[Jerry Lemons]

I quit. “

Last week at a groundbreaking, Lee and I were discussing course difficulty and he gave the reporters another Merry Mex quote for the books.

An earlier thread about a new course in Canada with fescue (assumed ) 12+ inches high wrapping around the bunkers made me wonder, how many balls will you lose in hazards, OB or tall grass etc before you decide the course too tough or just no good- regardless of how great it looked from the tee?

IMO, these tall grasses work well where they naturally grow thin, but where they grow dense, one cannot recover. BTW I love the look but know golfers hate hacking out or are unable to recover.

Lee mentioned taking an outing to Kiawah some time back and all three of his playing partners lost a dozen balls each…  (Don’t give me the they needed a lesson bit)

I know a bunch of you guys are scratch or better, so if you say “I never lose 6 balls in a round” state your handicap.

[Mike Hoak]

I would likely persevere despite how many balls I lost--even if I had to buy more at the turn.  I'm a 10 handicapper and rarely lose more than three--I lost exactly that number at Kiawah last month.  The only time I can remember being tempted to throw in the towel was during a particularly bad day about 2 or 3 years ago at Pine Hill Golf Club outside of Philly.  I started spraying my drives, which will get you in a world of trouble on that course.  I'm pretty certain I lost 9 balls that day.

About five years ago, I was paired with a Scottish gentleman at Bonaventure Country Club outside of Fort Lauderdale.  The course seemed to have one or more water hazards on every hole and this poor chap landed in damn near every one of them.  He ran through a dozen balls in 8 holes.  I know that because he had to borrow a ball from me until the beer cart girl could bring him out another box.  At the turn, he walked directly to his rental car and left.

As for Kiawah, a high-handicapper could lose a ton of balls on that course if they played the wrong tees--and even if they play the right ones.  I spoke with Mike Vegis briefly before my round and he made a comment that could not be more accurate: "We don't sell balls at Kiawah--we rent them."

[Jim Franklin]

I always carry 9 balls (because that is how many Fred Couples carries), but have never gone through all of them. My handicap is a 3.

I did lose two balls on one hole in our Club Championship last weekend though .

[Phil Benedict]

My axis of evil is fescue, water hazards and out of bounds.  I have started threads on the evils of deep, thick fescue.  Tom Doak among others say that in certain soil conditions it can be kept whispy but not always.

I've lost 6 balls or more on more than 1 occasion.

[MHiserman]

This brings to mind the story of Tiger Woods at the 2000 US Open.  Running out of golf balls and almost being disqualified.  Any remeber that?

Myself, HDCP  0
Tournament Play, 3-4 sleeves
Why so many?
because you never know when you cannot trust the number three any longer and can no longer use them in a round.
Regular play, yeah, 3-6 balls.  
I'll let someone else carry the extras and borrow them when needed.

[Adam Clayman]

Once on the Island of St. Croix, I was given a free pass to play golf. I chose the course furthest away, Carambola. On or about my 30th hole of the day, I ran out of balls. Thank god it was an RTJ course and there was a handy pond available to go fishing for more more ammo. I found a few and finished the day, playing 45+ holes.

[Rick Shefchik]

I carry more than I need, but I figure if I lose six, I must be playing on a course where people who played before me lost a hell of a lot more than that. As Adam said, you can always find more.

[Richard Boult]

me too, I carry about 6, but anytime I loose one, I usually find another to take its place. I'd therefore NEVER quit a round due to any amount of lost balls.  I probably loose about 1 ball every 2-3 rounds, but every once in a while loose 2-3 in 1 round - like yesterday. Almost always play Monarch Dunes - water on many and long fescue on most holes. I usually loose more balls to excessive cart path "bruises" than to water, rough or OB's. Yesterday, it was a bounce off a cart path into a lake and a hurried shot to play through a slow foursome that got wet too.

[Tim Gavrich]

It totally depends on the course I'm playing (I'm a 0.3).  Today I carried three new balls, and two used ones, because I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have much of a problem in that department.

When I'm down at Pawleys Plantation, it's a mitzvah to get through a round with one ball, no matter how good you are.  So consequently, I (as one of my teammates says) "put a few extra potatoes in the sack."

[Jerry Lemons]

Thanks guys for the info on how many balls you carry. My intent was to find out if having too many unrecoverable holes from the hazards of the game that causes "lost balls" made you think a course was unfair.  

[Ken Moum]

My intent was to find out if having too many unrecoverable holes from the hazards of the game that causes "lost balls" made you think a course was unfair.  

I don't know about unfair, but it certainly can be unfun.

I went to Sctoland a year ago with three dozen balls, and 14 clubs, and I was playing so poorly that I said I had considered reversing those. I thought three clubs and 14 dozen balls might be better.

Anyway, in 12 rounds I lost about half my supply. And I was hitting it absolutely sideways off the tee.

Om my home course, I lose about one every four or five rounds, unless I am playing multiple balls. For some reason, at age 60 I have trouble remembering where they all went. <grin>

My current index is 10.7.

Ken

K

[Brock Peyer]

....I won't have any.

Sorry, I didn't bother reading the whole post, is this a riddle or something?

[Frank Pasquale]

I would imagine the guys who are carrying more golf balls are also riding or using a pull cart.  I carry, and for tournament play, I usually have 5-6, and for recreational play, 3-4... I like to travel light.

I think I rarely lose golf balls because I don't hit it very far... I do hit it straight though.

To answer the initial question, I don't know if a course would be unfair if you lost several balls, but as stated earlier, it would not be much fun.

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