golf ball wear - how much is too much?

[FireDragon76]

Today I found some old golf Top Flite X-outs in the bottom of a golf bag so I decided to try them out on the putting green at the driving range.  So far I have only been hitting range balls, and I wanted to bring some of my own balls for practicing on the greens.    Compared to the range balls they were nice to practice chipping- they seemed to have more bounce and worked very well for practicing bump and run with a 7 iron.  But the surface of the ball I was using was worn- the yellowed finish had worn off in many places.    I also found a Titleist ball that says "DT wound" (I don't even think wound balls are used much in golf anymore?), with only one little nick.

OK... my question is, when is the wear on a golf ball too much for practice or play, where does one draw the line?    The greens I was chipping and putting on were slow (it took a bit more than a tap to get them moving in a 4 foot put) so perhaps the ball wear makes no difference?

[RayG]

External ball wear shouldn't be TOO much on an issue for putting and chipping. Although, if you are trying some of those "skip-check" type of shots, the deterioration of the skin will affect spin. But if you have balls that are worn/old and try and use them for full shots, not only will the flight be affected because of the bad surface, but the INTERNAL components have degraded over time and this can affect ball flight just as much. Everyone's been at a range where the balls are a bit old and smoothed- you get some fancy knuckling out there sometimes. Just imagine a ball with worn dimples AND degraded insides. Might as well play a putt-putt ball.

[davechen]

DT Wound?  Wow! That's an oldie.  Those are going to spin a lot more than a modern ball.  Fine for chipping, but not so good for slices and hooks.  Wound meant a wound rubber core.  That rubber could degrade over time.

[Patch]

Shelf life is long term to my thinking. I recently played balls that were 3-4 years old and still in their original sleeves.  They played as well as anything new I purchased.

As for when is ball worn out, obviously it depends on how many times it has been clobbered by a golf club. How many buildings, block walls, or trees it has been bounced off. I let my round tell me when to change. 99% of the time I will always start with a brand new ball. If I have low scoring first 9 (for me) I will keep the same ball in play for the second 9. Other times I might go as far as changing balls every six holes, or so. It just depends on how the ball is playing with the strokes I put on it. If I notice any thing weird in the ball's flight, or the roll when putting I will change it out post haste.

Any ball that has a cut, nick, or other damage to the out side cover I will change out right away.

There have been times I have fished a few balls out of a pond. Those are always going into my practice bag.

A while back I had a couple of rounds where I shot back to back scores in high 70s. I used the same ball for all 36 holes. Call that being superstitious on my part.

Now here's a wrinkle that goes against what I wrote above. Once a week I will take a 5-8 mile hike with a golf club, and a few balls, up a  large drainage wash. There's lots of sand, gravel, and big boulders in it. I will hit balls off a small mat as I am walking, while always aiming at a target. The balls I use are from previous rounds of golf played. These balls get so mutilated from bouncing off rocks and other debris in the wash, you would think a dog had been chewing on them. The cover really looks bad. The irony is I don't miss my targets by much, and the distances are acceptable. Go figure that one out.

[vangator]

I've been playing the same ball for several months now. It's pretty dull. When I get to a hole where I could lose a ball, I pull a ball I don't care about such as a Pro-V1. On "safe" holes, I bring out my old ball and beat it around. I've been using it since 2013. No nicks from cart paths or anything, I almost had a heart attack last week when I snapped a drive and it bounced into some thick bushes. After a minute or two I found it and the world was good again. A baseball pitcher can scuff a baseball and make it dance. A golf club can impact more revs than a baseball pitcher. A scuff on a ball can make it do weird things.

[iacas]

A baseball pitcher can scuff a baseball and make it dance. A golf club can impact more revs than a baseball pitcher. A scuff on a ball can make it do weird things.

I think you're overstating how much a scuff can affect a golf ball in flight. I can hit a draw with a scuff on the top, bottom, left, right, etc. of the golf ball. The location of the scuff itself is highly unlikely to remain in the same relative position throughout the entire flight of the golf ball as well.

[vangator]

I think you're overstating how much a scuff can affect a golf ball in flight. I can hit a draw with a scuff on the top, bottom, left, right, etc. of the golf ball. The location of the scuff itself is highly unlikely to remain in the same relative position throughout the entire flight of the golf ball as well.

I know golfers that will not play a ball with a scuff on it for that reason. I blame all my bad shots on scuffs, :-)