One Ball Rule?

[Gohigh]

So, assuming most sections of PGA does away with this rule, would you take advantage and play different balls for different holes? 

 

I often wanted to hit AVX into long par 3s, as I tend to carry them a bit further and would eliminate the half club discrepancies. 

 

My current gamer PROv1 would stay in play most of the holes, but wouldn't mind switching to PROv1X for downwind conditions for higher launch and less spin. 

 

I have not really thought about it that much yet, but I wanted to see what others would do or wont do. 

[Mr. Bean]

They played a competition some time ago without one ball rule to experiment but IIRC there was not so much appreciation from the players.

 

I would not change a ball at any time, I prefer to keep the distances constant. Downwind drives I always hit higher on purpose, just a question of teeing the ball higher and hitting more upwards. That also reduces spin.

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Mr. Bean

[st1800e]

7 hours ago, Gohigh said:

So, assuming most sections of PGA does away with this rule, would you take advantage and play different balls for different holes? 

Unless you're playing in competitions with the one ball rule in effect, which is rare for amateur golf,  feel free to switch balls on a hole to hole basis.   

[North Butte]

I've never played a round of golf where the One Ball local rule is in effect. But I would not want to be switching balls from hole to hole if I'm serious about playing well and keeping score. The most important thing a ball can offer IMHO is consistency and allow you to develop distance control on full shots and touch around the greens. It seems crazy to me to throw that away by trying to finagle an extra 3 yards of carry on a Par 3 tee shot or get a little extra roll off your driver on Par 5 or something. 

 

I do sometimes keep an old ball (of the same type I'm playing) in my bag to use on ridiculously narrow holes on a windy day. There's one hole at my home course where if the wind is blowing hard right to left, any mishit tee shot is going to find the deep woods. I'll get a dinged up ball I used for a few rounds previously and hit it on that tee shot, but always the same model ball as I'm playing. 

[larrybud]

By all means, switch. I would love to play against someone with that much crap going through their heads. lol

[jdl]

I see guys switching to a different ball when there's a long-ish forced carry over water. Problem is the "water ball" tends to find its way home in that water more often than not. 🤣

[North Butte]

4 minutes ago, jdl said:

I see guys switching to a different ball when there's a long-ish forced carry over water. Problem is the "water ball" tends to find its way home in that water more often than not. 🤣

So would a good ball. Trust me on this. 

[jdl]

1 minute ago, North Butte said:

So would a good ball. Trust me on this. 

Correct, it's a no win situation. Just head to the drop area.

 

Used to play with a guy at a course with a forced carry second shot on the 18th hole. He'd hit his drive, walk up to the hazard and throw a ball in as an attempt to appease the golf gods. They rarely fell for his shenanigans.

[teejaywhy]

On 7/9/2023 at 9:59 PM, Gohigh said:

...

I often wanted to hit AVX into long par 3s, as I tend to carry them a bit further and would eliminate the half club discrepancies. 

My current gamer PROv1 would stay in play most of the holes, but wouldn't mind switching to PROv1X for downwind conditions for higher launch and less spin. 

...

 

And, why don't you?

 

[SNIPERBBB]

Unless I need extra help to cut spin off the ball, I'm not changing. 

[2bGood]

I like to play the same ball all the time as I know what to expect from it. 

 

Having said that, I have slipped in a distance ball in a scramble to two when a long drive is needed. 

[North Butte]

On 7/10/2023 at 12:59 AM, Gohigh said:

So, assuming most sections of PGA does away with this rule, would you take advantage and play different balls for different holes?

In case it gets lost in the all the back and forth of this thread...

 

To be clear, there is no one ball rule in effect for 99.9% of the rounds of golf played every day. It is a special rule for certain high level and/or professional tournaments. 

 

And also to be clear, "sections of PGA" has nothing to do with the Rules of Golf with running Tour events. 

[TheBiles]

If I'm good enough to tell the difference between different high-quality balls off the tee, I'm probably also good enough to value the consistency of using one ball.  I feel like a few extra yards of carry wouldn't be worth the ball performing differently with scoring clubs and around the green.  That's introducing too many variables to account for.

[szaino]

23 hours ago, TheBiles said:

If I'm good enough to tell the difference between different high-quality balls off the tee, I'm probably also good enough to value the consistency of using one ball.  I feel like a few extra yards of carry wouldn't be worth the ball performing differently with scoring clubs and around the green.  That's introducing too many variables to account for.

Agree 100%. This whole topic is so overblown.

 

Changing balls, presumably, is to either get more distance (and less spin) or more control (and more spin.) There are balls available for all swing speeds to accomplish this already. Any  benefit gained from switching balls is pretty imperceptible.