Should Lines On Ball Be Illegal?

[sjduffers]

21 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

Which part isn’t that?

All the brand markings, lines and my own red dots. The key was to get my eyes to look at the white dimples with no distractions. YMMV, of course.

6 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

I think he is referring to placing the ball down with no markings showing at all. I usually do this if I mark my ball, but sometimes I don't pay any attention to orientation.

Yup! 👍

[DrvFrShow]

Blue line all the way around the ball... makes it easier to find. I'm keeping it.

[CarlSpackler]

If you put two dots on your ball, that is a line. What if I put three dots forming a triangle that I can line up to the hole? Is that legal?

[dennyjones]

3 hours ago, CarlSpackler said:

If you put two dots on your ball, that is a line. What if I put three dots forming a triangle that I can line up to the hole? Is that legal?

If you use four dots to form a square, will it even roll?  🤪

[Bonvivant]

3 hours ago, CarlSpackler said:

If you put two dots on your ball, that is a line. What if I put three dots forming a triangle that I can line up to the hole? Is that legal?

Under the purposed rule I "made", it would be illegal. Everything this legal currently though.

I am actually quite happy with this thread. I learned lots and also was surprised to see that 8 other people on TST agreed with me.....maybe a first on both accounts. Cheers to all that have participated and continue to do so.

[dmnoland]

On 8/4/2020 at 11:43 PM, Zippo said:

 

I don't remember but, back in the day, did Byron Nelson, Palmer, Norman, Nicklaus and others line up a mark on their ball before putting or is that a more recent development? 

Jack has always promoted using an object for alignment like a divot, broken tee, ball mark on the green or even a leaf. Go watch Jacks tee shot on #16 at Augusta in 1986. He even re-teed because he was uncomfortable with the original alignment.

On 8/4/2020 at 2:29 PM, Double Mocha Man said:

Hopefully the folks on this site who use the lines on their ball for putting, lining the lines up 2-3 times see themselves in these threads... and stop!  You're slow and you're pissing the rest of us off (as golfing partners), legal or not legal. Line it up once.  When you get over the ball to putt and realize your friggin' lines are off by one-half degree just fix it on the fly in a subconscious change in your putting stroke.  All is good.  You weren't going to make it anyway.

I use the line on all putts over a foot. When I first started using the line I'll admit to taking a stance, doubting my line and re-lining it up a time or 2 which I'm sure frustrated my playing partners. I've just learned to trust the line since my first read of a green is usually right and my second guessing is almost always wrong.

Now if you are not a good green reader then you have no business using the line on the ball.

I just wish there was a gauge on the ball to tell me just how hard to hit the damn thing.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 minute ago, dmnoland said:

I just wish there was a gauge on the ball to tell me just how hard to hit the damn thing.

That's coming.  And a level with a bubble...

[CarlSpackler]

20 hours ago, dennyjones said:

If you use four dots to form a square, will it even roll?  🤪

That square “object” protruding from the ball would make it roll funny. 

[RickK]

I wish someone having lines on their ball was the most I had to worry about in golf.  I could care less.  It is not illegal, so it does not matter.  

[iacas]

15 minutes ago, RickK said:

I could care less. 

How much less?

[Darkfrog]

23 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

And a level with a bubble...

Kinda O.T.

Sometimes I get paired up with a threesome of older gentleman playing their weekly money game. One of the guys has a ball marker with a bubble level in it. I joked to the other two guys in his group that he was cheating and they replied that he needs all the help he can get. They were right, even with a tool that shows the slope of the surface, he was a terrible putter. 

[Carl3]

22 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

Kinda O.T.

Sometimes I get paired up with a threesome of older gentleman playing their weekly money game. One of the guys has a ball marker with a bubble level in it. I joked to the other two guys in his group that he was cheating and they replied that he needs all the help he can get. They were right, even with a tool that shows the slope of the surface, he was a terrible putter. 

Those are illegal. 

[RickK]

On 8/8/2020 at 6:30 PM, iacas said:

How much less?

oh...bout that much.  😃

I read all your comments on this thread.  Like you, way back when, I just lined up Titleist with the path I wanted the ball to travel on.  Later on, I came to realize that was mostly a waste of time for me.  I put personal markings on my ball for identification purposes but nothing to aid with alignment. 

Edited August 10, 2020 by RickK
add more

[iacas]

I like Laz just fine but his insistence that the line is an object is just dumb.

 

[IowaGreg]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 3:59 PM, dmnoland said:

Now if you are not a good green reader then you have no business using the line on the ball.

I just wish there was a gauge on the ball to tell me just how hard to hit the damn thing.

Marking the ball with a line illegal?  nawwwww

Agree that reading the green and the putting the correct speed on it will work so much better than any line on the ball.

You can use the line and hit the right putting line all day long and still keep missing because you hit it too soft or too hard.