Is golf ball performance altered by marking up the ball?

[Sixft9]

Golf ball manufacturers spend millions on performance testing, then we get the balls and mark them up with sharpies or logos or even stamps which imprint the ball. Do any of these things alter ball performance?

[DaveP043]

if the Ruling Bodies had any concern about this, you wouldn't be allowed to mark your ball in any way you wanted.  they've almost certainly studied it more deeply than I ever will.

[CarlH]

My thoughts are that any Sharpie markings likely do not affect performance....and certainly far less than the scuff marks, mud, surface blemishes, and other damages the ball endures during the course of play.

[GolfSpy_APH]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

if the Ruling Bodies had any concern about this, you wouldn't be allowed to mark your ball in any way you wanted.  they've almost certainly studied it more deeply than I ever will.

I personally would love to see some of those and other weird and wonderful tests they do and make. May be bland reading, but would also be like PGA myth busting on a whole new level. 

[Jim Shaw]

Hey... that titleist 2 on the bottom with the red circle looks like mine... 

[EasyPutter]

Considering the results of the MGS ball testing each year there is so much variability in a single ball production run that affects ball flight to make insignificant the mass of Sharpie marker ink applied to the outside of a golf ball.  Might as well see how the Earth rotation is affected by jumping up and down.

[GolfSpy TCB]

Boy... I hope not.  I have put some pretty heavily inked balls into play in my lifetime

[Siamese Moose]

Just to be sure that the Sharpie ink doesn't throw off the balance, I mark both sides of mine. 

[cnosil]

If the sharpie messes up the balance,  I want golf balls with not brand or model since that should throw off the balance as well. 

[TylorJudd]

This is why used balls are a problem though. It's their repainting process that gives them uneven aerodynamic profiles! I don't think sharpie lines on a new ball will be a problem, just make the lines go all the way around

[caryncgolfer]

On 1/9/2023 at 10:27 AM, Sixft9 said:

Golf ball manufacturers spend millions on performance testing, then we get the balls and mark them up with sharpies or logos or even stamps which imprint the ball. Do any of these things alter ball performance?

This is the little known “inked” Ammo Box from RBG