WRX Forum Buzzz
Forum Thread of the Day: “What would happen if PGA Tour players played with a $1 ball?”
Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from BB28403 who created an interesting hypothetical scenario for our members to discuss. BB28403 asks what GolfWRX members feel would happen if half of the PGA Tour field in an event played a $1 ball, and the rest their usual premium golf balls.
Here’s a look at some of the posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- MattyO1984: “Depends on the course. If they were playing on a links course, I think they could make it work. There aren’t many forced carries, and you can run the ball into the greens. I seem to remember back in the 70’s and 80’s talk of players changing when they came over for The Open for that reason. The harder ball back then would defnitely go further than the old balata’s, and they didn’t need the spin to attack the pins.”
- TheLarch: “There would be zero lost balls. I can lose a new PV1x in the first three holes. A Pinnacle or Top Flite, like Geraldo Rivera, refuses to ever go away.”
- farmer: “Given time to adapt to a Duo or Pinnacle, they would figure out a way to play. Distance not being an issue, maybe irons with weaker lofts to come in softer, run the ball up? Scores would probably go up, but the skill level might overcome the ball limitations.
- GMR: “There would be a lot of shots lost around the greens. When chipping from above the hole, there would be virtually no way to stop the ball on the firm/fast greens they play without some degree of greenside spin. Longer hitters would be disproportionately advantaged by having shorter approaches with some prayer of actually stopping the balls on the greens by hitting high spinny (relatively) wedges into the greens. As mentioned previously it would, of course, depend on the course setup though, as on links courses it would make very little difference given they allow you to run the ball and are generally set up with significantly slower (but still rock hard) greens. On a typical PGA Tour setup though…forget it.”
Entire Thread: “What would happen if PGA Tour players played with a $1 ball?”
Equipment
I’m a 31 year-old male and I turned my apartment living room into a driving range stall – GolfWRXers react
In our forums, our members have been reacting to a post from ‘GolferTodd’ who has turned their apartment living room into a driving range stall. ‘GolferTodd’ produced the following photo in our forums with the caption:
“To the exclusion of furniture. Bachelor life.”
And our members have been reacting to the post in our forums.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- MtlJeff: “This is amazing……When i was 28 i lived in an apartment that had my winter tires in the kitchen, i only had one plate and 1 set of knives and forks, and i cooked pasta in a witches cauldron from 1835. And i still convinced a woman to marry me. So i am all for this. In fact this is way better than what i had to offer.”
- TiScape: “Love it Todd. Go Dodgers!!”
- imkirby34: “Based on the view out the window, it looks like you’re on the first floor, which is probably a good thing because I’d hate to live below you, even if you have an extremely shallow AoA. Haha.”
In our forums, our members have been discussing classic irons. WRXer ‘DonaldDunes’ has caught the vintage club bug, and wants to know other members’ favorite iron models that “have stood the test of time or were the top performers for their day.”
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- Maine Golfer: “I love a lot of clubs but ’69 Wilson Staff’s are an all time favorite. Easy to hit in relative terms and they look amazing.”
- Wilsonian: “No surprise from me, but the Wilson K-28 irons, specifically blades with the glide thru sole. I grew up playing Ram clubs, but got away from them as I got older. My return to vintage was with the Wilsons, and my first set of hickories were the Wilson Plus Success irons. You’ll try a lot of sets, but I think it’s a matter of what feels best in your hands, specifically your 7 iron which is the best indicator imo.”
- Hawkeye777: “Hogan Redlines. Macgregor Nicklaus Muirfield 20th. Wilson Staff Tour Blade. Those are mine, don’t play any of them these days (no real reason to) and didn’t really “collect” them. The Wilsons I played with for years.”
In our forums, our members have been discussing how much wear is too much wear when purchasing used irons. WRXer ‘con_mon2’ is interested in a used set of iron and kicks off the thread, asking:
“Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this! How much wear are you comfortable with?
I found a set of irons on eBay that I am very interested in buying, but they have a bit more wear than I’m comfortable with. I have attached a few pictures showing especially the wear on the sweet spot on the PW and 9 iron. Maybe you can convince me that I’m being too picky and I should just buy them? Or maybe I should be concerned about the wear? I’m not really sure. They are Ping i230s which came out in 2022 so they aren’t that old. And the seller had this to say about the condition: ‘Good: Normal wear for their age. Excellent playing condition but they have cosmetic wear on faces and soles. Sweetspot wear is visible.’
Beyond the cosmetic, I’d really like to know this: At what point do you start to worry about the grooves being so worn that they have a substantial effect on the shots you’re hitting?”
And our members have been sharing their thoughts in response.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- rsballer10: “The term you are looking for is “browning” and these irons have some of that going on. They are completely playable, but I’d say they’ve reached their half-life.”
- Nessism: “Those heads are stainless steel. The “browning” that some people reference, is really the yellow shade of the nickel layer under the chrome. When forged carbon steel heads wear through the chrome, the “brown” is RUST. These heads will never rust. People applaud the old Ping irons as being “indestructible”. Those heads had no chrome. These heads, even if the chrome is beginning to wear through, on one head, are miles more durable than the older unplated “indestructible” Ping’s. And even further ahead of any forged club.”
- phizzy30: “Hard pass for me. I would rather get a new set of DTC irons and would be glad to spend the extra couple to few hundred.”
Entire Thread: “When buying used irons: How much wear is too much? – GolfWRXers discuss”
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Caroline
Feb 15, 2019 at 7:03 pm
These guys are the best of the best and play at a level beyond any local club champion. You make equipment for the best and you make equipment for the rest that simple. 99.99% of us using this site do not qualify to answer any question concerning how the best players in the world play or what equipment they may or may not use. Play a pro level course set up as pro’s play it, form 7200 plus yards, four days in a row and shoot under 70 all four rounds then start posting about how a pro may or may not play a certain piece of equipment.
bb28403
Feb 15, 2019 at 4:15 pm
Hey thanks for the recognition! Love WRX!!
Rev g
Feb 15, 2019 at 2:04 pm
Definitely would depend on the course conditions. Thick rough and/or firm greens and the pros are definitely going to miss the urethane cover. But a soft course like Pebble and others at AT&T, they would have done better with less spin. The biggest struggle they had last week was too much spin with irons. Courses that are somewhere in between, it probably wouldn’t matter.
Tom
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:24 pm
Tour players do play $1 balls, we pay $4 for the same ball.
Steve2
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:21 pm
There should be a standard ball and standard club just like pro baseball. PGA tour players are rich and can play the best, so they play better than others. This is so wrong as we all should have to play with the same equipment to make it fair. We can’t have players excelling because they are rich enough to afford the best equipment.
Tom
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:16 pm
Gianni is hung like a horse?
Tom
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:13 pm
They already do! Consumers are forced to pay $4 per ball because manufacturers pay players endorsements and advertising. We pick up the tab!
Tom
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Tour players already play with a $1 ball, the rest of us pay $4 per ball because the manufacturers spend so much paying tour player endorsement money and advertising!
Tim
Feb 15, 2019 at 12:41 pm
They would adapt.
Around the green: You would see more bump and run chips with lower lofted clubs. However, short sided flops would be played a touch higher and shorter to allow for roll out. just a touch, it wouldnt be drastic.
Approach shots would be played with a higher trajectory.
Scores would go up a bit, depending on conditions and courses played. Mostly due to the reduced ability to predict roll out on undulating greens on approaches and the increase in the variable that the wind adds when shots are hit higher.
Right now, with urethane balls, they can jam it in below the wind and trust that it will stop where it lands. With Surylyn, they’d have to flight it up a touch more.
I
Feb 15, 2019 at 11:38 am
Hard or Soft $1 ball?
Scott Glynn
Feb 15, 2019 at 11:17 am
I think what would make a more dramatic difference would be playing in less than perfectly manicured conditions, carrying your own bag and having to walk the yardage off from a sketchily measured 150 yd marker
DJ
Feb 15, 2019 at 11:01 am
they’d use the kirkland costco ball and do just fine.
JP
Feb 15, 2019 at 10:19 am
Blowing it out of proportion. I’ve seen guys use range balls on the course and back them up. I’m not saying they’re anywhere near as good, but you can play well with a cheap ball for sure.
~j~
Feb 15, 2019 at 9:31 am
Its not as though a cheap $1 ball has no spin. Certainly enough to hold a green with a mid iron still. And the USGA would be more butthurt than ever watching avg driving distances jump a couple dozen yards thanks to the likes of DJ and company pumping top rock after top rock 400 yds down the middle.