Amazon Basics Now Has a Golf Ball—Is It Necessary?

On my 2025 Bingo card of golf releases, I never would have thought I would have needed to save a space for an Amazon Basics golf ball, but either way, here we are.

Yep, you read that correctly, Amazon, much like Costco, and also recently Sam’s Club (of all retailers) just launched a golf ball called the Basic Core Soft, which thankfully they didn’t just call it the Amazon Basic Soft Core, or else they might have had some people getting the wrong idea about what Amazon is really trying to sell.

Via Amazon

As for product details, this thing is about as vanilla as can be. A conforming (although I’m sure anyone using one of these isn’t too concerned about that) golf ball, offering low compression, with a side stamp to help with alignment. Now, for the nitty-gritty, the Amazon golf balls are made by the same manufacturer as the Kirkland ball, SM Global, and are priced at a very competitive $14.40 a dozen, coming in white or yellow.

RELATED: Playing Late in the Day This Fall? Here's How Yellow Golf Balls Improve Visibility.

But here’s what I don’t understand: Why?

Do I want to play golf balls that are the same brand as my doggy poop bags?

Other than trying to simply take market share away from competitors, which I guess is the main goal of capitalist businesses, these don’t offer any more value than anything in the market, because for basically the same price, you can get a 3-piece urethane golf ball from Costco’s Kirkland brand that will offer way better performance.

A quick refresh on general golf ball performance for any gear rookies: a 3-piece urethane golf ball offers better overall performance than a 2-piece golf ball that uses an ionomer (Surlyn) cover because of what's known as a spin curve. This means that thanks to the urethane cover and inner mantle layer (something not found in a 2-piece golf ball), you can get low spin off a driver, plus way more spin (and control), and soft feel around the green.

Even Golf Galaxy and Dick's Sporting Good (usually I would just write Dick's, but in an article also featuring the words Soft Core I want to make sure I’m above board) offers a large selection of their house brand Maxfli golf balls at the same $15 a dozen price point.

So as much as we can enjoy the hype, media attention (yes I’m writing about it so I guess they win), and the conversation around “hey Amazon has their own golf ball now”, this is a nothing-burger of a product release that should end up just as disposable as my Amazon Basics dog-poop bags.