searching course for lost balls

[golfro]

my girlfriend lives on a prestigious private golf course and her backyard is the 9th hole. Let's just say she gets a share of ProV1's land in her backyard quite often.

Likewise, I don't actively hunt balls but theres a particular par 3, 9 hole course here with ONE par 4 hole that is 230 yards. A lot of hackers will drive this hole for some reason and I always find a lot of Prov1's and various other tour balls in the thick rough to the left of the fairway. I once hooked my iron shot and was looking for a ball and found 3 ProV1's int he same exact area within a 10 ft radius.

[motteler621]

looked over the balls again after soaking them in bleach. Most look brand new. Missed one premium ball not mentioned before, its the Srixon Z-StarX, Srixon equivalent to prov1x, looks like a great ball. Also found a taylormade burner TP LDP.

[JWL1957]

I love looking for balls in the fall when the leaves are falling. I do it in the late afternoon when the course is about empty. There are a couple of marshalls who also find them and we trade them off. I give alot of them to the Jr. golfers.

[jlh1508]

looked over the balls again after soaking them in bleach. Most look brand new. Missed one premium ball not mentioned before, its the Srixon Z-StarX, Srixon equivalent to prov1x, looks like a great ball. Also found a taylormade burner TP LDP.

Did you just walk out on the course and start looking? Did you check in with the clubhouse first? Or did you just go to where you knew there would be balls?

[motteler621]

Did you just walk out on the course and start looking? Did you check in with the clubhouse first? Or did you just go to where you knew there would be balls?

ive played the course like 100 times. I know where balls can be found in the woods. People run on the course all the time, its also used for cross country. Ive seen runners on the course just exercising while Im playing so I didnt really go into the clubhouse and ask if I could look

[delav]

I'll hunt for balls when I'm out searching for an errant tee shot, but I typically don't go out of my way during a round to scavenge the course.

What I don't get are guys who take balls in play...

Today while playing a local public course I was following a very slow and struggling group. Our 9th hole is a 530 yard dogleg left, and I hit my tee shot once they were inside 200 yards past the dogleg. I cut the corner a bit too much, and ended up in the rough in the trees close to where one of the players ahead was still hunting for his last shot. I watched the guy walk back towards the tee, right by where my ball should have been, look at it and then pick it up. It was a Penta TP that I'd been playing all round.

I set my bag down at the dogleg and walked the 200 yard to the green to ask for my ball, and the group denied picking it up. It was infuriating. I was angry enough that it affected my putting for several holes. The same guy almost took a ProV1 on hole 17 (another par 5) in similar situation, as he was searching the tall grass ahead of my ball for his last shot. My partner and I literally had to yell from the tee not to take the ball, which was in play on the right side of the fairway and obviously not another lost ball.

What is up with these people? Is this just the nature of a public course today? It kills me to have high-end balls stolen that are still in play.

[motteler621]

I ended up stopping by this really nice course thats public and looking for balls just awhile ago. I looked on one hole in the woods and found 9 premium balls. Nike One Tour, Prov1, prov1x, taylormade tp black, all great condition. I found one prov1x and right next to it was another brand new prov1x.