Ball Question

roper1313 · June 5, 2007

For a par 3 tournament only

We put together a mini ryder cup competition at our club last year to try and bridge a generation gap. A group of 12 30-40 year olds against the 55+ (way plus in some cases). We decided to play 3 nines of match play on our par 3 course. 4 some, 4 ball, and singles. Well to no ones surprise the young bombers got destroyed by the old guys. We had a blast with good food, booze and stories told by all. :D

Anyway, we are getting a little more serious this year (18 guys on each team), and I was looking for ball sugestions. Obviously distance is not a factor, I'm only looking for spin and feel around the greens. Any suggestions??

Thanks,

webmstrk9 · June 5, 2007

since control is what youre looking for, i'd suggest the prov1's not the x, and if youre not wanting to spend 40+ for a box, the Nike One Plat 2006 are 29.99 at Golfsmith.

roper1313 · June 5, 2007

Thanks webmstrk9!!!

Bobcat43 · June 5, 2007

My advice would be to play what you normally play. Why over think a simple thing. If you have a ball that you normally use then you are familiar and hopefully comfortable with its performance. More spin may lead to less distance then you normally get. Less spin the opposite.

Just my thoughts. I play the Nike One Plat. I'm used to it off the driver to the lob wedge, in wind, etc. But I could get used to anything and make it work. But if I needed to play a ball and my life depended on it... it would be the NOP. No changes.

If you've got something that you can depend on you are eliminating some variables. Always a good thing!

BTW what were the guys on the other team playing last year? You maybe surprised if they were playing Top Rocks, Noodles, etc. But it worked! I've had my jock handed to me on many occasions by some seniors that hardly drove the ball 200 yards. They just got the ball in the hole in less strokes. What a concept!

Good luck, it sounds fun.

Konklifer · June 5, 2007

Why change from what you normally play? Just imagine you're playing a regular round with the next shot into the green being the distance of the par 3. IMO, takes any extra thoughts out of the equation.

herkyjerk · June 5, 2007

Cool event. Go to golfballs.com & select logo overruns. You can get HX Tours for $32, other brands too. If not I agree with the 2006 Platinum. The Pro V & HX 56 get way too spinny for me, I prefer hop, tiny zip back then stop. Platinums or HX will give you that. Good luck

uncc18 · June 5, 2007

Give ma a Srixon ZUR-S any day, any situation. :D

kenfuji · June 5, 2007

i use low spin 2 pc balls on slow Muni greens and use prov1x on bent Country club greens

I try to take out adjustments as possible to minimize the gap in green speed and how the ball reacts with my usual around the green feel by changing balls.

If its a course you normally play use the same ball. IE if usually play prov's and the green keeper tend to cut more or less on special occations then you can make simple adjustments by going with a prov1 or prov1x to compensate for the difference.

roper1313 · June 5, 2007

Thanks for all the responses guys.

This is a great idea that a couple of guys came up with over a few beers. Our club has a pretty healthy "junior" membership, true juniors being under 35, but is truly 30-40. Our group is active in the club committees, events ect... Then we have a very active group called the "weekenders" that probably account for at least 50% of the clubs revenues. These guys are closer to retirement than not and most are pretty established guys around the area. The "weekenders" get there name from the fact that they have standing tee-times on the weekends. Most of the non-weekenders find them a little intimidating, but one you get to know them they are some great guys.

Well to bridge that 20-30 year gap we started this competition call the Runyan Cup. The name comes from Paul Runyan, who won the 34 and 38 PGA Championship to go along with his 29 tour victories. The tale is that he was once a caddie master at our club. We took a Ryder Cup angle and do match play. 9 hole matches on our club's par 3 course. Longest hole is 130 and shortest is 58. The first match is modified foursome, four tee shots and alternate from there, the second is fourball and the third is singles. We play this in one day so we shotgun the first two rounds and then start the singles from the first tee. Our pro is the starter and announces the matches (we don't know who we are playing until it is announced) with a bullhorn and makes up bios and what not.

We have plenty of time to socialize as well. Thursday night is a pairing party at one of our fellow Runyan Cupper's bar and really have a great time. Friday is the day of the big event and we kick it off with a buffet lunch and trash talking session. At 12:30 we tee off and play out until the winner is decided.

The winner gets dinner that night (courtesy of the winning team), a traveling trophy, and of course bragging rights for a year. Last year my team "team hooligans" got smoked last year by "team viagra" :D The old guys thought the prize should be a night with the losing teams wives!!! :) Ha, ha, just what we want, trade our thirtysomething wives for the 50 to 60 year old ladies.

Revenge will be ours on June 22nd. ;)

I'd highly recommend something like this to anyone at a private club. It's a great time. :censored2:

FYI, we all pay $20 to a hole in one pool. The fist hole in one gets half the pot. The remainder, or the whole thing if no hole in one goes to the bag room. Last year the guy who got the hole in one defered his winning to the bag room. His clubs are nice and clean all the time.