Whose ball should you play in alternate-shot? We have the answer

Question: My club’s annual Ryder Cup is coming up, and we play alternate-shot in one match. Last year, I partnered with a guy who plays a ball wildly different from mine. Is there an ideal protocol for choosing a ball for this format?

Answer: The Ryder Cup used to be full on intrigue with regard to pairings for Foursomes because of this very issue: Whose ball would the partners use? That has lessened over the years after a rule change allowed for players to switch balls at the start of each hole. Of course, that provides an opportunity for a different kind of strategy.

That’s because even though you can change balls on each tee box, pairings—like the one you mentioned from last year—still are likely to be made up of players who prefer different balls.

At the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla, Phil Mickelson summed up the players’ approach given the opportunity to play a different ball on each hole. “I tee off with their ball, and they tee off with my ball,” Mickelson said. “Off the tee, it's not going to make too much of a difference. It's the distance control and how it comes off the irons and the trajectory and so forth [that is important]. And we will be hitting our own balls with our iron approach shots.”

That makes good sense. Players get out of their comfort zone when the ball flight and feel of their approach shots is off, so hitting their own ball into the green is a good call. It’s easier to adjust on drives than on the scoring shots where the ball might react differently if it’s, say, a firmer, ionomer-cover ball instead of a urethane-cover ball they’re used to. That can make a big difference on an iron shot and particularly a wedge, but not much difference off the tee.

However, there is another issue to consider for everyday players. Pros hit a lot of greens, and you likely do not. If the pairing is two players north of a 10-handicap, the player hitting the tee shot likely will be hitting a short-game shot, too. This is reason to rethink the strategy that Mickelson explained because hitting two shots from tee to green probably trumps hitting one iron shot. Worth some extra consideration, at the very least.

As clubs such as yours hold their Ryder Cup-style events this fall, it's time to give some thought to these tips when playing alternate-shot matches. It might just put you 1 up on the first tee.