How Many Golf Balls Do You Use Up in a Year's Play?

[Phil Benedict]

I am fairly long and very wild so I may be an outlier as far as this question goes.  I probably buy 3-4 dozen balls a year and find another half dozen to a dozen that I put in play.  I estimate that I go through 50-60 golf balls per year, around 1 ball per round.

[Brent Hutto]

One per round sounds about right for my usual game, most of them lost balls in water hazards but also a few that get nicked up (cart path, tree, etc.) and I throw them away after the round.

That said, when I play courses at the beach or somewhere with lateral hazards everywhere or tough courses with long rough I may end up going through the better part of a dozen balls over three or four rounds. I hate lost-ball courses like that although I prefer the water hazard ones to the ones with tall, unfindable-ball rough. I'm not patient enough to spend five minutes looking in the tall grass for my own ball, much less the ones belonging to the rest of the foursome.

So all told, call it 8-10 dozen balls per year. That's for 75+ rounds at home and maybe 25 more on the road.

[Richard Choi]

I am in the same boat with Brent. I would say I go through 1 to 2 balls a round with half due to losing it and half due to being cut.

I usually just wait for a nice golf ball sale off-season and buy 3 to 4 dozen (any urethane ball is fine by me) which is more than enough for me to go through a season (augmented by found balls).

[Roger Tufts]

I probably go through 1-2 per round, the latter most likely if playing a course for the first time. I probably went through a box and a half to two boxes at least this past July in Ireland among 10 rounds. Went through fourteen balls once a few years ago at the Golf Club of California after a night out with Brad and his buddies.... There is a moral here...

[Jordan Wall]

Around 300 or more I'm sure...I've bought 13 dozen this year and gone through them all in 163 rounds thus far...usually I use 2 balls a round, more if I lose any.  I hate playing scuffed balls, so usually just give them to my friends if they are scuffed a bit. Any kind of hit against a tree or cartpath will usually mean a new ball for me, so I can go through a lot of balls.

[Dan Kelly]

... 163 rounds thus far...

You lucky dog.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Doug Sobieski]

I hate playing scuffed balls, so usually just give them to my friends if they are scuffed a bit.

Can someone please send Jordan a shag bag?!?!?!?!? Or don't they exist with high school/college players anymore?

If a ball has seen any play on the course for me, it normally goes into my shag bag, which is then used for short game practice, especially when I need to dial in my wedge distances. It's always helpful to do that with the actual ball type you play with.

[Brent Hutto]

One time a couple years ago I announced to the guy I was playing with "I just finished my 72nd hole in a row with this same golf ball and it still looks great". Then proceeded to hit my tee shot at least 60 yards right of the fairway, losing the ball on a tee shot I'd played 100 or more times without coming close to losing a ball.

So now I retire them after 36 holes no matter what.

[JLahrman]

No real golfer ever buys golf balls, period.  There are enough decent balls to be found on any course.  Today's balls are so well made that a cart path or tree scuff doesn't affect them at all.  As a matter of fact, they make it easy to identify your ball ("I'm playing an NXT Tour 2 with a brown scuff").

I'm long and wild so I lose plenty but wind up in spots where I can find plenty as well.  I probably play 30-40 rounds a year and cannot remember the last time I even thought about buying balls.  So to answer the question, I have absolutely no idea.

I just restocked last weekend - the course had a lot of woods and some poison ivy is a small price to play for 20 balls.  Found some Pro V1s, a few NXTs, a Nike ball or two, a couple of Callways, etc.  I'm an 8 handicap and as long as I'm not hitting a real rock there is not enough difference between balls for me to be picky about what I'm hitting.

[Kalen Braley]

No real golfer ever buys golf balls, period.  There are enough decent balls to be found on any course.  Today's balls are so well made that a cart path or tree scuff doesn't affect them at all.  As a matter of fact, they make it easy to identify your ball ("I'm playing an NXT Tour 2 with a brown scuff").

I'm long and wild so I lose plenty but wind up in spots where I can find plenty as well.  I probably play 30-40 rounds a year and cannot remember the last time I even thought about buying balls.  So to answer the question, I have absolutely no idea.

I just restocked last weekend - the course had a lot of woods and some poison ivy is a small price to play for 20 balls.  Found some Pro V1s, a few NXTs, a Nike ball or two, a couple of Callways, etc.  I'm an 8 handicap and as long as I'm not hitting a real rock there is not enough difference between balls for me to be picky about what I'm hitting.

Hey JAL,

I'm with you on this one for the most part.  My son goes hunting for golf balls and I'll pay him a buck for the good Pro Vs, Nikes, and Callaways that he finds.  50 cents for others in good shape.

[Phil Benedict]

Jordan,

How often do you change golf gloves?  Do you throw them out after 1 round like the pros?

[Dan Kelly]

One time a couple years ago I announced to the guy I was playing with "I just finished my 72nd hole in a row with this same golf ball and it still looks great". Then proceeded to hit my tee shot at least 60 yards right of the fairway, losing the ball on a tee shot I'd played 100 or more times without coming close to losing a ball.

That will happen on the X+1st hole any time you announce that you have just played a single ball for X holes.

The Golf Gods wouldn't have it any other way.

So play that ball as many holes as you can -- and keep your mouth shut!

[Jordan Wall]

Jordan,

How often do you change golf gloves?  Do you throw them out after 1 round like the pros?

Phil,

I never use golf gloves but I change grips ever four months.


Doug,

I have a shag bag of about 75 pro-v's.
So, I figure my friends could use my scuffed golf balls more than my shag bag could use them, since I have plenty.
At least they're put to good use!

[Ash Towe]

I like to make the balls last a minimum of 2 rounds.  Usually change it after 3.  Some of the guys I play with make them last 4 or more rounds.
A dozen pro v's cost $110 a dozen out here.  Got to try and look after them at that price.

[Brian Laurent]

Relating to another thread...I'd say only playing new golf balls is my "golf snob" characteristic!  

This is my first full summer out of the golf business and already, paying full price for golf balls is getting old.  I think I'm at five dozen for the year.  

[Dan Kelly]

I change grips ever four months.

I can top that.

I change grips every four swings.

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Are you kidding...  I play The Ocean Course 90 percent of the time.  I lose tons but I generally find about twice as many - and often better balls -- than I lose so no complaints...  

[Craig Sweet]

I figure I use about 4 dozen...I find hundreds, but only keep the better balls....the rest I toss to golfers.

The shag bag consist of only those brands I play...no use in practicing wedge shots with a Top Flight when you play Pro V's....and Jordan...75 balls in a shag bag is 50 balls too many...too much time picking and not enough time working on skills,and they totally clutter the practice green...

[Bruce Katona]

1-2 balls/round on average.....my handicap is +2 (I find 2 more balls per round than I lose)....I play the tileist's, calloways and nike's....my brother-in-law is a beginner and just got 12 dozen finders (not titleists, calloways or nikes) from me yesterday....hopefully that will last him a while.

[JLahrman]

Don't you guys realize how much bad karma there is in a found golf ball?

JAL - How much did you spend on anti-itch lotions for finding those "free" golf balls?  

Mike, I don't have a very serious reaction to poison ivy, so itching is not a big problem.  I get a couple of hard blisters, that's about it.  There may be bad karma in found golf balls, but there is worse karma in paying good money for something I can find in the places I wind up every stinking round.  Of course I've never bought a brand new car either, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing.

Playing experienced golf balls also lets me swing more relaxed.  Hitting a brand new golf ball on a tee with a lot of trouble is at least as nerve-wracking as arriving at 18 all square.

[Phil Benedict]

I rarely take a ball out of play because the modern ball is so durable.  Scuff marks don't bother me unless they interfere with the all-important Cheater Line.

The other day I hit a ProV1 through a tree (a Japanese maple) and it came out a lightish color green that doesn't want to wash off.  I'll still use it until I lose it.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I must have two hundred Pro-V1's in my shag bag.  I bet I find at least two per round without trying. I still will buy about three or four dozen balls a year.  There is something about teeing up a new ball.  I don't lose many so I can use the same one for a couple of rounds and then write it a sonnet and give it a decent send off, either to my shag bag or deep into the woods.

How many of you still have a shag bag?

[Joe Hancock]

I change grips ever four months.

I can top that.

I change grips every four swings.

Four times less often than me....

Geez, someone had to acknowledge this man's genius comedy!

J ;De

[Phil Benedict]

How many of you still have a shag bag?

I am surprised by the frequent references to a shag bag.  I thought they had gone out of style.  As a kid I used to hit balls at the local high school baseball field but I wouldn't dream of doing that now.  They'd arrest me.  Where do you use them?

[Mike Benham]

I must have two hundred Pro-V1's in my shag bag.  

How big is your shag bag?  That's 20 lbs. of golf balls ...