During the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black Golf Course in Long Island, New York, held May 16-19, 2019, many professional golfers struggled to keep their drives in the fairway, and only a few of them managed to record scores under par, especially on Saturday and Sunday when the course dried out and the wind became an issue. Notwithstanding the fact that Bethpage Black is a difficult course, if the best PGA players in the world have difficulty keeping their golf ball on the fairway, what hope is there for the average golfer? The answer is to choose a golf ball with the appropriate spin rating based on your abilities.
The USGA list of conforming golf balls includes data for the golf ball construction e.g. 3 piece 2 covers (3p-2c), golf ball spin rating e.g. low spin with a driver, medium spin with a lofted iron (L-M) and number of dimples (e.g. 338).
Here is a Table that I have put together which contains several well known golf ball brands. The USGA conforming golf ball list for 2019 can be found on this website. The Srixon golf balls Z-Star, Z-Star XV, Q-Star, Q-Star Tour and the Titleist golf balls Pro V1 and Pro V1x all have a spin rating of M-H. Plus the Taylormade Project (a) has a spin rating of L-H. These golf balls are suitable for golfers who are able to control unintentional side spin. Many golf professionals and low handicap players may choose these golf balls because the high spin rating produces a high trajectory flight and a greater amount of backspin on approach shots to the green. The average golfer, who is not able to always control unintentional side spin, may be better off choosing golf balls that have a spin rating of either L-M or L-L. These golf balls include the listed Bridgestone and Callaway golf balls, the Srixon Soft Feel, the Taylormade Project (s), TP5 and TP5X, and the Titleist AVX, Tour Soft, NXT Tour, NXT Tour S, and Velocity. The low spin rating produces a lower trajectory flight and less backspin on approach shots to the green. The golf balls with a L-L or L-M spin rating may help average golfers keep their ball on the fairway.