Can Dimples on the Golf Ball Affect the Line of a Put ?

[Benz]

I would only do this if I were about to play a course which had a lot of water hazards...

[MattM97]

My initial thought was that the dimples only really come into play on a hard surface, like a table top. On the relatively soft grass of a green, there are way more irregularities and imperfections that make the impact of the dimples unimportant.

But you bring up another good point, as soon as the ball gets rolling off the putter it has angular momentum, and that will keep it going in a straight line unless there is some external force acting on it. The force of gravity is the biggest one, then the imperfections in the green, and then the effects from the dimples.

I'd like to re-read what Pelz had to say, but I found that book way too long and pedantic so I tossed it out....

Exactly like a rut in the green, a small clump of sand or dirt, bugs, wind, funny enough foot prints don't cause a huge issue, but there are so many factors that one could worry about you just have to hit the putt and give it a good chance.

The less one thinks on the greens the easier the greens become.

[Fore Warned]

The retired engineer in our group, who is a devoted ball- hawker, marks the centre of gravity at the top of every single ball he uses, including all of those found balls he hands out to his playing partners.

While he uses an Epsom salt solution to float his balls, he has assured me that he does not balance his golf balls while soaking in a bathtub filled with Epsom salt.

On a related note, he seems much less troubled lately with hemorrhoids.

[Jim418]

There are 3 different things being debated here:
1. Do dimples affect how a ball rolls? Maybe. But even if the answer is yes, what can you do about it? Nothing I can think of.

2. Do dimples affect the putter strike. If you slowly roll a ball on a smooth surface you will feel imperfections. So probably. But what can you do? Try to place the ball on the green so you are striking a precise spot on the ball. Very difficult to do if it is possible. If you are trying to do that well I do not want to be in your group.

3. Does a ball imbalance affect its performance. I think this is a clear yes. I've spun my balls using a Check Go for many years. I use the line roughly off the tee and precisely on the green (one change from first estimate at most). The Maltby video is interesting, but if you are playing Pro V1's you probably don't have to worry about really bad balls. But the line that the Check Go finds on my Pro V1's is never on the pre-printed line.