Well, I've played three and a half rounds now using the same Nike One tour ball. It's pretty beat up but I think I will tee it up again tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Anyone else like being thrifty with golf balls? It's harder to do with any soft cover ball that gets scuffed up thru normal wear and tear. I sometimes wonder if the scuffed balls curve more. After all there is a reason for them being forbidden in baseball. The tour golf balls have a limited life but probably some of those surlyn cover mid-priced balls could be played for weeks and maybe months on end, right?

Scratch that. I let my dog chomp on the ball when I got home the other day, he managed to split the cover in a few quick chomps. Oh well maybe the next one will be another workhorse.

Like you, I am fairly thrifty with my golf ammo. Most times I played with a ball that I found during an earlier round. I formerly played a ball until it was lost or became so beat up and stained that it was hard to find. I still will use a ball longer than most of the guys with whom I play. They make fun of me and my "brown" ball. If I am playing a tournament or a nice course, I try to use a newer pellet. When I am playing poorly or it is early or late in the season, anything vaguely round will do.

I draw the line when a ball gets deeply scratched, chipped or has a significant surface imperfection. You are correct that the scratches affect the spin and flight - not that I am skilled enough to note the difference.

Usually I only take a ball out of play if it has a Sun City West ball mark from hitting one of our many cart paths. I play with a soft cover Noodle so they have a tendency to peel even with my slow swing speed. Thankfully I have a number of friends that play hard cover balls and they trade me my Pro V finds for soft cover Srixons and Noodles that they find. I have one ranger friend that must have 500 finds and those are all in premium condition. He donates all of the others to local junior golf programs.

I almost made it through a round with the same ball yesterday. I lost it on number 18. It was in terrible shape. Usually, when balls get beat up like that, I put them in a side pocket for use in those rounds where nothing seems to be going right (which tends to result in a lot of lost balls).

i play mostly lower end stuff - Top-Flite D2+ Feels - they can be played multiple rounds without much noticeable wear. I don't lose many balls any more, and I'm sure that some have been played multiple rounds. The few times I played with Nike Ones, they were noticeably scuffed/shredded mid-round. I've always wondered myself about effect on ball flight after that type of wear. From what I've read, it's negligible.

I usually lose the ball before it has a chance to wear out.

mjaber wrote:

I usually lose the ball before it has a chance to wear out.

X2

I will usually get 3 rounds out of a ball before it gets scuffed up, sometimes more. Balls are way to expensive to change them out that quickly unless they're really messed up. I played all last winter with the same ball, probably 15 rounds, till the Titleist script was practically worn off. Surprised I hadn't lost it.

Dusty23 wrote:

I played all last winter with the same ball, probably 15 rounds, till the Titleist script was practically worn off. Surprised I hadn't lost it.

Noice, I hope you kept it as a memento.

I didn't keep it, tossed it in my range ball bucket. Might still be in there considering I have only made it to the range a handful of times this year.