This is a question that has invaded the mind of golfers for many years. If you’ve ever suffered a golf ball accident, then you know how important it is to get the right information.
In this article, we’ll talk about ways to take care of your golf ball and the answers to this long asked question.
We’ll cover what water can do to a golf ball, as well as how to prevent this from happening.
Golf Balls Can Get Wet (and Lose Performance)
It is a fact that golf balls can get wet, but what you may not know is that it’s also possible for them to lose their performance ability. When a golf ball gets wet, it may lose its ability to fly properly. These conditions are what keep most golfers worried about their game when it rains.
Golf Balls and Moisture
The thing most people who have a fear of waterlogged golf balls don’t know is that it isn’t the water that kills your golf ball.
In fact, most modern golf balls are filled with a special gas. This helps the ball retain its bounciness and playability even if it gets wet.
But there’s a catch to this.
Some surfaces are less porous than others, which means they won’t absorb water as easily. The best example of this is a plastic golf ball.
If you’re playing with one, then you probably don’t have to worry about waterlogging, but if you’re playing with a more porous ball, then you should be aware of how not to waterlog them.
We’ll talk about how to care for your golf ball in the next section, but first, let’s clear up some misconceptions regarding waterlogged golf balls.
What Does Water do to a Golf Ball?
Is it really possible for water to ‘kill’ your ball, causing it to become unusable? In short, no.
A lot of golfers think that a wet ball is bad for the surface because water is a source of many things, including salt. The idea is that the salt can crack the golf ball’s cover.
Some players think that their ball can get waterlogged if they don’t take it into the house once a rainstorm moves through.
Again, this is not true.
Waterproofing Your Golf Ball
The truth of the matter is that a golf ball can get wet – but it isn’t going to be ruined.
The main thing you can do to waterproof your ball is to play with a golf ball cover. These prevent water from getting in at all times.
That being said, some players like to get wet on purpose. They’ll find a way to get their balls thoroughly soaked and then dry them out prior to the next tee time.
This is beneficial because it will help to “reset” your golf ball’s feel, and refresh its performance.
How Does a Golf Ball Become Waterlogged?
A golf ball only becomes waterlogged if the outside of the ball gets wet enough that it can’t absorb any more gas. This happens when the pressure inside the ball is greater than the outside.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, including one or more of the following:
- The ball was left submerged in water.
- The ball was left on a wet course.
- The ball was hit with significant force while already wet.
- Ball Temperature While Wet.
In the first case, we can see that a golf ball that is submerged in water may become waterlogged if it absorbs enough of the surrounding liquid.
Whether or not this happens is up to the size of the ball and how much water it can contain.
The most notable example of a golf ball that has gotten wet was played during a British Open match in 1977. David Graham’s ball got submerged in a water hazard and then spent 14 hours in his bag before he noticed.
This happened without him knowing, and it didn’t do any harm to the ball’s performance. Graham shot a 76 and finished the tournament in third place.
However, a ball that gets drenched can deteriorate over time if it is kept wet. This doesn’t just apply to balls that are immersed in water.
Any ball that has been left wet on the course is at risk of becoming waterlogged. This is especially true if it was left out in the rain.
Left this way for an extended period of time, even a golf ball with a water-resistant cover can become waterlogged and unusable.
In the final case, a ball that has been hit with force can get wet very quickly. If the clubface comes into contact with water at the same time it makes contact with the golf ball; then you can be sure that the ball is going to get wet.
How Does a Wet Ball Affect Playability?
If you’ve never hit a golf ball with water on it, then you may not know that there is a significant difference in how the ball feels when wet.
You should be aware of this if you’re hitting a ball on wet grass, or if you’re hole-looking and the balls have been left sitting out in the rain.
This is because a wet ball will bounce and respond differently than it would if it were dry. The result of this can be that you miss or mis-hit your shot.
The good news is that you can easily acclimate yourself to the feel of a wet ball so long as you take the time to make the adjustment.
Whether you’re on a wet course or your ball has been damaged, learning how to play with one that’s already wet is a skill that you’ll need to master.
This may seem like a bit of an inconvenience, but it’s one that you will have to deal with eventually if you play golf often enough.
How do you clean waterlogged golf balls?
If you have a waterlogged golf ball, the chances are that it is either your own or belongs to one of your buddies.
This means there’s a good chance that you want to get it in playable shape again. You may have some of the solutions already available to you, but if you’d like to take a more direct approach, then the best way is to use a towel to dry it out.
Then all you need to do is let the ball sit until it is dry on its own.
How many hours will it take for a waterlogged golf ball to dry out?
This is difficult to answer because the temperature and humidity levels also affect how quickly a golf ball will be dry.
How to Prevent Waterlogging?
One of the ways to prevent waterlogging is to be careful about storing your golf balls. If you’re leaving them in a damp place or a place that is prone to getting wet, then it’s possible for them to become waterlogged.
To prevent this from happening, consider keeping your balls in a case or inside of a sealed bag. This will help them maintain their normal moisture levels, and it’ll ensure that they don’t absorb any of the moisture in their immediate environment.
How to Know if a Golf Ball is Waterlogged?
There are two ways to tell if a golf ball is waterlogged: the first of these is by weight, and the second is by visual inspection.
The process for determining if a golf ball is waterlogged by weighing it is easy because you can use a scale to determine its weight and then compare it to the normal weight of a ball.
The other method is to look at the waterlogged golf ball. If it’s discolored or visibly damaged, then it is most likely waterlogged.
Can A Golf Ball Get Waterlogged? The Bottom Line
Waterlogging may not be the end of your golf ball’s usefulness, but it certainly can render a ball useless as a playing device. That means it’s important to be able to identify waterlogging on a golf ball and to have the knowledge of how to fix it.
To prevent waterlogging from happening to your golf balls, try to keep them in a place where the humidity levels are as normal as possible. If you’re going to be storing them in a damp place, or if you want to make sure they’re safe from the rain, then keep them in a case or place them inside a sealed bag.
Don’t be afraid of getting water onto your golf ball while you’re playing because the important thing is to be able to play the ball properly.
You may not be able to ignore your waterlogged ball, but you don’t have to give it the same level of attention that you would an un-waterlogged ball.