This week, we had Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl champion Reggie Bush on The Loop podcast to promote Bush’s United Athletes Tour, a first-of-its-kind golf league that will pit professional athletes of past and present against each other on the golf course. Bush, as you’ll hear in our interview, is a total golf sicko, as evidenced by his nearly three-minute long answer on how he grips the golf club (check out the interview here).
But, like all of us, Bush was once a beginner. He’s now a low single-digit handicap thanks to a lot of hard work, but there was once a time when he lost a ton of golf balls. Hardly surprising for a big, strong former football player who shows up to the course and swings as hard as possible.
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Because of that, as Bush explained on the pod, he had to bring a TON of balls with him, a common trait among beginners. Eventually, though, you get halfway decent enough at this game, yet some part of your brain still thinks you need 25 balls stuffed in the bottom pouch of your bag, which can lead to some problems should you start playing some nicer courses and take caddies.
So that got me thinking – just how many golf balls should you have in your bag at any given time? This is obviously a very situational question, so I’ll provide some situational answers below.
You’re just starting out and you’re (mostly) riding in a cart
Bring as many as you’d like. Grab the 40 pack of Slazenger’s for $20 at Dick’s Sporting Goods and stuff ‘em all in there. You’re going to need them. Whether there’s water, woods, fescue, etc., you’re going to lose balls, and you never want to be the guy asking your buddy who plays the game well for one of his ProV1s that you’re going to immediately deposit into a lake. That’s a sinking feeling, no pun intended.
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You’re getting better, and sometimes you walk
Twenty, maximum. If you’re getting better at the game and can keep it somewhat in play and break 100, under no circumstance are you going to lose 20 golf balls in a round. That’s a generous number. Fifteen is probably all you need.
You’re breaking 90, you’re getting invited to nice places and you’re taking caddies
No more than 10, and that’s a lot. Obviously, it’s somewhat course dependent. If you’re playing down in Florida and there’s water everywhere, or you’re playing a super-tight tree-lined course in the Northeast and you’re a little shaky off the tee, I get why you’d be nervous with less than 10. Especially if it’s a really nice place, maybe you’re a little on edge and it takes you a bit to settle in. You might lose three or four early and feel like you’ll soon be re-enacting the final scene of “Tin Cup.”
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You’re low-to-mid single digits and in control off the tee
Six. Two sleeves. If you have an out-of-character, wild day and somehow lose ‘em all, you won’t look that bad asking for one from a playing partner, especially one who knows your game and knows today ain’t like you.
You’re an absolute stick
As someone who is not an absolute stick (I’d like to think I fall in the above ^^ category, and usually carry between six and eight), I can’t speak for absolute sticks. But I would think they carry four golf balls. One leftover from the last round where they probably shot 73 with it, and a new sleeve of ProV1xs waiting patiently to be broken in. You may think that’s crazy, but, if you’re shooting 73, you aren’t losing golf balls. Really good players are probably carrying between three and six, max.
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It’s not much more complicated than that. Of course, there is another situation that I’m sure many find themselves in if they’re in the business/financial world. You’re just getting into the game, you’re an absolute chop, but, because of the circle you run in now, you’re being invited to one Top 100 after another. The types of places you have no business playing. In that case, the caddie will probably lighten your load without even asking you, and they’re good enough that you’ll have trouble losing a ball unless it’s a water-logged track. It’s also in these cases where you’ll probably be picking up—or being told to pick up—after your seventh or eighth shots, thus lessening the chance of skulling one into the street. And at places like this, if you do somehow lose all the balls in your bag, someone will phone the pro shop and have extras driven out to you, so fear not.
Do you have a “stupid” golf problem? A question you’re too ashamed to ask your close friends? A conundrum that needs to be talked out in a public forum? We’re here to help. If you have etiquette-related inquiries or just want to know how to handle some of the unique on- or off-course situations we all find ourselves in, please let us know. You can email me (chris.powers@wbd.com) or send me a DM on Twitter/X (@Cpowers14) or on Instagram (@cpthreeve).
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