Okay, so they're not the most expensive item in your bag - but golf balls are among the most necessary. And they are getting dearer. Not only that, but an errant ball can disappear, never to be found again, in the blink of an eye.

We've all been there! We all know the heartache, distress and one-word reaction that the departure of a brand new ball into thick rough or water can cause to our pride, not to mention the damage to our pockets.

Yet, the high-end - i.e., dearest - golf ball market is considered to be the fastest-growing segment of the ball industry, and, as we settle into 2000, the various manufacturers have already hit us with an avalanche of "new" and "improved" balls.

It has been an unprecedented onslaught, in fact, with the traditional ball manufacturers coming up with newly-developed products to fend off the interlopers who have gate-crashed the market.

So it is that leading lights like Titleist, Spalding (Top Flite) and Maxfli have found it necessary to bring out new balls at a time when companies such as Nike, Callaway and Taylor Made are attempting to infiltrate the market.

The choice, especially for the better golfer, has never been so good: but the prices are creeping up as a result. Companies spend millions of pounds in developing new lines or improving existing ones, with further millions going into the pocket-lining of the world's top professionals to play a particular brand, and the costs have to be recouped somewhere. Yes, you've got it in one: from you, the consumer.

"I think golf ball awareness in the last two, two-and-a-half years has been a focus in the industry," explains Ric Long of Taylor Made, who have introduced the InerGel Tour and Pro balls to the market. "Better players and mid-handicap players are becoming more aware of the technology in the balls and how it can really help them."

Indeed, that's a sentiment that appears to run through the industry. One of the more innovative television advertisements at the moment concerns that for the Wilson Smart-Core Balata Distance Ball which, like most of the new balls, is aimed at the mid to low-handicapper. Jeff Christensen of Wilson explains that players "all want the distance that distance balls have been able to deliver but everyone wants those great soft feel spin characteristics too".

With so much money being put into ball development, coupled with club golfers willing to fork out the readies for the better but more expensive ball, the manufacturers involved in the battle for the minds and souls of the handicap player are feeling mighty pleased at this juncture.

Make no mistake about it, the manufacturers have targeted the avid golfer - the addict with spending clout - as Callaway's US marketing manager, Michael Pai, admitted: "The only true correlation to golf ball sales is rounds played," he said. "If you look at all the trends and you look at all the data, you would see an almost exact correlation. The avid or core golfers are buying the majority of the product."

As far back as 1996, tests by Golf Digest magazine found that a golf ball's performance was impaired by repeated use. It discovered that accuracy is affected more than distance when the same golf balls were used for a second round.

In their tests, the magazine measured a dozen balata balls, a dozen three-piece surlyns and a dozen two-piece surlyns for both distance and accuracy. None of the balls showed any noticeable loss of distance after one round of play; however, they all showed a decrease in accuracy: the surlyn balls were 30 to 40 per cent less accurate, but the balata balls were 100 per cent less accurate. This was because balata balls scuff more easily during play.

These test results also help to support the Callaway man's assertion, some four years later, that the avid golfer is the one more likely to be a regular purchaser of new balls.

But what factors lead the ordinary player to use one ball in preference to another? Does the fact that Padraig Harrington uses a Maxfli Revolution mean that more of those balls will be sold in Ireland or elsewhere in Europe? Does the statistic that something like 63 per cent of professional golfers worldwide use Titleist balls, including Tiger Woods, mean that club players want to imitate the best by buying what they perceive to be the best? Or is the ordinary player more influenced by price and marketing?

It's certainly a ball-eat-ball market, and the main manufacturers are intent on influencing the consumer in any way that they can. They remind us, via television ads, that Jack Nicklaus endorses Maxfli. They have Lee Trevino at his club championship nominating the player who plays Top Flite because it's the longest, most accurate and with the most spin. And so on, and so on.

If we are influenced by the sheer numbers playing any particular brand, then Titleist have the lion's share. Their belief that it is "the number one ball" on the 2000 worldwide professional tours is backed up by some impressive statistics: 4,984 players (63 per cent) on the recognised professional circuits play Titleist. The figure on the European Tour is actually higher, with 75 per cent of players using Titleist.

Interestingly, Callaway's high-powered entrance into the golf ball sector has, thus far, had most impact at senior level: although Titleist is still the most used ball on the US Senior Tour, Callaway is now the second-most used brand with 17 per cent of players using the new ball.

Be that as it may, all ball manufacturers - whether they be established players or newcomers - have been forced by the sheer scale of competition to maintain a perceived improvement in the quality of golf ball on offer to the consumer.

So, what does the class of 2000 look like? Take the Top Flite 2000, for instance. Introduced to the market last year, this season's offering has evolved to take in the Top Flite XL 2000 Aero Extra Carry or, for women, the Top Flite XL 2000-Women.

Now, take the marketing jargon on both balls. "We are utilising a unique shaped teardrop dimple pattern, which enables us to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase the carry for extra distance," explains Mike Sullivan when commenting on the Aero Extra Carry. And for the Top Flite XL 2000-Women? "The increased distance and soft feel benefits are "the result of a unique dimple pattern and a soft tungsten core. The unique 422 non-circular design reduces drag, allowing the ball to get into the air quicker."

Another traditional manufacturer who refused to stand by while the new guns arrived into town was Titleist, who responded by introducing the HP Tour ("takes advanced solid core technology to a new level") and the HP Eclipse ("represents a technology breakthrough in solid, multi-core construction"), while Wilson's Smart-Core Balata Distance ball apparently gives six yards extra distance over the traditional balata ball.

Maxfli, for their part, has developed the Elite, which is now the most expensive ball on the market and, for your cash, you get a ball which has a soft urethane cover, wound inner layer and a liquid-filled centre. It is aimed unashamedly at the low handicapper, who are the only players capable of appreciating it.

One television ad that succeeds in reassuring potential buyers is the commercial which features the likes of Woods, Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els et al reminding viewers that they have been using a Titleist ball "as far back as I can remember" etc. "Our leadership is built on performance and a long-standing heritage of quality that players count on day in and day out . . . we do not take our leadership position for granted. Every day, we dedicate ourselves to earning your trust, because today and tomorrow we believe that the only place to be is first place." That, again, is marketing talk. But it appears to be working, worldwide.

The new kids on the block haven't been afraid to plough the money into the marketing either. Callaway's name, of course, has enabled the company to grab a slice of the ball market almost immediately since the introduction of its Rule 35 to the public, while Nike and Taylor Made are among others who have delved into this competitive sector and, even at this early stage, it looks as if they intend to be around for a long time.

Taylor Made, in fact, has already indicated it will have a new "premium entry" ball ready for the 2001 market, so there is no end in sight to the deluge of new balls. All claim, as they would, that the consumer is the one who benefits from the technology. As George Sine, director of marketing for balls at Titleist and Footjoy Worldwide, explained: "What we consider is what is the cost versus performance value for that consumer. While their initial investment in the product might be greater, the return on that investment, in terms of performance, in terms of durability, in terms of improvement to their game, is really the ultimate formula."

The bottom line is that the player, whether he or she be the low-handicapper and consistent purchaser who is the real target of the companies, wants a ball which allows him or her to walk off the course believing that it made a difference to the score. That's what really counts, and the manufacturers claim they are delivering.

(Tiger Woods has played Titleist forever, Mark O'Meara got on board with Strata and promptly won two majors, and Padraig Harrington's growing profile will keep the bosses at Maxfli happy.)