An open letter of thanks.....!

[David in FL]

I was fortunate enough to play at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes Resort yesterday.  The same course on which they just played the Father/Son Challenge.  A little wet from an overnight rain, so it was cart path only.  I HATE cart path only.  It slows everything down and makes you drag half your bag from the cart to your ball for just about every shot.  Half my bag also includes my rangefinder....

Well, somewhere between 13 and 16 I lost the rangefinder.  Not sure if it bounced out of the cart, or if I was just an idiot and somehow left it out on the course after using it for an approach shot.  Given my track record, I'd guess the latter.  Once I discovered it missing, I quickly back-tracked, but none of the golfers immediately behind us had seen it and I couldn't find it laying on the ground.  After the round I left my name and info at the pro shop, but wasn't really holding my breath.  This afternoon the course called and a golfer found it this morning and turned it in at the pro shop.  Very cool, and maybe it's just my own cynicism, but quite unexpected.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to personally thank the person who found and returned my rangefinder, so I'll do the next best thing and thank every honest golfer on this site.....you know who you are, so thank you!!!

[Abu3baid]

You are welcome..

I let my friend borrow my clubs because he was just starting out and I was going on vacation where I couldn't really bring my clubs.. Long story short I came back and we played the next day and I was like hey where is my 56?  He had no idea.. we went into the pro-shop and it was just sitting there basically waiting.  Thanked the guy and told my friend that I won't be lending him my clubs anymore!  :)

[flopster]

You're very lucky David, I lost a 7 iron for nearly a month and then one day I looked over at an adjoining fairway and noticed one of the employees of the course with a club in his hand that looked very similar, he was out playing during his time off. The reason it was easy to see was because it was a Wilson staff blade that was shiny as hell compared to other clubs with a graphite shaft which made it even more unique. I drove over and pulled out one of my other irons and proceeded to ask him "You work here right?" he said yeah "Well about a month ago I was out here and lost my 7 iron that looks just like this club here in my hand" as I said this  I was looking right at his bag with my 7 iron sticking out like a sore thumb with the potluck of other clubs, he then knew he had to hand it over or else his job was gone or the club in my hand was going to be used unconventionally upon him so I got it back without another word other than "thanks". Really bothered me though an employee would not turn in a club.

[MS256]

I'm glad you got it back David. I wasn't so lucky when my wife and son accidentally left mine in the cart they were sharing.

As soon as we got home and I asked them for my GPS they said it was still hanging in the holder in the cart. I called the course and they said they had already sent that cart back out.

I told them to call me if somebody turned it in, and we went back first thing the next morning but they said nobody turned it in, and acted very nonchalant about it. I wasn't impressed with their effort to get it back.

At the course where I work we have the names beside the cart numbers in the log and we can always return anything left in a cart. If that situation had come up and somebody called we would have driven around the course until we found it or watched for that cart to come in.

I doubt seriously if the cart was sent back out with the GPS hanging in plain view on the post beside the windshield and my bet is that the cart boy stole it. Of course no way to prove that.

P.S. Seldom a day goes by that I don't find something either on the course while I'm mowing or in one of the carts when I'm putting them up. Most of the time I can locate the owner or at least narrow it down by looking at the tee time sheet. If not it goes in the lost and found.

[David in FL]

I was really hoping to hear that it was a member of the grounds crew that found it. I would have left him an envelope that really showed how much his honesty was appreciated....

[Pretzel]

I had a similar experience before where I accidentally left the cover of my rangefinder open and it fell out. I noticed it but was unable to find it afterwords. Got a call as soon as I arrived home from the course from the pro saying that they had found a rangefinder with my phone number written on it. It's always nice to know that people are nice enough to essentially return what is often the equivalent of a couple $100 bills they found lying on the ground.

[SloverUT]

I had a really cool thing happen that is related this past weekend.  I took my 5 year old out to the course and we were having a good time.  He decided he had to use the restroom and ran off to the tree line (couldn't make it to a restroom, no bladder control lol).  He left his driver laying on the ground and realized he'd forgotten it about 4-5 holes later.  We back track a little bit and a man sees us coming.  He must have known what we were going to be looking for because when we got to the tee box he had my sons driving acting like he was going to tee off with it.  My son and I laughed and he returned the club to my son along with a sleeve of spongebob golf balls.  I think it left a really good impression on my son about honestly and being kind.

[Hammer 4]

Karma...playing it forward..

[David in FL]

Karma...playing it forward..:-D

Yep, I'm a firm believer in Karma! I can't even begin to remember all of the clubs, head covers, towels, etc... that I've collected and turned in over the years. Including a wedge that I paid to pack and ship back to a visiting golfer when he left it on a green on his last day in town. You reap that which you sow.....

[Fourputt]

When you play the same course for years, and play as often as I did, you find a lot of things left behind or dropped.  I've turned in 3 GPS's, a couple of cell phones, 3 wallets, a watch, too many clubs to count - even a man's high school class ring.

I know that there is still treasure to be found there too, as about 4 years ago I was working in the starter booth when a young woman came up to the window in a panic wanting to go back out on the course to look for the diamond engagement ring she lost.  Unfortunately, she didn't find it, even though she had 6 people helping.

[phan52]

At our club, we are finding that rangefinders are testing people's honesty. Any time somebody lost something, from a club to a headcover, it invariably found its way back to the shop. Not so with rangefinders. The Pro told me there were around 10-12 instances last season where people misplaced a rangefinder during their round, and it came back about half the time. Don't know if it was people using carts, or possibly people who were walking and left them soemewhere on the course.

[MS256]

When you play the same course for years, and play as often as I did, you find a lot of things left behind or dropped.  I've turned in 3 GPS's, a couple of cell phones, 3 wallets, a watch, too many clubs to count - even a man's high school class ring.

I know that there is still treasure to be found there too, as about 4 years ago I was working in the starter booth when a young woman came up to the window in a panic wanting to go back out on the course to look for the diamond engagement ring she lost.  Unfortunately, she didn't find it, even though she had 6 people helping.

OT for golf, but the ring story reminded me of a day when I was welding with 12 other welders and the left over bits of mig wire were piled up about 6 inches deep on the entire floor. Those bits of copper coated wire are always in a curled shape. As I was waiting (for a couple of seconds at most) for the next joist to come down the line for some reason I looked down at all of the wire on the floor.

For some reason a piece of the wire looked like it was too perfectly round compared to all of the other thousands of pieces. I picked it up and it was a wedding ring. I turned it in to the office and the owner turned out to be a guy from another shift, who was very happy to get it back.

Spotting that ring was about as unlikely as seeing a particular needle in a truck load of needles.

[David in FL]

OT for golf , but the ring story reminded me of a day when I was welding with 12 other welders and the left over bits of mig wire were piled up about 6 inches deep on the entire floor. Those bits of copper coated wire are always in a curled shape. As I was waiting (for a couple of seconds at most) for the next joist to come down the line for some reason I looked down at all of the wire on the floor. For some reason a piece of the wire looked like it was too perfectly round compared to all of the other thousands of pieces. I picked it up and it was a wedding ring. I turned it in to the office and the owner turned out to be a guy from another shift, who was very happy to get it back. Spotting that ring was about as unlikely as seeing a particular needle in a truck load of needles.

Karma transcends golf! :-)

[3putter]

Karma is all I can say, and continue to pay it forward. The ring story does break my heart, though. That has to be a tough thing to swallow

[Web Junky]

I've found an uncounted number clubs over the years. I always turn them in. I found $650 on a tee box once. I turned it in. I found a rangefinder a couple of times. Turned them in. I can also recall finding a bag of weed twice. I didn't turn them in.