Black ball review by Whitley Golf

The Golf Refugees black ball is arguably one of the most easily-recognisable products on the market and it has proved very popular with amateurs as a result. They obviously look great and are extremely cheap by modern standards, but how does their performance match up? Have they got the substance to match the style? WG Editor Joe Whitley took them for a test drive and found out…

What they say:
The Golf Refugees original black ball has a revolutionary heat-absorbing ultra-thin black cover which increases the temperature of the core materials when played in hot, sunny conditions. As a result, the Golf Refugees black ball transfers energy more efficiently than traditional white balls, to give you greater distance on your golf shots.

What we say:
When I first got my hands on the Refugees black balls, I was torn. Torn between whether I was holding a genuine golf ball, or just a novelty gift that was going to explode when I hit it. Don’t get me wrong, I think the ball looks great, it is so out of the ordinary that it took a while to adjust to.
“I’m not saying that it is as long as the Nike One Tour D, or any of the other premium distance balls, but it performs way, way above its price of £15 per dozen.”

But when I did get used to it, I discovered an extremely impressive piece of kit — not only was it remarkably long, it actually had a nice amount of feel, too. The distance was the most impressive asset that the ball brought to the table. Even when I hit the ball a little fat, or out of the toe I still found it to be very long and a real roller. The result was massive length with all the long clubs and superb roll on landing.

The Golf Refugees say that the Thermal Distance Technology (TDT) — which works on the principle that the black colour retains more heat, and that more heat means more distance — is to thank for this, but I’m not so sure — on the day of the test, it was wet, cold and soft but I still got very good results. If you do not mind the wacky, yet stylish black colour, and you have a handicap of 10-28, this is the perfect ball to beat both your friends and the credit crunch.

Golf Refugees are running a competition to find the best score with one of their black balls. Enter your scorecards here: http://www.golf-refugees.com/comp.htm

To sum up…
A great-looking ball which performs way above its price. Although it can’t rival the premium balls, like the Pro V1, it could prove to be a great addition to your bag — especially if you have a handicap between 10 and 28.

Whitley Golf Ratings

Looks: 10

Distance:9

Feel: 8

Quality: 8

Value: 10

OVERALL: 45/50

Vital StatisticsRRP: £14.99 (per dozen); £3.99 (per sleeve of three)

Website: http://www.golf-refugees.com/

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