Once a cheater always a cheater?

A ball is a ball.

Ya cause swappping a ball between shots and cheating on your wife with whoever many women it is now is so similar.

ummm, correct me if I'm wrong but he's allowed to change balls on the green.

In fact, I'm almost 100% certain. When you play wedge shots you typically strip your ball, so you would take it out of play and putt with a new one.

So you guys might have been right about him, but for the wrong reasons.

quote:

---

ummm, correct me if I'm wrong but he's allowed to change balls on the green.

In fact, I'm almost 100% certain. When you play wedge shots you typically strip your ball, so you would take it out of play and putt with a new one.

So you guys might have been right about him, but for the wrong reasons.

---

You would be 100% incorrect.

Rules of Golf require using the same ball from tee shot to hole out, unless the ball becomes unplayable. Here is the entire text of the rule...

5-3. Ball Unfit for Play
A ball is unfit for play if it is visibly cut, cracked or out of shape. A ball is not unfit for play solely because mud or other materials adhere to it, its surface is scratched or scraped or its paint is damaged or discolored.

If a player has reason to believe his ball has become unfit for play during play of the hole being played, he may lift the ball, without penalty, to determine whether it is unfit.

Before lifting the ball, the player must announce his intention to his opponent in match play or his marker or a fellow-competitor in stroke play and mark the position of the ball. He may then lift and examine it, provided that he gives his opponent, marker or fellow-competitor an opportunity to examine the ball and observe the lifting and replacement. The ball must not be cleaned when lifted under Rule 5-3.

If the player fails to comply with all or any part of this procedure or if he lifts the ball without having reason to believe that it has become unfit for play during play of the hole being played, he incurs a penalty of one stroke.

If it is determined that the ball has become unfit for play during play of the hole being played, the player may substitute another ball, placing it on the spot where the original ball lay. Otherwise, the original ball must be replaced. If a player substitutes a ball when not permitted and makes a stroke at the wrongly substituted ball, he incurs the general penalty for a breach of Rule 5-3, but there is no additional penalty under this Rule or Rule 15-2.

If a ball breaks into pieces as a result of a stroke, the stroke is canceled and the player must play a ball, without penalty, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was played (see Rule 20-5).

*PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 5-3:
Match play — Loss of hole; Stroke play — Two strokes.
*If a player incurs the general penalty for breach of Rule 5-3, there is no additional penalty under this Rule.

Note 1: If the opponent, marker or fellow-competitor wishes to dispute a claim of unfitness, he must do so before the player plays another ball.

The PGA implemented a rule requiring that the player use the same brand and model of ball for the entire round, allegedly to prevent players from becoming marketing 'billboards' and playing different types of balls during a round based on the characteristics of a given hole (one for length, one for spin, one for control, etc.). In other words, if you tee off on #1 with a Callaway HT Tour, you have to play the entire round with that same make and model, not even switching to another type of ball made by Callaway.
Source(s):
Rules of Golf

I used to be the tournaments chairman at my club for two years. There were always a lot of disputes and disqualifications and you learn to be damn certain what you're doing if you want to compete against a bunch of cutthroat rich guys who'll take your arse to the cleaners in a New York minute.

I'm pretty up on the rules and when you originally posted it I wasn't sure but as I was typing I became more convinced. Probably just because I've always done it.

Damn this is why I suck so bad at golf, I never change the ball out till I lose it in the woods.

quote:

---

They would all love to hit a hard ball off the tee, and a soft one into the green.

---

i was only talking about on the green. I know you can't change it anywhere else unless it's destroyed basically.

If you ever play for bucks and I'm not talking a 'friendly' game with your friends, but I mean a game with hundreds or thousands of dollars on the line, you better know your rules, because they are there to help you kick the arse off of someone who doesn't know the rules well. You call a guy on something in a game like that, and it cost him strokes, the likelihood of him getting smoked by you just increased ten-fold because all he's going to be thinking about is how pissed off he is at you and he's not going to be thinking about his game. Even better, if you know the rules and you call someone on the rules and that person refuses to agree with you and doesn't penalize himself... big mistake. The club pro will know the rules and at our club we have a rules committee to settle disputes. If the guy is ruled against and then refuses to pay up, the club can sanction the player and basically his name is dirt among the members.

quote:

---

i was only talking about on the green.

---

You're probably relating this to the ability to clean the ball once it is on the green.

As for the OP, it could have been an honest mistake, fluff could have been getting a ball ready for the next hole. Although since this was a good while ago, was the balata or wound ball still being used?