How long do you use a golf ball?

[Valleygolfer]

56 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

lol, I have a friend like that too.

Irritated guy or one whole keeps doing something to annoy the irritated guy?

 

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I will play it until it is cut like others have stated. I play ProV1 and get them from Lost Golf Balls. They last a long time. I use the cut ones for short game practice.

I did have this one ball that I got from Lost Golf Balls that had a picture of guy's face for the logo. It was goofy funny. But the ball just wouldn't die or get lost. I hit it into the trees several times thinking that it would be lost. But there it was. I played it for 5 or 6 rounds before retiring it.

You should have some made for yourself. He is your good luck charm...

[drmevo]

I'm not good enough to know whether a scuff here or there affects my play, so I generally will play a ball until I lose it. I don't think I've actually cracked one. Every now and then, I'll put a found ball into play that seems to be a dud so I'll toss it back into the bag for pitching practice around the yard.

I know a guy that is around a 5 handicap, and he will take ProV1's out of play pretty much as soon as they have any kind of mark at all. It seems extreme to me, but hey, it's his money. Plus, he's thrown a few my way before so I'm definitely not complaining!

[Valleygolfer]

22 minutes ago, drmevo said:

I know a guy that is around a 5 handicap, and he will take ProV1's out of play pretty much as soon as they have any kind of mark at all. It seems extreme to me, but hey, it's his money. Plus, he's thrown a few my way before so I'm definitely not complaining!

I know a guy too... @hasbeen54 this guy... I think it is extreme but I am like whatever.

[Groucho Valentine]

Barring cuts and scuffs, the most i will play the same ball is 18 holes. It seems like the ball starts to fly differently when i play it too long. Its like it comes out of round or something. The newer ProV's are much more durable than what they used to be. I used to get only 9 holes at most out of them. With the older versions half of the ball ended up in your grooves after a full wedge. 

[rehmwa]

I like to poke around and find golf balls, so for every one (if any) I lose, I'll find 40 or 50 (I found 150 in one round two weeks ago).  It's a compulsion, I know it, but I play better those days.

---  clean and sort the premiums (IMO - Titleist, Callaway, TM, Nike, Srixon, Bridgestone) in new condition into their own separate baskets.  I have a Top Flite basket too, but only ones with the markings of the last year - sorry, I like them too.

---  the non-premiums (IMO - Noodles, Wilson, Pinnacles, Vice, Nicklaus, etc etc etc ad nauseum) that are in 'new' condition and combine them into another single basket (for friends), and

---  the next pile of all brands with tiny scuffs and stained or ugly go into a shag bag for range work or dinking around. 

--- Anything with a cut or is just really trashy looking goes into the trash,

--- Range balls of any and all condition are left at local course

Haven't really found anything super cool in the last year - hexagonal dimples, odd form or size, something from long ago - for the 'special interest' bag

So I have no reason to play anything that has more than a minor scuff, or bad discoloration.  I have baskets of pristine looking premiums.  I'm playing Titleists now for consistency, prefer the ProV1x's, ProV1's next, then the Velocities.  But they all seem to play fine around the green.  But really any of the premiums seem fine to me.

until leaves fall, then I'll usually put the nice ones away and spend the end of the season using Titleists and Callaways from the "2nd level" shag bag.

I'm getting too many - I need a way to go sell of some of the brands I don't use.  Maybe start donating to the local schools even.

 

 

to the OP question - if the ball looks and feels fine, I'll play it forever.  Eventually it'll hit a path or rock and get retired, or lost (this fall, usually right in the middle of the fairway and just magically can't be found.  stupid leaves and bad eyesight).  I've only ONCE had a ball start to play weird, it appeared to have developed some sort of separation under the coat (like a blister?) - it sounded weird and played weird - but on the outside it looked great.  That was in the trash immediately.

31 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Barring cuts and scuffs, the most i will play the same ball is 18 holes. It seems like the ball starts to fly differently when i play it too long. Its like it comes out of round or something. The newer ProV's are much more durable than what they used to be. I used to get only 9 holes at most out of them. With the older versions half of the ball ended up in your grooves after a full wedge. 

They did seem to have a softer surface.  From found balls, the older Titleists seems to have a larger instance of permanent staining and rougher surface texture.  The newer ones seem to maintain their sheen and color regardless of where they are found, even pond muck.  I am of the firm belief that Pinnacles might just be indestructible,

 

[Fourputt]

When I finish a round, the ball I'm playing and the extra ball in my left pocket go back in the bag.  Next time I play, I just dig out out 2 balls with different numbers, and it doesn't matter if they are new or used ones.  If one or both is dirty, I clean them right then.  I may clean the ball I'm playing 2 or 3 times during the round if I happen think about it between holes, but I don't get in a panic if I tee off with a dirty ball.  I usually rub off any dirt that might affect play when I lift the ball on the green, so all that's left is cosmetic.

If a ball gets scuffed, I may finish out the round with it if it's not too bad, but then it will either be discarded or relegated to permanent provisional duty.

[rehmwa]

2 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

When I finish a round, the ball I'm playing and the extra ball in my left pocket go back in the bag.  Next time I play, I just dig out out 2 balls with different numbers, and it doesn't matter if they are new or used ones.  If one or both is dirty, I clean them right then.  I may clean the ball I'm playing 2 or 3 times during the round if I happen think about it between holes, but I don't get in a panic if I tee off with a dirty ball.  I usually rub off any dirt that might affect play when I lift the ball on the green, so all that's left is cosmetic.

If a ball gets scuffed, I may finish out the round with it if it's not too bad, but then it will either be discarded or relegated to permanent provisional duty.

^ this (without all the extra crap I tend to write when bored at work)

[Groucho Valentine]

24 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

 I am of the firm belief that Pinnacles might just be indestructible,

 

And you'd be right. Only twinkees, roaches and Pinnacles will be left after the apocalypse. 

[Patch]

It really depends on how I am playing. If I am playing well, I assume the ball is doing it's part. If I am playing poorly then maybe a change in ball might be an option. One of my mental quirks. 

Since I play a lot of my rounds in three groups of 6 holes, I will usually play one ball for at least 6 holes before changing it out if I think the change might help. 

There was one time earlier this year that I shot 4 consectutive rounds in the high 70s. I used the same ball all 4 rounds. That mental quirk again. On the first hole of my 5th round with that ball, I triple bogied the hole. That ball went into the spare parts compartment. 

Edited October 17, 2016 by Patch

[rehmwa]

On 10/16/2016 at 10:11 AM, Valleygolfer said:

 Is there any documentation on whether a scuffed up ball performs worse than a standard brand new ball?

I see no ones actually answered the real question - You can do the web search but I've come across a couple with conclusions:

1 - water balls - flight characteristics - no effect on flight shape/aerodynamics (no kidding - once you cleaned it completely).  Distance - MUCH better than they used to be, but still an effect.  Covers are much more indestructable than before, but they still have a permeability that's not been eliminated.  the longer they are soaking the more loss of distance - as much as 10-15 yards from a typical 250 yard drive for balls that have soaked for a LONG time - like a season.  (I don't know if I believe this, but it's been studied in a fairly controlled way.  So probably true).  I'd say if the ball isn't discolored much then it hasn't been soaking very long so the effect is tiny - and most of us won't be able to discern a 1-5 yard loss (on a drive - much less for scoring clubs of course) if it kicked us in the gut.

2 - scuffed - pretty obvious that the integrity of the core, etc is likely just fine.  So distance likely not an effect.  But the flight itself - distortion of even 5 or 6 dimples on a single side (a 'good' scuff) would likely be capable of pushing that 250 yard drive maybe 3- 5 yards off line.  The worse the defect the more off line potential.  I suspect that off line potential might be more dramatic (as a percentage of distance) for scoring clubs due to the much higher spin on the ball...but still likely talking about a yard or 2 at most for off line effect (if the scuff is hitting the flow in a meaningful way.)  But - one has to acknowledge that a scuff definitely has an aerodynamic effect (just like with ALL aero analysis, surface texture is a direct input) - so the question is whether that effect is a big deal or not vs everything else going on.

so... one has to decide how bad their hitting variance is to consider whether either of the effects is significant or just hidden in one's own shot dispersion.  for both soakers or scuffed balls (Frankly, I don't like stained or scuffed balls, but that's just because the bright shiny ones are easier to see.)

Probably a good thumb rule is if it "looks" new, it'll likely perform like new.  Even a brand new ball is used after the first hit....

more articles out there, I just read a handful - there's more

here's an example - http://www.franklygolf.com/thetruthaboutgolfballs.aspx

 

[gregsandiego]

23 hours ago, woodzie264 said:

Until it's cut or lost...almost always the latter

Maybe the thread should have been: "What's the longest time you've gone without losing a golf ball?"

Edited October 17, 2016 by gregsandiego

[NJpatbee]

At my level (17) if I finish an entire round with the same ball I consider it lucky and unless it is really scuffed I will play it again.  Typically I will lose at least 1 ball/round on a moderate level course so it doesn't happen often. 

[No Mulligans]

5 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

Irritated guy or one whole keeps doing something to annoy the irritated guy?

My friend and boss is the irritated guy.  I like to poke fun by playing the worse looking ball (that still preforms) while playing with him.  I actually think he enjoys complaining about it as in, "Come-on Frank, that ball is hideous.  Open your wallet and after the moths fly out and you clear the cobwebs, buy some new balls".  It's ironic that he is a hawk-eye and is always spotting lost balls, he keeps the Titleist balls and leaves the rest.

[VOX]

Until it proves itself disloyal and then it has to go. A ball that turns on you once will do it again.

[Natural Patrick]

3 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

Maybe the thread should have been: "What's the longest time you've gone without losing a golf ball?"

It's not that uncommon for me to go 3-4 rounds before I lose one.

[DeadMan]

Generally, until I lose them. I used to play Hex Chrome+ balls, which scuffed up pretty easily. You could see a good wedge shot on them. Those I would use for about 2 rounds before replacing them. Now I generally play ProV1xs, and they don't have that issue at all. I haven't retired a ProV1x to my shag bag yet. I lose them before they get to that point. Minor scuff marks don't bother me, though. Cart or tree rash is when I'm generally looking at replacing balls.

[IndianaDundee]

If it ain't cut it will play.  I keep better balls for playing when my game is on, cheaper balls for when my game is off, junk balls for when I am losing more balls than I tee up, all in my playing bag.  Then when one gets really scuffed, cut or I find one slightly deformed it goes in the practice bag for chipping around the yard.  In a typical round I generally find more balls than I lose especially on a couple of courses where there are some woods between two fairways.  I can't actually remember the last time I bought balls.

[CCC]

I save my scuffers for shots over water. And that's usually where they end up.

I remember reading a story by divers who recover water balls. They said they were amazed how many of them were damaged from scuffs, cuts, etc.... :)