How many balls?

[joekelly]

On average, how many balls will a pro use during one tourney round?  And i'm not picking on John Daly but i have heard that he hit 8 into the same pond so i guess they might carry a dozen.  And some guys on the Balls forum claim that their new pro ball is ruined after 2 wedge shots. Any real info?

[k-troop]

Phil always uses both of his--typically several times per round.

[joekelly]

Are you telling us that Phil only carries 2 golf balls.  Or are making some kind of reference to Phil's testicles?

[dsc123]

Daly hit 7 into the pond, then walked off the course because he ran out.  So in that case, I would say 7 balls.

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/john-daly-runs-out-of-balls-during-tournament-walks-off-after-tin-cup-esque-hole?urn=golf,wp6786

[lumpuckeroo]

Back in the day, when balata balls ruled, I know that the big hitting pros, like Daly, would only hit a ball once with a driver.  So for the most part, a ball was only played for 2 holes.  With today's ball they don't have to worry about knocking them out of round like a balata ball, but they can still shave them, so they will play several balls in one round.  Of course, if they run out of balls, someone will just go back to the locker room and get more for them, so it's not like they have to worry about running out of balls.

And really far back in the day, it was reported that Mr. Hogan would take a dozen balls and hit each one, he could tell upon impact which ones were imperfect and would put them in the shag bag, keeping the balls that were best for tournament play.  That generation would have to play a ball as long as possible, they didn't get them as freely as the pros do today.

[zipazoid]

I've heard a pro never uses the same ball for more than three holes. So that means a minimum of 6. My guess would be, since they usually come packaged by the dozen, that that's what they carry - a dozen. Don't the ball manufacturers put like 3-4 dz in a player's locker before each tournament? If so, then I can picture the pro grabbing a box as he heads out the locker room to play his round for the day.