Slowwedge:
The one ball rule is NOT applied on WGT:
The one ball rule says that all players shall use the same (often sponsored) ball during a tournament. As far as I know is that rule never used anywhere, only in the US.
Anyway.....WGT allows us to buy new balls, during a game, of the same brand and standard that we already are playing. And that is not allowed in real golf. When you run out of balls.......go home, ask John Daly.
Incorrect, Slowwedge.
As for only being applied in the U.S., this is taken directly from the R & A website
http://www.randa.org/en/Rules-and-Amateur-Status/Guidance-on-Running-a-Competition.aspx?chapter=1§ion=11
"The Committee may introduce a condition of competition stating that a player must use balls of the same brand and type, and accordingly, a player may not change the brand name and cannot change from a brand type to another type of the same brand. Again, this condition is recommended for elite events only. The R&A does not currently introduce this condition at any of its Amateur events, but it is introduced at The Open Championship. The suggested wording for such a condition is contained in Appendix I, Part C of the Rules of Golf."
On August 23, 2002, Scotland's William Guy was disqualified from the Scottish PGA Championship when he ran out of golf balls.Guy was unable to borrow balls from his playing partners because they were not playing the same compression or brand.
With regards to not being allowed to buy more balls during a round, many players over the years have sent a caddy to the pro shop or company tent to replenish their stock during a round. It is allowed as long as it doesn't cause a delay in play.
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Personally, I would like to see players be able to change equipment here at WGT during practice rounds only. It would be a learning tool when combined with the mulligan option.
There are already too many players sandbagging and preying on other players for credits without introducing the ability to change balls in the middle of a round that counts. Entering into a competitive round based on a player's use of a low quality equipment only to have them switch to the high quality equipment after you've committed to the round will cause a lot of anguish and grief.
Even if it's allowed only after a ball runs out, it's easy for a player to count the number of hits on a ball, then use that weak ball to lure you into a game knowing he'll be switching to a high end ball by the second or third hole.
Unlimited switching of balls will allow scores to drop even lower as the most skilled players tailor the ball they play to each hole. We already have too many complaints about unrealistic scoring on this site without making it worse.