Best Golf Balls of 2024 for Average Mid-Handicap Golfers

If you’re a mid-handicap golfer with an index between 10 and 20, what does that say about your game? It says you’re an average avid golfer, who has probably been playing for a few years. So what golf ball is best for a mid-handicapper’s game? That’s a tougher question to answer, and one that deserves an explanation for each recommendation.

The key to the new Titleist Tour Soft, it seems, is the size of the core, and the unique formulation of the ionomer cover, which Titleist calls FusaBlend. The company says the ball’s core is the largest ionomer-covered core on the market, and it gives it both a soft feel and explosive distance. Plus, the “Fusablend” cover is formulated to increase spin and control into and around the greens. 

It’s worth noting though that Titleist, still the leader in golf ball sales, has lots of options. If you don’t need as much spin and want a little lower ball flight, the TruFeel is also a great option, and they are only $25 a dozen. It’s a golf ball with a nice soft feel because of its core, and it goes pretty long for slower to moderate swing speeds.

Simply put, there's not a better deal in golf. At less than $15 a dozen (they are sold in two-dozen packs), you get a three-piece urethane-covered golf ball. It’s a high-spin, mid-launch golf ball that’s great for almost anyone who doesn’t have high swing speed of 105 mph or higher. In my experience, I hit it around the same distance I would a tour ball, and it has a nice soft feel around the greens.

With that said, there have been questions about the quality control and consistency of the Kirkland Signature ball, but I haven’t noticed that when I play them. At this price, the Kirkland ball is a great choice for a mid-handicapper who wants the feel of a tour ball, but sprays it a little, meaning it hurts less when you lose them.

For the last couple of years the Srixon Soft Feel has been my go-to golf ball for casual rounds. The rare times I do play in a tournament, I might upgrade to a Srixon Z-Star, but I’m not sure it makes that much difference. I have found that the Soft Feels hold greens well, are plenty long off the tee, and have a very soft feel around the greens.

Now in its 10th generation, the Srixon Soft Feel has a softer core than before – around 60 compression – and a softer, thinner ionomer cover. Its 324 Speed Dimple Pattern, Srixon says, contributes to less drag and more distance off the tee.

A step below Callaway’s premium Chrome Soft golf balls, the Callaway ERC Soft is a great choice for any golfer who is really looking to break 80. With its hybrid cover, which Callaway says features a GRIP Urethane Coating System, this ball provides lots of greenside spin and good distance off the tee. A high-speed mantle and core account for its distance characteristics, and overall, it has a nice soft feel.

It also features Callaway’s Triple Track markings to aid alignment. That consists of a thick red line down the center of the ball and a thinner blue line on each side. If you have an Odyssey putter with the same markings, they line up perfectly together if you position the ball with your target line.

It’s also worth noting that the Callaway Supersoft, with similar characteristics to the Srixon Soft Feel, is another great option for mid-handicappers, and it’s $15 less per dozen than the ERC Soft.

Mizuno isn’t exactly known for its golf balls (at least not in the United States and Canada), but it has some fine offerings, especially for the mid-handicapper. The Mizuno RB Max is a three-piece ball that the company says launches like a tour ball with a driver, but has a more durable cover for the everyday player. That’s a fancy way of saying that the cover isn’t urethane and it won’t spin as much around the greens. But it also has a soft feel with its new Dual Core, which features a soft inner core.

The RB Max also has an “AxialFlow” 336 dimple design (20 percent more dimples than the RB Tour) to reduce drag and promote a penetrating ball flight into the wind, which is really good for wedge shots, for example.

Another really good three-piece ball with great durability, the Bridgestone e12 Contact reflects its name. The main draw here is what the company refers to as a “Flexativ” cover, which is a Surlyn outer layer with something they refer to as an impact modifier. 

It has a dimple pattern with an area in the center of the dimples that’s more raised than most balls, leading to more surface in contact with the clubface at impact. The idea is that the increased surface area promotes more friction with irons, but not on the driver. 

Bridgestone claims this latest version produces 600 more rpm on wedges than the previous version (2019). Another good option for mid-handicappers from Bridgestone is the E6, now a two-piece ball with a softer core for increased distance and soft feel.

The SpeedSoft Ink is simply the SpeedSoft with creative markings on the cover. So anyone who needs a soft-feeling golf ball that goes far, but also wants a fun design, this is the ball for you. Maybe it even helps you focus on the ball longer, which may or may not be the best thing for your game, but it’s still cool.

Aside from its appearance however, this is a ball that features a new “PwrCore,” (sub-50 large compression core) designed with faster materials for more distance, says the company. A 322 extended flight dimple pattern promises less drag in the air and longer carry distances.

With a sub-50 compression rating and 3-piece design, the budget Maxfli TriFli (Maxli is a Dick’s Sporting Goods house brand) has a very soft feel and fairly responsive ionomer cover. Translation: Good distance off the tee with its three-piece design and low spin off the driver, and it’s fairly responsive with the irons. 

One unique feature of the TriFli is Maxfli’s Find the Fairway dimple pattern is designed to reduce side-spin. We’ve extensively tested and reviewed this ball, and in our experience, agree with Maxfli’s claims that this ball does in fact fly straighter and help you hit more fairways, a feature that we think most mid-handicappers will appreciate.

While it won’t spin as much on wedge shots as a three-piece ball with a urethane cover, there is an adequate amount of spin, which means it will stop on approach shots.  It also has nice alignment markings to aid in putting.

The new and improved version of the OnCore Elixr is aimed at mid-handicappers who are serious about their game. After all, it’s a three-piece with a urethane cover, meaning you get the best of both worlds: spin around the greens and distance off the tee for a very modest price. I’ve played this ball off and on for the past couple years, and have absolutely no complaints. 

The newest version of the Elixr features a firmer cover with a 350 dimple design (up from 318)  and mid-compression. The ball is optimized for driver swing speeds between 90 mph and 100 mph, which probably describes the majority of male mid-handicappers.

If you haven’t tried Wilson balls lately, you might want to give the Triad, with its patented “Tri-Balanced” construction, a spin on the course. It’s got an ultra-thin urethane cover for lots of spin on iron and wedge shots, plus what the company calls a high MOI (moment of inertia) design that moves weight from the core to the outer layers of the golf ball. The concept behind the latter is a lower driver spin rate for a more stable ball flight. 

The idea behind the Tri-Balance design is also to promote accuracy and putts that roll true. The bottom line though is the Triad is a great feeling ball that performs well at a value price point.

Simply put, the Vice Pro Soft is a solid, nearly tour-level golf ball that players with moderate to not-too-fast swing speeds should love. 

It has an extra-thin cast urethane cover, which promotes plenty of control around the greens and good holding power on iron shots. Yet its low compression and 318 dimple design will help with distance off the tee as does the increased six High Energy Speed Core, which the German company says provides higher ball speed.