(MONEY Magazine) – Do you fantasize about outdriving Nick Price? Then you're likely obsessed with that crucial piece of golf equipment: the ball. America's 24.5 million recreational golfers, up from 16.5 million in 1983, shelled out a record $634 million in 1993 (the last year for which data are available) for those 1.68-inch, 1.62-ounce objects of frustration. But whether it's out of snobbery, superstition or desperate hope, many of them are paying 50% more than they need to when they choose, say, $50-a-dozen Titleist Professionals, pitched by PGA star Peter Jacobsen, or $40-a-dozen Spalding Top Flite Z-Balatas, favored by Lee Trevino (both balls are shown at right). "A lot of people buy the wrong ball just because it is the most highly priced," admits a spokesman at Titleist and Foot-Joy Worldwide in Fairhaven, Mass. That's because many balls don't perform as differently as some manufacturers would have you believe. Golf balls come in two basic flavors: two piece and three piece. Three-piece balls, which cost $30 to $50 a dozen, typically contain a half-inch-diameter core made of solid rubber, or a water-and-corn syrup or water-and-baking-soda mixture in a rubber pouch. Wound around the core is a half-inch layer of rubber-band-like elastic. The dimpled outer skin is usually composed of synthetic balata, a rubber product, or Surlyn, a cheaper, tough thermal plastic. By contrast, two-piece balls, which cost $15 to $40 a dozen, are harder because they usually have a large, solid core and a Surlyn outer shell with no rubberized cushion in between. Three-piecers' greater softness generally gives them extra spin through the air. On short or approach shots, that spin maximizes your accuracy -- presuming you have any -- by slowing the ball when it lands. But experts say that because the slowing effect is extremely subtle, you must be a very good golfer indeed -- with, say, a single-digit handicap -- to reap any discernible benefit. "There's little performance difference between two-piece and three-piece balls," insists Bernard Soriano, a researcher and tester for the U.S. Golf Association. Nor is he impressed by the fancy dimple configurations that many makers use for high-end offerings. "Whether one ball has 440 dimples in a hexagon pattern or 392 in another pattern is just a matter of aesthetics," says Soriano. Responds Mike Sullivan, Spalding's research-and-development director, "The size and pattern of dimples does have something to do with performance, but no one company has the magic formula." Players on the PGA tour, who usually get their balls for free and don't lose many, can justify using the $50-a-dozen variety. But most weekend golfers will be just as well off with mid-range two-piece balls, says Michael Stachura, an associate editor at Golf Digest magazine in Trumbull, Conn. Jack Lumpkin, a Sea Island, Ga. golf pro, recommends the Titleist DT and HP2 or the Spalding Top Flite two-piece models. All run $20 to $34 a dozen at golf discounters such as Nevada Bob's, a nationwide chain. If you tee off only a few times a year, consider buying cheap $10-a-dozen "X-outs," major brands' factory seconds whose abnormalities are too slight to hurt hackers' performance. Chances are you'll end up losing 'em in the woods anyway.

--Elif Sinanoglu