Myth Or Fact?

Cracking the Code of Equipment’s Most Enduring Urban Legends.

- Matthew Rudy

The 19th hole is a playground filled with legends, tall tales and myths about equipment, from the basic (Is the ball I found in the pond still good?) to the prosaic (What happens if I put Vaseline on the face of my driver?). We asked various experts to address some of the most interesting and enduring. Consider your myths busted.

How Long Will A Golf Ball Last If I Don’t Lose It?

1 Most balls don’t stick around long enough for it to matter, but what would happen if you played with the same one for 10 rounds? Would the scuffs and hundreds of whacks make it perform worse? Dean Snell, a former golf-ball designer at Titleist and TaylorMade who now runs Snell Golf, says you’d have to hit a premium ball at least 100 times with a driver—at tour-level swing speeds—to see any cover cracking. Most balls, he says, will survive more than 250 hits before any deterioration. Scuffs aren’t even a big deal if they haven’t chopped up the dimples. Temperature and water are bigger enemies. Below freezing and above 100, the polymers that make up the various layers stiffen or soften, both of which impact ball speed and spin rate. Playing balls you find in the water isn’t a great idea, either: “Water can seep into the core, and that costs you distance and speed,” Snell says. “Velocity slows after 48 hours in the water, but the ball really loses speed after two to three weeks in the water.” The perfect conditions for ball performance? Think San Diego, dry and 21 degrees.