.
However, the DT TruSoft is the Titleist golf ball I’d suggest for most seniors, as it provides a much softer, better feel with only minimal distance loss.
Short Game
Kudos to Titleist for their marketing on this ball, which advertises that the Velocity is “playable” around the green.
Most companies would make bigger claims than that, but Titleist knows that the Velocity is a pretty hardball that is fairly tough to control greenside. So calling it “playable” is essentially conceding that it will not do you any favors in the short game department.
The Bottom Line
I’d hesitate to recommend Velocity for most players, as its performance doesn’t match other golf balls in its price range.
However, a few situations might come in useful: If your home course has slow greens and taller-than-average fairway grass, the distance gains will help. And if you’re playing on winter greens, you may find that the lack of spin doesn’t hurt much.
Overall, though, there are better golf balls for seniors.
Bridgestone e6 Soft Golf Ball
Best Golf Ball with Low Compression Core
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on PGA Tour Superstore
Check Price on Global Golf
PROS
- Outstanding all-around performance
- Tends to fly straight
- Good putting feel
CONS
- Visual aids provide more confusion than help
- No real distinguishing factor
Most seniors will find that the Bridgestone e6 Soft has a great combination of distance, spin, and feel around the greens. The performance level for seniors is comparable to the best golf balls reviewed in this article.
But in the highly competitive golf ball industry, small shortcomings can be the difference between best-in-class and simply very good.
The good
Many golfers are investigating Bridgestone golf balls after Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters with one, and for a good reason: they’ve been making some of the best golf balls out there for a while now. Their best ball for senior golfers is the e6 Soft.
It has a soft but durable cover and a low-compression core that offers a nice ball flight and a good ball speed.
The cover feel is very nice around the greens, comparable to the Callaway SuperSoft.
The ugly
But the e6 Soft comes up short in the visuals department. The large, blocky B logo is useless for alignment, and the odd placement of the ball number is, if anything, distracting. Even worse is the “alignment aid” on the side of the ball.
Whereas the best golf balls offer something that approximates a straight line, the e6 Soft has a slightly off-kilter alignment aid that may have you leaving your putter face open.
If you decide to use the e6 Soft and tend to putt with a line, you’ll need to draw a thick Sharpie line over the alignment aid. This step shouldn’t be necessary, as manufacturers should know by now to provide a useful alignment aid.
Unfortunately, this thoughtless design takes a ball that could’ve been a frontrunner because of its excellent performance and relegates it to a “very good, but” category.
Now, if you don’t use any alignment line when putting or driving, you’ll find a lot to like here. But I find most players benefit from a good alignment system both on the tee and the putting green, and the e6 Soft comes up just a bit short.
Factors To Consider When Choosing Golf Balls for Seniors
Distance
As golfers get older, their swing speed tends to drop. While seniors can still hit the ball a long way, most will admit that they hit it a lot further in their prime. So as you get older, you need a little help from your equipment to get the ball to the green.
Fortunately, many of today’s golf balls for seniors provide compression levels that help increase the distance you’re able to hit the ball.
Unfortunately, many seniors are still using the golf balls they used ten years ago, but that’s a mistake: as your swing and golf game changes, so should your ball.
Switching to senior tees and more flexible shafts is one step you can take, but finding a ball that gives you more distance should be a no-brainer.
Durability
If you’re retired and living on a fixed income, you don’t want to be blowing it on golf balls that scuff badly at the first sight of a cart path. And if you hit the ball a little thin, there shouldn’t be a smile on the cover waiting for you on the next shot.
Fortunately, most golf balls these days are much more durable than the wound balata golf balls of our youth.
However, some manufacturers are so focused on creating the softest ball possible that they neglect that some of us would like to use a ball for multiple rounds.
A ball should be durable enough to last a whole round at a minimum if you can get more than that out of it, even better!
Feel/Spin
While we want to get distance from a ball, we also want to feel. Chipping and putting are crucial at any age, which is why many people refer to shots around the green as the scoring game.
Some distance golf balls feel like rocks: sure, they fly pretty far and roll out forever, but once you get around the green, there’s zero backspin to be had.
Distance is only good if you can control it around the green: no one likes the sight of a ball landing on the putting surface, then bounding over it and into a bunker behind the green.
So a ball needs to have a soft feel to go with its increased distance. A putt should roll nicely off the putter face. Short irons should impart enough spin on the ball to hold the green.
Visuals
The visuals category includes both the markings on the ball and its visibility in the rough. A golf ball’s durability doesn’t matter if you can’t find it after you hit it!
Many seniors whose eyesight isn’t what it once was will opt for brighter colored yellow or green golf balls to find them more easily in the rough.
And the alignment aids on the ball should be visible when you’re standing over a putt. Sure, you can draw a line on the ball, but some have excellent alignment aids built in that reduce the need for a sharpie line.
Distracting logos that confuse the vision and distract focus should be avoided.
Value
No matter how durable a golf ball is, you can still hit it into a lake, out of bounds, or just into deep rough where you can’t find it. Lost golf balls are a part of the game.
So you don’t want to be spending any more than we have to on new golf balls, but you also don’t want to sacrifice too much performance for a bargain.
The value category weighs performance against price. If a ball is the lowest price and performs poorly, it doesn’t represent a good value. You want a ball that strikes a good balance between performance and cost.
If a ball costs half as much as the best ball on the market but performs nearly as well, you’ve found a great value.
Questions & Answers
What are the key differences between a regular and a senior golf ball?
Tour-level golf balls are designed for golfers with high swing speed who hit the ball a long way.
They’re generally higher compression and have less “soft” feeling; they have to be fairly firm to hold up and perform well with the impact speeds generated by today’s bombers.
A high compression ball matched with a high swing speed will create an excellent rebound effect and maximize distance, such as the TaylorMade TP5.
But with slower swing speed, golf balls need to be softer and lower compression to get the same rebound effect. A high compression ball with a low swing speed simply feels like a rock and won’t compress at all. This costs distance and just feels off.
Many senior golf balls will utilize a Surlyn cover instead of a pricier urethane cover. Surlyn is more durable and doesn’t spin as much as urethane. But it also is a bit firmer, so it requires a highly softcore to reduce the compression number.
Nevertheless, seniors typically landing the ball short of the green and rolling it up may find that the extra distance and reduced spin of a Surlyn golf ball are ideal for their games.
Many golf balls aimed at seniors are brightly colored to help older players whose eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be. This helps while standing over the ball and helps nearsighted seniors find their golf balls in the rough.
Does the ball cover make any difference?
The ball cover is one of the essential factors in golf ball performance, price, and durability. A urethane ball will offer great spin but may cost players with slow swing speeds some distance.
In addition, urethane covers are much less durable than the less expensive, firmer Surlyn golf balls.
I’d recommend trying out a budget-priced ball and if you find the ball unsatisfactory, move up a price point at a time until you find that ideal golf ball. It’s a great excuse to play more golf: “I’m testing out the new golf balls to find the right one for my game!”
What are other factors to consider when buying golf balls for seniors?
Many seniors living on a fixed income need to be budget-conscious, as spending more money on golf balls means spending less money on golf.
This is especially true for seniors living in places like Florida, where there tends to be a lot of water on the courses waiting to swallow up ball after ball, particularly near Florida’s state parks.
Current golf ball technology offers surprisingly good prices on golf balls that offer a lot to like for senior players; many golf balls that cost $12/dozen or less are ideally suited for the qualities senior golfers need: distance and straight shots.
If your eyesight isn’t what it used to be, you may want to look into using Optic Yellow golf balls or other brightly colored golf balls to help you find your ball when it’s settled down in the rough.
This will cut down on lost golf balls and help speed up your rounds, and many golfers find they putt better with the bright yellow golf balls.