Am I the only one?

[theeaglehunter]

I was thinking about my golf game today (it happens when you don't manage to get out on the course or the range all weekend) and it suddenly struck me that I have never managed 18 holes without loosing a ball. This seemed quite astonishing but having given it some more thought I really have not ever managed to play a full round without loosing a ball. Now I wouldn't consider myself a particularly poor golfer but it does seem an immense challenge to keep the same ball in play for 18 holes due to being a quite ambitious / daring player (thats a nice way of saying I have little course management) so I often take on large carries or take a driver when a 3 wood would suffice. Do any of you others struggle with using the same ball for the whole round? Even someone I know who goes round in about 120 each time has been round without loosing a ball! I always end up hitting one slice/hook off the tee that is never found again. Am I in a vast minority here?

 

[Basher]

Depends mate.

Like my game It's a matter of non consistency! Sometimes I get round with the same ball. Sometimes lose 1 or 2. Occasionally lose lots!

Probably the reason why all my good balls are always at home, preferring to keep crap balls in the bag!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've had times where I've kept a ball for four or five rounds and others when it has been a one hit wonder. In general terms at the moment I'm losing one or two balls per round on average although I'm not playing great golf so it sort of comes with the territory. If you can't hit it straight you can't always find it

 

[Cernunnos]

Its always that naff ball you find on a course that you decide to bring into play after loosing one of your best balls, that you just can't loose no matter how hard you try & loose the grubbyb little thing & end up invariably having a half decent round... go figure

 

[mrobbie]

My best scores tend to be a single ball round, but then the shocker of a round appears and I can lose up to 10 (that's my highest this summer anyway!). The course I play is an absolute ball eater with water on most holes.

A wayward shot which could end up in rough/trees on my old courses is a lost ball here as its invariably wet.

 

[USER1999]

I think the national average is supposed to be 2 per round. I don't tend to loose very many (not bragging about my golf, I am just good at finding them). 5 rounds is my max with one ball, one shot my worst.

 

[viscount17]

the one shot round is fairly common at wybo, especially for visitors - cutting the corner of the first across the lake just looks so inviting!

I've managed the occaisonal loss-free round though my record is, I think, only about 29 tees (the 11th is an expansive fairway inviting the mighty blow - which ends up high, wide, handsome and wet!).

other records are:
losing 16 in one round,
losing 5 on a par 3, (water, water everywhere)
losing 0 finding 12 in the same round (Think about this one. To find them I had to be sending mine to where they were, which wasn't on the fairway!), and
finding 29 in one round.

 

[cm_qs]

I think it depends greatly on the course!
At the course where I play,there is no water, the fairways are quite wide and the rough is relatively short and any real trouble tends to be tree or bunker related, and if you hit it in the trees then the ground cover is sparse and you can find a ball with comparitive ease. Losing a ball on our course is actually quite difficult. (but certainly not impossible!)
I've played other courses where the opposite is true - one minor error and it's ta-ta to the ball. Any course which features heather will eat as many balls as you have in your bag.

 

[OldWindy]

Much like Homer, will retain one for what seems like forever and the next round lose 3 within nine holes. The rough at Aberdovey has been let loose so unless you keep a good eye as to where the ball might have ended up you're going to be disappointed. If you do find the ball then you're more likely to end up with an unplayable.

 

[Parmo]

I tend to loose 2-3 a round. I started getting annoyed when loosing new balls, so I bought 40 grade A/B AD333s on EBay for £20 and don't feel so bad and I concentrate more on my game rather the lost balls.

I am playing alone this coming weekend and might book first thing in the morning, then have a wander in the rough looking for some practice balls.

Isn't it bloody annoying to loose a new decent ball only to find someone's battered top flite or Dunlop?

EDIT to say: -

With me if I am playing with the same ball on say the 15th, I think bloody hell I might make it round with the same one!! only to loose two more on the following hole, is it just me or anyone else?

 

[HTL]

I nearly always lose a ball a round, due to this I am punishing myself with using any of the balls I find when playing, think TonyN did the same.

 

[vig]

I play prov's so don't lose many (yorkshireman).

I have only bought 2 dozen of these and I have around 200.

Surprising how many you find following the comps on a sat or sun.
250 yds down fairway, exit left or right 5 -10 yards in deep rough--- Result. i've gone to the course sometimes with 3 balls and come back with 30.

most finds are pinnacle or topflite but on comp day, pro v's galore

 

[Dave3498]

It depends on the type of course you are playing, and the condition of the rough or water hazards etc., but I am very disappointed if I lose a ball during a round on my own course. Of course it costs me stroke and distance during competition play, which I don't like. My normal ball loss is about one every 5 rounds. My balls normally wear out.

 

[Cernunnos]

I once went several months completing rounds without loosing one ball, used to loose a lot of balls at one time. Handicap hasn't really gone down any, but if you take notice of where your ball goes & play efficient golf with good course desisions, there is need to loose balls, than to the occasional donation to the watergods of golf.

Recently I've been loosing a few balls, but its really due to rushing when I needn't.

 

[TonyN]

I nearly always lose a ball a round, due to this I am punishing myself with using any of the balls I find when playing, think TonyN did the same.

Yes I did, and when you really dont care about loosing the ball, you just dont.

I am not loosing many at the moment, managing to complete most rounds with same ball but a few do go.

What really gets me mad is when you see where your ball lands, never take your eye off it and when you get there its nowhere to be found. Cut Grass not picked up is the worst thing for this.

 

[billyg]

I nearly always lose a ball a round, due to this I am punishing myself with using any of the balls I find when playing, think TonyN did the same.

Yes I did, and when you really dont care about loosing the ball, you just dont.

I am not loosing many at the moment, managing to complete most rounds with same ball but a few do go.

What really gets me mad is when you see where your ball lands, never take your eye off it and when you get there its nowhere to be found. Cut Grass not picked up is the worst thing for this.

Seconded.

There's nothing more annoying than watching a ball toddle off the short stuff into some chaff only to be lost forever in a game of,' now you see me(from 200 yards),now you don't(within a yard)'

Ive tried various ball ideas - expensive : so I play the percentages, cheap- so I don't freeze and worry about it, expensive lake balls - for a combination of the two but now i'm onto yellow golf balls. Just blinkin' annoying Titleist have decided only to make their DT carry available in yellow.

Dream ball? - a yellow(or luminous blue for that matter) AD333

Doubt well ever see it though - why make a ball that your punters won't loose? wouldn't please the shareholders would it?

I know Ping did it before but if we looked in the green room at Ping HQ I bet the statisticians can prove that overall turnover went down during this period.

Anyway , personal stats:

Most off the same tee: 5 balls i.e. 9 strokes
Most lost on a round: 10 ( I was wilting from fiscal 'bleed' by the time I finally got to the 18th and nearly threw my putter in the lake just to trump it)
Average loss per round: 3
Longest lasting ball: I think ive only ever completed 2 rounds with the same ball ever.
The type that seems to have a magnetic attraction to deep foliage/lakes/that one little patch of scrag the mower left behind in the first cut/nests/rabbit holes and hallucinatory feats of misdirection: Titleist NXT extreme($%£&@!*)
The type that seems to have 9 lives: Pinnacle Gold/Dunlop DDH/that cracked one that I swore I punted into a lake at the 5th but turns up in the bag no matter what.
Most found ball: Old, corporate Pro v1's

Glad i'm not the only one that looses golf balls - thought it was just me.

What idiot came up with a sport that makes us walk four miles dragging a bag of metal sticks stopping only to occasionally throw £2 coins into the lake or into a bush again?

billyg

 

[TonyN]

My F.I.L put one into thick bushes up the right of a par 5 the otherday, there is a little brook running along side it, just wide enough to stop most jumping over, but being young and agile (whilst the course was quiet) I hopped over. I came out with 8 balls in less than 2 minutes. including 2x prov1's and a prov1x, funny thing was it was only a pinnacle that went in and didnt come back out!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Not sure why coloured balls went out of fashion. I always used an orange ball on frosty days and would gladly do so again if I could get an NXT or AD333 in that colour. Was never a fan of the yellow ball as I found it just as hard to find as the whites.

Most off the same tee - 3 (5th shot)
Most balls lost in one round - 5
Average loss per round (at present)2
Longest lasting ball 5 complete rounds

Like many others I lose good balls (TP black, Pro V etc) and only find dross like Pinnacles - DOH

 

[vig]

FTR

Lost 3 off the tee, actually changing clubs after 2.

Record loss in a round = 6, 2 weeks ago playing texas scramble (stupid format, too gung ho)

Ave loss per round, prob 1

Most rounds with one ball= 5, then it goes with the practice balls as too cut up toplay with.

I also have experience of good ball in woods or long stuff and find a pinnacle or top flite ( i think people just don't look for them)
we have an OB (dangerously tight line) left of par5 3rd. I have had many go over the fence, When the corn or whatever else is growing is short you can normally replenish your stock when attempting to retrieve yours.
I have taken my nephew a few times and he lost a brand new TPblack over there, he nipped through the fence and I swear he was only gone 30 seconds and came back with 18 balls, folded in his jumper nearly all Pro v's and Cally's.

BTW is it illegal to spray your ball (altering it's appearance) with some gaudy colour that stands out?

 

[vig]

went out late afternoon today, pulled tee shot at 4th hole into rough. Found mine and another twelve. It was captains day and generally if someone hit in the long stuff they play a provisional as not easy to find. All good balls as well, golf not too bad either after shaky start