Forums

Changing balls mid round.

• Nicole161106 281 Posts

  Sun, Apr 21 2019 9:48 AM

  borntobesting:

  You can thank Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus for rule 15-1 that says you can’t  change balls in the middle of a hole. They used to change ball types 2 times per hole. They would drive with hard distance ball then switch to a softer spin ball for approach shots. The U.S.G.A thought that this was not in the spirit of the game and made rule 15-1 that evolved into the one ball condition. 

  Never ever heard of that before.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sun, Apr 21 2019 10:00 AM

  alosso:

  +1 Zag!

  YankeeJim:

  it's a rule of golf.

  Name it, with the number! ;)

  FFS, will you grow up. You got the point I was trying to make in spite of me mis-speaking.

   

  Thanks for the clarification, Zag, I'll call it that from now on.

• borntobesting 9,710 Posts

  Sun, Apr 21 2019 10:57 AM

  There is rule 15-1 which states that you can only change ball type on the tee. So if you lose your last ball or it wears out during a hole you can’t continue so  rule 15-1 is basically the one ball rule. 

  And you can thank players like Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus for rule 15-1. They changed ball types twice per hole on most holes. They hit their drive with a hard distance ball to get a few extra yards. Then they would switch to a softer spin ball on their approach shots to stop a little better. The U.S.G.A. didn’t think doing this was in the spirit of the game hence rule 15-1 came into being. There was a rather long article in Golf Digest about it when Rule 15-1 was adopted. 

• Nicole161106 281 Posts

  Sun, Apr 21 2019 11:09 AM

  borntobesting:

  There is rule 15-1 which states that you can only change ball type on the tee. So if you lose your last ball or it wears out during a hole you can’t continue so  rule 15-1 is basically the one ball rule. 

  And you can thank players like Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus for rule 15-1. They changed ball types twice per hole on most holes. They hit their drive with a hard distance ball to get a few extra yards. Then they would switch to a softer spin ball on their approach shots to stop a little better. The U.S.G.A. didn’t think doing this was in the spirit of the game hence rule 15-1 came into being. There was a rather long article in Golf Digest about it when Rule 15-1 was adopted. 

  Not arguing just can't ever remember that being the case, even going back to the shells wonderful world of golf in the 60's can't ever recall anyone changing a ball like that.

• alosso 21,073 Posts

  Sun, Apr 21 2019 1:17 PM

  borntobesting:

  There is rule 15-1 which states that you can only change ball type on the tee.

  Not quite that. It speaks of one individual ball which should only be touched or exchanged under certain limited conditions through the play of one hole. E.g., if you drown a Callaway in the pond, you may put a Nike into play instead. Even the provisional may be different.

  borntobesting:

  rule 15-1 is basically the one ball rule. 

  Not at all.

  First, it's not a rule.The 24 (formerly 32) rules apply to all golfers if they take the game seriously.

  As mentioned before, the "One Ball Condition of Competition" (see Appendix I; Part C; Section 1c of the Rules of Golf) is an addendum for certain tournaments(!) stating that you must not change the ball type nor identification number through a complete round, no matter how many balls you need. Remember that key scene in Tin Cup, Kevin Costner holing out his very last ball?

• Robert1893 7,722 Posts

  Sun, Apr 21 2019 2:21 PM

  borntobesting:

  And you can thank players like Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus for rule 15-1. They changed ball types twice per hole on most holes. They hit their drive with a hard distance ball to get a few extra yards. Then they would switch to a softer spin ball on their approach shots to stop a little better. The U.S.G.A. didn’t think doing this was in the spirit of the game hence rule 15-1 came into being. There was a rather long article in Golf Digest about it when Rule 15-1 was adopted. 

  I read that they would use the "hard ball" on a long par 3 so they could use an iron rather than a 3-wood (for example). That hard ball had more distance. 
  
  But (as someone else already mentioned) I don't see how they would have been able to change balls for an approach shot. Here's a copy and paste from a 1981 article on it. 

  Recently, though, a rule put into effect on the Professional Golfers Association tour and in force at last weekend's U.S. Open has pretty well put an end to the pros' using the solid ball. The so-called "one-ball rule" prevents players from switching brands during a round. No longer can they, as Trevino did on the sixth hole at the National in 1979, pull out the hard ball for the sake of distance.
  
  Now, if a pro begins with a Titleist Low Trajectory, a ball with a balata cover and rubber core, he must stick to that ball. The only change he can make is in the number of the ball, from a Titleist 6, perhaps, to a Titleist 4. Gone are the days of standing up to a 230-yard par three and pulling out the hard ball, so that one could hit an iron instead of a 3-wood or 4-wood.
  
  What is the reasoning behind the one-ball rule? David Fay, manager of rules and program development of the U.S. Golf Association, said that, as has always been the case, there was a danger that equipment would override talent.
  
  "Our feeling," Fay says, "was that the characteristics of balls had become so specialized that some of the skills were being taken out of the game. Selecting a particular ball for a particular shot was like having an extra club."
  
  The one-ball rule is still only a local rule of golf. Although it has been in use on the PGA tour since the beginning of the 1980 season, club players are free to change from the DDH to Hogan to Pinnacle to Top-Flite at will.

  LORNE RUBENSTEIN; GAM. (June 27, 1981 Saturday). Golf balls The long search for perfection, from featheries, to gutties, to now. The Globe and Mail (Canada). Retrieved from Nexis Uni.