I was playing with someone today and during our round everytime we had reached the green my partner would replace the ball that he hit into the green with another ball of the same brand and type with another ball with an aiming line marked on the ball. I didnt say anything since it wasnt too big of a deal but i was just curious if this is legitimate. I always thought that you couldn't do that.

You have to play the same ball tee to green. I'd love to use my two-piece distance ball off the tee and a Callaway HX Tour 56 or Pro V around the green.

You can only change balls if you lose it.

i guess i don't understand why he is doing this? same ball and type? you have to use same ball from tee to green

Probably just doesn't wanted to get ink all over his clubs

I know a guy who does the same thing.
He wants to putt with a brand new ball, with the near perfect sphere, untouched by a driver especially.
This is after he saw a clip of how much the golf ball would be compressed being hit by a driver or iron.

We did not mind, because we're out on a recreational round with him and no bet between us.
We did remind him it's a no-no for tournament play nor with a friendly bet on the round.

he told me he was primarily doing it so that he wouldnt get any marker on his clubs and also so it wouldnt mess up his line on the ball. I use to draw lines on the golf ball but stopped doing it when they left marks on my clubs.

I always knew that you had to play the same ball tee to green, but I thought that once you were on the green you could mark the ball and clean or replace it with another ball. I guess I was wrong.

I bring a clean ball to the green with me because I don't have a caddie and/or a wet towel to clean the ball off... Never knew that was a no-no!

It's definitely a no-no.

I get the ink all over the faces of my clubs too but what's the big deal ? Spit on them and wipe them with a towel. It comes right OFF.

And I purposely face a marked part of the ball on a tee so that I can see where on the clubface I strike the ball !!!

In "Goldfinger," when Oddjob "found" Goldfinger's lost ball, Bond picked up the real one, then switched them in the cup on the final green, thus forcing Goldfinger to forfeit the hole for apparently not playing the same ball from tee through the green.

A co-worker's brother tried to use a putting ball and got a little ticked when I told him I didn't care if he did it but it was against the rules.

I always carry another ball in my pocket just for the sake of fast play. I used to be bad about not carrying a wet towel to the green or even wetting a towel before the start of a round. So I would occasionally pull the switcheroo (especially during the wet months when a ball can bury itself in our West Texas greens.) I knew that this wasn't right, so I had to come up with a way to always remember the towel.

This is pretty corny, but it helped me. I tried a little self-psycology and tried convincing myself that a cooler putter face would strike truer than a hot putter face. So when it came time to pull my wedge and putter, I would wrap the head of my putter with the towel and chip on. By the time I was ready to mark and clean my ball, my putter face would be cooled sufficiently (or so I told myself!) Now I can't pull my wedges and putter without thinking about that towel. I know, corny, but it helped give me a reminder.