Identifying Your Ball On The First Tee

Crazyface

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I'm sure this has been discussed before and I'm fairly confident of the answer, but just before a make a clown of myself......

Do you have to tell your playing partners what ball you are using on the first tee?
 

chrisd

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As post #2

But as has been done to death here, my view is, a hole later I've no idea what ball anyone else is playing and how they have marked their ball so it was pretty much a waste of time with just the exception that if they are playing the same ball and number as me I'd probably change my ball so that we dont get them mixed up on the course and play the wrong one.
 

Billysboots

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Bit silly to do that ( to my mind ), what happens when coming to identify ball in rough-oppos -that is?
Could open up can of worms, surely...Note-said 'could'
Or am I being niaive ?

As I have said elsewhere, I like to know what my playing partners are playing and my view is it’s good etiquette to identify your ball/markings on the 1st tee. Our starter will ask us to do so in comps.

It helps avoid any arguments during your round if a ball disappears into the cabbage, and your group sets about searching for it with only the player using the ball knowing what he/she is playing.

I’ve had it in a comp, and the three other players, me included, insisted on the loser of the ball returning to the tee to play another ball when he could not/would not tell us what he was playing. I found a ball in the vicinity of where his had gone and when I asked him what he was playing he said “What have you found?” You can guess the rest.

So, even if not a requirement there are good reasons for identifying your ball, and as far as I can see no reason whatsoever to decline to do so.
 

rulefan

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I'm sure this has been discussed before and I'm fairly confident of the answer, but just before a make a clown of myself......

Do you have to tell your playing partners what ball you are using on the first tee?
There is no rule requiring it but the starter of any serious competition will not let you start unless you can identify your ball to the other players and him.
Possibly apocryphal but many years ago when I started refereeing I was told about a starter in a county event who did let a player go, who had refused and said there was no rule. The starter radioed a referee near the first green. When the player got to his drive the ref asked him if it was his ball. Unable to satisfy the ref he was sent back to the tee (S&D for lost ball). He was warned if he had continued he could be DQd for wrong ball not corrected.
 

SammmeBee

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There is no rule requiring it but the starter of any serious competition will not let you start unless you can identify your ball to the other players and him.
Possibly apocryphal but many years ago when I started refereeing I was told about a starter in a county event who did let a player go, who had refused and said there was no rule. The starter radioed a referee near the first green. When the player got to his drive the ref asked him if it was his ball. Unable to satisfy the ref he was sent back to the tee (S&D for lost ball). He was warned if he had continued he could be DQd for wrong ball not corrected.

What a load of nonsense….if the player can identify their ball that’s all hat matters.

Case of ‘give the man a badge….’ here!!
 
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There is no rule requiring it but the starter of any serious competition will not let you start unless you can identify your ball to the other players and him.
Possibly apocryphal but many years ago when I started refereeing I was told about a starter in a county event who did let a player go, who had refused and said there was no rule. The starter radioed a referee near the first green. When the player got to his drive the ref asked him if it was his ball. Unable to satisfy the ref he was sent back to the tee (S&D for lost ball). He was warned if he had continued he could be DQd for wrong ball not corrected.
What a complete jobsworth and typical of those that are more fans of the rules as opposed to the actual game - sad and pathetic
 

SammmeBee

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Oh, really??-Every one you've ever played with must be angelic- anyone ever refuse to identify what they were playing on the 1st--or you, when asked ??

Never ask….if they tell me they tell me but probably won’t listen….if they shank it on the 14th and say it’s a Callaway 3 then I’ll take their word for it….
 

Billysboots

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It surprises me that anyone would take such a relaxed view of playing partners’ antics.

Our second cut is brutal at the moment to the point where you’re almost guaranteed to lose any ball which goes into it. The result is, if you don’t find your own ball, the odds are you’ll stumble on someone else’s.

If I’m not told what a playing partner is playing on the 1st tee, I at least want to know what I’m hunting for before I head into the rough for the first time to look for his/her ball. If someone wants to cheat then that’s a matter for them, but I’m certainly not going to make it easy for them by letting them play the first ball they come across.
 
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I trust the people im playing with - no need for them to announce what ball they are playing , if we need to search for one then I’ll ask what ball it is - anytime I have played county events or pro ams they have just asked “ensure you are able to identify your ball” - never been asked to announce what I’m playing

Any “referee” that demands the player tell them what ball they are using needs to have a word with himself- even more so the jobsworth who then looks to trip a player up
 

jim8flog

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The only time I know it to be a requirement is in a professional or elite amateur event so they can confirm you are playing with a ball on the conforming ball list ( as I understand it).
 

chrisd

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I dont tell what I'm playing if I'm first off but like others I will always ask what I'm searching for if there's a potential lost ball.

I may be wrong, but understood, if a ball is identified by the owner then its identified and unless someone knows different then that's it, but if I'm looking for a ball I won't start looking unless the owner tells me at least the make and probably the number. I cant see the referee mentioned earlier being able to insist the player returns to the tee if all the player has to confirm that they were playing that make and number ball and it was found precisely where they expected it to be.
 

rulefan

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What a load of nonsense….if the player can identify their ball that’s all hat matters.

Case of ‘give the man a badge….’ here!!
In recent years I would guess 75% of elite players use an indistinguishable Pro V1.
They now seem to argue about how many red or black dots they should put on. And particularly on the 'stand by' ball.
Often heard from FC in the rough
'I've found one. What are you playing?'
''V1 with two black dots'
'OK, I've got it here. Mine's over there on the fairway'
 
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