Ball markers while putting in the PGA

Do members get their own personalized silver markers as a perk? Or do they just use a lucky quarter from the year they were born like everyone else?

Dennis

My understanding is that most pro golfers use coins, though apparently at least a few use poker chips.

I may be wrong, but I don’t believe that the PGA issues them anything special or personalized.

Never heard of anything like an “official” ball marker issue by the PGA. Have heard many mentions of the various coins people use. Or else the magnetic kind that affix to one’s cap.

Didn’t realize any used anything as obtrusive as a poker chip - at least when anywhere near a playing partner’s line.

The awesome story behind Phil Mickelson’s ball marker he only uses at Pebble Beach

Yeah, it’s been a bit of a fad the last few years. Must be some cigar smokers cross over effect. Doesn’t explain the people who stick a tee in the green as a marker.

Poker Chips serve a purpose as they are close to the same diameter of a golf ball and players can easily see them from across the green in case they are proactive in reading the green while others putt before them.

Which is, as I understand it, generally legal under the Rules of Play, but not allowed in PGA tournaments.

I’ve been known to do that - but not often and not when it would interfere w/ another golfer. Sometimes I’ll be feeling in my pockets for a coin, and don’t readily find one. Or maybe I already used my coin to mark another golfer’s ball. So if I just need to mark my ball to clean it, I’ll use a tee.

Thank you for sharing. That is an awesome story. Well before my time there, and I never did get to see Phil.

As to the OP, wouldn’t they want the marker to be as small as possible? I use the button on my golf glove, which is a touch under dime sized.

I would think that a proper ball marker would have an indication of direction on it, because of the times you need to move it out of someone else’s potential putting line. If you reposition the marker by a length of the head of your putter in these situations, as I’ve seen countless times, you should have a good way to tell exactly which direction to move it back, and not a vague idea.

The story about Phil and his marker is really interesting. I really enjoyed reading it, as for me I use an old Ben Hogan 1950 US Open coin which commemorates his win.