Bunker Practice Balls

[mjf]

When I practice the short game, I generally always use my preferred type of ball (currently Pro V1) so that I become familiar with its feel and spin properties. However, when I practice bunker shots I tend to use cheaper balls because I find sand shots can chew up the covers and I also hit more bladed bunker shots than I'd like and I REALLY hate losing Pro V's on the practice green!

Anyway, I was wondering... Does it really make any difference what type of ball you practice with out of the bunker? Since the ball should never touch the club face on a properly struck bunker shot, feel shouldn't really be an issue. I suppose a more spinny ball might spin slightly more but I don't think there's a tremendous amount of spin for shots coming out of the bunker anyway.

Any thoughts?

[jvincent]

If you're just trying to gauge the carry distance, then the type of ball won't matter.

But since the ball is spinning coming out of the bunker if you want to practice the whole shot, including release/check then you'll need to use the ProV's.

[mjf]

Yeah, but how much more is a Pro V1 going to spin out of sand than a Top Flight XL 5000? How much spin is there on bunker shots at all? There can't be THAT much.

I know the pros get some spin when they really nip it...

[Bouche]

Depends on the distance but ya a prov will definately check alot more than a topflite. Just watch the distance and where it lands because you will not have much roll with a ProV out of a bunker.

You would be suprised how much of a difference there is. Just take different balls and watch the Bite!

i recently started using the Tour Callaways instead of the ProV's. Looks like I found my new ball. They feel great on the putting surface. They are really soft and there covers dont get chewed up as quickly!!

Finally! (less on the wallet too! I think they are 10$ cheaper per dozen)