Unconventional Wisdom: The Multiple Golf Ball Approach That Could Change Your Game

Did you know that the USGA’s “one ball rule” is actually just a local rule? Yep, it’s an optional thing that’s more or less off by default until a tournament committee decides to turn it on. While the pros on TV are usually locked into one model during PGA Tour events, your weekend game with buddies? That’s a totally different story.

Here’s a fun fact: while the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship (aka “British Open”) enforce the one-ball rule, the PGA Championship doesn’t. While it’s the most extreme example, theoretically, a player could have teed up 18 different models in a single round at Quail Hollow earlier this year.

What does this mean for you? Simply put, you’re totally within your rights to play multiple models during a round of golf.

Now, I know this flies in the face of everything we’ve discussed about choosing a golf ball. The conventional wisdom says find “your ball” and stick with it forever (or until the new model comes out.) Learn its flight characteristics, know exactly how far it goes, understand how it spins. All that makes perfect sense, right?

But what if we’ve been thinking about this all wrong?

The mutli-ball method

What if, instead of finding your one ball, you optimized your ball choice for specific course conditions and the type of hole you’re playing?

Sounds a bit wild, I know. But hear me out.

As we covered in our Ballnamic story, PING’s Marty Jertson isn’t just theorizing about this stuff; he’s actually putting it into practice. And he’s not just some random engineer with cuckoo bird ideas. He’s competed in major championships and other professional tournaments.

“I won a local section tournament and I played five different balls,” he told me. “It was a windy day and there were firm greens.”

Now, five different balls might be overkill for most of us weekend warriors. The full Jertson requires a level of specificity that would make a NASA scientist uncomfortable—accounting for wind direction, hole length, green firmness and maybe even the tide.

It’s a lot to keep track of, admittedly more than most of us want to deal with between beers in the cart. But we can simplify things a bit.

The average golfer’s two-ball strategy

Here’s where it gets practical. Jertson believes average golfers should play at least two models every round.

The first is your “most of the time” ball for par-4s and -5s. Look for something with a bit of a distance slant. You still want a ball that fits your swing but the idea is to get a little more oomph off the tee and into greens. Because, let’s face it, how many times have you come up short on your approach shot? If you’re like most amateurs, probably more often than not.

Your second ball is specifically for par-3s. Why? Because most mid to high handicappers struggle to generate enough height and spin to hold greens. You know those shots that land on the front edge and then roll clear off the back? Yeah, those.

(Urethane covers are your friend. Anyway …)

“If you’re a 15 handicapper, if you’re a 10 handicapper and above, I would recommend you play a different ball on par-4s and par-5s that’s more optimized for distance,” Jertson explains. “Then switch to a different ball on par-3s that’s designed to fly higher and spin more for better stopping power.”

To find your perfect par-3 ball, just tell Ballnamic you want to maximize height, landing angle and spin rates. This should give you a ball that lands softly on greens instead of skidding across them like a stone skipping across a pond.

The better player’s wind strategy

If you’re a better player (which I’m sure you are, of course), you might want to take things a step further and add a specific ball for windy conditions.

“At a minimum, a better player should be playing a downwind ball and an into-the-wind ball,” Jertson says. This approach lets you optimize your flight without having to change your swing—and who doesn’t want that?

What you’re looking for is a ball that flies lower and spins a bit less. The less time your ball spends in the air, the less opportunity the wind has to mess with it. Not only will you get more distance into the wind but you’ll also see tighter dispersion. And tighter dispersion means more fairways and greens.

“You could make the same driver swing and change your peak height a ton and have your into-the-wind ball go both straighter and fly lower and go further,” Jertson explains.

The Titleist AVX is a great example of a lower-flying, lower-spinning ball for windy conditions.

Fine-tuning your strategy further

Want to really nerd out on this stuff (as if we haven’t already)? Consider optimizing for green conditions, too.

When the greens are soft and receptive, like after a good rain, focus on maximizing driver performance. It’s your “tee it high and let it fly” moment. You don’t need to worry as much about how your ball will stop on the green because, well, it’s probably going to stop regardless.

But when those greens firm up? That’s when you want a ball with more stopping power—something that flies higher, descends more steeply and generates more spin. It’s basically the same thinking as the par-3 ball with perhaps a bit more balanced performance off the tee.

And if you’re playing in wet conditions, whether it’s rain or heavy dew, consider a ball with better water-repellent properties (or “hydrophobicity” if you want to sound smart at the 19th hole).

Bridgestone Tour B series balls tend to be particularly good at maintaining spin when wet but pump your data into Ballnamic to find the ball with a higher “flyer prevention” score that also matches your swing.

Ballnamic makes it simple

The beauty of all this is that you don’t need a physics degree to implement it. Ballnamic does the heavy lifting for you.

And it’s not about forcing one philosophy on everyone. If you’re someone who actually prefers your ball to release more (some players do, especially on firm greens), you can simply tell Ballnamic that flyer prevention isn’t important to you while prioritizing the characteristics that match your personal preferences.

It’s your game. Play it your way.

A new approach for the modern game

I know the multi-ball approach challenges everything we’ve been taught about consistency and familiarity. But as our understanding of golf ball performance evolves, maybe our approach should, too.

Most of us have been conditioned to use one ball for consistency but Jertson believes this conventional approach might be leaving strokes on the table.

This kind of unconventional wisdom probably sounds radical now but today’s crazy idea is often tomorrow’s standard practice.

What do you think? Are you willing to give the multi-ball strategy a shot? If it can work for an elite golfer like Jertson, maybe it could work for you.

Interested in the multi-ball method? Thinking about going full Jertson? PING’s Ballnamic can help you find the golf balls for your game.