About Our Process

How our process is different and what makes it better than the competition's?

In 2001 Steve McMillan and Gerald Cason teamed up to start a company called Links Choice, taking over for Garland McMillian, who at 74 has been recycling golf balls since he was a teenager. Gerald has been recycling and refinishing golf balls since he was 17 years old and Steve has been recycling golf balls alongside his father, Garland, since he was in his teens. They started pulling balls from the lakes, ponds and the woods etc with the goal of providing golf courses and retailers top quality products with great margins while in return offering their customers the brands and golf balls they know so well at more affordable prices. They have accomplished their goals by perfecting the process of recycling and refinishing a golf ball.

When we first started it was with a ringer type washing machine in the basement, until we burned up mom's machine, then we moved on to different types of ball washers, many utilized by driving ranges for cleaning the range balls each day. As we continued to evolve, we investigated and learned more about how golf balls were made and many of the techniques and equipment used to prep the ball for finishing and printing. As our customers demand grew for our product, so did our entrepreneurial spirit and Links Choice was formed to bring the most consistent and top quality products to our customers. No more are the days of the last balls left in the loose ball table or in your shop being dull or discolored. We have also evolved from the clear clam shell to eye popping foil and full color packaging, complementing the quality product inside.  

Recycling Golf Balls

The process includes removing most or all the clear coat from the ball without removing the name. We do this with a mechanical wet blasting process, the equipment utilized in this process is very similar to equipment used in the process of prepping many new golf balls, before they are coated in the factory. This process allows us to get the golf ball as clean as possible and prep it for coating with our Binks style paint lines. The freshly applied clear coat, does several things, but the main objectives are to provide a consistent and more durable product to the consumer.

Refinished Golf Balls

This includes taking the wet blast process to another level in which we remove the original paint and finish from the golf balls, leaving the original surface to be re-coated, printed and then re-clear coated. This process being a more costly process than recycling is utilized mainly for higher end balls such as Pro V1, HX Tour, and Nike one etc. This process allows us to be sure that each ball is presented to the consumer in the highest quality condition and most importantly with consistency.

It is important to note that in either of the above process we do not have the ability to repair scrapes, dents or cart paths to a used golf ball. This is why we still have different levels or grades of golf balls, such as Mint, Near Mint, Value Grade, Grade A, B, and C etc. This lets the consumer know what the physical and cosmetic condition of the golf ball will be in when they make their purchase.   

We are living the American Dream

Each upcoming year our customer base grows along with our dedicated staff/Family at Links Choice. We take great pride in saying that many of our customers are still our original customers back from when we started with Mom’s washing machine. Links Choice would like to say Thank you to those customers and all of its many new customers who span the globe. With over 50 years of combined experience in recycling and refinishing golf balls Links Choice is the leader in refinishing golf balls world wide.