Prazza: Tough to lose these golf balls

A golf ball that goes missing is an irritant, no doubt, but do we want to do away with it without improving our swings as a hedge against losing it in the first place? One company is betting that enough people will.

Prazza is a Netherlands-based company that has developed the Prazza ball with microchips and a Prazza Golf Ball Finder that allows the user to home in on a ball that has gone into hiding. The Golf Ball Finder is about the size of a smart phone and uses active radio-frequency identification to locate the Prazza ball from up to 110 yards away. The company claims it has the ability to locate the lost pellet in U.S. Open rough or in water up to eight inches deep.

The company's sales pitch is that "most golfers lose four balls per round," and that a five-minute search for each of them adds 20 minutes to a round. We can't vouch for the four lost balls a round, but when Callaway Golf first entered the golf ball business with its Rule 35 ball, it offered a five-pack based on research that said the average golfer uses 4.5 balls per round.

The big question is how well the Prazza balls perform. "Prazza golf balls are high-performance distance golf balls with excellent spin control," the company website says.

The Prazza Golf Ball Finder can be purchased here for $299.95 and includes two Prazza balls. A sleeve of three balls can be purchased separately for $39.95.

-- John Strege