When do you stop playing a ball?

[rudebhoy]

Other than when you lose it

I have been losing a lot less recently which I guess is some sign of progress. I tend to have about a dozen decent looking balls in my cart bag, and when they get beat up, they go in the practice bag. I haven't bought new balls in ages, the cart bag tends to get replenished with any balls I find which look in good nick.

However i've noticed that, although some of them look ok at a cursory glance, if i run my hand over the ball, they have little rough patches on the very outer layer.

Are these going to make much difference to the result of a shot? The only thing I could imagine is a tiny deviation in the roll of a putt?

Am interested to know what most people do. Do you change ball every round, more often (e.g. at the first sign of damage, however minor), or only when you lose one?

 

[snell]

The unfortunate fact is I rarely keep a ball long enough

I would guess with all the money that goes into R & D of the aerodynamics of a golf ball then the gouges and scuffs would also effect the flight?

 

[Doh]

The only time I replace a ball is when they start to look scruffy and have marks on them that you can't remove as you have mentioned. I tend to buy A grade balls from eBay so they are not perfect in the first place.
Also like you when they get to bad they go into my practice bag but they still seem to perform as normal.

 

[Capella]

Always try to find a shiny, new looking one for comp rounds. Other than that, I pretty much play them until they are really scruffy or broken (or, much more likely, drowned in a pond somewhere).

 

[Robster59]

I'll play with a ball till it starts looking badly worn (although I never used to do that and played with them in all sorts of conditions).
Technically if you consider the work done to make them aerodynamically correct, any roughness, scratches, etc must affect the airflow over the ball and hence its performance.

 

[Coffey]

Tend to use the ones in my bag which are nearly perfect in comp rounds. Wouldn't normally switch it out unless it gets really badly scuffed on a path or something. Minor scuffs happen all round the course, can hit a good wedge shot on hole number one and the ball scuffs up. Wouldn't want to be changing every time that happens. I then use the scuffed ones for practicing and really don't notice much difference.

I am the same though, don't buy any balls and just use ones I find.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Oh to be in that position. Usually lost before they reach the damaged stage. Otherwise until it starts to look really scruffy. The odd mark or scuff is not going to make a difference to my shots. A pro playing on pro surfaces is a different matter but I am not in that category.

 

[bernix]

after a birdie because each ball has only 1 in it

 

[lukeysafc100]

Well Pro's change there ball every 2/3 holes.

Personally if the ball is still in good nick like you say - I keep in it in the bag. Put it this way - in the big comp's and Medals I play new - in practice and general knocks I don't care. haha

 

[USER1999]

If i get one to 5 rounds, it goes in the bin. Sadly, most never see the bin.

 

[Spear-Chucker]

Keep em' for ages (hopefully). They go from shiny, sparkly competition status to roll-up quality, then on to knobbing it round in the evening standard and finally into the bunker practice bag. That's if they've not had an expletive ridden eulogy as they disappear into the woods/water.

 

[JohnnyDee]

Still got the same one I started with 20 years ago. Reckon it's good for another 20 as well. Hardly a mark on it.

Pinnacle Distance Red. What a ball

 

[Smiffy]

I will pull out a brand new ball on the 1st tee every time I play.
If I finish the round with it, it will go in the practice bag or a pond.
Usually the pond.

 

[thesheriff]

Last round I played I had a ball which sounded like a spitfire taking off when you hit it. I think that the clear outer shell had started to flake away and it caused some sound effects!

Anyway I keep playing a ball unitl it's showing visible/performance related damage, or if its got so dirty it'd be hard to spot on the fairway (if there aren't ball cleaners to hand that it)

 

[londonlewis]

I don't have a hard and fast rule but I tend to replace my balls when they are a bit weathered... if they've been played with too much, which doesn't tend to happen since we had our second kid 4 months ago!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

When I spot it has a crack or damage to the surface. Or when I am disgusted with it having behaved very badly.

 

[GreggerKBR]

Always play new balls in serious comps & matches.
When the ball starts to look like & fly like a range ball it's doomed to the practice bag or reserve ball!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Always a new ball for a comp or match. Otherwise I have some old ones I've been using over the winter but in summer I'll use one for 2-3 rounds assuming I keep it that long and consign it to the chipping practice bag

 

[jusme]

After reading most of these responses I wonder if I'm too quick at moving balls to the practice bag/casual rounds/winter play. In season I will only play new balls and once marked in any significant way I change the ball. I can't remember the last time I used one ball in a round. Usually changed at least once during the round, mostly more than once. Don't mind a mark, but if that mark can be felt by the hand it's gone.

 

[larmen]

This topic needs pictures. How do you define 'scruffy'?
Is is dirty, or little cuts? Is one enough to scrap the ball?

I seem to never throw away a ball. It's a 'lucky ball' until I lose it.