The Driving Range at a PGA event?

[mrbillinoc]

The Driving Range at a PGA event.......what balls do they use?

At the professional level these guys are soo dialed into certain equipment do they use their own balls when warming up? When Phil and AK were playing alternate shot at the Ryder Cup there was no way for them to switck from a Callaway ball to a Nike ball unless it was on the tee...correct?

[Smallville]

The Driving Range at a PGA event.......what balls do they use?

For the answer to the Ryder Cup question:

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17454 For the ball questions, the Senior Tour event I went to in Kansas City, they had balls stacked up (in a pyramid shape) at all the stations at the range. The players just went up and picked a station and hit. Then later another would come by and hit from the same station with the balls that were left, and so on. So I would say, no, they do not use their ball when warming up. They might have stacks of different kinds of balls though for the pros, but I'd guess not.

[Harry Longshanks]

Yes, they have the specific balls for each pro.

Somewhere on some forum a couple of years ago, someone posted pictures of the pyramids and a sort of "dispensary" where the caddies (maybe it was volunteers) picked up balls from huge bins labeled with the name of the specific ball and set them up in the pyramid at the specific pro's range station.

It was really cool.

[907golfer12]

Yeah, like Harry said, when I was at the Mercedes-Benz Championship this year they had volunteers (mainly teenagers) who would run the ball to the player, and they were the same ball that they normally play, like the kid ran Pro V1's (or x's can't remember) to Zach Johnson when he came to the range, it was pretty cool.

[Smallville]

The tournament I am talking about was a Senior event about 1996 or so. I suppose they probably did the same thing there too as you two have discussed. I never saw it though, I just saw the pyramids of balls and the pros hitting them. Didn't stick around the range long enough to see them put new stacks out. We spent most of the time out on the course, a lot of it around a Par 3 hole.

[907golfer12]

I watched the range on a practice round day, and then on tourney days I follow groups.

[goblue107501]

At Nationwide events they all use one ball. This year it was the Bridgestone B-330. The last few years have been Nike One balls. They are all in perfect condition so I don't know if they take them from event to event or if they get a new batch every stop.

[Young Golf Prodigy]

The Driving Range at a PGA event.......what balls do they use?

I go to firestone every year so i can tell you. each ball company, whether it be aschunet (titleist), srixon, callaway, taylor made, etc. each bring whatever ball that the player plays to that event. They give them the balls, they hit them, they collect them when they are done and sort them out. Then the second round occurs, and the third, etc. Pack it up after they are done and the balls are quickly incinerated for not being worthy of being struck by the pros (maybe I exaggerated at the end?). Hope that calms your mind.