Paired-up with a slow 3-some today......... Aaaaaargh!!

[Strandly]

For the guys talking about shooting lots of ammo, what's the best "cheap" ball out there for this kind of play? I try to play lots of new courses and although I'm usually hitting the ball decently, I get into trouble for simply not always knowing what's in front of me.

Also is there a particular store that holds the best deals?

The Top Flite D2 balls are a good newbie ball imo.

[Crim]

BALL UPDATE

I knew I was going to play an easy Par 3 course last night so I actually went out and bought the Callaway Super-softs. I really like them. I didn't notice much difference off my irons other than the ball went exactly where I wanted it to (doesn't happen very often). I could REALLY feel the difference on the three hybrid shots I played. The ball just zipped off the face with a great sound, a sound I don't hear very often. It must have been the sound of a decent shot.

They also checked up really nice on the green. Any shot 100 yards in had very little roll out. It's nice not having to factor in an insane amount of roll out.

As far as putting goes, I'm used to balls that shoot off the putter face, these don't...which I like. I just wasn't used to it and missed a few putts because of that.

So far I'd recommend them to any high handicappers like myself who are playing a course where you aren't going to lose a bunch. They are twice the price of the laddies but half the price of Pro V 1's.

[CarlSpackler]

Wait. I thought hacks were supposed to play in the afternoon and leave the mornings to better players.

On this one course I played two weeks ago. This house next to the course had a table out with a lot of egg cartons filled with golf balls. It seems they fish them out of the pond near their house. They were selling them for 1 dollar a golf ball. There was premium golf balls in there as well. Though no Pro-V1's. I think they kept those.

Sounds like Sugar Isle.

[baw1]

I am curious as to whether there is a conflict or contradiction in terms of following the scoring "rules" and keeping proper pace/etiquette on the course (at the same time). If I hit my drive 10 yards off the fairway and cannot find the ball within a quick reasonable timeframe, the "right" thing to do in order not to slow down the group behind and/or other players in your group, is drop one and play on (with a penalty stroke added on). So my score is negatively impacted by that. However, maybe if I was alloted a couple more minutes, I would have found the ball? How does it work in tournament play? I know there are more eyeballs on the shots. How long before they have to deem the ball lost and take a drop (and penalty)?

Here's how I go about it. Since I am not a pro or tournament player and a beginner at that, I drop a new ball very quickly (I carry lots of cheap balls), but without taking a penalty. I would much rather keep good pace and rhythm and not slow anyone else down. Knowing that there are a bunch of players waiting on me is stressful and ultimately impacts the quality of the next shot/s. If the course is slow however, I will take more time to search and eventually drop and take the penalty too (per official rules)..

[BallMarker]

I rather gouge my eyes out with a fork than play SSSSLLLLLLOOOOWWWWWW.

[Fourputt]

I am curious as to whether there is a conflict or contradiction in terms of following the scoring "rules" and keeping proper pace/etiquette on the course (at the same time). If I hit my drive 10 yards off the fairway and cannot find the ball within a quick reasonable timeframe, the "right" thing to do in order not to slow down the group behind and/or other players in your group, is drop one and play on (with a penalty stroke added on). So my score is negatively impacted by that. However, maybe if I was alloted a couple more minutes, I would have found the ball? How does it work in tournament play? I know there are more eyeballs on the shots. How long before they have to deem the ball lost and take a drop (and penalty)?

Here's how I go about it. Since I am not a pro or tournament player and a beginner at that, I drop a new ball very quickly (I carry lots of cheap balls), but without taking a penalty. I would much rather keep good pace and rhythm and not slow anyone else down. Knowing that there are a bunch of players waiting on me is stressful and ultimately impacts the quality of the next shot/s. If the course is slow however, I will take more time to search and eventually drop and take the penalty too (per official rules)..

Actually the right thing to do when you hit that errant shot is to play a provisional ball.  That way you can play by the rules and keep pace.  I play by the rules nearly 100% of the time, yet I'm also one of the faster players I know.  The two are not mutually exclusive.

I rarely spend the full 5 minutes allowed on a search even in a competition, and never in casual play.  I think that only time I've ever spent 5 minutes looking for a ball is when we had that long to wait on the group or groups in front of us.

[BuckeyeNut]

For the guys talking about shooting lots of ammo, what's the best "cheap" ball out there for this kind of play? I try to play lots of new courses and although I'm usually hitting the ball decently, I get into trouble for simply not always knowing what's in front of me.

Also is there a particular store that holds the best deals?

You can buy "found" balls online.  You can buy all types...from once hit Pro-Vs to a mixed bag of top fites and pinnacles at the other end of the spectrum.    Ever since I was turned onto the uses ball scene, I'll never buy a new box of balls again if I can help it.

I buy mine from here.......

http://www.golfballpauls.com/

He's local to me so I go and buy in person.

For the record, I enjoy playing with golfers of all skill levels, so please never feel self conscious for playing to a beginner skill level.  We've all been there!!     So long as you don't ball-hawk excessively and hold up play, it's all good!!    I used to have a regular member of my group that couldn't break 100 on his best day.   He didn't even play real golf.   Whenever he'd lose a ball, he'd just reload and fire away.  He spent very little time looking for lost balls.............he'd buy 100 count sacks of balls from golf ball pauls.........LOL   He was definitely not attached to his golf balls...LOL    He kept up with us just fine and we had the first tee time every weekend morning.   Our 4-some usually played in 3-3.5hrs.

[BuckeyeNut]

You should have mentioned to them that they could get a whole bucket of balls for $5 at the range!

LOL...I've paired with guys before who did this!!

[peiserma]

as far as feel goes...I'd love to have some spin on my approach shots and a soft feel off the tee. I assume this is where I start getting into the more expensive balls. Anyone know what the cheapest "soft feel ball that you can put an average amount of spin on" is?

Off topic, but try the Wilson 50 Elite if cost-effective is important. $13 a dozen. Google them, Lots of positive reviews. And yes, I play them. On topic. My regular partner and I got paired with two lower handicappers at a charity event. We are 30s, they were 10 and 12. Holy Cow, i thought we were slow because we`re not great. These guys took their sweet time, to the tune of almost 6 hours. First time we were not the cause of slow play. Talk about a painful round.

[baw1]

Actually the right thing to do when you hit that errant shot is to play a provisional ball.  That way you can play by the rules and keep pace.  I play by the rules nearly 100% of the time, yet I'm also one of the faster players I know.  The two are not mutually exclusive.

I rarely spend the full 5 minutes allowed on a search even in a competition, and never in casual play.  I think that only time I've ever spent 5 minutes looking for a ball is when we had that long to wait on the group or groups in front of us.

Oops. Looks like I misspoke on the correct rules. The options for the lost ball scenario (excluding out-of-bounds or water hazard situations) are to take a provisional (as you state) or to walk back to the tee and and replay from there + 1-stroke penalty (stroke and distance). Apparently there is no option for dropping at all (if I read the rules correctly).

A couple of observations:

1) The assumption with the provisional ball use case is that you are pretty sure your ball is lost so you eat the penalty and go for your 3rd shot at the tee (unless you recover the original in which case you just play that and pick up the provisional with no penalty and extra shot). However, often times you really don't know until you get down to the landing area that your ball is lost. Depending on the thick of the rough or even having poor long distance vision, many balls might not be easily recoverable. So I guess you can take lots of provisionals, but then that could slow pace down as well (by hitting extra shots and fetching the extra balls all over the place ..).

2) I have never seen anyone return to the tee to re-do a shot. This is a completely unrealistic scenario that does not work on a real golf course. The courses are busy and often backed up. No way are you going to see this. This is where the conflict comes in to play between real world golf circumstances and "pure" scoring.

3) I believe the rule is flawed regardless as you should be able to 'drop' at the most likely landing area. One stroke penalty should suffice. Don't see why this should be treated much differently than water hazard penalty (1-stoke and behind the hazard)?