So how durable is that golf ball?

Perusing the internet the other day, I stumbled on an interesting question posed to Nike on their website…”how long should my golf ball last”? Provided you didn’t lose it, they felt like it should last indefinitely…really? We’ve all played with balls that get scuffed up, wrinkled and still even sometimes cut (pretty hard to do this anymore though), which got me to thinking that for my game - how long could a ball “last”.

Meet “Mikey”, a Nike One Black ball. He’s the test subject in my summer-long quest to find out. I’m lucky enough to play in a league every Wednesday night for 9 holes and I’m going to play with Mikey until he breaks or I lose him. It’s pretty hard to a lose a ball on this course so I’m hoping to have him all year.

So here’s the plan. I play every week and I’ll take some pictures afterwards showing the condition of Mikey. I’ll keep track of how far I hit him on a few certain holes, how I feel he spins on approach shots, etc. By the end of summer, after about 90 holes we’ll see what he looks like, if he’s still playable, etc.

Week 1-6/8/2011
#1-Mikey is brand new tonight…I know.. I know… “never hit a brand new ball off #1”, but I have to. He’s nervous and so am I, this is one of only two holes that I can potentially lose him I figure. In all my rounds here, I’ve only hit one ball into the street on the right and tonight is not going to be #2. I send Mikey down the left side with a soft little fade into the fairway. He’s about 110 out, which means, I hit him about 255, not bad Mikey!

#3-So #3 is a 155 yd par 3 that plays a little uphill. Tees are a smidge back tonight so I pull a 6 iron. I miss the green left but pin high-yardage was spot on, good boy Mikey.

#7- Seven is the #1 handicap hole, it plays about 420 slightly uphill and to play it right you need a little draw off the tee. I swing too hard…come around Mikey a little and pull him up the left side off the heel of the club. He flies straight and true like a champ, stays in the fairway and leaves me 165. Pretty good for a miss. 6 iron to the green takes two bounces and stops 18-20 feet above the front pin. A ticklish lag to about 2 feet and a tap in and we move on.

#9 The “home” hole on the round, 9 plays 470 or so, par 5. Generally reachable with 2 decent shots. The trick here is to start the ball up the right side with a little draw and let it catch the side slope that will funnel it back to the middle and forward…but don’t tell anyone I told you this…:o). Mikey gives me the best drive of the night…perfect contact, shape and trajectory. I couldn’t have hit it better. I’ve now got only 175 to the middle…I just need to carry the trap with another little draw and it’ll leak right to the pin. I am liking this, until I make contact. Crap! Once again I swing too hard, catch Mikey thin as I hear him yelp. He flies short and right, just up in front of the greenside trap. Oh well, just the spot to try my new 62* wedge…which proceeds to go right under him and drop the ball into the bunker…note to self: I need a little practice with that club. A chunk out of the buried lie to about 10 feet and a miss on the edge and I leave with a bogey.

Anyway, the final tally: 39 strokes/15 putts, a scuff or two, one from a run in with a tree on #2. Hit driver 7 times. Didn’t strike the ball all that well but it went mostly where I was looking all night. Certainly Mikey performed admirably even though I didn’t.

See you next week

Jack and Mikey

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