Regulation on using the exact ball over a round.

MyKeyG

Had a match play round with my mate the other day and we put €20 on it. I was using a Dunlop ball that I bought in Elvery's for 4 packets of three for €16. I emptied them into my bag and we went about our business. I declared a Dunlop 1 and he had a Slazenger something or other. I lost a few over the course of the round but I won the round all the same. However I noticed that when I took the ball out of the hole on the 18th it was a Dunlop 2. It seems the multi-pack I had bought were mixed numbers and I never checked. Now I offered the forfeit but he very graciously insisted I take the benefit of the doubt since we only put the cash on to spice it up and it had it's effect. We agreed to take each our stake back.

Here's my question. We weren't too sure if I had even done anything wrong since we thought the numbers on the balls were just as identifiers (we're not playing long) and that technically I still played the same brand and type. So was I in the wrong. Did I finish the round with an erroneous ball? We're playing again today and I still have the same issue. My dads friend has land beside our golf club and he gave me a bag of 250 balls but they're all different numbers and brands. There were 30 odd Pro V1's but I know they're the best and don't want to use them until I become better.

big_drive

Nothing wrong as far as I understand. You can change ball on every hole if wish. But once you start a hole you must finish with same ball (unless lost).

randomer

You do not have to "declare" what ball you are using. This is a common misunderstanding.

You just have to be able to identify it when you find it. Rather than using the brand and number on the ball, you are better off putting a personal identifier on it with a Sharpee.

MyKeyG

randomer wrote: »

You do not have to "declare" what ball you are using. This is a common misunderstanding.

You just have to be able to identify it when you find it. Rather than using the brand and number on the ball, you are better off putting a personal identifier on it with a Sharpee.

OK I thought you had to use the same 'type' of ball for an entire round? Admittedly our strongest reference point was the film 'Goldfinger' where Goldfinger has to forfeit because Jimmy Bond tricks him into finishing with a Slazenger 1 where he started with a Slazenger 7.

cackhanded

big_drive wrote: »

Nothing wrong as far as I understand. You can change ball on every hole if wish. But once you start a hole you must finish with same ball (unless lost).

No, you can change a ball during a hole as well if it is damaged and unfit for play. "Unfit for play" is defined as being cut, cracked or out of shape (Rule 5-3).

ANXIOUS

cackhanded wrote: »

No, you can change a ball during a hole as well if it is damaged and unfit for play. "Unfit for play" is defined as being cut, cracked or out of shape (Rule 5-3).

I think your playing partner also has to agree.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

koheim

"There is nothing in the Rules of Golf that prevents a golfer from switching to a different brand of golf ball (i.e., from a Titleist to a Bridgestone) on every hole on the course - so long as the change is made between the play of holes."

MyKeyG

koheim wrote: »

"There is nothing in the Rules of Golf that prevents a golfer from switching to a different brand of golf ball (i.e., from a Titleist to a Bridgestone) on every hole on the course - so long as the change is made between the play of holes."

Well you see that's the point I don't know. I could have used a 1,2,3,4 etc on OR between holes.

irish bloke

MyKeyG wrote: »

Well you see that's the point I don't know. I could have used a 1,2,3,4 etc on OR between holes.

Would be very hard to switch balls on the same hole unless ur carrying balls in your pocket and that could only really happen on the green.

In these condtions at best your marking your ball, cleaning it and replacing it again. Very hard to mix it up.

MyKeyG

irish bloke wrote: »

MyKeyG wrote: »

Well you see that's the point I don't know. I could have used a 1,2,3,4 etc on OR between holes.

Would be very hard to switch balls on the same hole unless ur carrying balls in your pocket and that could only really happen on the green.

In these condtions at best your marking your ball, cleaning it and replacing it again. Very hard to mix it up.

Well no you could lose your second one in the trees and have to get a replacement from your bag.

irish bloke

MyKeyG wrote: »

Well no you could lose your second one in the trees and have to get a replacement from your bag.

Ya, thats ok then because you are declaring it lost.

Someone said it already. Same ball throughout the hole unless you lose it. simple as that really.

garancafan

See post #5 by cackhanded.

charlieIRL

........because you are declaring it lost.

Lads, you cannot declare a ball lost! There is no such rule.


PhilipMarlow is blue in the face explaining this phrase!!! Read his quote below.........and then read it again........and then save it as a memo on your phone.

Please stop using "declare lost" when you're discussing rules. It has absolutely no meaning and what's worse, the more people see it and hear it, the more they'll believe it. The act of saying that your ball is lost ("I declare that ball lost") doesn't make it so - other stuff happening makes it lost such as not being able to find it on time, putting another ball into play, playing a provisional from a point closer to the hole...

When "declare lost" is used, people think that just by saying the words they then don't have to play the original assuming someone (opponent, fellow competitor) finds it in the middle of a gorse bush while their provisional is bombed down the middle.

irish bloke

charlieIRL wrote: »

Lads, you cannot declare a ball lost! There is no such rule.


PhilipMarlow is blue in the face explaining this phrase!!! Read his quote below.........and then read it again........and then save it as a memo on your phone.

Is the ball lost if I hit it in the bush and I cant find it after 5 minutes????? Yes it is because I cant find it.......

Your assuming I just said it was "declared lost" before the ball was looked for and the 5 minute time elapsed.

PhilipMarlow's piece is a generalization of how he see's this rule being interpreted by fellow golfers. It is in no what every golfer does when declaring a ball lost.

PS: I wont be saving this piece in my phone as a memo as 1) I dont have this function on my phone and 2) as part of good etiquette I dont carry my phone on the course.

MyKeyG

charlieIRL wrote: »

Lads, you cannot declare a ball lost! There is no such rule.


PhilipMarlow is blue in the face explaining this phrase!!! Read his quote below.........and then read it again........and then save it as a memo on your phone.

IMO Philip Marlow is the most pedantic person ever to swing a golf club. I would imagine it's obvious that a player doesn't have the power to simply lose sight of the ball and 'declare lost' immediately!

charlieIRL

irish bloke wrote: »

Is the ball lost if I hit it in the bush and I cant find it after 5 minutes????? Yes it is because I cant find it.......

Your assuming I just said it was "declared lost" before the ball was looked for and the 5 minute time elapsed.

PhilipMarlow's piece is a generalization of how he see's this rule being interpreted by fellow golfers. It is in no what every golfer does when declaring a ball lost.

PS: I wont be saving this piece in my phone as a memo as 1) I dont have this function on my phone and 2) as part of good etiquette I dont carry my phone on the course.

Firstly, I wasn't having a go at you on this one, i had a reply typed out but an not going to post it as this has be discused before.

And i do bring my phone with me every now and then - i have the R&A app on it and its very handy for a quick search of a rule when the situration may arise.

link_2007

charlieIRL wrote: »

Lads, you cannot declare a ball lost! There is no such rule.


PhilipMarlow is blue in the face explaining this phrase!!! Read his quote below.........and then read it again........and then save it as a memo on your phone.

Reminds me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiCilTzhXrA

Imhof Tank

MyKeyG wrote: »

OK I thought you had to use the same 'type' of ball for an entire round? Admittedly our strongest reference point was the film 'Goldfinger' where Goldfinger has to forfeit because Jimmy Bond tricks him into finishing with a Slazenger 1 where he started with a Slazenger 7.

OK, gotta pull you up on that one.

Bond fooled GF into playing a wrong ball - a ball other than his ball in play; nothing to do with starting and finishing with anything.

Imhof Tank

charlieIRL wrote: »

Lads, you cannot declare a ball lost! There is no such rule.


PhilipMarlow is blue in the face explaining this phrase!!! Read his quote below.........and then read it again........and then save it as a memo on your phone.

Just curious as to other people's habits - if a player de facto "declares" his ball lost and makes no move to search for the ball, do the fellow competitors conduct their own 5 minute search without the player involved? I know I wouldnt.

Loire

PhilipMarlow "Please stop using "declare lost" when you're discussing rules. It has absolutely no meaning and what's worse, the more people see it and hear it, the more they'll believe it. The act of saying that your ball is lost ("I declare that ball lost") doesn't make it so - other stuff happening makes it lost such as not being able to find it on time, putting another ball into play, playing a provisional from a point closer to the hole..."

Is there anything stopping you from playing your provisional ball behond where the original ball is thought to be so as to deliberately not play the original ball? Example...original ball goes into lots of trouble...there's nowhere safe to take a penalty drop from so the provisional ball would be better...in this situation can the opponent demand that 5 minutes be spent looking for the original ball?

Jul3s

Imhof Tank wrote: »

Just curious as to other people's habits - if a player de facto "declares" his ball lost and makes no move to search for the ball, do the fellow competitors conduct their own 5 minute search without the player involved? I know I wouldnt.

Such a declaration means absolutely nothing.
If I was playing with someone who made this statement I'd give him a KITN for been stupid and I'd go out of my way to find his ball and when I'd find it I'd say "declare that lost ya tw#t".

Loire wrote: »

PhilipMarlow "Please stop using "declare lost" when you're discussing rules. It has absolutely no meaning and what's worse, the more people see it and hear it, the more they'll believe it. The act of saying that your ball is lost ("I declare that ball lost") doesn't make it so - other stuff happening makes it lost such as not being able to find it on time, putting another ball into play, playing a provisional from a point closer to the hole..."

Is there anything stopping you from playing your provisional ball behond where the original ball is thought to be so as to deliberately not play the original ball? Example...original ball goes into lots of trouble...there's nowhere safe to take a penalty drop from so the provisional ball would be better...in this situation can the opponent demand that 5 minutes be spent looking for the original ball?

No one can make any demands like that.
The reason you play a provisional is in case your ball is lost and to save time having to go back to the last place played from, so in your example if you play your provo then that immediately becomes the ball in play.

MyKeyG

Imhof Tank wrote: »

OK, gotta pull you up on that one.

Bond fooled GF into playing a wrong ball - a ball other than his ball in play; nothing to do with starting and finishing with anything.

How did Bond claim he played a wrong ball without admitting he fooled GF? I'm sure GF lost a couple during the round he could have said 'no Mr Bond I took a Slazenger 7 out of my bag as a replacement when I lost my Slazenger 1 on the ninth hole' then Bond would have to admit he was standing on GF's ball. Then GF would have tied him to a steel table and cut off his willy with a laser.

Imhof Tank

MyKeyG wrote: »

How did Bond claim he played a wrong ball without admitting he fooled GF? I'm sure GF lost a couple during the round he could have said 'no Mr Bond I took a Slazenger 7 out of my bag as a replacement when I lost my Slazenger 1 on the ninth hole' then Bond would have to admit he was standing on GF's ball. Then GF would have tied him to a steel table and cut off his willy with a laser.

Because there is nothing for you to base the assumption that Goldfinger 'lost a couple during the round'. Try to keep up. If he had lost a ball during the round, he would have identfied his new ball to Bond at the time he put it in play.

I'd say you may have been focusing on Bond's question on the 18th - "just a minute, you play a slazanger 1 don't you?" And extrapolating an imaginary rule of golf from that??

Remember also, Auric Goldfinger was a billionaire from the sixties, if he liked to play a slazanger 1, he could afford as many of them as he liked, but a rule of golf? No.

DrChristianTroy

MyKeyG wrote: »

How did Bond claim he played a wrong ball without admitting he fooled GF? I'm sure GF lost a couple during the round he could have said 'no Mr Bond I took a Slazenger 7 out of my bag as a replacement when I lost my Slazenger 1 on the ninth hole' then Bond would have to admit he was standing on GF's ball. Then GF would have tied him to a steel table and cut off his willy with a laser.

Because Bond asked Goldfinger what he was playing to which he replied a Slazenger 1 but the ball Bond picked out of the hole was a different number as he switched them. Therefore Goldfinger must have played the 'wrong ball'.

MyKeyG

Imhof Tank wrote: »

Try to keep up.

Well if you want to be a pr1ck about it.

Imhof Tank

MyKeyG wrote: »

Well if you want to be a pr1ck about it.

Classy attitude - hope you never play golf with Oddjob.

charlieIRL

MyKeyG wrote: »

Well if you want to be a pr1ck about it.

Please. Less of the insults.

MyKeyG

Apologies.

GreeBo

If the One Ball Rule is in effect (PGA events and more) then the ball has to be the exact same type. Eg start with a pro v1 you can't switch to a pro V1x for the long holes.