Tip of the day: Mark your golf ball

[motteler621]

i had this happen last week. Both of us were playing titleist prov1 number 1 balls, we were playing against each other too and end up hitting our drives right next to each other, but one is under a tree with no shot, lol.

[zeg]

i had this happen last week. Both of us were playing titleist prov1 number 1 balls, we were playing against each other too and end up hitting our drives right next to each other, but one is under a tree with no shot, lol.

I think you mean both were back at the tee hitting 3.....

[motteler621]

I think you mean both were back at the tee hitting 3.....

yea i dont know the exact rule, but I think he said it was a two stroke penalty on both of us or something, we just both hit from the same spot.

[zeg]

yea i dont know the exact rule, but I think he said it was a two stroke penalty on both of us or something, we just both hit from the same spot.

If your ball cannot be identified with certainty, it is considered lost, so the proper play would be to go back and hit from the last spot with a stroke-and-distance penalty (Ruling 27/10). In an informal round, I'd be inclined to do what you did, though.

[Fourputt]

If your ball cannot be identified with certainty, it is considered lost, so the proper play would be to go back and hit from the last spot with a stroke-and-distance penalty (Ruling 27/10). In an informal round, I'd be inclined to do what you did, though.

Yep... both balls are "lost".

I mark every ball I play with my initials, small letters above the logo on one side and below the logo on the other side. I've been marking them for so long that I can't stand to play with an unmarked ball any more. I keep 2 different colored Sharpies in the ball pocket in my bag. I play in about 15 competitions a year, and I've seen many times where a player was saved a penalty solely because he could positively identify his ball. It's such a litte thing to do for insurance.

[zeg]

I mark every ball I play with my initials, small letters above the logo on one side and below the logo on the other side. I've been marking them for so long that I can't stand to play with an unmarked ball any more. I keep 2 different colored Sharpies in the ball pocket in my bag.

I recently started, just stuck a Sharpie in my bag so I wouldn't have an excuse not to. On the balls I play, there's a blank spot between the logos on the side opposite the aiming mark. I put my first initial there so I can always tee it up so that I don't see the mark (it distracts me). When searching, or even in the fairway, it's really nice to look for the "J" on the side of the ball and know for sure that I've got the right one. It's also nice to be able to tell playing partners how to find my ball; with Bridgestones it's not so hard since they're still relatively rare, but when I play a Titleist, half the balls you find are also Titleist...

For provisionals, I just make sure the balls have different numbers and I try to always play the lower number that I'm carrying as my first ball. When I get a new pack of balls, step one is to rearrange all the sleeves so that they have 3 different numbers in each one. Maybe it's a bit OCD, but it's a lot more useful than having 3 balls with the same number...

[Paradox]

I mark my ball with two red stripes on each side of the "pro V1" A.I.M. marking. When I tee it up, I put the lines at the back where I will hit it with the club...then I can tell what kind of contact I made with the ball.

[MrOuch]

Anybody tried one of these? They are kind of expensive, but they do look cool.
http://www.tin-cup.com