How Many Balls is TOO Many Balls?

[GolfSpy SAM]

I was having this discussion a few days ago, in a relatively comical way, with a playing partner.  I realized that I had in my bag about 15 slightly used balls (from previous rounds), as well as about a dozen (I believe it was 10) new, unplayed balls.  What made it even funnier, is that I had an entire dozen TP5 in a side pocket of the bag, that I had completely forgotten were in there.  I've been trying to figure out for 2 months why my bag feels so heavy...lol.

Anyway, it got me thinking:  on a typical day, how many balls do you bring to play with?  I tend to keep my slightly scuffed balls for chipping practice, so that I can use a ball I actually play (as opposed to attempting to chip with range balls - a genuine pet-peeve of mine), and I typically bring 6 balls to play with, just in case it's a nightmare of a day.  But clearly, having 3 dozen balls in my bag is "too many" (for me).  

For what it's worth, I was trying out several iterations of balls this past year (MaxFli Tour & Tour X, Srixon Z-Star, Chrome Tour Triple-Track, TP5 (both pix and non), etc.), and I had one or two of each of those still in my bag - but I've been gravitating towards the Chrome Tour and Maxfli Tours as my go-to - I just hadn't cleared out the others yet.  

On the other side of the equation: what's the least number of balls you'd go play with?  I've had guys I've played with freely admit they come with 3 and then play anything they find in the woods while looking for one of their 3 that they just hit into the woods, lol.  I'm not willing to play just ANY ball I come across, so this sounds like a bad plan in my book, but ... any of you out there?

[cnosil]

I have 5 balls in a side pocket that I pull out for chipping warmup.  

I have about 4 dozen in the main ball pocket.   I’d probably. It go out with less than a dozen.    
 

I either ride or use a push cart so weight isn’t an issue. 

[GolfSpy SAM]

2 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I have 5 balls in a side pocket that I pull out for chipping warmup.  

I have about 4 dozen in the main ball pocket.   I’d probably. It go out with less than a dozen.    
 

I either ride or use a push cart so weight isn’t an issue. 

I've been riding a lot more (I never carry, to be fair - it's either ride or push) these past few months, so maybe that's why I didn't totally notice the dozen in the side pocket. 

Wait - you go out with 4 dozen balls? Are you selling them on course?

[cnosil]

3 minutes ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

Wait - you go out with 4 dozen balls? Are you selling them on course?

Just find them and keep the ones I am willing to play.  I am willing to play a used ball 

 

[Hacker60521]

Three balls that are “in play” and then another 9-12 as spares. That said, if I ever lose all of the balls, that’s a really bad day. If I find any on the course, I pick them up and leave them in the cart for the course to collect or hit them into a water hazard 

[GolfSpy_APH]

I normally have 12 or so. It also depends on the course as there are several that are far more difficult and more penal than others so for those I will be sure to bring an extra few.

[ctg44]

I've normally got between 8-12 depending on how I played the last time and if I remember to grab some from the organizer at the back of my SUV.  However, I also have an 18' ball retriever, so I rarely go a hole w/o being able to find at least 1 ball if the pace of play sucks, and on average, that means I get at least 1-2 "keepers" like a ProV1 or a Chrome Tour per round.  Ideally, I'd find a ProV1x Left Dash, but unless I lost it, I doubt I'll find those at my club, where too many people play Kirkland balls and can't figure out why their spin rates are 4,000 RPM off their drivers, causing them to slice incessantly into the woods and ponds.

[Shankster]

I am also testing a bunch of different balls, so I carry quite a lot.  But I’m lazy and I ride 99% of the time so the added weight doesn’t do any harm…

Now, we should do a 1 ball challenge.  You get 1 ball, 18 holes… lose it your done… unless you can find a nice rock flite in the woods/junk to continue.

[Will_Mac]

I’ll usually go with 6 to 9. Just checked… there’s 8 in there now, that’s about right. When I was a better player, I was comfortable with 3 to 5.

[russtopherb]

If you play like I do, on the courses that I do up here in the northeast... there's no such thing as too many balls. 

There's a couple courses I play, where this time of year with lead cover, if I show up with anything less than a full dozen I'm nervous.

[Bossfan]

10 to 12 normally.

[Wedge891]

Usually two sleeves of new balls with a few used balls from previous rounds for warmup and practice. I keep one emergency ball in a side pocket in case I find myself in a Tin Cup situation.   

[Coulter]

Once I get down to 1 or 2 sleeves I dump them in the main pocket of my bag and bad habit I’ve had lately is just grab another dozen on the way out. The other day I noticed I had 3 dozen that slid under the back seat of my truck… I’m too paranoid to just show up with 1 dozen golf balls so I make sure I still have at least a handful in the bag plus a dozen. If I go to a new course 2 dozen or it’ll be in the back of my mind the whole time. 
 

I've had some bad memories of running out of balls while playing lol

[chisag]

... I keep 6 new balls in my bag. If I played a ball less than 18 my last round and it looks new, I will put that in my pocket and start my round with that one. If I play a new course I put 9 new balls in my bag. 

[TJ Hall]

I have probably 2 dozen in my bag…divided between good balls and ones that come out when the round is going bad.

[Rob Person]

I think we discussed this back in april too.  I now carry 6 new balls, and 6-9 near new balls of different brands.

prior to that i would have a 18 or more of mixed balls.  I like to try different ones. I have only lost 3 balls in the last 5 rounds too. 1 to water, the rest to leaves or fairway gremlins.

[slash25rc]

Inside the ball pocket, I have a Crown Royal bag filled with probably 10 brand new ProV1x's to pull from when needed, then around 3-4 floating on top that I have been playing and still in good shape. Any used ball that I find that isn't one I normally game gets pulled out and goes into the storage bin on my golf club rack in garage after the round. 

[Kansas King]

I would say maybe a dozen balls if I'm walking and want to cut down on weight. You should pack enough to not have anxiety about not having enough balls when hitting any shot. That's going to be different for everybody. IMO, this also applies to anything golf related. I've had anxiety (albeit very minor) about hitting from a wet spot when I've forgotten to put my towel back on my bag after washing it. I think some golfers have anxiety about damaging clubs or other golf equipment they maybe couldn't truly afford. I personally won't buy an expensive rangefinder because I don't want to worry about leaving a $500 rangefinder in a cart.

It's little things like what I mentioned that can cause minor anxiety or little distractions that take away from the round.

[YamYam]

It's not the amount of balls I have in my golf bag that is at issue for me.

I have a cupboard full of unused balls still in boxes and sleeves.  I've never counted them but there are a lot.

As I progressed from raw beginner to low handicapper the type of ball changed.  I started of with Top Flites, Dunlop 65s and Wilson Ultras etc and I progressed to Titleist ProV1 over a period of 30+ years with loads of intermediate balls in-between.   I probably still have some Titleist Balata!

Over the last few years, having become part of the "impoverished retired fraternity", with less money to spend but still pretty good with a golf club in hand, I have had to abandon the premium balls retailing at stupid prices for the likes of Kirkland Signatures.

I now have a shelf full of these too!

God knows what will happen to them when I pop my clogs!

 

["Mr. 72"]

I typically have about 9 to 12 balls in my "good ball pocket", and about 3 to 5 in my "bad ball pocket".  The good balls are either brand new or barely used from a previous round.  At the end of a round, I will usually put the ball I was using in my valuables pouch, so I know to start with it the next round.

The bad balls are unplayable from normal use or road rash, or maybe a low quality/good condition ball that I found on the course. It's just a matter of time before they're relegated to the shag bag.

[ParFore74x]

Looks like I currently have eight new TP5s in my “new ball pocket” and nine in my “used/water ball pocket”. When I get down to three or four new balls I will usually top it off to 12 again. The used ball pocket has been getting sorted and emptied whenever I feel that the bag is getting a bit on the heavy side. Sometimes that has equated to two or three dozen balls being moved to the shag bin. 

[Ekim]

I would say I normally have at least 9 balls to start a round, especially if playing a scramble. A normal round use between 1 to 5 balls depending on how I am playing that day.  I start the round with the ball I finished the previous round with as long as it is in good shape

[jolter1]

I have two side pockets of the main pocket on my bag and there are 4 new ones on each side. From them I normally carry 2 during the round. There are also 2-3 "used" ones, same brand and model, in the main pocket that I might use as backups or putt with them before hand. I tend not to lose a bunch of balls during a round unless it is one of those days where water comes in play. As I get a lot of golf gift cards at Christmas, I use these to buy new balls, which I have stored in the house, for the coming season.

[Josh Parker]

I prob have about a dozen in the bag and then there are probably another dozen on the cart that I have found or need to pull off to throw in the practice bucket. 

If I'm playing my course, I could comfortably play with 3-6 in the bag, but any other course I'm keeping the dozen. 

[TheOther1]

On 11/20/2024 at 2:48 PM, Shankster said:

I am also testing a bunch of different balls, so I carry quite a lot.  But I’m lazy and I ride 99% of the time so the added weight doesn’t do any harm…

Now, we should do a 1 ball challenge.  You get 1 ball, 18 holes… lose it your done… unless you can find a nice rock flite in the woods/junk to continue.

I'd be headed home in about 15 mins! 

[tristar rick]

It's amazing how this hoarder mentality is developed when it comes to golf balls. it seems that you never have enough. playing over 100 rounds a year i find several balls a round, often more than I lose. it's to the point that if i don't like the ball i step over it. 

in the meantime, i just bought 6 dozen at a so-called black Friday special. Add them to the pile

Oh well

[Middler]

I always have 3 sleeves (6 Maxfli Tours/3 ProV1s) in my bag ball pocket because that what fits easily - plus typically 2 to 6 loose - so 11 to 15 balls. I used to lose more (5 in a round max), nowadays I lose 0-2 most rounds so I have way more than I’d ever need.

Most of my golf buddies play found balls mostly or exclusively. I play new balls 95% of the time - I will keep any pristine ProV1 I find, and the occasional other brand tour ball to see what they’re like. Anything else I find goes to another player I’m with or I toss it in the fairway for someone else to “find.”

Edited November 22 by Middler

[AZ86Jayhawk]

I have exactly 10 dozen golf balls of several different varieties:  Snell, Maxfli, Srixon and Titleist.  I have a large cardboard box in my garage for found golf balls that I empty into every time I play - about 2x per week.  That box is overflowing and will soon be joined by another box.  Pathetic but true!  I also have another box for tees and pencils too and they are filling up too!

[Willie T]

44 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

If I'm playing my course, I could comfortably play with 3-6 in the bag, but any other course I'm keeping the dozen. 

This pretty much sums up the latter part.  I have way too many in the play section - close to a dozen - really only need 6 (maybe 3 white; 3 yellow - depending on with whom I’m playing).  With maybe the same in reserve.  The 15’ grabber stays in the bag as there is the occasional “retrievable - I just hit into the water ball” .  I’m seriously going to pull some balls from the bag today - weight is not an issue as I ride 9 out of 10 and push cart the other 1.  Just like I’ve learned you can play without 14 clubs in the bag - I don’t need two dozen balls in the bag either…..

[Sejay84]

I'm not going to lie I usually bring at least 2 dozen golf balls. I lost most of my golf balls off the tee if I'm working thing out with my driver. However if I'm looking at scoring I use 3-wood off the tee. On a normal round I go through 6 balls a round. I tend to get a little quick with the driver.