Costco Golf Ball Kirkland Signature Review
The Kirkland Signature ball is the first golf ball Costco as a brand came out with and has been extremely popular ever since it launched. This is largely down to the balls having a premium urethane cover, the holy grail when it comes to short game control, and come to the shelves at a ridiculously low price - in fact, we picked up two dozen for just £26 which is around half the price of a dozen of the best premium golf balls on the market.
To be clear, this article refers to the original version of this ball. Costco has more recently launched a Kirkland Signature 2.0 golf ball that looks to improve the performance on offer, while still retailing a relatively affordable price.
This ball claims to deliver "high velocity, controlled iron spin and consistent flight. Mid-handicap players will appreciate the soft feel and superior greenside control." To put these claims to the test, we put this ball through a testing session both indoors and on the golf course.
We hit a 50-yard pitch, 7-iron and driver with the Kirkland Signature up against the latest Titleist Pro V1, which is also a three-piece ball and retails at £55 a dozen, on the Foresight Sports GCQuad launch monitor to assess how they compared. We then took the Kirkland out on the course to further assess the ball in a more realistic environment.
Out of the box, the Kirkland Signature looks to be a well-made ball. It has a bright white finish, a mix of dimple sizes and no visible seam - all signs of some of the best golf balls.
Launch monitor testing
When testing indoors off the tee, the Kirkland Signature really suffered. I absolutely buttoned the drives on the GCQuad and while ball speed was ok at 154mph, but generally high spin averaging 2600rpm led to carry distances averaging 257, a good 15 yards short of where I was with the Titleist Pro V1.
On iron shots, the Kirkland Signature fared slightly better here, offering good speed with the 7-iron but on a lower launch and flight with high spin, around 1100rpm more than our Titleist Pro V1, resulting in 3-4 yard shorter carries at 160.
On a 50-yard pitch shot, the Kirkland provided excellent spin comparable with, sometimes exceeding, the Titleist Pro V1 ball. Both also felt very soft off the face.
On-course testing
Out on the course, the performance differences were replicated. I wasn't as far down the fairways with the Kirkland as I was accustomed to off the tee and into the wind this ball really struggled because of the high spin. That said, the short game performance was excellent, it really stands to attention on the second bounce when chipping - you can be really aggressive with your landing points, even when short sided.
The durability of the Kirkland also impressed, after a full round there were minimal scuffs and the cover maintained it's bright white finish.
Perhaps a fairer comparison would have been against lower price point urethane golf balls like the TaylorMade Tour Response or the Srixon Q-Star Tour. But this test highlights the gulf in performance that can exist between urethane-covered, three-piece balls at different price points.
Ultimately, what Kirkland have made here is a ball that spins a lot on all shots. For golfers that need more spin off the tee, it's potentially a good option to try. Where the nuances in ball design come in, which is an area a brand like Titleist really excels at, is being able to separate the spin levels for different shots to maximize performance in all areas of the game. This ball doesn't seem to have that.
