Do you declare?

[hovis]

No. But I tell people what I am looking for when not on the fairway/green, and if I hit a provisional I declare and how it is marked different from the original..

this. i also trust the people i play with

 

[Hobbit]

Yes, including the dots.

Many, many, many years ago I was asked if the Commando 3 was my ball or someone who'd played the previous week. Mine get marked ever since.

 

[Liverbirdie]

oh yes give cheats free licence must mean something else.

I really dont know what point your trying to make, fella.

 

[Slab]

Had to say 'no' because as mentioned already I'll only declare it when someone else in the group does (normally an elderly fellow or a wannabe pro )

Other than that I know my marking so I'll tell them if we have to look for it but no way the rest of the 4-ball will remember what I declared on 1st tee if we need to look on 16th rough

Its like HNSP, some folks will like the practice for whatever justification they want to apply and stick to it rigidly and that's fine, while others wont and be happy they are not breaking any rule
(thinking about it the last time someone announced their ball I don't think I could've told you what it was by the time we reached the next tee, maybe the brand but not down to the ball number/spot colour/count/placement etc)

I think my regular PP's know my mark but couldn't swear to it

I don't think it was overlooked in the rules. I think they absolutely considered it and decided it was not required as a rule

 

[Smiffy]

I always mark my ball with three green dots in a triangular pattern and will declare the make and markings on the 1st tee. It avoids the chance of any confusion.
I'd love to be in a fourball where everybody is playing a Titleist 4.......

 

[Imurg]

Everyone, I hope, marks their ball...
If all 4 players announce their make, model, number and marking on the first tee, am I expected to remember those all the way round?
By the 4th tee I might recall the make - but everything else..?
Golf is a game of integrity
If someone says that this ball in the rough is their ball then, in the absence of contrary information (like I'm standing on their ball&#128523, shouldn't I accept that they are being truthful?
When I'm in the rough on one side of the hole and Fragger's is in the rough on the other side 70 yards away - he bends down to move a leaf from behind his ball - how do I know he's not moved his ball? He wouldn't and I trust that he wouldn't.
I always ask what ball we're looking for before we get to the search area. If I'm told Titleist 1 then if anything else is found then it's not the ball we're looking for.
We're not covered by the one ball rule - if I want to change to a different ball every hole then I can. As long as I know what ball I'm playing, that should be enough unless people are questioning my integrity...are you?
I've heard people announce their ball/markings and I've thought " Mmm..ok..why do I need to know that now?"
Mark your ball, know what your mark is and play.

 

[jusme]

No and I never see the point in this. Cheats will be cheats and do find many ways to do so. I trust the people I am playing with until I have an absolute reason not to. Why call the make/model/markings - seriously does anyone listen and/or remember.

Will, if hitting a provisional, specify how the provisional differs to the original ball. Will also ask others or declare to others which ball I am using/they are using if we are heading to search for it.

 

[ManinBlack]

No and I never see the point in this. Cheats will be cheats and do find many ways to do so. I trust the people I am playing with until I have an absolute reason not to. Why call the make/model/markings - seriously does anyone listen and/or remember.

Will, if hitting a provisional, specify how the provisional differs to the original ball. Will also ask others or declare to others which ball I am using/they are using if we are heading to search for it.

Could have written this myself.

 

[guest100718]

Yes.

Only cheats don't, and don't mark their ball, either.:thup:

Correct, but sometimes its worth throwing a forthright view in to see what comes out in the wash.

However, and as tony said, there are too many times/people who when you are looking for their ball just say that they are playing a Titleist or a Srixon, and dont even know what number is on it. Ive sometimes even said "theres a Srixon 2 here"......they normally say yes thats it, funny to see their face when its actually a Srixon 4.

To me the rule SHOULD be that you have to mark your ball, as it CAN give cheats free licence, although as you said its not within the rules that you have to.:thup:

I really dont know what point your trying to make, fella.

Yeah.. I guess you think cheat means something else.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

No and I never see the point in this. Cheats will be cheats and do find many ways to do so. I trust the people I am playing with until I have an absolute reason not to. Why call the make/model/markings - seriously does anyone listen and/or remember.

Will, if hitting a provisional, specify how the provisional differs to the original ball. Will also ask others or declare to others which ball I am using/they are using if we are heading to search for it.

If we don't need to know what your original ball is why do we need to know what your provisional one is?

After all, you've hit 2 balls which may possibly land very close together, how do we know which is which?

 

[Tashyboy]

If we don't need to know what your original ball is why do we need to know what your provisional one is?

After all, you've hit 2 balls which may possibly land very close together, how do we know which is which?

Which was the point I was trying to make on the first ball marking thread.👍

 

[Orikoru]

I've never done it when teeing off. Guys I've played in competitions with don't seem to have done it either. But as soon as I hit one in the trees, I usually say what ball it is before I (or we if someone is helping me) start looking for it so that (a) they know what we're looking for and (b) they know I can't just find any ball and say it was mine.

 

[Liverbirdie]

Yeah.. I guess you think cheat means something else.

My opening gambit was to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

My second one, was an opinion that marking your ball should be a rule of golf AND this was another opportunity for cheats to prosper by, as they can claim any "Titleist" as their own. However, if they have to mark their ball, as well as announce it on the tee, it would give them less opportunity.

As Imurg says, one scenario is 4 people in a comp all hit off with unmarked balls, none of which are announced......and they are all playing Titleist "4"s. What happens then if they all finish within 5 yards of each other?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I really don't understand why people have an issue with this, how much effort does it take to state a few words stood on the first tee? OK, the rules don't state that you have to do it but they don't state lots of other things that you already do during the course of a round.

It does make me think that they are trying to conceal something and for the amount of effort involved I would personally prefer to remove any doubt.

 

[williamalex1]

I always mark my ball with three green dots in a triangular pattern and will declare the make and markings on the 1st tee. It avoids the chance of any confusion.
I'd love to be in a fourball where everybody is playing a Titleist 4.......

Oops hoops, my mate who's a Celtic fan marks his Titleists the same, because it looks like a shamrock.

 

[guest100718]

My opening gambit was to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

My second one, was an opinion that marking your ball should be a rule of golf AND this was another opportunity for cheats to prosper by, as they can claim any "Titleist" as their own. However, if they have to mark their ball, as well as announce it on the tee, it would give them less opportunity.

As Imurg says, one scenario is 4 people in a comp all hit off with unmarked balls, none of which are announced......and they are all playing Titleist "4"s. What happens then if they all finish within 5 yards of each other?

I agree, everyone should mark their ball and be able to indenitfy it easily. Beyond that I'm not fussed either way.

 

[guest100718]

I really don't understand why people have an issue with this, how much effort does it take to state a few words stood on the first tee? OK, the rules don't state that you have to do it but they don't state lots of other things that you already do during the course of a round.

It does make me think that they are trying to conceal something and for the amount of effort involved I would personally prefer to remove any doubt.

Its you who has the issue..... Announce, don't announce, doesnt matter to me. I am simply saying its not something I do orhave ever done.

 

[Orikoru]

I really don't understand why people have an issue with this, how much effort does it take to state a few words stood on the first tee? OK, the rules don't state that you have to do it but they don't state lots of other things that you already do during the course of a round.

It does make me think that they are trying to conceal something and for the amount of effort involved I would personally prefer to remove any doubt.

lol, why do you make out like people are refusing to do it out of some kind of malice? If people aren't doing it, I'm sure in 99% of cases it's simply that it just didn't occur to anyone to do it. If one person in the group thinks it's important, they will declare what their ball is, and everyone else will declare theirs back to them. If nobody thinks to do it then obviously nobody minds. It's a complete non-issue.

Then again your standard procedure seems to be getting worked up about stuff. :lol:

 

[Foxholer]

Hmm, I don't think there's a requirement to do so within the rules, is there?

Obviously you need to declare and state what a provisional ball is when the need arises and then no doubt what the first ball was, as they shouldn't be the same, but otherwise, why do you need to?

There is no requirement to do this either! Again, you only have to be able to identify the/your ball, so it makes sense to use one marked differently - just in case you hit it into the same area! But there's no more reason to announce what a Provo ball is than announcing on the first tee - or whenever you change!

And, if you haven't already announced and hit the (first) Provo into the same area, that (when you go forward to search) is the time to announce - both the original and Provo - if you feel it necessary!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Then again your standard procedure seems to be getting worked up about stuff. :lol:

No not at all but if left to some people it seems that golf would degenerate into a game played by cheats wearing jeans and football tops who mark their ball on the green with a can of beer :thup: