Golf ball Visibility

cunnini

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2023
Messages
92
Visit site
I started playing again last winter. Our club has lots of deciduous tree lined fairways which over the next weeks/months will shed their leaves - the club once a week 'hoovers' them up, but I'm thinking how best to identify my ball in amongst the leaves n between times - does anyone play a different coloured/marked ball for this type of scenario and what do you think would be easier to find?

thanks in advance
 

timd77

Assistant Pro
Joined
Jun 17, 2013
Messages
1,421
Visit site
Personally I find a white ball easiest to find in just about any circumstances other than Frost/Snow.
Yep, me too. I tried playing with yellow or orange balls during the autumn, they were harder to spot than white balls as there aren’t many white leaves, but plenty of yellowy orangey leaves.

Orange on frosty days where the sun’s low and the leaves have gone.

Ooh, all this talk of frost has nearly made me want this heatwave to bugger off!
 

Jigger

Club Champion
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
1,845
Visit site
Is your eye preference but I think you’ll find most comments say white. Other colours of marked balls tend to camouflage more in my experience. The only one I will be try is the seed yellow balls as they are REALLY bright yellow.

Best bet is to use a cheaper ball if you are worried about losing loads or if it’s penalties that worry you, try to play the course more cautiously. Easier said than done I know.
 

nickjdavis

Head Pro
Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
3,860
Visit site
I played a course near me a couple of years ago. Was half way up the first when a bloke appeared from the 18th fairway (opposite direction) asking me if I'd seen a ball....a green ball !!!!

Funnily enough I spotted it about 50 yards further up (so shorter than where he thought it was) and it was quite visible against the grass.
 

Lord Tyrion

Money List Winner
Moderator
Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
28,469
Location
Northumberland
Visit site
I played a course near me a couple of years ago. Was half way up the first when a bloke appeared from the 18th fairway (opposite direction) asking me if I'd seen a ball....a green ball !!!!

Funnily enough I spotted it about 50 yards further up (so shorter than where he thought it was) and it was quite visible against the grass.
Was it lime green? First time I saw one I laughed but bizarrely they really do stand out.
 

Alan Clifford

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
1,154
Location
51.24545572099906, -0.5221967037089511
Visit site
I started playing again last winter. Our club has lots of deciduous tree lined fairways which over the next weeks/months will shed their leaves - the club once a week 'hoovers' them up, but I'm thinking how best to identify my ball in amongst the leaves n between times - does anyone play a different coloured/marked ball for this type of scenario and what do you think would be easier to find?

thanks in advance
Centre of the fairway works. :)
 

Tashyboy

Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
Joined
Dec 12, 2013
Messages
19,557
Visit site
Centre of the fairway works. :)
I played Bondhay near Worksop a good few years ago. I smacked one down the middle and could I eck as find it. Leaves everywhere. A PP said “ just drop a ball it happens all the time here at this time of the year”. I smacked a ball, put my club in my bag and the wind picked up for a couple of seconds. I found two balls 😳 but not mine. That course is just trees and bunkers.
 

Barking_Mad

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2021
Messages
845
Visit site
Yeah there's nothing worse than creaming a driver down the middle only to find a bazillion large leaves where the ball landed. 🍁😭
 

Golfnut1957

Newbie
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
1,702
Visit site
I played Bondhay near Worksop a good few years ago. I smacked one down the middle and could I eck as find it. Leaves everywhere. A PP said “ just drop a ball it happens all the time here at this time of the year”. I smacked a ball, put my club in my bag and the wind picked up for a couple of seconds. I found two balls 😳 but not mine. That course is just trees and bunkers.
You just described my home course and when the leaves start to drop it doesn't matter where you put the ball, fairway, rough or hazard, there will be some leaves there to hide it.

As for finding your ball amongst the leaves, I've always found that the best method is to stand on it while you are searching.
 

Orikoru

Tour Winner
Joined
Nov 1, 2016
Messages
27,346
Location
Watford
Visit site
Many years ago I tried the different colours of Wilson DX1 balls. The yellow one was a kind of matte dull yellow which made practically invisible in all but the greenest of grass - absolutely useless. Lost a couple in a match and my partner outrightly banned me from using them. 😆 I tried the dark pink ones they had, but they were too dark and easy to lose in the air. The orange ones were ok.. but ultimately it's white balls that are in fact the most visible for me. It's not like I ever play in the snow so there's no reason why they wouldn't be.
 

Slab

Occasional Tour Caddy
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
11,563
Location
Port Louis
Visit site
I played a course near me a couple of years ago. Was half way up the first when a bloke appeared from the 18th fairway (opposite direction) asking me if I'd seen a ball....a green ball !!!!

Funnily enough I spotted it about 50 yards further up (so shorter than where he thought it was) and it was quite visible against the grass.

I like playing with the callaway supersoft green balls, they stand out really well both in the air and on grass
(in contrast (see what I did there) i cant find a pink castle tee when its just 3ft from where it originally was!)
 

Crazyface

Tour Winner
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
7,281
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
I played a course near me a couple of years ago. Was half way up the first when a bloke appeared from the 18th fairway (opposite direction) asking me if I'd seen a ball....a green ball !!!!

Funnily enough I spotted it about 50 yards further up (so shorter than where he thought it was) and it was quite visible against the grass.
Apparently the green ones are the easiest to spot.....of all the coloured ones.
 

C7usk

Active member
Joined
Sep 21, 2021
Messages
284
Visit site
Yous have got it easy. Im colour blind. I red and greens being the main problem. I play with a yellow ball all the time as it stands out better for me.. One of my mates plays a reddish ball in the winter... The second it's left his clubface I cannot see it... And he still asks... Did you see where I ended up.. Eh no mate... After the 5th time of asking a good scowl normally does... If I use a red tee ( non castle variety obvs ) it could land at my feet and I struggle to see it.... The joys..
 

Tashyboy

Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
Joined
Dec 12, 2013
Messages
19,557
Visit site
Did that yesterday. Best drive of the day, a heatseeker, lost forever in the leaves
I was on about this the other week when I played at Bondhay. Made me chuckle a few years back. played in a Stableford at our place. PP creamed a drive to a blind spot. The hole is called Zig Zag. Anyway we get to the place where his ball should be and we spend 5 mins kicking leaves and couldn’t find his ball. He was Livid. Anyway two holes later the 8th green overlooks the Zigzag fairway and the green keepers were blowing leaves off the fairway and found half a dozen balls. His was probably one of them. He was effing and Jeffing for the next 20 mins.
Then one of our PP mentioned how is it fair that others playing the comp behind us now have a clear fairway and will be able to find there ball.He spent the next 20 mins Effin and jeffin. 😂😂👍
 
Top