Steve915:
You can hit a tee shot on the screws and you still can't make the fairway. You'll be short and in the deep rough with NO chance of making the green in 2 shots.
What's the point?
EDIT: I meant Merion hole 18, not BPB (changed). -Keith
I had some fun and played a practice round on Merion back 9 with the free balls (couple of birdies, a couple of double bogeys)
On 18 in neutral wind, my SDLR (avg dist. 282yds) was able to clear the edge of the fairway with the free balls on dings and sometimes on off-dings. Otherwise I land in 40-50% rough, and as you point out it's gonna be hard to birdie the hole.
As others here have mentioned (and you can add me to the list), this hole is tough to birdie anyway even with decent balls and equipment.
If you want to hold on to your driver and you consistenly hit the deep rough, you probably already know you can punch out with your wood or long iron to get close enough for a bit of a nail-biting par.
With my 3W or 3I I can punch out the free ball for ~175 yds from the 40-50% rough using full topspin (not sure if the topspin matters). One factor that helps the distance is the wonderful bouncing and rolling that happens in the middle of this fairway. This leaves me with about 100yds and a more comfortable chance at par.
Given the experience with my SDLR, the drivers at levels 96 and 98 (avg dist. 287yds) should be able to clear the fairway pretty regularly with free balls and give you the occasional birdie chance if you are willing to invest. With strong headwinds however, you still may not reach the fairway and you'll be back to that difficult par attempt... something that happens to me at times even with the SDLR and Nike balls.
-Keith