Balls and Club Wear

[fixyurdivot]

The "what do you do with old balls" thread got me to thinking about whether old technology balls, or even low end range balls, tend to wear the faces of clubs?  I noticed some of the range balls I was hitting recently were kind of rough and had look to have embedded sand in their covers.  I also notice some make/model balls seem to maintain their original surface quality better than others.  What are your thoughts about clubface wear which balls are the worst and which are the best from that standpoint?

[M. Parsons]

That's interesting, I've never thought about the different balls wearing out the grooves on my clubs. I used to hit forged blades and I always thought about the grooves then, but never took into consideration the range balls that I was hitting. Now that I don't have forged irons I don't think about it too much, although I did get a big gash right in the center of my 7-iron, but that was from hitting out of the hard-pan or pebbled bunkers at most of the courses here in Albuquerque.

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, M. Parsons said:

That's interesting, I've never thought about the different balls wearing out the grooves on my clubs. I used to hit forged blades and I always thought about the grooves then, but never took into consideration the range balls that I was hitting. Now that I don't have forged irons I don't think about it too much, although I did get a big gash right in the center of my 7-iron, but that was from hitting out of the hard-pan or pebbled bunkers at most of the courses here in Albuquerque.

Ahhh! The hard pan bunkers and natural areas of ABQ.  I so miss that.... NOT!!  

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, fixyurdivot said:

The "what do you do with old balls" thread got me to thinking about whether old technology balls, or even low end range balls, tend to wear the faces of clubs?  I noticed some of the range balls I was hitting recently were kind of rough and had look to have embedded sand in their covers.  I also notice some make/model balls seem to maintain their original surface quality better than others.  What are your thoughts about clubface wear which balls are the worst and which are the best from that standpoint?

I really haven't noticed any wear from hitting range balls, but then I don't spend a lot of time on the range.  I would be wary of range balls that are dirty.  I have seen marks on the club face from hitting a dirty ball at my old course.  My current course has very nice grass in the driving range, and they do a very good job washing range balls after they are picked.  All washed balls are returned to the pro shop in 55-gal barrels for purchase by bucket size, so they do get inspected.  The club also ensures that old balls are tossed and new balls are constantly added to replenish stock.

[russtopherb]

I think it depends on the balls and the club.

Last year when I was reviewing the C300s I had some issues with wear/scratching on the faces after only a few range sessions and one round of golf. I normally go to grass ranges at local courses that have decent balls (I live in Titleist's backyard so the majority of balls seems to come from them) so hitting "bad" or dirty balls isn't usually a concern.

[THEZIPR23]

Not necessarily the balls themselves but sand will definitely wear them faster. Early this year we got a ton of rain for our area. Range was a mess, balls plugging everywhere. They were not able to get them clean again, much more wear on my clubs than almost the whole year prior.  

[fixyurdivot]

1 hour ago, russtopherb said:

I think it depends on the balls and the club.

Well, compared to the Kryptonite-Alloy PING used making PE2's, I'm already seeing a wee bit of marking on the new G410's.  

 

1 hour ago, Kenny B said:

I would be wary of range balls that are dirty.  I have seen marks on the club face from hitting a dirty ball at my old course.

Agree.  I'm going to be on the lookout for that with the new irons. The balls at my last range session were wet and had small grass clippings and sand on them.  I'll inquire with the pro shop next time there as to how they maintain their range balls. 

[Kor.A.Door]

I think the area you live in can make a difference as well. When I lived up north the ranges had sand but not a large amount. Now that I am on the south with Bermuda, everything is sand based. The range, the fairways, the greens. So I feel like there is way more sand on the range here than when I was up north. In the winter time the range is basically dormant Bermuda and sand. 

[SteddyGolf]

I have range irons and wedges. I don’t normally hit my gamers on the range for the reasons already mentioned.

I started this insane practice a few years back when I was in an area where “mats” were the standard and real grass ranges basically didn’t exist outside of country clubs.


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[Austin @austxd]

On 6/28/2019 at 7:27 PM, Kenny B said:

I really haven't noticed any wear from hitting range balls, but then I don't spend a lot of time on the range.  I would be wary of range balls that are dirty.  I have seen marks on the club face from hitting a dirty ball at my old course.  My current course has very nice grass in the driving range, and they do a very good job washing range balls after they are picked.  All washed balls are returned to the pro shop in 55-gal barrels for purchase by bucket size, so they do get inspected.  The club also ensures that old balls are tossed and new balls are constantly added to replenish stock.

This is interesting,  I find the balls at my range here in AD are very hard and do wear my iron and in fact wood faces out.  There’s a guy here who has caved in multiple m5 heads just because of the range balls.

[Kenny B]

17 hours ago, Austin @austxd said:

This is interesting,  I find the balls at my range here in AD are very hard and do wear my iron and in fact wood faces out.  There’s a guy here who has caved in multiple m5 heads just because of the range balls.

Wow!!  I don't know anyone that has done that.  I would think it would be worth it to petition the course to change their range balls to something more standard to the industry.