There are certain golf balls that I seem to hit straighter off of the tee and I like to use them on holes with tight fairways, and I can work others a little better and I like to use these on holes where a draw or fade is the preferred drive. Is it legal to use a different golf ball for different holes during a round? I know that you can't change in the middle of playing a hole in order to use a preferred putting ball, but I'm wondering about using different balls for different holes.

I am no rules expert but I thought you could change golf balls at every hole if you wanted. Read - as long as they are white and roll, go for it.......

So long as there is no local rule as on the PGA. Just don't change durring the play of a hole. I've played with some that have a special putting ball :>)

i think this is right but not totally 100% sure

i believe that you have to start and finish the hole with the same ball ( unless its lost, split or out of shape), but during the round you can use which ever ball u like, as long as its if the same compression type.

Any rules guys on the forum to help with this??????

Every tournament I have played in since junior golf has always had a "one ball rule", including USGA, AJGA, Indiana PGA, collegiate/high school tournaments, and local tournaments. I'm not sure about during handicapped play, but I tend to just use one ball throughout the round since that's is what has to be done in tournaments.

Ya, its fine, as long as there is no one ball rule in affect.

However.. the special putting ball.. I believe that is illegal, I think you are supposed to play the whole hole with the same ball.

Found this in a search on the Rule

One Ball Rule Several people have asked about having to play the same make of golf ball during a round of golf. The USGA rules allow you to use any ball on it's approved ball list whenever substitution is allowed (between holes, when ball is damaged, etc). Some events, like PGA Tour events, use what is called "The One Ball Rule". This rule does NOT apply unless the tournament committee imposes this one ball rule in it's local rules or conditions of the competition.

In the back of the USGA Rule Book, in Appendix I, the USGA suggests and writes that during a stipulated round, the balls a player plays must be of the same brand and model as detailed by a single entry on the List of Conforming Golf Balls. (Here is the link to the List of Conforming Golf Balls. It changes occasionally.) That means if you play a PRO V1x for your first shot, you must play a PRO V1x for every shot of your stipulated round.

This "One Ball Rule" is usually just used for competitions with advanced players but the committee could do it for any event. It must be listed in the local rules for the competition. Otherwise, if you start with a Titleist, you could switch to a Callaway, Nike or any ball of your choice when the rules allow you to substitute a ball (like between holes).

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You are not allowed to switch balls in the middle of the hole. In order to substitute a ball, you have to declare it unfit and unless the ball is cut or otherwise damaged, you cant declare it unfit.

Just to clarify this point, the requirement that the ball be declared unfit before substituting only applies if you want to change balls during the play of a hole. That means the scenario mentioned earlier where a player uses one type of ball to hit his tee shot and another type of ball to putt is not permitted under the rules.

As has already been mentioned, you can freely change balls, even changing to a different type of ball, between holes as long as you are not competing in a tournament where a one-ball rule has been imposed by the committee.

Thats correct changing during the hole without damaging or losing the balls is typically a two stroke penalty I think under 15-B. Our little group adopted a putting ball exception for winter golf for our informal rounds becaus generally by the time you make it to the green on a winter day you have a mud ball. Probably a bad idea we should stop though....

If you are on the green with a mud ball, mark it, pick it up, and clean it. Why would you need to change balls?

Yeah, that kind of doesn't make sense to me. If I were allowed to change balls during the play of a hole, I'd want to change before hitting my approach shot. That way I could hit a hard low-spin ball off the tee and a soft high-spin ball into the green.

It's not entirely true that a player can't switch to another ball during play of a hole.

If a player deems his ball unplayable he can take a new ball for the drop even if he can reach the first one.

If a player has hit his ball into a water hazard and he takes relief from the hazard according to Rule 26-1, he may take a new ball even if he can pick the first ball out of the water.

True, I believe that has already been covered fairly well earlier in this thread. We were talking about changing balls during the play of a hole outside of the situations where it is permitted by the rules.

That is a different situation than what the OP was referring to. The situations you've described all carry a one stroke penalty. The OP was inquiring about being able to change balls without penalty.

Rule 1-1, the first rule in the book, is a good rule to keep in mind:

1-1. General
The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.