Help! potential balls up.

[RGDave]

Tomorrow (or today if you've been out on the Saturday lash) I'm returning to my normal routine of playing on Sundays at my club. It's also a big day in our calendar. I've been off for a few weeks and the course looks and plays different. My swing is different too as I can't put too much weight on the right foot.
I've had two knocks this week and played OK (10 and 9 over), apart from being through the back of far too many greens.

So, a simple question looking for a simple answer.

Should I take my normal collection of distance balls (AD333, Diablo, Nike) and take a club less every time (which I think I'd need to, given the hardness of the ground) or shall I get down early and empty a 12-pack of Z-stars or ProVs into my bag? If so, how much putting will I need to do?

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[flixtonflyer2103]

Good question and i dont really know the answer what i do know is i played awful until i lost my usual ad333 today and decided to change to a prov1 as i had a couple in the bag.dont know how much difference it made but i did rescue my round and manage to make the cut for tomorrow. So i know what il be teeing off with at 9.02 tomorrow!

Like i say dont know if this helps..

 

[Yerman]

As all good counsellors know the correct answer is ...whatever feels best to you, then commit to your choice, no regrets or second guesses.

 

[RGDave]

As all good counsellors know the correct answer is ...whatever feels best to you, then commit to your choice, no regrets or second guesses.

The whole thing is a second guess. Normally by this time of year, I'd have weaned myself onto proper balls, but I don't fancy doing it straight off in a big comp.

 

[HRC99]

Stick with your normal balls. The last thing you want to be doing after a bit of a lay off is to have to work out how a performance ball will go in a competition.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Stick with what you know, club down and enjoy it

 

[RGDave]

Stick with your normal balls. The last thing you want to be doing after a bit of a lay off is to have to work out how a performance ball will go in a competition.

I think you're right. I know the course (obviously) and can probably go round working out distances to the front if necessary.
I think I should wait to play with proper balls next week so I'm not stressing about putting with marshmallows.

My missus has just found 2 sleeves of Px3 Wilsons - these might be a good compromise actually. I know these stop better than most distance balls....and it'll be no stress putting with them, I've used them lots (although not since September).

 

[RGDave]

Stick with what you know, club down and enjoy it

Yes, let's hope I hit it straight, otherwise I'll be in a lot of bunkers!!

 

[Iaing]

I'm going against the flow here.
Hit a real golf ball (pro v1) etc
You know you want to.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Through a combination of warmer weather and better ball striking I'm now hitting a club less on the carry than I was. Unfortunately on hard ground it's a bit of of lottery getting the yardages right and impossible to stop the ball. Yesterday I was taking a club less and choking down a bit, sometimes 2 clubs less.

You might have to experiment the 1st few holes before you find the right combination.

As for balls, go with what you know I would say.

 

[RGDave]

Some good news and some bad really. The bad was that my round ended it's useful life on the first hole. The good news is that I played with some "compromise" balls and pretty much took a club less the whole way round. Ignoring the rubbish shots, those at the green were the correct distance and did stop enough. I made 8 GIR pars, I wouldn't have done this playing my normal balls or not clubbing down. Shot of the day was a 159 yard 8 iron (mad, well, for me anyway) to 6 foot at the 9th which stopped dead second bounce. I played spot on my h'cap with two of the most unfortunate holes of my golfing life; I think the gods were trying to stop me "banditting" the cup.

 

[JustOne]

My swing is different too as I can't put too much weight on the right foot.

..... perfect! Was that 159 with an 8 iron?

That's nearly up there with the 'proper' golfers

 

[RGDave]

..... perfect! Was that 159 with an 8 iron?

That's nearly up there with the 'proper' golfers

Nearly!

One of the few highlights of the day.

Can't be unhappy though.

 

[stef92]

You should get injured more often!!! Never have I seen you hit it that far with a 8 iron! That is my kind of range! How big was the wind!!!!!!!

 

[RGDave]

You should get injured more often!!! Never have I seen you hit it that far with a 8 iron! That is my kind of range! How big was the wind!!!!!!!

Cheeky.

Luck....total luck.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Must a been a localised tornado. Still that is some good scoring including the "indifferent" holes. I played 27 yesterday and found it really hard to judge the distances. Even with Pro V and Srixon Z stars the greens were too firm to try and really hold with anything less than a 7 iron.

 

[RGDave]

Must a been a localised tornado.

You know, you may have a point. The 9th is exactly the opposite direction to the 1st. At the first my shot came up short and was almost so unplayable I considered a drop in the bunker. And at the ninth, I took two clubs less because I'd been miles through the back from similar distance. Maybe the mystery is solved.

What happened on the other disaster hole was something I've never come across before. The fairway is about (under) 20 yards wide and I pulled it 3 or 4 yards into the rough (probably less than 15 yards from the centre, so hardly a really bad one). The ball was by the 150 marker, so I pulled out the post and considered the shot. The rough (2-3 inches high) stretches miles towards the trees, but the area around the marker post has clearly never been mowed in months (it's a bit lazy?!) so I had to hack it out and didn't get very far. So, there we go; it's OK to be in the first cut, but don't be by a post, as you may as well be trying to play golf in a vegetable patch......