When Do You Retire Your "Tour" Ball?

[Bigsky71]

I usually lose my golf ball before it's time to retire it.

[Golfwolf]

If I have a golf ball which survives 36 consecutive holes then it gets retired, I don't like to use the same ball any longer than that.

[johnstitch]

Depends on aesthetics. If I mark a ball out of a bunker or off a tree then it gets sent to the practice bag or given to one of our junior players. If it looks clean then I can go 5 or more rounds. ProV1s are defo most durable of current crop and Callaways the least.

[BillyZ2]

I think most golfers, at one time or another, has used the same ball for many rounds. Beat up as it may be, I occasionally use a scuffed up ball just to see if it makes that much difference in my scores. At my level, it doesn't really matter, and I think that's the case for most golfers. Using a scuffed up ball affects the mental part of a golfers game, not really the actual flight of the ball. It takes some mental toughness to use a marked up ball even though you have some new ones in the bag.

[cristphoto]

Usually the ball decides to take up new residence. I keep my cart path balls in a separate box and play then in the fall when the leaves cover the course. After a ball is two or three years old if I still have them I donate them to our clubs junior league.

[Fellaheen51]

Like a ball that is a bit scruffy. That's a ball that has experience, knows how not to get lost. I'll play those. Also easier to tell which ball is mine without having to mark it.

[Flogolf]

Kinda depends on the ball too--there was a thread on here some time ago about a guy here in Northern Cal that played some amazing amount of holes with a Srixon Z star...that's what I play and they are a very durable ball. If I manage to keep one long enough, it'll stay in play for sometimes 3 or 4 rounds with no apparent damage.