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Question on Ball Compression

• Jimbog1964 8,378 Posts

  Wed, Jul 23 2014 10:27 PM

  Here is the actual language from the rule book:

  c. One Ball Condition

  If it is desired to prohibit changing brands and models of golf balls during a stipulated round, the following condition is recommended:

  (i) “One Ball” Condition

  During a stipulated round, the balls a player plays must be of the same brand and model as detailed by a single entry on the current List of Conforming Golf Balls.

  Note: If a ball of a different brand and/or model is dropped or placed it may be lifted, without penalty, and the player must then proceed by dropping or placing a proper ball (Rule 20-6).

  As far as I can recollect I would have only said a PGA player can do that if the special rule was not adopted.  It is generally adopted only in events that are limited to professional golfers or highly-skilled amateur golfers. Generally, this condition of competition is not adopted in club-level competitions.

  If you really want to get into it here is the current list of conforming ball types.  In the how to use the list you will note that each ball type is listed as a separate entity.  Among those separate entities are balls that are in a different colour (note I spell color correctly though...could not resist sorry).  Thus, any which way, the colour of a ball being different makes it a separate single entity on the list (list uses the term entry).  Per the rule above we have it that a ball must be of the same single entry (e.g. a different colour is a different ball type for our purposes).

  I know you said letting go, but did this anyway so please forgive.  

  I also agree it would not make bat crap difference here although if I were WGT I would not change it. I can only imagine the uproar the first time some one lost real credits because of a vapour trail or whatever the argument would be.  Human nature those last parts:).  Anyway for now is what is, and until one day the stuffy USGA / R & A governing bodies rules get relaxed / changed is what is.

  Geeky side of me found this interesting anyway.

  ShadyShank:

  1.92 points to drop to get my L thanks to yours and YankeeJims advice. T

  For my small part you are most welcome.  I was glad when people helped me with what to work with (Lizard69 hugely).  Only time now, and will be well deserved:) 

   

• alosso 21,043 Posts

  Wed, Jul 23 2014 11:42 PM

  ShadyShank:

  All I'm really saying is if you buy 3 yellow 39+ Callaway's & 3 white 39+ Callaway's, the color does not make them perform differently. This is, after all, wgt's reasoning, and a good one, for not allowing players to switch balls mid-round to better play the conditions. But, if I put my 3 yellow balls in the drink, if ever there was a situation where placing the white 39+ ball in play would not be an advantage to the player, it is this example.

  Let me put some other thoughts to this discussion:

  1) From all the ball types in our garages (inventory), we have only one type in your bag. It's obvious by the rules that we must not change any clubs, and we cannot change the balls either, because they are not there, in the bag! The rule of commerce allows only to replenish that one type.

  2) IMHO, the rule applied is different to the mainstream of this discussion. I see a general WGT rule "Thou shalt not have an ingame option!" behind it, as in drop points and lost balls. The CEO confirmed in his 2012 video chat that the company would not want to choose another custom ball on behalf of the players, giving Starters instead, so he indirectly excluded players' choice. I've read only one employee's statement confirming the real golf analogy. This may have been right or wrong, who knows?

  Anyway, it has been asked for and demanded by players ever since I'm around, but it won't ever change.

  My 2 Pfennig.

• 1,866 Posts

  Thu, Jul 24 2014 1:16 AM

  ShadyShank:

  And I'm sorry but I must say again, I have seen absolutely no difference in the performance between the 39+ Callaway and the 35+ Callaway which have the very same ratings in every category.

  You are perfectly correct, of course. They are infact the same ball, when it comes to performance. But in order to be able to sell them separately, every color (and vapor) needs to have a different code, when programmed. Thus the program treats and recognizes them as different.

  Of course, WGT could re-write the code, so that the program would be able to recognize balls from the same brand and with the same specs and we would be able to stick a multitude of colors of the same type ball in our bags. Then we could switch them automatically or at will if we ran out of a certain color, or if we felt a particular shade of yellow goes better with the particular shade of green on #8.

  This could all be done without breaking the 1 ball rule. But all that would require a huge effort (I suspect) for WGT programmers and all they would achieve is less revenue. The way things are now, you're almost forced to buy a new sleeve when you're on your last ball. This makes the last ball of any type, spec or color useless, therefore pure profit for WGT. I'm sure they'll want to keep it this way. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's their right to do so. It's on us to accept it and play the game as is.

• mantis0014 8,946 Posts

  Thu, Jul 24 2014 2:55 AM

  ShadyShank:

  MBaggese:

  I think everyone understands where you are coming from, and no one is disagreeing with you on the balls performance, but you simply (because you don't want to) will not accept the fact that a Yellow ball is different than a White ball in the eyes of WGT.

  Okay. Now this is all I've been looking for. If it was mentioned that wgt considers a yellow 39 to be different than a white 39, I must have either misread it or misunderstood their meaning. It really got confusing for me when someone cited the USGA rule, which wgt tries to go by, saying a different color ball with the same specs is perfectly allowed. Not here, of course

  I think everybody was trying to explain to you the reason.  If you read my post earlier.....lol

  We all know, Wgt follows the one type of ball rule which follows the normal rules of golf.

  Forget that thinking.....lol.  

  Have you seen a Real Golf Pro losing a Callaway in the lake... then pulling out a Yellow Calloway for their next shot. I think John Daly hit 10 or more balls in the lake one day and had to quit because he didn't have anymore of those...lol

  Here is a suggestion for Wgt, which might fix the huge dilemma for most people on here...

  When you run out of the golf balls you are using, then the game will give you the free balls.

  If you can't buy a new pack when prompted then,  Wgt should have a reserve slot in the bag for the Golf ball you are using at the moment.

  So if you play with another ball for a game, then you can move that same type of ball into the reserve spot.

  Lets say you purchase 2 or more packs..  1 Pack will be for you to use in a game and the other packs will go into you golf bag.

• danooo1 3,422 Posts

  Tue, Sep 29 2015 5:43 AM

  Sure there's another angle WGT could follow--but it makes too much damn sense!!

  1.  Display ball count under your equipped ball .. this way you KNOW if it will last nine or 18 more holes.

  2. Only remove balls from play AFTER the round is over--never during play.