When Do You Retire a Ball?

[phedrick]

I am getting to the point where I no longer loose multiple balls per round...(whewwwww).I have heard that at some point a ball should be retired. How do you know when that time arrives?

[Vinsk]

34 minutes ago, phedrick said:

I am getting to the point where I no longer loose multiple balls per round...(whewwwww).I have heard that at some point a ball should be retired. How do you know when that time arrives?

Hello there. Well you’ve done it now. Asking such a question instills confidence the Golf Gods will not take lightly. That being said I’m sure a Google search will lead you to a satisfactory idea. Just know you were warned here! I wish you all the best and hopefully the Golf Gods will show mercy. Cheers! 

At your own risk:

Hot List Golf Balls: How long should a ball last? - Golf Digest

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Ball cores are commonly designed to withstand at least 100 strikes at 125 miles per hour before cracking...

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Vinsk

[David in FL]

I begin each round with a new ball.  

If it survives the round, and is generally scuff free, it goes into the bottom of the bag.  If I lose a ball, I pull a 1-round ball from that stash and continue.  Scuffed balls come out of play completely and go into the shag bag.  

I could certainly play a single ball for multiple rounds quite a bit, but I enjoy the ritual of pulling, and marking a new ball at the beginning of a new round.  With all the hopes, aspirations, and possibilities that it represents  As it is, I’ve reached a sort of equilibrium where the one new ball each round keeps a good supply of quality replacement balls available even by culling the scuffed ones.  

[Groucho Valentine]

I generally don't get more than 9 holes with one ball in tournament play. I usually take a chunk out of one or two every round. But for rec play ill often use the same ball for the whole round, even if i do take a chunk out of one with a full wedge or something. 

 

[CarlSpackler]

They tend to retire themselves. 😟

[PerfectStriking]

Mine run away long before I ever ask them to retire

[mcanadiens]

Most golf balls are murdered by my back-stabbing, son-of-a-bitch driver. It's method is generally drowning them.

For the rare survivors, retirement usually comes when there is a crack in the cover that I can actually feel with my fingers. Most commonly this is caused by a tree or cart path.

Slight imperfections don't warrant resorting to a new ball. Even the cheap ones cost money. But if you can feel it with your finger you know it  will do some goofy things in the air.

 

 

[DeadMan]

I take a ball out of play when it has a visible scuff on it. I normally lose the ball before that happens, but I have been saving more balls the past few years.

The scuffed balls go in my shag bag.

[Patch]

I seldom lose a ball any more. I retired my ball retriever a few decades ago.

I start every round with a brand new ball. Assuming I don't damage it, or actually lose it, I will play it the whole round. I have actually used the same ball for 36 holes, which I don't recommend. (I was playing well and didn't want to change anything)

At the end of the round, the used gamer goes into the ball compartment on my golf bag.

If I lose a ball, or it becomes unplayable during a round, I replace it with used gamer to finish up that round. 

When that ball compartment gets too full, I cull those excess balls into one of my shag sticks/bags.

Once I acquire more used balls than I need, I donate the excess ones to the driving range guy. 

 

[Shindig]

Lately:  new ball for tournament rounds, reuse a ball for casual rounds, cycle it out when it's too scruffed.  At one point I was just cycling out at 36 holes, but that'd make me put a new ball into play on some casual rounds.  I have so many, though, so maybe I should ... 

[Piz]

I used to retire golf balls that had taken part in a memorable event.  After a while though...the trophy ball collection begins to pale and the heroes of yesteryear wind up in a box, somewhere, that you happen across while looking for something else.  

More to the topic...I play them until circumstances dictate that we part ways.  If a golf ball is that determined to stay in the game; I can accept that it isn't going to look like it just showed up.

[geo63]

Always use a new ball to start a round.   If I lose it I take a loose ball left from a previous round. 

[LightsOut]

Any scuff, scratch, or ding will dramatically affect the ball flight because of the high rpm's we're dealing with.  Stains and discoloration are fine.  

[BogeySwine]

The course we play a lot has a big container of new or gently used golf balls on a table in the pro shop. If I play a ball for two rounds and it is in very good shape I donate it so someone else may have some luck with it! 

[SteveH]

I can only dream.......

[xrayvizhen]

Slightly off topic, but I find there two kinds of golf balls.

There are some balls that just refuse to be retired. These guys, no matter how bad a shot I hit, will smack a tree or two, bounce off the cart path and rebound onto the fairway. Or they'll take two or three skips off a pond and end up on the edge in the grass. This will happen multiple times to the same ball! It's like they just don't want to die. I recently had a well used ball clank off a foot bridge that crossed a drainage ditch and ricochet into the side of an oak, rebound onto a cart path and ended up in the short rough from which I hit a nice 8-iron 3' from the hole and made the putt for a birdie.  I grow attached to these kinds of balls and generally reward them by continuing to play them, sometimes as many as 36 holes or more, until they're just so scuffed and beat up that I can hear them whistle off the tee, at which point they'll go into a side pocket of my bag and end up in the bucket of practice balls in my garage...what I like to think of as a comfortable retirement home for golf balls. 

Then...there are the other kind of balls, usually brand new, that head off of to parts unknown on the first tee, never to be seen again.

 

[Sandy Divot]

When they decide to go for a swim.

[WUTiger]

On 7/8/2019 at 8:19 AM, CarlSpackler said:

They tend to retire themselves. 😟

I have trouble with objects damaging the ball during play. ...

~ Approach shot lands pin high 5 yards to left of green and bounces along cart path.
~ Punch shot bounces off metal stake marking Ground Under Repair near green, leaving mini-gash.
~ Ball rolls up against smoldering cigar butt on edge of fairway, spot-melting the cover.

If the scuff will affect putting I retire the ball.

Edited October 24, 2019 by WUTiger
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