Are you a 'new' ball snob?

[Robiola the Monster]

I'm a total non-snob. As long as it's round, isn't scuffed up, and it's white, I'll use it. I pay about 11 cents each for my golf balls. When they get scuffed up I toss 'em in my shag bag, which I end up giving to my buddies since they're all incredibly cheap and poor, and I don't want to give them my good balls because they all lose 10-20 balls a round.

10-20 balls a round.... 20 balls a round thats more than 1 ball a hole. My mates little brother doesnt lose that many in 72 holes.

I tee off with a new B330-S or Pro-V1x every 9 holes and if i lose it in that 9 i'l grab an old B330 or Pro-V1 to finish that 9.

[nykfan4life]

excuse my ignorance, but whats a shag bag?

[snaphook]

I like to tee up a new ball on hole #1... after that I rarely take a ball out of play.

[lamebums]

10-20 balls a round.... 20 balls a round thats more than 1 ball a hole. My mates little brother doesnt lose that many is 72 holes. .

Consecutive shots out of bounds and consecutive water balls will do that to a man. Especially at the course we play - it's only $25 for all you can golf with a cart on Wednesdays, but the course is so tight that...there's cabbage, woods, or OB in play on every hole. It leads to a lot of lost balls, no matter how good you are. Unless you hit the ball straight as an arrow.

excuse my ignorance, but whats a shag bag?

A bag where you put all the "shags" - scuffed up balls, old balls, those that aren't good enough for play.

[Robiola the Monster]

Consecutive shots out of bounds and consecutive water balls will do that to a man. Especially at the course we play - it's only $25 for all you can golf with a cart on Wednesdays, but the course is so tight that...there's cabbage, woods, or OB in play on every hole. It leads to a lot of lost balls, no matter how good you are. Unless you hit the ball straight as an arrow.

Still 20 balls a round. You might want to invest in those balls that have little trackers in them and you get a palm pilot thing that directs yo to your ball.

Do you look for the balls when you hit them OB or into the woods? The course i play has alot of water but i never seem to see many people hit into them & i bought one of those ball retriever things & i go around to all the water hazards and theres never any balls in there it sucks! Someone must like run around taking all the balls.

[lamebums]

Still 20 balls a round. You might want to invest in those balls that have little trackers in them and you get a palm pilot thing that directs yo to your ball.

The course we play at is a real goat farm. It's about 40 miles away from any real civilization, down in Kentucky, and is actually surrounded by farms. The woods here are too dense to bother searching, and on holes with open OB areas, it's surrounded by chicken wire, so any excursion into the farmer's ranch would be a painful one.

If you invent a ball that cries out when it gets lost - just like golfers - you can retire early. As to water, my game was so bad last year I had to have my ball retriever regripped. Need I say any more?

[Golfer7945]

Everardo, I am very impressed with the contents of your golf bag, great selection of equipment.

[Golfer7945]

I suppose if I had the money to burn, I might be as rigid as some of the posters here, but I know from experience that a new ball does NOT perform any better than one with 18 holes behind it, as long as it's not damaged. I rarely use "found" balls, so what's in my bag started as new. When they get scuffed, they go into the "used" pocket and get transferred into my shag bag, but as long as a ball is in good shape, I'll play it until I lose it.

Ditto! I really get a thrill out of using the same ball for 36 holes... It does not happen very often (about 1 weekend per month depending on choice of golf course) .... I hate asphalt cart paths urrgh... and pine trees are fairly tough on golf balls as well! Oh well! BTW I love it when my shag bag has a good amount of balls with my mark on them... what about you guy's?

[Jeepthrills]

I am a semi ball snob. Just not the way the poll asks. I only use certain balls, but thats because it's what I am used to and like to hit. I don't often buy new balls. My wifes uncle is a barber and has a customer that sells used balls. He trades a haircut for 2 dozen balls. He usually gives me a dozen every month or so. I have a standing order for ProV1's when they come in. The guy sells balls for $5 a dozen. I would never buy a dozen new ProV1's. Even when I'm playing well, it would hurt too much to send $4 deep into the woods. I have a dozen Nike Juice balls and a dozen DT SoLo's still in the sleeves in my truck in case I need them. I bought one of the boxes and the other was a gift.

[tejama]

My buddies always laugh at me and my used Pro V1s...they think I purposely look for the discolored and dirtier balls. But in any case, I get the feel of Pro-v at a discount price...so I can take a few of their jokes. In any case, I can't remember the last time I bought a new pack of golf balls.

[Jeepthrills]

In all reality, once you hit your first tee shot of the day it's a used ball anyway.

[fluxcapacitor]

Good point jeepthrills. I guess I'm a semi snob. I never go to the course w/o a couple of unused sleeves of balls. I do use my old balls if there is water in front of the tee box though...I still can't seem to block the water out 100% of the time.

[tm22721]

It takes a lot of balls to play the way I do.

I lose about 6 balls per round, a thousand a year. Since I found a source of brand new Top Flight XLs (logos) in volume for 23 cents each, I don't waste much time looking for them anymore.

[bogeyme]

I voted semi snob.

I've always started a new round with a new ball. I usually lose a sleeve of balls a round too. If I'm lucky I'll only lose 1 or 2 balls a round. It's not that I have the money to burn but for some reason I just like to use a new ball to start out with. I'm still trying to use up a dozen balls that I got for Christmas a few years ago and a couple that I bought real cheap. If I don't lose the ball it goes in the bag and will be used again probably the next round after I lose a couple of balls. I usually carry 3 new sleeves of balls with me in my bag. After I lose my first sleeve I will use a ball I have played with previously. I usually only play maybe 5 times a year so I'm not using up a whole lot of new balls in a year.

[shortgame85]

I voted semi snob. I like to start with a new ball. However, if I lose that ball, I reach into my bag and pull out another ball, usually used. What I do prefer is to use the same brand and type ball I am replacing, i.e. replace a Callaway Hot X with a Callaway Hot X, etc.

[Stuart]

I like to start a round with a new ball or a new looking ball. If its been hit a few times but doesn't have any marks on it, that's fine too.

[Quinn07]

Definitely need to use a new ball on the first tee. Depending on how Im playing dictates if I keep grabbing new ones out or not. If I dont lose the ball the entire round then that ball plays 18 holes with me. I dont switch balls just to switch them. Although I always play the same brand ball througout the round whether old or new.

I am the exact way. If I can keep the same ball the whole round, then that usually means I am having a pretty good round and I don't want to change anything.

[mikelz]

If I have a ball that survived a few rounds, I play it until the paint comes off.