The 151st Open Championship will be played at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, also known as Hoylake, on 20th – 23rd July 2023. We’re looking forward to watching some of the world’s top golfers compete on a British golf course.
But before we settle in for what promises to be an exciting weekend, there’s an important question to answer: what balls are the pros using for this tournament?
Here’s a quick rundown of all the golf ball brands that will see play at the 2023 Open Championship:
Titleist
Titleist is the most popular golf ball brand of all. Their balls are consistently among the best for distance shots, and they also offer a high level of control. This has made Titleist the brand of choice for many of the game’s leading lights.
A lot of the pros competing at this year’s Open will be using Titleist balls. The current world number one, Scottie Scheffler, of the USA, will be using the Pro V1 ball, for example. Last year’s winner Cameron Smith, from Australia, will be aiming to defend his title using the Pro V1x, while players like Abraham Ancer and Tony Finau will also be using Titleist balls as they try to dethrone him.
Callaway
Of course, Titleist isn’t the only big name in golf balls. Spanish golfer and current world number two Jon Rahm (who won the Masters back in April) prefers to use Callaway balls. He will be using Callaway’s Chrome Soft X ball at The Open, as will his fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus.
Srixon
LIV and PGA Tour Champion Brooks Koepka will be playing a Srixon Z-Star Diamond ball at this year’s Open, while the 2019 Open Championship winner Shane Lowry will be using Srixon’s Z-Star XV ball.
Bridgestone
Bridgestone is another popular golf ball brand, although their most notable champion - Tiger Woods - won’t be competing for the Claret Jug this year. Woods pulled out of the Masters in April due to a plantar fasciitis flare-up, and he hasn’t participated in any of the major tournament that have taken place since then.
Despite this, Bridgestone golf balls will still see some play at The Open. Australian golfer and former world number one Jason Day will be using the Tour B X ball.
TaylorMade
Hoping for a repeat of his wire-to-wire Open Championship victory in 2014, Northern Irish supremo Rory McIlroy will be using a TaylorMade TP5x ball at Hoylake, as will Tommy Fleetwood (who, as a Merseyside native, will have something of a home-field advantage this year).
A History of Golf Balls at The Open
The first Open Championship was played in October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Back then, when the Victorian era was in full swing, golf balls were made out of sap - specifically the dried sap of the Malaysian gutta-percha tree, which gave them the nickname ‘guttie balls.’ The sap could be heated and shaped in a mould, making the balls cheap to produce and easy to reform if they became damaged or deformed.
Over time, golfers discovered that guttie balls with nicks and bumps in the surface had better and more consistent flights than perfectly smooth balls. In response, manufacturers started making their golf balls with indents. In the early 1900s, manufacturers discovered that putting dimples in the surface of the golf ball made for even better flight.
This revelation was later combined with a change of material; golf ball manufacturers started making the balls out of resin in the 1960s, giving birth to the balls we play with today.
If you’re interested in learning more, check out our blog post on the evolution of golf balls.
Whatever happens at the 2023 Open, it’s always a joy to watch the pros do what they do best, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the balls they use. If you want to use the same golf balls as the best players in the world, we at gimmeballs can help - click the link below to browse our range.
British Open Golf Balls
