Playing With New Balls

[djake]

2 hours ago, Patch said:

Idk about the 90%, but I kind of agree, that alot balls found are still playable.

It stands to reason that when finding a ball, previously lost by someone else, the golfer is looking for the ball they just lost anyways. That might mean the found ball is just as playable as the one the golfer lost. This in relation to that golfer's swing.swing.

At any rate, found, lost balls, that are not still rolling, make decent  practice balls. 

On another note, I think all golfers should play a beat up range ball from time, to time. Then compare it's playability with their new gamers. That will tell them something about ball selection. 

Um, so if they haven't stopped rolling should you put them into play immediately?

[Patch]

1 hour ago, djake said:

Um, so if they haven't stopped rolling should you put them into play immediately?

Only if it's your ball, you were able to catch up with it, and no one else is looking. 

[Osnola]

I'm a retired old man also (70)...I shoot about 90 and always play a new ball at the start of each round.  You can tell by my score that I do not usually finish with the same ball I start with.  Depending on the course and how I feel that day, I will lose from 2-4 balls a round.  I do not play the more expensive balls, but play the Wilson Duo.  Works for me performance and price wise...

[Double Mocha Man]

19 minutes ago, Osnola said:

I'm a retired old man also (70)...I shoot about 90 and always play a new ball at the start of each round.  You can tell by my score that I do not usually finish with the same ball I start with.  Depending on the course and how I feel that day, I will lose from 2-4 balls a round.  I do not play the more expensive balls, but play the Wilson Duo.  Works for me performance and price wise...

I do not consider anyone an old man until they reach the age of 85.  I am a young man but on occasion I play with a gentleman who is 89.  He can hit that ball pretty good!  And he is sharp in conversation.

[ChetlovesMer]

My balls will be 50 years old next year, and I have no plans to replace them..... hmmm... maybe a misunderstood the topic of th his thread. 

[billchao]

2 hours ago, Patch said:

Only if it's your ball, you were able to catch up with it, and no one else is looking. 

Ok, Phil 😜

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

My balls will be 50 years old next year, and I have no plans to replace them..... hmmm... maybe a misunderstood the topic of th his thread. 

I got 10 years on ya!

[Patch]

12 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

My balls will be 50 years old next year, and I have no plans to replace them..... hmmm... maybe a misunderstood the topic of th his thread. 

Some where in this post there has to be a latent, humorous meaning about one's putter. 

14 hours ago, Osnola said:

I'm a retired old man also (70)...I shoot about 90 and always play a new ball at the start of each round.  You can tell by my score that I do not usually finish with the same ball I start with.  Depending on the course and how I feel that day, I will lose from 2-4 balls a round.  I do not play the more expensive balls, but play the Wilson Duo.  Works for me performance and price wise...

I will turn 70 in a few weeks. I lost a lot of balls 6 decades ago. Poorer ball/club technology back then is my guess....... 😀

[Double Mocha Man]

27 minutes ago, Patch said:

Some where in this post there has to be a latent, humorous meaning about one's putter. 

😀

I don't know about yours but my putter is 33 inches long.

[Patch]

4 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I don't know about yours but my putter is 33 inches long.

Mine weighs 900 grams. 

[rehmwa]

Never play new balls.  One less thing to worry about.  I'll always find balls on any round.  Numbers are wildly all over depending on pace of play, conditions, if it's a penal course, and how much I'm just waiting around for slow players, and if I'm in the mood.  I once found 150 in one round and still played a 3 hour round (slow 4 some in front of me, I was hitting fairways, and empty course behind me, it was a very penal course with lots of woods.  It's easy to find clusters, just hit a good drive park the cart, then back up about 40 yards and look for a tall cluster of trees, usually a collection is scattered just short of them.  Walk up the tree line and find a handful more and come out even with the cart and unload.  Still waiting on the people on the green......  Lots of little scenarios like that).

I clean them and throw away anything that's not absolutely pristine (or donate those to the local ranges that allow me to).  That varies a lot, but usually a little over half meet my standards.  There is absolutely no reason to keep anything that isn't perfect - there are so many.

I'll never need a ball, none of my friends will either.

I keep ProV's for me, Chrome Softs for me when it's cold, and Supersofts for the wife.  I'm about to donate a couple thousand of the other brands to the local high school team so they are stocked for spring.

 

 

My putter has a mallet shape on the end and mild kink in the middle - Dr says I should've likely kept a cover on it more when i was younger....

Edited October 3, 2019 by rehmwa

[BogeySwine]

I have found so many golf balls in excellent condition in past years that I haven't played a new ball for many years. I give most of them to a junior program at a course I rarely play. There must be a lot of golfers who play late into the evening as almost every early morning round I play we find at least a dozen good balls along the fairways and rough in plain sight! 

[Bonvivant]

When I was a child, one of my favorite past times was to go out to the local CC and rake up all the balls (mostly ProV because it was a very expensive CC) with my buddy. Most days it was more than 2 dozen, and we did this almost every day. We would get back to one of our homes and clean all the balls we found. After we cleaned them we would sort them by brand, model and perceived quality, and then just pick back and forth. I just wish I had the time I did back then to pick all those sweet balls out of the rough. Sometimes we would forgo the first 12-24 picks to sell them back to guys on a tee box that lined a public road. Pocket money and great balls for a couple of kids.

Nowadays I typically play new, unless I find one that catches my fancy out on the course. I would be lying if I told you that I could tell the difference, but as you get better and you lose less balls you don't mind paying for them brand new as much