Doesn't anyone still turn in clubs or equipment anymore?

Two years ago I had a brand new GPS and let my wife and son clip it inside of their cart during our round. When we got done I assumed they had it until we got back to my son's apartment and I asked where it was.

We called the course and they just said that cart had already been sent back out on the course and they didn't know which one it was. We went back over there to see if anyone turned it in and checked back several times but no luck.

I can't even imagine seeing a GPS in a cart and taking it. Whoever got it deserves a lifelong case of the shanks.

So far I've lost a seven iron, a SwingRite training aid, and that GPS at golf courses and I'm 0 for 3 of having anyone have the decency to turn anything in.

I've found lots of things in carts and on courses and it has never crossed my mind that I should keep anything.

I've lost 2 clubs in forty years of playing, and both were turned in. I have never kept anything I found on the course. On the other hand, the course I belong to has had some GPS and range finders that were turned in, but never have recieved calls asking about them. They also have a barrel full of clubs that were turned in, and have gone unclaimed.

On the 7th hole the other day i took my PW and my Putter with me to the other side of the green to where my bag was. I chipped the ball up onto the green and left my PW on the edge of the green whilst i went to putt out and once i did instead of going back to get the PW i carried on to the next Tee i did not realize until i needed it on the 9th, luckily as i was on my way back making sure i was not in anybodys way a couple noticed me and as i was about to ask had they seen a club lying about the guy pulled it out of his bag and laughed as he handed it to me. I think it was my embarassed face that gave it away that it was my club. He said he was going to hand it in at the clubhouse but im not sure if he would have. I couldnt believe i left it!

Always...every time.  That pretty much applies to anything of value that I find on the course.  So to answer your question...there's at least one person.

When I find something on the course I always put it in the basket in the back of the cart. Invariably, someone comes backtracking looking for their stuff or we see a group in front of us and ask. It is just the right thing to do. I have left my rangefinder on tee markers a few times and have backtracked and found it laying there. I have learned that if I take it with me to the tee, that I also bring my towel to set it on and subsequently pick up. The size of the rangefinder makes it easy to just put it somewhere and then miss it after you hit your tee shot. I played with my brother 2 years ago and he left a 3 iron near the tee box (he hit 4 iron). We backtracked with no luck and I called the course a few times. Who needs a 3 iron? A Vokey wedge I could see getting back may be tough, but not a 3 iron.

I used to work at a course and once a year we would go through the turned in items and use it for the Junior program. It was the land of misfit toys. I was amazed on how much stuff never got reclaimed. Most of it was junk, but occasionally you would see a Cleveland wedge or OEM headcover. The nice stuff never lasted more than a week before the owner realized it was missing.

Experience is at my private club, everyone turns in items they find on the course.  At public / muni courses it's 50/50.   It all depends on who finds it, real golfers will turn in anything they find (except a few here, names withheld to protect the guilty ) non-golfers are more likely to keep what they find, at least in my experience.

I never find anything of value, but even if I saw a new 913 D3 laying on a tee, it would never cross my mind to take it. My buddy always finds things though, like the golf gods are testing him. He's a Mizuno and Vokey magnet for sure. A few weeks ago he came across someone's Odyssey Versa putter too.

I only surround myself with honest people who would not pocket someone else's accidental loss, so I have never seen anyone take anything that isn't theirs and I always return what I find without question (which is a headcover 99.9% of the time).

If anyone reading this is guilty of bagging a club that wasn't theirs because they figured "what the hell, why not" or "the clubhouse won't find the owner anyway", then I wish nothing but ricochet nut-shots on you whenever your ball is within 3 feet of a tree!

First rule about golf my dad taught me:  Count your clubs when you get there, count them again before you leave.  Honestly, I have NEVER left a club on a golf course.

My home course has two gigantic storage bins they use as receptacles for lost and found items.  My partner forgot to put his driver head cover back on after a round.  The next week, he goes over to the lost and found bins, opens the lid and pulls out his head cover.  Nice that someone turned it in.

dave

I turn almost everything in that I find on the course - clubs, headcovers, jackets, a shoe (all things I've found)....the only thing I don't turn in are golf balls (which I tend to relose) and if someone were to leave a full beer, I'd probably just put the empty in the trash at the next tee box.

Hey, nice name!

A year or two ago some guy came into a thread like this and basically said, "finders, keepers."  It kept things lively for a while.  I've never witnessed somebody not turn in a lost club.  I don't really get the point of wasting time trying to use somebody's club that may not fit your game or trying to sell a single club on ebay to profit like, what, $50?  Just turn the thing in.

I will say that my buddy lost his wedge a few months ago and it was never turned in.  It was a lefty wedge so he was sure it would get turned it, but it never came up.  Myself, I've left a wedge around a green a few times but always noticed it within a couple of holes so I was able to go back and get it.

The biggest thing I left on a course one day was my wallet.  Playing super twilight, I was out on the course around 3-7PM and took my wallet out of the security pocket of my golf bag to pay the cart girl.  Absent-mindedly, I never zipped the security pocket back up.  So when I drove off in my cart, it eventually fell out of the bag.  I noticed it about the 17th or 18th hole, and drove around for 30 minutes looking for it, but it was a waste of time because I lost it who-knows-where, somewhere between the 10th and 17th holes.

I alerted the clubhouse as soon as I could, but made preparations to cancel all of my cards and order replacements if I didn't get any word of it being turned in the next day.  The following morning, 9AM, I get a call from the pro shop saying somebody turned it in.  Cash, cards and everything was in there.  This wasn't a local muni, but wasn't an upscale country club either.  Still, it was a good indication of what I believe most golfers would do, even if there are some bad apples out there.

My only regret is that I didn't think to ask them to track down the guy who turned it in so that I could offer to buy him a drink or something sometime.  I was just ecstatic to have my wallet back.

The only situation I've seen is people leaving wedges on or near the green. Typically it's the group ahead so I just wave them over or catch them at the next hole. I haven't left any clubs behind but I have lost head covers and every time it was turned in and I recovered it later. I always pack up whatever I have in the cart before I get to the last green.

I've lost my headcover for my driver 2 or 3 times this season but had it returned to me either at the turn, or on the next tee, by the group behind me. I used to forget my wedges when I had a crappy Callaway X-20 clone set years ago, but when I became an actual golfer and paid good money for new clubs, I stopped that bad habit right away.