Ball vs Green

[Patch]

I was reading an article on golf balls, the different types that were available, the types of golfers they were designed for....etc. 

One part of the the article brought up the subject that different types of golf balls would react differently on different types of greens. Greens that were soft, firm, and the different types of grasses involved. 

Now, for as long as I have been playing this game, I have never heard of a golf ball being designed for a specific type green. The article was not pushing one brand of ball over another, although it did compare various balls against one another. 

As far as the condition of the green goes, all I have ever thought about was if it was soft, or firm, fast or slow. Also, the bigger, the better. I never paid any attention how a particular ball might play on a particular type of green's condition. That said, there has been times I have thought why a ball did something on the green differently. I just shined the thought on, and forgot about it. 

Anyone ever heard of this before? Is it possible that ball "x" could play better on green "y" than it would on green "z"?

[Moxley]

It sounds logical, my understanding is that firm greens suit shots with spin (and thus would suit a low trajectory spinnier ball), while softer greens can be held better with a higher trajectory. 

Fwiw, I'm noticing a huge difference right now (very dry here and very firm) between my chrome soft and surlyn covered balls when it comes to holding the green.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

Absolutely! Spinny balls hold a hard green better than less spinny ones! I learned this 30+ years ago playing in a league. A lot of the guys played Top Flites. They love the "rocket shots" off the tee, but couldn't understand why their approaches would not hold the green.

One of the better players in the league explained it this way. "You don't hit rocks on rocks!" The greens on this course were quite firm and very fast. The Top Flite was, of course, a rock! Those two don't go together.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Buckeyebowman

[Killa]

When I play soft balls my approach shots will usually roll back. It might roll back 10’ with a prov1 on a softer green. On a firmer green it might roll forward about 3’