Do you use a different type of ball in the winter?

I use a softer lower compression ball all year as at my age and lack of ability swing speed is too slow for anything else.

I treat summer and winter golf as two very different activities. During the summer I will try play the same play all the time, typically a the Vice Pro Plus. During the winter I'll play with anything. Between weather, conditions of the course, and lack of counting comps I'm not quite as attached to my golf balls in the winter.

I absolutely detest winter golf. I play out of Grange Castle and TBF the course holds up decently in winter, especially compared to my old home course down the country.

However, maybe it because I’m getting on, but there’s nothing about it that inspires me to go out and play, wet gear and playing in the rain on a cold winter’s morning, losing balls in the leaves, trying to muscle the ball out of any kind of rough, winter bunkers…etc

If I lived close to a links course and had more free time, there’s those lovely fresh clear winters mornings where I’d love to get out on a decent links, but that would be about it.

As regards the golf balls I use, any decent ones I find throughout the year I put in a bag and save them for the winter golf.

Actually, switching golf ball after hitting your drive is allowable during winter rules. There would be no issue doing that in a competition unless your club has a local rule prohibiting it.

I thought I read up on something about this before and there was a possibility of it being allowed. But I thought you would need a local rule allowing it rather than prohibiting it.

Either way, for competition, I would still use the premium ball whether it was allowed or not.

Good article on it here:

https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/rules/rules-of-golf-change-ball-preferred-lies/

A lot depends on how your club defines "winter rules". The model local rule from the rules book allows the ball to be switched.
The exception would be on the green as you are not getting relief at that point.