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What to do with mass amounts of used balls?

green6767

By green6767,
in Golf Talk

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Note: This thread is 5825 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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green6767 Well Established Member

green6767

This may be a long shot as Im not so sure many will have much knowledge on the subject, but here it goes.

As of recent, I have been diving for balls in the water hazards at my local courses and some around the area. I have accumulated a very large amount of golf balls. I was just giving them back to the courses in return for season passes, range passes, etc. Well, I am at my limit. The courses have way more balls than they will need and I have season passes to like 8 courses in the area and they don't want/need anymore balls. Only one problem, I have thousands of balls left over and there are a TON more to be had in those hazards.

I need to get rid of them, but don't really know how to go about it yet.

Can I sell them to a used ball distributor like lostgolfballs.com, golfballsdirect.com, etc.? If that doesn't work, how can I clean them well enough to sell myself? I've heard lots of different methods on how to clean large amounts of golf balls at a time, but have yet to find a majority, positive answer that has been proven to work. From bleach, oxy-clean, dishwashers, washing machines, dish soap, dishwasher soap, and a range of chemicals I've read them all it seems like. Any ideas?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

In The Bag:

Driver: R7 SuperQuad 460 9.5
3 Wood: G5 w/ Graffaloy Pro Launch Stiff
3-PW: MP60's Wedges: Black Pearl 52, 56, 60Putter: White Hot #4Ball: Pro V1

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Ruari Dedicated Member

Ruari

Find out which golf ball distributor is closest to you and contact them with a proposal. Im sure they will listen since you have so many golf balls. Send an email to start then start some dialoge.
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green6767 Well Established Member

green6767

  • Author
I have emailed 4 different distributors now. Closest one is in Iowa. I will wait till Monday Im assuming to receive a reply. If I can get a good method to clean all these balls, I would love to sell them back to my fellow golfers and very competitive price.

In The Bag:

Driver: R7 SuperQuad 460 9.5
3 Wood: G5 w/ Graffaloy Pro Launch Stiff
3-PW: MP60's Wedges: Black Pearl 52, 56, 60Putter: White Hot #4Ball: Pro V1

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Leonardite Member

Leonardite

You could always use the marketplace and sell them to forum members. I would think you would have some interested parties from here if the price is right.

As far as cleaning them are you talking about just general dirt/grass stains? If this is the case, I would just use a bucket of water and soap and soak them. If you dove for them in the first place, there wouldn't be a worry about "waterlogging" them (if this actually occurs, I'm not sure) and for the most part they would get clean. Another option would be to talk to some of the courses that you sold them to and ask how they clean balls in bulk.

In The Bag:
905R UST V2 Stiff
906F2 UST V2 Stiff
3DX dc 17* Stiff
2300 IM 4-PW Stiff CG 12 Black Pearl 52*, 56*, 60* C67 Pro V1x

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green6767 Well Established Member

green6767

  • Author
Yeah I dove for them. Most of them Im guessing can be cleaned by methods mentioned above. But some of them have discoloring due to being in the mud. I know this stuff comes off, because I can scrape it off with my fingernail, but Im not going to have fingers left If I attempt that method on 10,000 golf balls.

If I can find an efficient method of cleaning them, you bet I'll sell them back on here at some pretty good prices!

In The Bag:

Driver: R7 SuperQuad 460 9.5
3 Wood: G5 w/ Graffaloy Pro Launch Stiff
3-PW: MP60's Wedges: Black Pearl 52, 56, 60Putter: White Hot #4Ball: Pro V1

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Undr Par Dedicated Member

Undr Par

separate the really good balls from the slighty used balls and if you have a EBAY account sell them there, I know personally I've bought Titleist Pro V1's off of EBAY before and been very happy with the quality of them
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Bradenator Member

Bradenator

Yeah I dove for them. Most of them Im guessing can be cleaned by methods mentioned above. But some of them have discoloring due to being in the mud. I know this stuff comes off, because I can scrape it off with my fingernail, but Im not going to have fingers left If I attempt that method on 10,000 golf balls.

Don't tell my wife about this....but I clean my shag balls in the washing machine. I use hot water, and a normal amount of soap. Trick is to toss in a some rags, towels, etc...with the balls, so they are getting a scrubbing while they are in there.

You can fit a good number of balls in at once. I hadn't thought of 10K balls, but it sure would beat doing it by hand!

In My Bag:

Driver: Si3 380
3 & 4 Woods: Eye-o-matic Persimmons (yes...Persimmons)
Irons: 3-PW R7 TP S300Wedges: Karsten II 57* SW, Vokey 54.10 and 58.08 Spin Milled Oil CanPutter: White Hot SabertoothBall: Pro V1x"That's the easiest shot in golf....a short chip into the sand."

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4ringslvr Established Member

4ringslvr

How did you get them to let you dive in there? Did you just ask and they said go for it or did you have to go through a lot of red tape. My dad dives all the time and he was wondering if he could go diving for golf balls.
Driver 983k 9.5°
3 Wood 906f2 15°
5 wood 906f2 18°
Irons 735 3-pw S300, Golf Pride Tour Velvet cord
Wedges Spin Milled 53°, Spin Milled 59°Putter Studio Select Newport 2Goals for '10:1. Get down to scratch or better
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lamebums Great Member

lamebums

I agree. Use the washing machine, but don't do more than a couple hundred at a time (overload and destabilize the machine if you do).

Sort out all the Titleist, Callaway, Nike, and other top-line balls, pawn those off by the dozen. The rest, box up and sell in bulk to whoever pays the most.
"Shouldn't you be going faster? I mean, you're doing 40 in a 65..."

Driver: Burner TP 9.5*
3 Wood: 906F2 15*
2I: Eye 23I-PW: 3100 I/HWedges: Vokey Spin-Milled 56*06, MP-R 52*07/60*05Putter: Victoria IIBall: Pro V1xCheck out my new blog: Thousand Yard DriveHome Course: Kenton County...
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blurry Member

blurry

at our course we donate old balls to the cadet golfers for their group lessons with the trainee pro. why dont you seperate the good from the bad ,and sell them in bundles.

MY BATS

DRIVER- :: 905r grafalloy prolite stiff 8.5*
WOODS-starship 15* 3 wood
IRONS-:mp 32 3- pw ,s 300WEDGES- 53 & 58 *PUTTER-scotty cameronBALL- hx tourBAG- stand bag

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mikelz Great Member

mikelz

Don't tell my wife about this....but I clean my shag balls in the washing machine. I use hot water, and a normal amount of soap. Trick is to toss in a some rags, towels, etc...with the balls, so they are getting a scrubbing while they are in there.

I prefer the dishwasher. You can't dent the liner and dishwashing detergent is the most powerful cleaner known to mankind.

Best, Mike Elzey

In my bag:
Driver: Cleveland Launcher 10.5 stiff
Woods: Ping ISI 3 and 5 - metal stiffIrons: Ping ISI 4-GW - metal stiffSand Wedges: 1987 Staff, 1987 R-90Putter: two ball - black bladeBall: NXT Tour"I think what I said is right but maybe not.""If you know so much, why are you...

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mikelz Great Member

mikelz

I prefer the dishwasher. You can't dent the liner and dishwashing detergent is the most powerful cleaner known to mankind.

Oh, by the grace of something, I got divorced 10 years ago.

I can do whatever I want to my appliances.

Best, Mike Elzey

In my bag:
Driver: Cleveland Launcher 10.5 stiff
Woods: Ping ISI 3 and 5 - metal stiffIrons: Ping ISI 4-GW - metal stiffSand Wedges: 1987 Staff, 1987 R-90Putter: two ball - black bladeBall: NXT Tour"I think what I said is right but maybe not.""If you know so much, why are you...

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OHS1Golfer Established Member

OHS1Golfer

haha sell em!!
-WITB- USGA Index - 1.5
------------------------
Driver --Titleist 907D2 10.5* - Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Blueboard
F.W. --Titleist 906F4 15.5* - Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Blueboard
Irons --Mizuno MP-57 - Project X 6.0Wedges --Titleist Vokey Spin Milled 54* 58* - Dynamic Gold X100Putter --Cameron...
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green6767 Well Established Member

green6767

  • Author
How did you get them to let you dive in there? Did you just ask and they said go for it or did you have to go through a lot of red tape. My dad dives all the time and he was wondering if he could go diving for golf balls.

You MUST ask permission from the courses. Its private property and you can get nailed for trespassing. The courses won't just "let" you dive in for free though. Often times, you have to pay THEM per ball you collect. Sometimes, you can get away with giving them a certain amount of balls back in return for diving rights.

I was a certified diver for some time and had been on many dives before attempting hazard diving. It is considered the most dangerous type of recreational diving due to zero visibility. SO many of your lifelines are eliminated due to zero visibility. Can't see air or depth gauge. Can't tell which way is up because you cant see your bubbles. Your equilibrium can be EASILY distorted. Lots of hazards on the bottom easy to get caught up in and the most common cause of death in this kind of diving is drowning. Its not for the squeamish or weak of heart. I'd say if your dad is an experienced diver, he could probably handle this. It takes some time to get used to navigating in pitch black water, lots of noobs go in circles and don't find many balls in the beginning. I've heard horror stories of people dying under there because they just don't know what they are getting into. I'm available to answer any questions he might have though. Always willing to help.

In The Bag:

Driver: R7 SuperQuad 460 9.5
3 Wood: G5 w/ Graffaloy Pro Launch Stiff
3-PW: MP60's Wedges: Black Pearl 52, 56, 60Putter: White Hot #4Ball: Pro V1

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Three Putt Great Member

Three Putt

You could send them to the troops overseas. I have seen a special on it and it would be easy to find a drop off location. From what I saw on the tv special they love bombing the balls into the vast waste bunker known as the middle east. They even try to find the easy ones (so long as they are not being shot at).

In the Bag...Ping Hoofer

3dx Tour Square - UST V2 HMOI X Flex
3dx 15* - X flex
Baffler DWS 20* Aldila NV Stiff 4-GW 600XC Forged Irons- S Flex 55* SW - Burner XD 60* LW - Burner XD Craz E Putter <----ProV1x---> Pellet

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Doctorfro Great Member

Doctorfro

I would use the good ones. The others I would give to the collection they have for the U.S. servicemen. You could donate them to a private school's golf team for them to use for practice. I used to be a coach at one of these schools and loved those donations. The school can give you a letter for tax-deduction purposes.


 

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jeffhale08 Established Member

jeffhale08

what i do is practice with them
at my house i have a two hole 100 yrd course so that i can work on my wedge game
but when we gotta wash them we either use bleach and dishwasher soap or Dawn with bleach

Driver: TaylorMade r7 460 / 11.5 degrees
Irons: Titleist 822 OS (4, 5, 6)  Titleist 962 (7, 8, 9, P, G)
Putter: Tear Drop
Ball: Precept Laddie
Wedges: Golfsmith Snake Eyes 56 degrees / 60 degrees

18 Hole Low:  67   /  9 Hole Low:  31

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Note: This thread is 5825 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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