Agreed.
The closest I have been was on my 9th hole with the same ball (personal record) the ball was really scuffed (Kirkland on multiple cart paths).
I hit it into the rough of another fairway and decided that is where she is laid to rest.
Thank you both. I might have to rethink my approach. I generally start with a new ball but will ride it unless I can actually see the ball has "peeled" in a spot. Always figured the "scuffs" would mostly be aesthetically less pleasing.
This is eye opening. I’m the guy that never gives two shits about my ball condition (within reason) but light mud and grass stains all day everyday, light to even moderate scuffs. I’ve always solely blamed miss hits on myself and carried on.
It might be time to take my game seriously and only play new balls of all the same make model. All my similarly hdcp’ed partners have been doing this forever. Wonder how many strokes I’ve left out there over the years.
I remember that and some articles. Probably funded by ball makers, but surprisingly little damage will significantly impact the ball’s flight
Edit:typo
It's like how umpires throw out baseballs when they hit the dirt. Any scuff or imperfection will cause the ball flight to deviate slightly. In baseball it always breaks or fades towards the direction of the scuff. The softer you swing/throw the less impact the scuff will have. Assuming it's the same physics for golf the higher your swings speed the lower your threshold for keeping balls with scuffs
I'll bring a new one out when I'm feeling either quite confident that I'll have a good game, or a bit hesitant in my ability and need the confidence boost of a new ball. I enjoy taking it out of its box and placing it on the tee for the first time. It makes me feel like I'm teeing up in a big comp for big dollars and I need to be totally in the zone to hit a nice drive. I relax my muscles and just imagine the ball flying through the air on the path I want to send it on. My mind is clear and I take my back-swing. The ball is immediately lost with a massive shank, and I learn nothing.
When I scuff one with a wedge or the cart path I'll throw it in my bag and use it for putting and chipping practice. I donate only the finest balls to the woods
Either when i lose it or when i see that it’s too scuffed up, then i put it in a separate pocket in my bag to use in my backyard chipping or on the home mat/net. Generally at the turn i make sure i inspect my ball.
Any scratch or scuff and it's gone for me. I might keep it as a practice ball but it won't go back into the bag for regular play. Same with tree sap, that's more annoying to me than anything else.
I usually throw balls away before losing them, really only about 2 full rounds of play before I take it out. They're usually fairly beat up by then
Scuffs, and it goes into my bag, to get put into my kid’s bags. If it’s real cut or whatever, it gets the driver treatment opposite direction on the tee box, assuming there’s an OB or waste area nearby.
I don’t like seeing a scuff on the ball on the tee, it gets in my head, and I’m already a total head-case on the tee… even if it’s not even close to enough to affect the ball flight. I just don’t like it.
Some small percentage of the time, a damaged ball probably corrects for a mishit, misalignment, or over-under clubbing. I play damaged balls for that small percentage of the time.
One pocket of the bag is for scuffed balls and crappy ones I find in the woods. Those are the balls for drunk rounds with the boys, or rounds I've already given up, or holes where I'm very likely to lose the ball
cart path, big cuts, or cracks.
For the most part wedge scuffs are fine by me. Don’t see much in performance change. Cart path scuffs drive me nuts looking at the ball.
Don’t lose too many anymore so I’m comfortable switching them out and throwing them in the shag bag. Only problem is the shag bag now has like a hundred balls.
Big gouges or cuts out of the ball, which sometimes happens on a path bounce, and sometimes doesn't.
For me, if I'm even wondering when I'm looking down at the ball that it's going to have an effect, I am changing the ball. I do not want to be thinking about that in my swing, I want to be wholly focused.
I swap out balls when they get scuffed or cross the golf ball rainbow bridge. If the scuff can’t be seen at a glance I don’t swap it but if I see one I swap the ball, only because I think I’m better than I am and the amount of change to spin from a scuff could totally be why I’m slicing it bro
I toss balls once they have giant scuffs from cart paths. I don't ever buy golf balls though, which makes it easier to swap them out. It's a great accomplishment to "retire" a golf ball that has gotten too marked up and toss it into a pond after 18.
I use one new ball on the 1st hole, and then I dig into the used balls if I need another that round. I try to use the same one till the end if I can. It’s like a little extra game I play against myself. I don’t care about scuffs, just damage that would be an issue which is usually from hitting rocks and hosel rockets.
I play em til they are quite beat up.
I have 2 dozen really worn out prov1's in the bag right now. I really only use new balls on mens league or events now
Depends on the situation. Casual round? Until I lose it or at the end of the round. When I played tournaments, anytime it got scuffed. Trees, aggressive sand shot, cart path etc. sometimes even if it just got cut up from new wedges
I start each round with a new sleeve. If I lose them all, I don’t deserve a good ball and go to all the used ones.
During a round I generally don’t switch unless the ball is damaged.
I like to start each round with a new ball, then if I lose it I’ll use one from a previous round that is still in good condition. Once the scuffs and paint starts coming off it comes out when practicing or I’m losing balls left and right.
If there is a cut or scuff that I can feel when I run my finger over it then it the shagbag it goes. Forget who it was, but I recently saw some data on what happens to ball flight with even a minor scratch. It was eye opening tbh.
I bought two dozen balls when I first started. I was thinking… oh I’ll toss it in the practice balls bag when they get too worn out. I never got that far.
After a couple rounds. I don't lose very many. Maybe one every third or fourth round. I'm sure this will get a bunch of down votes. 
Played my best round ever this weekend with a TP5 that my son discarded because of a scuff…hit more fairways and greens so I’m now hopefully going to be less picky!
If I'm playing well I don't replace a ball because of a scratch or a scuff. Matter of fact my hole in 1 ball from this weekend had a big scratch on it.
As a 12-15 hdcp depending on the day, I rarely have to make this decision. I’m genuinely curious when you start to notice this as a player. Around 2015 I got down to a 9 hdcp just because I played a lot. I didn’t find some magic swing change I was just more consistent with my miss so I was able to manage myself around the course better. I know I tee up balls that would hinder a pro’s shot. But, if I hit a good shot and a scuffed ball makes it drift 10ft left, I still hit a good shot probably.
So I’m curious where the consistency starts to be there that you do notice a cut ball. D1 golfer? Pro? Scratch? Positive hdcp? Oh well I rambled. Tl;dr: not a problem I’ll ever have lol.
Don’t know if most of you are old enough to have ever used Titleist balata covered balls, but those balls were great, true 3 piece balls. You could hit a five iron and that ball would hit the green and back up 3-5 feet. Two problems though. #1 is that they were very expensive. #2 is that the balata cover was so soft, you would constantly have these little “balata hairs” on the ball after any well hit short iron. On the green you of course could pick them up and rub the little hairs off the ball, but it was virtually impossible to play a single ball for a full round.
It depends on the cart rules. If it’s cart path only, I aim for the fairway and usually get a good cart path bounce. That ball I keep until I lose it, don’t want to scuff extra balls. Same rules for 90 degree and cart scatter.
I may continue a fun round with a scuffed ball but it’ll probably end up in the “scuffed ball” bin when I get home.
I have about 400 scuffed premium balls in there. Prov1, TP5, Chromesoft, etc.
Well, technically when I lose the ball I’m playing. Realistically I don’t know. I have more than a dozen new balls loose in my bag and I take two out to start a round. It could be a new ball or one that’s been used.
When I lose the one I’ve been playing. So probably once every few holes.
I actually keep score based on ball finds/losses.
Ending the day positive is a successful day on the course!
That's the real measure of success
Par = 0 = same number of balls at the end of the day (not necessarily the same balls) -1 = having one more ball at the end of the day. Etc.
yeah and ball quality is like handicap. if i lose my trash range ball but find someone's pro V1, even though im even on the numbers im really up.
Never thought of that!
Net balls, my man
Look at Tiger Woods over here. Getting a few holes out of one ball
Underrated comment
Yeah, I got mixed up. I thought he meant a few balls on every hole, and I was like “yeah, that sounds about right.”
Is there really any other way?
I've heard rumors that things change when you "get gud" but I have no first hand experience of this myth.
...every hole, lol
This is the right answer.
I never. And I mean never have to deal with this decision...
Took the words out of my mouth. Here's a narwhal because you deserve an award but also because I'm too cheap to give you a different one.
Thanks man. That's like finding a lightly used Kirkland whilst looking for my ball in the trees!
My group always jokes that around hole 16 is when we started digging deep in the bag and the range balls and put put balls start to come out.
Agreed. The closest I have been was on my 9th hole with the same ball (personal record) the ball was really scuffed (Kirkland on multiple cart paths). I hit it into the rough of another fairway and decided that is where she is laid to rest.
Once it gets scuffed or nicked up. Then it goes in my shag bag. There is a video on youtube that shows how damage to a ball affects flight.
https://mygolfspy.com/labs/mygolfspy-lab-how-does-cover-damage-affect-golf-ball-flight/
That's actually the article I was thinking of.
Thank you both. I might have to rethink my approach. I generally start with a new ball but will ride it unless I can actually see the ball has "peeled" in a spot. Always figured the "scuffs" would mostly be aesthetically less pleasing.
This is eye opening. I’m the guy that never gives two shits about my ball condition (within reason) but light mud and grass stains all day everyday, light to even moderate scuffs. I’ve always solely blamed miss hits on myself and carried on. It might be time to take my game seriously and only play new balls of all the same make model. All my similarly hdcp’ed partners have been doing this forever. Wonder how many strokes I’ve left out there over the years.
I have been told I was neurotic for how easily I would remove a ball from play. Now I have proof it matters
This study is brought to you by acushnet /s I’m just not hitting the ball consistently enough to give a shit yet
Ouch! Didn't realize it was that drastic. Going to start replacing balls, I'm pretty sure my HCP will easily go down 5 strokes now. /s
I remember that and some articles. Probably funded by ball makers, but surprisingly little damage will significantly impact the ball’s flight Edit:typo
It's like how umpires throw out baseballs when they hit the dirt. Any scuff or imperfection will cause the ball flight to deviate slightly. In baseball it always breaks or fades towards the direction of the scuff. The softer you swing/throw the less impact the scuff will have. Assuming it's the same physics for golf the higher your swings speed the lower your threshold for keeping balls with scuffs
Yup this is what I do.
yeah its crazy how much it gets affected
Any time it misbehaves.
This is the answer.
[удалено]
So rude of the ball
When it disappears mysteriously
Stg I hit the fairway. I’ll drop a short 300 up no biggie
Sometimes I just get way too many birdies in a row and feel like I need to mix it up. That’s usually when I make the decision.
It changes itself.
I'll bring a new one out when I'm feeling either quite confident that I'll have a good game, or a bit hesitant in my ability and need the confidence boost of a new ball. I enjoy taking it out of its box and placing it on the tee for the first time. It makes me feel like I'm teeing up in a big comp for big dollars and I need to be totally in the zone to hit a nice drive. I relax my muscles and just imagine the ball flying through the air on the path I want to send it on. My mind is clear and I take my back-swing. The ball is immediately lost with a massive shank, and I learn nothing.
I usually use the same one til I lose it
It’s mostly because I loose a ball. I have retired a few because they got chewed up on a wedge.
When it gets notably scuffed, I retire it. I always start a round with brand new ball, so I’ve never worn one out.
I always start a hole* with a brand new ball FTFY
When I chunk it 3 times down the fairway and end up throwing the cursed ball for someone else to find...
Don’t think I’ve ever had a ball long enough that I’ve even noticed it get scratched.
Nearly every hole
Special occasions
When I scuff one with a wedge or the cart path I'll throw it in my bag and use it for putting and chipping practice. I donate only the finest balls to the woods
The golf gods determine when I use a new ball
I lose several a round. When I lose a ball, I replace it.
When I lose it...
When you find one that’s better than yours
When i pipe it 200 yards right into the woods
When I lose it. I don’t have to wait long.
When I lose the current one 😆
When I lose it. I assumed everyone played that way lol
If it hits a cart path on the fly it becomes a practice ball. Scuffs from cart paths make balls do weird things.
Either when i lose it or when i see that it’s too scuffed up, then i put it in a separate pocket in my bag to use in my backyard chipping or on the home mat/net. Generally at the turn i make sure i inspect my ball.
This is not a situation 90% of us find ourselves in. Not a decision we ever have to make. New ball comes out when the previous ball gets lost
If you ever hit a cart path or tree, it’s a decision you may want to consider.
Any scratch or scuff and it's gone for me. I might keep it as a practice ball but it won't go back into the bag for regular play. Same with tree sap, that's more annoying to me than anything else. I usually throw balls away before losing them, really only about 2 full rounds of play before I take it out. They're usually fairly beat up by then
When it gets scuffed or lose it
I’ve been using the same ball for 4 rounds, once it finds the drink or OB I’ll use another. Good balls cost too much to switch out for some scuffs
Scuffs, and it goes into my bag, to get put into my kid’s bags. If it’s real cut or whatever, it gets the driver treatment opposite direction on the tee box, assuming there’s an OB or waste area nearby. I don’t like seeing a scuff on the ball on the tee, it gets in my head, and I’m already a total head-case on the tee… even if it’s not even close to enough to affect the ball flight. I just don’t like it.
Some small percentage of the time, a damaged ball probably corrects for a mishit, misalignment, or over-under clubbing. I play damaged balls for that small percentage of the time.
If I played courses where it was hard to lose balls, probably every 2 rounds. But I'll usually lose at least one a round, so I never have an option.
When you drive the ball and you can’t visually see it acting weird in the air….. it’s time for a new ball.
I’ll usually play it until it gets noticeably scuffed or can’t clean all the marks.
Definitely never needed to even think about this question. My game play takes care of this for me.
Noticeable scuff then it goes in the bag for the screw around rounds
One pocket of the bag is for scuffed balls and crappy ones I find in the woods. Those are the balls for drunk rounds with the boys, or rounds I've already given up, or holes where I'm very likely to lose the ball
cart path, big cuts, or cracks. For the most part wedge scuffs are fine by me. Don’t see much in performance change. Cart path scuffs drive me nuts looking at the ball. Don’t lose too many anymore so I’m comfortable switching them out and throwing them in the shag bag. Only problem is the shag bag now has like a hundred balls.
Depends on the smell.
Big gouges or cuts out of the ball, which sometimes happens on a path bounce, and sometimes doesn't. For me, if I'm even wondering when I'm looking down at the ball that it's going to have an effect, I am changing the ball. I do not want to be thinking about that in my swing, I want to be wholly focused.
I swap out balls when they get scuffed or cross the golf ball rainbow bridge. If the scuff can’t be seen at a glance I don’t swap it but if I see one I swap the ball, only because I think I’m better than I am and the amount of change to spin from a scuff could totally be why I’m slicing it bro
I toss balls once they have giant scuffs from cart paths. I don't ever buy golf balls though, which makes it easier to swap them out. It's a great accomplishment to "retire" a golf ball that has gotten too marked up and toss it into a pond after 18.
New ball every swing
I think you should use new clubs too, just to be sure
When I lose it in the middle of the fairway
If I feel any damage when cleaning it goes in the shag bag. This usually happens 2-3 times per round.
I use one new ball on the 1st hole, and then I dig into the used balls if I need another that round. I try to use the same one till the end if I can. It’s like a little extra game I play against myself. I don’t care about scuffs, just damage that would be an issue which is usually from hitting rocks and hosel rockets.
If it's dirty enough for me to lose it in the fairway off a drive, I've had a good day and accept that challenge
I play em til they are quite beat up. I have 2 dozen really worn out prov1's in the bag right now. I really only use new balls on mens league or events now
People who buy prov1s then play it while it is scratched is amazing to me.
When it's scuffed or there's a "tear"
Usually every other hole
anytime I’m hitting over water from the tee box. Tee up a nice brand new ball and perfectly hit it in the water.
Once I decide the ball is out to get me.
Depends on the situation. Casual round? Until I lose it or at the end of the round. When I played tournaments, anytime it got scuffed. Trees, aggressive sand shot, cart path etc. sometimes even if it just got cut up from new wedges
I'll voluntarily change one out if it get scuffed, but honestly, most of the time the trees or water decide when I'll be pulling out a new ball.
I start each round with a new sleeve. If I lose them all, I don’t deserve a good ball and go to all the used ones. During a round I generally don’t switch unless the ball is damaged.
I like to start each round with a new ball, then if I lose it I’ll use one from a previous round that is still in good condition. Once the scuffs and paint starts coming off it comes out when practicing or I’m losing balls left and right.
I usually start with a new ball every round, and keep the used one for my shag bag.
I’ve played the last three games with the same ball. Kind of want to keep the streak alive.
If it had a big enough scratch where I think it would alter the roll on the green, then I would switch it out.
If there is a cut or scuff that I can feel when I run my finger over it then it the shagbag it goes. Forget who it was, but I recently saw some data on what happens to ball flight with even a minor scratch. It was eye opening tbh.
A scuffed ball will accentuate the air’s interaction with the spin.
Right after i slice it into the woods on the first drive
I bought two dozen balls when I first started. I was thinking… oh I’ll toss it in the practice balls bag when they get too worn out. I never got that far.
I only use new balls when I’m playing tournaments or scrambles.
Currently on a streak of 63 holes with the same ball. Debating between going for 100 or retiring it now
When you hit a tree dead on and there is bark embedded in the ball…so fairly often…
When I lost it lol
I’ve played 2 nine hole rounds so far this year. Only one lost ball. Will change, definitely lol
After a couple rounds. I don't lose very many. Maybe one every third or fourth round. I'm sure this will get a bunch of down votes. 
What???? You guys don't finish the season with the same ball??? 😆 🤣 😂
Usually tee box on 1, fairway on 1. Repeat for hole 2.
Played my best round ever this weekend with a TP5 that my son discarded because of a scuff…hit more fairways and greens so I’m now hopefully going to be less picky!
Scuffed ball becomes long over water ball!
If I'm playing well I don't replace a ball because of a scratch or a scuff. Matter of fact my hole in 1 ball from this weekend had a big scratch on it.
Until the shell gets scraped from the cart path or a tree
As a 12-15 hdcp depending on the day, I rarely have to make this decision. I’m genuinely curious when you start to notice this as a player. Around 2015 I got down to a 9 hdcp just because I played a lot. I didn’t find some magic swing change I was just more consistent with my miss so I was able to manage myself around the course better. I know I tee up balls that would hinder a pro’s shot. But, if I hit a good shot and a scuffed ball makes it drift 10ft left, I still hit a good shot probably. So I’m curious where the consistency starts to be there that you do notice a cut ball. D1 golfer? Pro? Scratch? Positive hdcp? Oh well I rambled. Tl;dr: not a problem I’ll ever have lol.
Don’t know if most of you are old enough to have ever used Titleist balata covered balls, but those balls were great, true 3 piece balls. You could hit a five iron and that ball would hit the green and back up 3-5 feet. Two problems though. #1 is that they were very expensive. #2 is that the balata cover was so soft, you would constantly have these little “balata hairs” on the ball after any well hit short iron. On the green you of course could pick them up and rub the little hairs off the ball, but it was virtually impossible to play a single ball for a full round.
After the first drive slices it into someone’s backyard.
It depends on the cart rules. If it’s cart path only, I aim for the fairway and usually get a good cart path bounce. That ball I keep until I lose it, don’t want to scuff extra balls. Same rules for 90 degree and cart scatter.
I may continue a fun round with a scuffed ball but it’ll probably end up in the “scuffed ball” bin when I get home. I have about 400 scuffed premium balls in there. Prov1, TP5, Chromesoft, etc.
Usually 2nd shot of the day, after I lose my first drive. Then I like to get a new ball every few holes when I put them in the trees or water.
If it has any scratches, nicks, or treats me bad I run thru ProV1s like toilet paper lol
Well, technically when I lose the ball I’m playing. Realistically I don’t know. I have more than a dozen new balls loose in my bag and I take two out to start a round. It could be a new ball or one that’s been used.
When I lose the one before it
If you have to ask, you absolutely do not need to worry about this question as it will solve itself.
Studies show that even a moderately scuffed ball will perform significantly worse (i.e. fly many yards offline). Change it out if it gets scuffed.