We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Different Balls for Putting?

SuperStroke
K

ketron10a

Active member
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
648
Reaction score
36
Location
Ilion, NY
Handicap
20
All this indoor virus stuff has me carpet putting like crazy. As I have been putting I am noticing I prefer the feel of TP5 but I prefer the feel of the ProV1X for my irons and woods. So I figured I would try and spark a little conversation...

While I understand this is a violation of 6.3b and 14.2a, I am not a super stickler for the rules and neither are my regular joe playing partners when it comes to playing for fun and getting drunk on a weekend. So Does anyone else carry multiple brands of balls specifically for this purpose? What brands do you use and why?
 
I do not. I play with a guy who only uses one ball for putting, and I kid him every time he writes down a score to just add another stroke.
 
My golf balls are always selected from the green back. If a ball doesn’t feel right off the putter, it doesn’t get played. Personally, I don’t feel any difference in most balls with the driver.
 
Nope, unless I lose it, I play the entire hole with the same ball - but then I play league and competition golf so it isn't allowed anyway and you can only replace a ball if it is lost or damaged

I have never played where you have to use the same make of ball for the entire competition, but I only tend to carry one type of ball anyway
 
I use the same ball.
 
A guy who sometimes joins our group uses the #1s from a dozen to putt with and plays the other numbers from tee to green. He says he does it because he doesn't always remember to bring a wet towel with him.
 
Never switch balls on the green, have never had any reason to. The ball has to perform there first & foremost.
 
Different model ball within one round of golf is a breach of the Rules of Golf, so it's a no.
 
I play the same ball. Unless i lose one on the tee shot and them try a different ball.
 
As a newer player, I lose balls. I also enjoy the triple track for putting. So my compromise is I buy used golf balls from LostGolfBalls.com and then I put a stripe on them when I get them. Can play decent golf balls and still get the putting aid that I like. Everyone wins...including my check book
 
The only time I switch balls when playing is when I'm facing water. If I have to carry water, I'm using a shag ball. I don't record that on my scorecard. To each their own and this is mine...:)

Sure, I'm not playing with a $5 ball but I'm still not willing to feed a Wilson or Bridgestone to a water hazard.
 
I use the ball I teed off with but one of the guys I play with puts down a clean ball to putt with rather than taking the time to clean the one that he had been playing the hole with. At least he uses the same brand and model of ball.
 
No doubt most of us would do this. However the idea is to find one that works for both. For me is Srixon that answers it all. Z Star and Q Star both work for me. When its warmer out I go Z Star.
 
One of the older guys I play with does. Or did. Basically putted with a better ball that he didn't want to risk losing off the tee or on approach. We finally got him to stick with a ... Q star? Maybe Z star. They had them in the 6 pack deals and he liked them.
 
I don’t, but really enjoyed playing the Bridgestone tour B RX. I moved to the 2020 chrome soft with triple track because I love the triple track. I do really enjoy the chrome soft ball, but I’d also love to try a tour B RX with triple track haha.
 
DG_1234 said:
Different model ball within one round of golf is a breach of the Rules of Golf, so it's a no.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's accurate.
 
The ball I tee off with is not the ball I putt with. I am a putting junky and the reaction of the ball off the putter is super important. why I change (1) I don't want to afford the ball I putt with for every day swings . (2) my putting ball has a solid black line around it that rubs off if I hit it with the driver and irons. (3) speeds pace of play. I take a clean ball to my ball on the green and get on with it. I don't have to carry a towel or walk to my ball which eats time.
 
Mark_UK said:
My golf balls are always selected from the green back. If a ball doesn’t feel right off the putter, it doesn’t get played. Personally, I don’t feel any difference in most balls with the driver.
Click to expand...

I agree but I also think you need to make sure the ball you like around the green performs well off the tee. Having a bad fit off the tee can cost you distance and accuracy which also cost strokes.
 
Same ball for me! Like others I choose a ball that suits my game but if I didn't like the way it felt coming off the putter that would be a hard stop.
 
I couldn't do it if I tried. I'd give up the game before I took up a practice like that.
 
Never have even considered it. I only play balls that I like how they perform from tee off to hole out.
 
The ball I tee off with is the one I putt with TP5X. but I also dont want to break the rules.
 
No. Im sticker for the rules though.
 
This is Hacker's Paradise, right? A junk or distance ball from the tee when the driver goes south on a tight fairway or for water troubles? My ProVs stay in my pocket.
 
DG_1234 said:
Different model ball within one round of golf is a breach of the Rules of Golf, so it's a no.
Click to expand...
Only if you're playing in a competition where the "One ball rule" is in effect.

Excerpt from Rule 4.2c(2): "Nothing in this Rule prohibits a player from substituting another ball under any other Rule or changing balls between two holes."

But in the context of the original question, it is certainly a violation of the RoG to substitute a different ball for putting than the one you've had in play for that hole. Rules aside, I play the same brand/model of ball all the time, so I don't substitute a different ball for putting/chipping/whatever.


[ETA:] See also Rule 6.3:

6.3a: "A player may play any conforming ball when starting a hole from the teeing area and may change balls between two holes."

6.3b covers when it is and isn't acceptable to substitute a ball.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top