I Was Blown Away By This Golf Ball, And It Costs Less Than $30 Per Dozen

Piper Black Golf Ball Review

- Editor's Note: Please be advised that Piper Black golf balls unrelatedly increased in price from $29.99 to $34.99 after release of this review.

Founded in February of 2021 and headquartered in Atlanta, Piper Golf is the one of the newest companies to throw its hat into the ever-expanding golf ball ring. Piper was created with one goal in mind: to develop golf balls that offer golfers increased value without having to sacrifice performance.

Piper has four golf balls available in its current range, including two premium balls, the Gold and the Black. As someone who is the ideal target candidate for the Piper Black, I recently did some extensive testing with this golf ball. Having only recently learned about Piper and without having read too much about the Piper Black, my expectations were pretty modest. But the Piper Black proved to be a revelation in pretty much every way imaginable.

Piper recommends its Black golf ball for low- and mid-handicappers who swing a driver in the neighborhood of 100 mph, and I fall squarely into that demographic. It’s a three-piece golf ball with a urethane cover that Piper says compares from a construction and performance standpoint to the Titleist Pro V1, a lofty comparison indeed.

My testing was conducted at Atlanta National Golf Club, where I played full rounds with the Piper Black and also tested it at the short game area and on the golf course head-to-head against the Maxfli Tour, another popular three-piece urethane golf ball that I chose because I had tested it earlier this year and it falls in a similar price range.

The Maxfli Tour had impressed me most with the spin and greenside control it offered, and the Piper Black was every bit as good in that regard. I was able to stop chip shots and pitch shots quickly, and I found equally impressive stopping power when playing partial wedge shots from 75 yards and in. The Piper Black also feels exceptional around the greens and when putting as well. It’s soft but not too soft and responsive at the same time.

On the golf course when hitting full shots, the Piper began to separate itself a bit from the Maxfli Tour. It was consistently longer off the tee by at least five yards and about half a club longer when hitting full approach shots. From that standpoint, the Piper Black was more in line with the Maxfli Tour X, which is one of the best golf balls I’ve tested this year. But I’d give the Piper the edge over the Tour X around the greens.

I also found that the Piper produced the exact type of ball flight I prefer on full shots, which would best be described as a mid-trajectory. It also proved to be workable both off the tee and playing shots into the green, both in testing and the actual rounds I played. Especially noteworthy was that for whatever reason I had an easier time moving the Piper Black left to right with the driver than I do with most golf balls, which is a shot that I can struggle to produce.

While the performance I enjoyed was outstanding, the single most impressive feature the Piper Black delivered was its cover durability. After full rounds and the comprehensive testing sessions I conducted, the golf ball barely looked like it had been used. It’s as good as anything I’ve tested or played in recent years in that regard.

The one area that I couldn’t get a feel for with the Piper Black was how it would fare in the wind. We haven’t seen much wind in the Atlanta area in recent weeks, just heat and humidity. The ball flight I was seeing on a regular basis left me optimistic that the Piper Black would exhibit stability on windy days, but that’s something that I’ll look to find out at a later date.

So, it all sounds good, right? Well here’s the best part. The Piper Black retails for just $29.99, which is an incredible value for a ball of this caliber. Not only is the Piper Black one of the best value golf balls in the game, it’s the best golf ball I’ve ever tried that costs less than $30 per dozen and it belongs in the conversation as one of golf’s best premium balls. If you’re looking to save a few dollars and fit the target player description for the Piper Black, it’s 100 percent worth a try.