By default in Golden Tee, all players hit what is called the “stock” ball. It is free, and you never run out of them. Recently, though, Golden Tee gave golfers the option to buy higher-performance golf balls. With Golden Tee Live 2008, you can buy a 12-pack of any of these balls for $0.50. Here is a breakdown of the different balls available in the current version of Golden Tee (Live 2008):

Top Flite Complete Straight (Stock) — the ball played by default in Golden Tee

Top Flite Long and Soft Distance (Orange) — This ball is currently my favorite. It adds distance but maintains a normal amount of spin for your hooking shots and backspin/roll.

Top Flite D2 Feel — This ball is best for high, lofted shots and gives you maximum backspin/roll. Sometimes I think this ball gives me too much roll, and I’d rather have the extra distance while keeping the normal roll of the orange ball.

Top Flite XL Extreme Distance (Yellow) — This ball gives you maximum distance and is best for low-lofted shots that can cut through the wind. However, you don’t get much backspin/roll at all with this ball, so it makes it difficult to play big hooks or get approach shots close to the pin.

Conclusion/Tips — It’s up to personal preference, but I like the orange balls in Golden Tee the best for sure. The D2 balls don’t go as far and spin too much, and the yellow balls almost eliminate spin altogether, making approaches way too difficult. Still, if you have the time and the money, buy a pack of each to see how they react!

One more note — you can only select which balls to use when you are on the first tee. After you start your round of Golden Tee, you are stuck with those balls the rest of the way, UNLESS you lose all of the current type of ball you are playing. If that happens, the game lets you play with the free stock balls for the rest of the round.