When should you switch?
Rich Beem used to change his golf ball after every hole, although he might have reconsidered that if he was footing the bill (and not earning PGA Tour pay cheques).
Meanwhile, Ernie Els’s superstition of switching after every birdie might be a bit cheaper for those of us without Big Easy’s swing. If somebody’s handing you new golf balls like they’re business cards, you’re obviously going to switch them at any sign of a scuff. But how often should we regular club golfers be changing our golf ball?
Performance loss?
Most Tour Pros will switch their golf balls every few holes to avoid suffering any performance loss, however minor; particularly around the greens. Fortunately, though, this is much less of an issue in our modern age of engineering as even the premium golf balls, with softer covers for better feel and more spin, are made to be much more durable than what Ernie Els would have grown up hitting. Anyone remember the old Tour Balata?
Your options
Take Wilson’s TRIAD golf balls as an example: the cast urethane cover giving you fantastic spin around the greens. Not too long ago, that would’ve come with the drawback of scuffs & cuts from thinned wedges, but no more! Technology has come a long way. I mean, Wilson has made the TRIAD balls to have the exact same density throughout for a flawless roll on the greens. If that doesn’t scream perfectionist, we don’t know what does.
If you happen to crack one off a tree or a path then, sure, it might be worth taking out a new golf ball. But if you have either of Wilson’s TRIAD or TRIAD RAW golf balls in your bag then you can trust that you’ll have better performance that lasts longer.
