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Tip of the day: Mark your golf ball

Divot Tool

By Divot Tool,
in Golf Talk

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Divot Tool Well Established Member

Divot Tool

So I got out Friday and played a morning nine with some buddies. Get to the par 5 5th. I teed up a brand new 'out of the sleeve' Bridgestone 2 e5+ and hung it out to the right about 10 yards off the fairway. Please note that I'm usually pretty anal (obsessive compulsive) about marking my balls in a particular way, however on this particular day I did not have them marked because . . . well let's just say I procrastinated. Secondly, for those who are familiar with Bridgestone golf balls, they all have the Bridgestone Logo and number below with the particular model stamped on the side.

So I'm walking towards where my ball came down roughly (in the right rough), eyes peeled and AHA I found it.... my Bridgestone 2 or so I thought.

Subconsciously, it does register that

1) this Bridgestone 2 is somewhat used and slightly more yellow than normal which I thought was strange for a ball that was just introduced to grass. However, I had already pulled my hybrid and was going through my routine and didn't think too much of it. Besides, what are the odds of someone playing a Bridgestone 2 ? very unlikely, or so I thought.

and 2) I thinking....hmm I swear I thought I hit it further than this! I'm usually even with the bunkers on the right. I do note that it's a good 30 yards short of the bunkers. Oh well, I think to myself...I did hit a little push slice off the tee. Whatever!

Anyways, I hit my shot, enamored by the flight and sound of impact....just short of the green. Good ball I'm thinking.

So as I walk up the fairway feeling all confident, my buddy points to a ball just up ahead of me. I get to the ball and sure enough...."Oh Sh*t, a Bridgestone 2 " but this one has the e5+ marking. It is at this point that I realize my wrongdoing. Now I know for a fact that this is my ball. I tell my playing partners and then proceed to hit this ball.

I get to the initial ball and upon further inspection it read Bridgestone 2 with a B330 marking on its side. I assess a 2 stroke penalty and make a double bogey 7. Ouch.

Moral of the story: Mark your balls.


Thanks for reading.

You don't know what pressure is until you've played for five dollars a hole with only two in your pocket - Lee Trevino

MP-600 @ 10.5°
Insight BUL 3-wood @ 15°
Insight BUL 5-wood @ 18° IDEA a2 4i Hybrid @ 23° MX-25 5-PW MP-R Series 52° > 50°/05° MP-R Series 54°/10° MP-R...
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Paz Established Member

Paz

Obviously if it was a serious round of golf you would indeed take the penalty but you didn't in anyway affect the outcome of your original ball. All you did was take ONE extra practice swing. Penalty worthy? In a casual round, I don't think so.

I can take practice swings at rocks, does that give me a penalty? Actually it may in some situations. haha but you get what im saying.

It's kind of similar to hitting a provisional off the tee only to find your first ball in play. You just got another free swing.

But yeah, definitely mark your ball. I mark my b330-s by simply shading in the B and O in Bridgestone as well as the O in Golf with a green sharpie. It looks kinda cool and there's no actual dot on my ball.

Best 9 holes: 35 (Trilogy at Redmond Ridge, 3163y, Par 35/70, 70.0/131)
Best 18: [b]77[b] (Palm Valley CC, 6545y, 71.4/126)
Notable career achievement: I have NEVER four-putt.

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James_Black Great Member

James_Black

I know a friend who was playing in the Munster Finals, strokeplay.
He didn't mark his ball and he and his opponent played each others ball.

They both parred the hole (5) BUT had to go back to take a 2 stroke penalty for each shot they took with each other's ball.
He ended up getting a 13.
ouch.
I'm not sure about that ruling but that's what the official said.

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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jamo Incredible Member

jamo

Yessir, great advice. I high school tournaments we've had this lose matches for people, playing the wrong ball. I mark mine with a black line through the "PentaTP" and two green dots surrounding each number.

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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Divot Tool Well Established Member

Divot Tool

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Obviously if it was a serious round of golf you would indeed take the penalty but you didn't in anyway affect the outcome of your original ball. All you did was take ONE extra practice swing. Penalty worthy? In a casual round, I don't think so. . .

I suppose I could have not told anyone and just carried on

But that's just not me. . . I try for the most part to play the game by the rules. Peace.
You don't know what pressure is until you've played for five dollars a hole with only two in your pocket - Lee Trevino

MP-600 @ 10.5°
Insight BUL 3-wood @ 15°
Insight BUL 5-wood @ 18° IDEA a2 4i Hybrid @ 23° MX-25 5-PW MP-R Series 52° > 50°/05° MP-R Series 54°/10° MP-R...
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MSchumacher Established Member

MSchumacher

Been there, done that

Did it in a friendly tournament on the 18th hole. Would have been my best score of 83 but resulted in an 85.

Tour Burner 9.5 Aldila NV65R
MP-57 3-PW R300
588 SW 54
588 LW 60

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zeg Great Member

zeg

I carry a black sharpie marker and just scrawl a big "J" (my first initial) on the blank patch on the ball opposite where the alignment aid thing is on most balls these days. I usually do this for my ball and two spares at the start of the round, but keep the sharpie handy in case I need to pull out additional spares later. It's reassuring to be able to be *sure* that I've found *my* ball.

In the bag:
FT-iQ 10° driver, FT 21° neutral 3H
T-Zoid Forged 15° 3W, MX-23 4-PW
Harmonized 52° GW, Tom Watson 56° SW, X-Forged Vintage 60° LW
White Hot XG #1 Putter, 33"

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SpoiledRotten Well Established Member

SpoiledRotten

My initials go on all of mine with a permanent marker. I've got several balls in my bag with other people's initials on them as well, so it must be pretty common. No, I didn't pick up their balls on the course. Found them in ditches, creeks, high grass. I even dug one up this past weekend that had been run over by the grounds equipment.

In my bag:
Driver X460 TOUR OPTIFIT 10.5* Graphite
FW 3W BIG BERTHA DIABLO 13* Graphite
FW 5W BIG BERTHA DIABLO 18* Graphite
Irons X-22 IRONS 5 - PW & SW GraphitePutter Odyssey Dual Force Rossie IIUnder my bag: 2007 EZGO ~ Customized

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IceDave Well Established Member

IceDave

Also use my initials on mine, it is frustrating to incur an penalty for such a simple thing as marking your golfball. Playing unmarked balls also can get you into a lost ball situation if 2 play similar balls, that has happened when I was playing. They couldn't identify who had what ball, ergo they had to go back to the tee box and fire number 3 from there.

In my bag:Driver: 910D2, 10.25˚, Aldila RIP, Fairway: 904F, 15˚, YS-6FW+ Stiff, Hybrid: Titleist 910H, Irons: S-58, 4-PW, DG S300, Wedges: Wishon 52˚, 56˚, Putter: Odyssey Black series i 1

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SpoiledRotten Well Established Member

SpoiledRotten

Plus, when we do the Saturday morning scramble at the club, a bucket full of balls are thrown out on the practice green to decide the foursomes. Wouldn't work too well if your golf ball wasn't personalized.

In my bag:
Driver X460 TOUR OPTIFIT 10.5* Graphite
FW 3W BIG BERTHA DIABLO 13* Graphite
FW 5W BIG BERTHA DIABLO 18* Graphite
Irons X-22 IRONS 5 - PW & SW GraphitePutter Odyssey Dual Force Rossie IIUnder my bag: 2007 EZGO ~ Customized

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Crey23 Dedicated Member

Crey23

I don't like markings...but I use this:

x x
---

I know it's mine and reminds me to relax!
It's the indian, not the arrow! But it sure is nice to have good arrows!!!!!

Driver : r7 Limited 9.5* Matrix Ozik X-Con 5.5 (Reg) | Fairway: 906F4 15.5* (Reg) | Hybrids: DWS Baffler 3/R 20* (Reg) & Baffler Rail H 4-H 22* (Reg) | Irons: AP1 5-G (Reg) | Wedges: SW - SM56-10 & LW - SM60-04 | Putter:.....
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plugged Dedicated Member

plugged

I never used to mark my balls, but since I have started doing so, my life on the course is much easier. On any given day, I usually have about 20-30 different balls in my bag (my father gave me about 400 like-new used balls a couple of years ago) and I typically don't even remember what ball I am playing, so marking them is essential.

Driver: Burner 10.5 deg
5W: R7 18 deg
3H: Idea Tech
4-PW: MP-57
GW: Vokey 52 degSW: 56 degLW: 60 degPutter: Black Series 1 34"Ball: Pro V1

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DaSportsGuy Great Member

DaSportsGuy

You'd be suprised at how many people don't mark their ball. I live right down the street from my home course. Take my bike up there every night and search the woods' for balls. I've got over 2,000, most of which are unmarked.

Career Bests:

9 Holes--37 @ The Fairways at Arrowhead-Front(+2)

18 Holes--80 @ Carroll Meadows Golf Course(+9)

 

Home Course:

1) The Fairways at Arrowhead

2) Mayfair Country Club

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longdrive23 Well Established Member

longdrive23

Whats worse is two people playing the the same brand ball. What happened to me: Me and the other person tee off, both go left, mine is stops somewhere just off the fairway, i remember the area where it ended, the other shot is hooked worse, but along the same line. Both search for the ball, I found one (mine), just off the fairway. The other person comes running and claims it as theirs and argument starts. There is no way to resolve this other than marking the ball!!

Since then, I've always been marking the ball.
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armandoartist Established Member

armandoartist

Yup, I was playing and I hooked it left into a fence and was sure it would be just on the edge of the fence and grass. My playing partner (stranger) was helping me look for my ball and it wasn’t marked and we would pick up balls and realize they were not mine. So then I went back and re-hit. Well a couple holes later he needs an extra ball and tells me to get one for him from the cart, only to find my exact scuffed up ball that I was playing with. I told him hey you picked up my ball back there!? He said "That's why you should mark it" since then I always mark it with 3 red dots. But really you couldn’t show me what you picked up to verify if it was my ball? Dang!!

MB 710 Iron Set 5-PW Blades Steel Shafts,
Vokey Design Spin Milled Wedges 52,56,60
hybore 2iH, 3iH, 5W, Driver XL, Putter
Balls "Pro V1's", " Callaway Warbirds"
Career Low Round: 79

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  • 2 weeks later...
Colinb913 Well Established Member

Colinb913

Me and a buddy were playing, and we were marking balls the night before (Yeah, a ball marking party). Anyways, apparently he used the same diamond configuration that I do. So I accidently played his ball, and he played mine. Thats right. Two guys, same ball, same marking. Since then, I just use a big CB on the side of my ball, so I know indefiently that its mine.

Live, Breath, Golf.
My Home
FT-3 8.5* Driver
X22's
2i Hybrid 3i Hybrid 55* Wedge 60* Wedge PutterWhen Tiger puts spin on the ball, the ball does not hit the green and then spin back, the ball hits the green and the world spins forward.

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Bullitt5339 Great Member

Bullitt5339

I'm guilty of not marking my ball, but to be honest, I play with the same guys every time, and I'm the only one who plays Srixons, especially the Soft Feel Srixons. My other partners play Pentas, Pro V1's, Callaway Tour i, and one that plays Nike. It makes it really easy when you've been playing with the same ball and the same people for a year who have always played the same ball. I think I'm the only one on my golf course that plays the Soft Feels, because I've run into about every ball possible on the course, but never a Srixon Soft Feel.
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Slammin' Sam Well Established Member

Slammin' Sam

I've been playing Noodle Easy Distance balls and they're so new that nobody else at the small course at which I play has them...yet!
My Implements of Destruction (carried in a Hoofer Lite bag):

DRIVER: Big Bertha Diablo 10 degree draw, Aldila regular flex
FAIRWAY WOODS: G2 14 degree 3 wood & 17 degree 5 wood
IRONS: S59 3-PWWEDGES: M/B 54, 58, & 60 degree PUTTER: I Series Anser 4 (or G5i Anser, Anser 2F, or original...
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