Most golfers by now have heard of, if not seen a Check-Go, or Check-Go Pro golf ball “Sweet Spot Finder”. While I’ll admit to being more than a little skeptical about it’s ability to lower my scores, I figured for $30, why not take a shot. If nothing else, it will give me something to talk about. So much to the dismay of my wife, off to my local Dick’s Sporting Goods I went to pick one up.

For those of you unfamiliar with the device, the premise behind it is that there is absolutely no such thing as a perfectly round golf ball. The Check-Go Pro can help compensate for imperfections in the manufacturing process that leave your average golf ball as unbalanced as Britney Spears (ok, maybe not that unbalanced). The upgraded Check-Go Pro features an ergonomic design, a balance timer (indicates when optimum spin rate has been achieved), and an alignment cup that allows you to draw partial lines.

The Check-Go Pro spins your golf ball at an exceptionally high rate of speed (10,000 RPM), causing the heaviest part of the ball to realign along the equator. All you have to do is stick the pen the comes with the device through a little hole, and you’ve got an ideally placed ball mark running along the circumference of your golf ball.

That’s all well and good, but is there really anything to it? Does it actually work?

In the years I’ve been playing golf I’ve been ridiculed for many a thing. I’ve been scoffed at for carrying an oddly-shaped Bettinardi putter. I’ve been mocked for toting my bright orange golf bag. And I’ve been laughed at for shanking 5 consecutive balls into a pond. All that aside, nothing I’ve done has enticed more twit than when I showed friends and family the Check-Go Pro.

The prevailing wisdom from the doubters is that all it really does is spin the ball along some random orbit, and that the only balancing being done is that of the Technasonic books, at my expense. While I suppose that could be true, I suspect there is more than a little bit of truth to this balancing thing, and here’s why.

I conducted a little experiment where I spun and marked the same golf ball several times. It’s not that the ink in the pen that comes with the Check-Go Pro isn’t durable. Instead, I wanted to see if the the Check-Go Pro would consistently identify the same “sweet spot”. Time after time, ball after ball, the results were the identical (give or take a millimeter from center). Whatever it’s actually doing (balance point, heavy spot, whatever you want to call it), the Check-Go Pro is definitely finding something - and it’s finding the same something over and over again.

Perhaps equally as curious, in the course of marking 50 or so balls, I found 2 balls where the Check-Go Pro could not provide a consistent line along a single axis. Instead of a uniform line along the circumference, the markings were all over the place. I suspect that if I had the time, and the ink, eventually the entire ball would have been painted black. Given how consistent the Check-Go Pro had been with the other balls tested, I was now even more convinced that there was something to it. So convinced was I, in fact, that I took those two balls and threw them in my range bucket. I have enough trouble hitting the ball straight. I’m not about to start playing with lopsided balls.

The company provides instructions, not only for putting (which is kind of obvious), but also for proper alignment off the tee (depending on whether you’re trying to hit a fade or a draw). To be perfectly honest, I haven’t done any real testing to determine if there is any actual benefit to be had off the tee, so I’ll refrain from further comment about that.

For putting however, it’s my personal belief (albeit a somewhat unscientific one) that the Check-Go pro can save you anywhere from 1-3 strokes per round based on balls rolling more true, and not veering off course at the last possible agonizing moment. It’s definitely not a cure all for your putting woes. It won’t make a bad putter a great putter, or even a good one, but when used properly it has some benefit.

Even if you discount the notion of a “Sweet Spot”, there is value in having a consistent visual aid on the ball, which forces you to pay closer attention to how the ball is aligned. If nothing else, the Check-Go Pro has forced me to develop a pre-shot routine for my putting, and that has been hugely beneficial.

My singular complaint about the Check-Go Pro has to do with the marking pens. The company does include one pen in the box, however; it didn’t last nearly as long as I expected it to. Replacement pens are somewhat costly (4 for $13). Unfortunately, the opening for the the pen is unconventionally sized, meaning I couldn’t find anything other than a Check-Go pen that would fit. I’m fairly certain this is by design, as it allows Technasonic to keep taking in money from those of us who use the device.

Perhaps it’s unrealistic, but I would love to see a redesign of the alignment cup that allows for the use of a Sharpie pen. With only 5 colors to choose from (Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green), guys like me, who like to mark their balls with something beyond primary (and don’t like spending $13 on replacement pens), are out of luck.

I won’t promise you that the Check-Go Pro will make you a better golfer. For me it’s been worth the $30. I believe that it does what it says it does, and that my putts do roll truer. For what it’s worth, I’ve also learned that small children love to watch the ball spin, and can entertain themselves for hours on end with a single set of batteries. Isn’t that alone worth $30?

More Information about the Check-Go Pro can be found here.

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