I want to talk about marking golf balls...

[schaperb90]

I feel like I'm very alone on this opinion, at least judging by people I play with, but does it annoy you when you play matches vs people that don't mark a ball or do some generic black dot on a ball as common as a prov? I've always been very specific with my ball mark. I want to KNOW that the ball I found is mine, playing a match or not. I do a very specific mark (black circle filled in with either yellow, blue, or green). I also rearrange the balls when I get them, so when I pull a sleeve I have all different numbers, and different colored marks, so if I have to hit a provisional there is no confusing which is which. I'm the only one who seems to do this. There have been matches I've played when I've been very suspicious an opponent has found and played a different ball other than theirs, but since they are buddies the vast majority of the time I just bite my lip. 

 

Do you run into this issue to? Do you say something about it? Anyone else have a cool unique mark they use?

[hammergolf]

It doesn’t bother me if other people mark their ball, but I really like how you have yours marked. How do you do that? Do you just draw the circle with a fine point, then color it in?

[Abh159]

I play a choose your number personalized Pro V1 (#10) so it's always extremely unlikely that a random opponent in my same group would be playing the same number ball.

 

However, I do still mark all of my balls which is just a habit carried over from my competitive amateur days. It's two simple dots on either side of "Titleist". Color is random depending on what sharpie I happen to blindly grab out of my valuables pouch.

[schaperb90]

3 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

It doesn’t bother me if other people mark their ball, but I really like how you have yours marked. How do you do that? Do you just draw the circle with a fine point, then color it in?

 

I have one of those plastic tools to add a line that I just drilled a hole in. I put the hole over the number, trace the outside with fine black sharpie, and then color it in. I pre mark all my balls at home when I buy them. It doesn't take long, but longer than id want to spend doing every ball as I needed it on the course. Maybe 45 sec to a minute per ball doing both sides with the line.

[hammergolf]

Just now, schaperb90 said:

 

I have one of those plastic tools to add a line that I just drilled a hole in. I put the hole over the number, trace the outside with fine black sharpie, and then color it in. I pre mark all my balls at home when I buy them. It doesn't take long, but longer than id want to spend doing every ball as I needed it on the course. Maybe 45 sec to a minute per ball doing both sides with the line.

Looks really clean.

[MattM97]

Looks good, I used to try and do some excessive stuff but it just ended up being ugly. Lately I'm just putting an orange dot on the left side of the brand logo and then a line on the side for putting alignment. No one uses orange, it's easy to spot for me and my school color so I use it. 

[gioreeko]

I just put my initials on either side of the number. If I hit a provisional, I'll add dots

[SE Gamer]

I designed and 3d printed some of my own templates that clip on to the ball. Makes it unique. Have a few different designs.

 

 

[schaperb90]

3 hours ago, Abh159 said:

I play a choose your number personalized Pro V1 (#10) so it's always extremely unlikely that a random opponent in my same group would be playing the same number ball.

 

However, I do still mark all of my balls which is just a habit carried over from my competitive amateur days. It's two simple dots on either side of "Titleist". Color is random depending on what sharpie I happen to blindly grab out of my valuables pouch.

 

I guess I should also clarify. It annoys me when opponents don't mark their ball not because I am worried about getting it mixed up with another person from our groups ball, but because if they were to hit it in tall grass or the woods, it leaves the possibility of finding and playing another ball. Normally when I am looking for a ball in a situation like this I find a few balls. Sure, some you can tell have been out there for a long time, but its not uncommon to stumble across another mint/nearly mint prov1. A lot of people who play these popular balls could just assume its theirs, but who knows if it is or isn't. Not to mention it is very common when you help them and find ball and say "here is a prov1 what number are you playing?", they don't know, followed by walking up to it and saying "Oh yea that's it". That's why I personally do what I do when marking balls, and wish it was more common.

[llewol007]

Only matters if you are playing a competition or if it really mattered to you. If it really did, ask yourself how many times before you tee’d off did you and your foursome announce to each other what ball you are playing and if it has any marks. If you do it 100% of the time then you can gripe about it. BUT, if you don’t, then you really don’t have a leg to stand on. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by llewol007

[JDW3]

I have a friend that never marks his ball and it drives me crazy. He plays prov1 and it’s probably the most played ball at our club so it could be any random ball he finds. He’s an honest guy so I don’t think he’d play the wrong ball on purpose but it’s definitely possible that he’s unintentionally done it. 
 

I mark mine with a blue dot near the number/logo. I’ve been marking my ball that way for years and have yet to come across a ball marked the same way. 

[JimmyC59]

4 hours ago, schaperb90 said:

I feel like I'm very alone on this opinion, at least judging by people I play with, but does it annoy you when you play matches vs people that don't mark a ball or do some generic black dot on a ball as common as a prov? I've always been very specific with my ball mark. I want to KNOW that the ball I found is mine, playing a match or not. I do a very specific mark (black circle filled in with either yellow, blue, or green). I also rearrange the balls when I get them, so when I pull a sleeve I have all different numbers, and different colored marks, so if I have to hit a provisional there is no confusing which is which. I'm the only one who seems to do this. There have been matches I've played when I've been very suspicious an opponent has found and played a different ball other than theirs, but since they are buddies the vast majority of the time I just bite my lip. 

 

Do you run into this issue to? Do you say something about it? Anyone else have a cool unique mark they use?

I do the same thing, but only use one color now. Odd numbers get one blue dot. Even numbers get two. I do rearrange the sleeves so they have three different numbers in each, and have a different number ball than the one I am playing in my pocket in case I need a provisional.

[schaperb90]

51 minutes ago, llewol007 said:

Only matters if you are playing a competition or if it really mattered to you. If it really did, ask yourself how many times before you tee’d off did you and your foursome announce to each other what ball you are playing and if it has any marks. If you do it 100% of the time then you can gripe about it. BUT, if you don’t, then you really don’t have a leg to stand on. 

 

I mean at this point everyone I play with (at least semi regularly) knows my mark so if they help me look for a ball they don't even ask what ball, number etc, they just say here it is. That's why I wish more people did it. But yes of course I don't care if we are all just playing it's only annoying in a match/skins game/ money game.

[LPSISCO]

I’m one of the only guys at my club who plays Srixon, andI think I’m the only one who uses the regular Z Star. One guy uses the XV.  But everyone else uses Titleist, TM and Callaway. 
 

I still mark my ball, otherwise how do you know if the ball you’re finding in the heather is the one you hit there today or the one you lost there yesterday? 
 

I agree the guy playing one of the popular balls has to mark it - if you spend 5 minutes looking in some heather you can find 5 Titleist ProVs. How can you possibly know which one is yours? 

[llewol007]

I’m the same way, I’ve always marked my ball even though I’m the only one playing the vice green Lime ball. Only reason I play that ball by the way. If Titliest Pro Vx’s we’re offered in lime green, I’d play it all day

[Roejye]

I don't mark my ball, and I probably should, but the nice thing about using Cut balls is they're not common. It also helps that I don't play in any competitions. I do like how you do it though, pretty neat.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Roejye

[95124hacker]

I rearrange the balls in the dozen too.

1 dimple colored in, near the number for the first 1/2/3/4 numbered balls 

2 dimples colored in for the next 1/2/3/4

3 dimples colored in for the last 1/2/3/4

So each ball in the dozen has a unique marking.

 

Then, I write my first initial (for my non-personalized balls) and add the lines for putting.

[philly2kuk]

Our club made it mandatory that you mark your ball so it’s easily identifiable in all competitions. There was an incident when a player found a ball but wasn’t sure it was his as he hadn’t marked it. They leave it down to each group to police it rather than having an official.

 

I’ve always marked my ball with a specific pattern of dots round the logo and my initials on the opposite side to the alignment aid. Don’t get why people don’t mark their ball to make it easy to identify, so it’s not just you OP.

[bellken]

I use badly drawn orange or red concentric circular scribbles - 3 of them. It makes my ball fairly easy to identify, as, one of the scribbles is usually visible. 

 

 

[MattM97]

14 hours ago, llewol007 said:

Only matters if you are playing a competition or if it really mattered to you. If it really did, ask yourself how many times before you tee’d off did you and your foursome announce to each other what ball you are playing and if it has any marks. If you do it 100% of the time then you can gripe about it. BUT, if you don’t, then you really don’t have a leg to stand on. 

 

I find it helps the rare time I end up in another fairway or someone grabs my ball. 

 

One time dude started screaming at me that I was going to hit his ball. So I stand there and wait, he says that's his ball. I point and show my marking and the other ball in my pocket that matched (thought I lost it) and he still said it was his ball until his buddy said it wasn't and told him to find his ball. 

 

My other friend has bad luck of people picking up his ball, he marks it and ball still gets grabbed but 95% of the time it's sitting in their cart and they give it back. 

 

Not a big deal but 5 sec to mark a ball isn't much. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by MattM97

[schaperb90]

3 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

I find it helps the rare time I end up in another fairway or someone grabs my ball. 

 

One time dude started screaming at me that I was going to hit his ball. So I stand there and wait, he says that's his ball. I point and show my marking and the other ball in my pocket that matched (thought I lost it) and he still said it was his ball until his buddy said it wasn't and told him to find his ball. 

 

My other friend has bad luck of people picking up his ball, he marks it and ball still gets grabbed but 95% of the time it's sitting in their cart and they give it back. 

 

Not a big deal but 5 sec to mark a ball isn't much. 

 

I have had the exact same thing happen to me. Hit a ball into the rough between 2 holes and had a guy adamant it was his ball even after I showed him the mark. I pulled my box of balls out to show him every ball I have has this and he still wouldn't let it go. Luckily his cart buddy talked some sense into him. People are crazy.

[RainShadow]

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by RainShadow

[RainShadow]

[mahonie]

Used to put my initials as my mark until I hit a car coming up the access road in between the driving range and 10th...difficult to see if car was there off the back tee and a big slice didn't help!

 

Three dots below the logo always in a triangle nowadays...different colour for provisionals...lots of them marked up in the bag in readiness!

[Neo1]

I'm one of those guys who just puts a generic black/blue dot on each side of the ball, never been an issue when I used Prov's but now I switched to Srixon so it's even less of a factor. 

[596]

Never mark my ball. No one I know uses white Vice Pro or Callaway Soft soccer balls!  Never been a problem. 

[elwhippy]

So how do you identify your ball in a competition? Can you actually prove it is, without any shadow of doubt, your ball? What if you walked up to a where your ball is and found two balls of the same colour and number? No way to ID balls. 

[mahonie]

52 minutes ago, elwhippy said:

So how do you identify your ball in a competition? Can you actually prove it is, without any shadow of doubt, your ball? What if you walked up to a where your ball is and found two balls of the same colour and number? No way to ID balls. 

In the book: 'Bring me the head of Sergio Garcia' there is a great example of this where the author ended up getting disqualified. Very good read.

[schaperb90]

1 hour ago, elwhippy said:

So how do you identify your ball in a competition? Can you actually prove it is, without any shadow of doubt, your ball? What if you walked up to a where your ball is and found two balls of the same colour and number? No way to ID balls. 

 

Is this directed at me? That's virtually impossible. I'd never hit 2 of the same number or color mark back to back, and the odds someone else is marking a ball like this is essentially 0. I don't understand how you think this would happen 

[Fuscinator]

I always mark mine "999", the symbol of the anti-slice.