Marking your ball

[zeg]

Off the subject are you allowed to hit more than one provisional according to the rules? I know it does not say much for my golfing ability but I have hit a second provisional many times. It is awesome when you find your first ball

Yes, you are permitted to take as many provisionals as you need until you hit one that doesn't qualify for a provisional. For this purpose, the provisional is exactly the same as the original shot in that determination. IIRC, if your first provisional is not in the same area as your ball in play, you actually get a second 5 minute search after you give up on the first one (if they're likely in the same place, you only get the original five minutes).

I don't think I've ever needed more than a second and that's rare. Even if the provisionals are not visible, I figure by the time I've put three balls out there it'll be unlikely to lose all of them. But you definitely need to be able to distinguish the balls from each other, at least using different numbers.

[PS90]

I hope it's okay to reference a company on here (I am not promoting them or connected to them in any way), but has anyone tried the ball markers at www.tin-cup.com ?

I could see how some people might find them distracting, but they almost guarantee that no one else will have the same mark as you. Also, at $20 each, that may be kinda expensive, considering a dot with a sharpie is free.

[shades9323]

I write my wifes phone number on the ball to make sure it gets back to its rightfull place......................















































.....in her purse I

[Uncle Peter]

Phone numbers are a great idea, but has anyone here ever gotten their ball back after losing it?

[justincredible]

I just started adding a number to the 1,2,3, or 4 to reflect my favorite athletes.

1 becomes 11 for Barry Larkin
2 becomes 28 for Curtis Martin
3 becomes 39 for Aaron Harang
4 becomes 74 for Nick Mangold

Simple.

[Uncle Peter]

Know a guy who marks his ball with his initial's on it. Seems like a good idea.

[Korleone]

I mark mine with my initials. Fail proof, no questions asked as to whose ball it is.

I see balls all the time that are marked with 1,2 or 3 dots and it's always black or blue, so I guess one could probably be safe if they used other colors as has been mentioned earlier.

[Ktrap]

I use 3 little dots right under the number 2 than one below..I've never came across any other ball marked this way..