The 5 Best Golf Balls for Beginners and High Handicappers

The best golf balls for beginners and high handicappers

Top pick

1Best overall

1. Callaway Warbird (2025), 24 balls

A two-piece ball with an extra-large core that Callaway builds for a high launch, in a box big enough to last through the water holes.

$40.00

Check price on Amazon

+What stands out

• Two-piece build with an extra-large core
• Boxes of 12 and 24

−Keep in mind

• Firm feel off the putter
• Only white and yellow

Buy it if

You're new to the game and want one ball to play every hole of your first season.

Skip it if

Feel on the greens matters most to you: the Noodle Long & Soft is sold on its soft feel.

Callaway gives the 2025 Warbird just two layers, a cover over an extra-large, high-energy core, and builds it for a high launch and a long carry. That's the right brief for a new golfer, whose first job is getting the ball up and in play.

It's first, ahead of the bigger Wilson box, because you can start small. Buy a dozen to see how it feels, then the box of 24 once you know you like it. The Profile Distance only comes in 36. Amazon still sells the 2023 Warbird next to the new one, so look for 2025 on the box.

What owners report

Golfers keep saying the cover holds up, with one ball lasting several rounds if it stays dry. Around the green they find it plain: chips run out rather than stop.

2Biggest box

2. Wilson Profile Distance, 36 balls

Three dozen balls in one box, with an inner cover and dimples that Wilson says cut spin, hooks and slices.

$37.74

Check price on Amazon

+What stands out

• 36 balls in one box
• Built to spin less off the tee

−Keep in mind

• Only sold in the box of 36
• Only white and yellow

Buy it if

Your drives bend right and you'd rather buy balls once for the whole season.

Skip it if

You want to try a ball before you buy three dozen: the Warbird comes in a box of 12 too.

If you're still finding out where your drives go, a box of 36 means you won't run out in May. Wilson describes low-compression technology, an inner cover meant to cut spin, and a dimple pattern it says reduces hooks and slices.

Read more about the Profile DistanceShow less

Less spin off the driver is what makes a slice curve less, so the idea is sound, but the claim is Wilson's, and at best it shrinks how far a slice wanders. Wilson sells the ball without a model year, as a single version.

3Best for a soft feel

3. TaylorMade Noodle Long & Soft, 24 balls

TaylorMade’s budget ball sold on its soft feel, with what TaylorMade calls an Iothane cover.

$27.97

Check price on Amazon

+What stands out

• Sold on its soft feel
• 24 balls in the box, or 15 in the smaller one

−Keep in mind

• White only in both boxes

Buy it if

You care how a ball feels off the putter and still want to pay little per ball.

Skip it if

Your drives slice: the Profile Distance is built for less spin off the tee.

The Long & Soft is the Noodle for feel. TaylorMade gives it what it calls an Iothane cover, soft and durable, over an "impact propulsion" core, with a dimple pattern meant for a straighter flight.

Read more about the NoodleShow less

Amazon also sells a box marked Noodle 22 that costs more, described as the same ball word for word. The button on this card goes to the cheaper box of 24.

4Best for lining up putts

4. TaylorMade Distance+ (2021)

A two-layer ionomer ball with an alignment line printed on it, to aim a putt or a tee shot.

$19.99

Check price on Amazon

+What stands out

• Alignment line printed on every ball
• Two-layer ionomer build

−Keep in mind

• The 2021 model, not a new design
• Sold by the dozen

Buy it if

Your putts start off line and you want a line on the ball to aim with.

Skip it if

You want the biggest box: the Profile Distance comes in 36.

Three-putts cost a new golfer as many strokes as the drives in the trees. The Distance+ has TaylorMade's "Plus" alignment line printed on the ball: set the line on your target, then make the stroke along it.

Read more about the Distance+Show less

Underneath it's a two-layer ball with an ionomer cover and a mid launch, the 2021 design, still sold new on Amazon.

5Best for a high flight

5. Titleist Velocity

Titleist’s distance ball, with a dimple pattern built for a high flight, in green and orange as well as white.

$29.97

Check price on Amazon

+What stands out

• Dimples built for a high flight
• White, green and orange boxes

−Keep in mind

• The most per ball of the five
• Built for speed rather than soft feel

Buy it if

Your drives fly low and you'd like to see the ball climb.

Skip it if

You play a course with a lot of water: the Profile Distance box of 36 is the cheaper way to keep playing.

The Velocity costs more per ball than the others here, and what you get for it is height. Titleist describes a fast LSX core and a 350-dimple pattern built for a high flight, under what it calls a NAZ+ cover.

Read more about the VelocityShow less

Pick the green or orange box. Against fall leaves and in the rough, a bright ball turns up on the first look.

At a glance

golf ball	Price	Best for	Box	Build	Colors	Buy
1Callaway Warbird (2025), 24 balls	about $40	A first season of golf	24 balls	2-piece	White, yellow	Check price on Amazon
2Wilson Profile Distance, 36 balls	about $38	A slice off the tee	36 balls	Core, inner cover, cover	White, yellow	Check price on Amazon
3TaylorMade Noodle Long & Soft, 24 balls	just under $28	A soft feel at a low price	24 balls	Iothane cover	White	Check price on Amazon
4TaylorMade Distance+ (2021)	just under $20	Three-putts and putts that start off line	12 balls	2-layer, ionomer	White, yellow	Check price on Amazon
5Titleist Velocity	just under $30	Drives that fly too low	12 balls	LSX core, NAZ+ cover	White, green, orange	Check price on Amazon

The most forgiving golf ball for a slice

No ball straightens a slice, because the curve comes from the clubface at impact. That part is the job of a forgiving driver with a draw bias. What a ball can do is spin less off the driver, and a ball that spins less curves less. The Wilson Profile Distance is the one on this page that Wilson sells on fewer hooks and slices, through an inner cover and a dimple pattern meant to cut spin. Take it as a small help on the scorecard.

Who this is for

New golfers and high handicappers who want to pay as little as possible per ball to keep playing. If your driver swing is slow and the ball feels like a rock off the face, the softer balls in the best golf balls for seniors suit you better.

How to choose

Tour balls and bargains to skip in a first season

The Srixon Soft Feel 14, the Callaway Supersoft and the Bridgestone e6 Soft are good balls with a different job: they're made for a slower driver swing, roughly 70 to 90 mph, that wants a softer feel, and they lead the best golf balls for seniors.