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Picking up a Ball in Play


RayG
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I was invited to play with family at a nice enough "upscale" Semi-Private course in PA. Northampton Valley in Richboro- Nice Staff, starter, etc... Surprisingly, not very busy for a Saturday morning, which was fine. Our two groups following a twosome so no backups. Nobody behind us for 3-4 holes as we started. But eventually a threesome was behind us but never came close to pushing us. The guys in our group were playing from the Tips (whites were just a bit too short- maybe 1 driver would be needed) which made the holes more interesting with different angles and more "chutes" to play out to fairway. Some hillocks and valleys (hence the name) but no real trouble. 12th hole, we wander back to the tips (set back at least 40-50 yds behind whites). Fairly straight forward hole. A bit of a crest at 240 that then slopes down to the flatter section of the fairway. On the right is a trap at 260 hidden from the tee. Right of that(10-15yds) is a Weeping Willow and a few other smaller trees along with 'burial mounds' scattered about. Rough is thick, but not high so balls were easy to spot all day (not that I needed to find them, hitting them straight for the most part... until this hole). We tee off and I slightly pushed my drive straight at the left edge of the Weeping Willow and over the crest into the rough between the trap and the WIllow. The other guys tee of and we go out there. Just as we get the to crest, we see the group behind us pulling away over in that area and one guy in our fairway looking for his ball. Timing meant that they were nowhere near that area when I tee'd off, so they were hitting about the same time I was. We let him play back to his fairway and we go over to where my ball should be. Nothing. go back along the line from the tee, still nothing. This isn't dense woods or 2 foot high fescue, just some grass and scattered trees. Plenty of wheel tracks, though. My only assumption is that one of their party just picked it up. Now- This isn't an area like it was 40 yards off a fairway where nobody in their right minds would expect to find a ball, this was between 2 holes in a fairly open area. Were they pissed off at something? They didn't start yelling as if I came close to them on a blind tee shot over a crest and they were in the prime landing area for slicers or a pushed shot. Like I said, I assumed one of them picked it up- and I could be wrong, but the number of times a ball magically disappears from an open area is far less than being picked up by a clueless golfer. So, "Why do you do it?" or more so, Why WOULD you pick up a ball that is laying in the open only a few yards off another fairway, on a day where there are people in front of you, on a hole that you KNOW people are playing on since you are behind them and it's the next hole, etc... I haven't picked up a ball in the rough, fairway, trap or whatever in 30 years- unless I'm actively looking for my ball, and I need to ID it. If it isn't mine, it goes back. ESPECIALLY in any area between holes. Even if it's 40 yards across a fairway and you can't figure out how it got there... Somebody is, or can be that bad to get it there- I've seen it. Of course, nobody on HERE would ever do it, right? But let's make a deal- even if YOU don't do it, tell your friends who MIGHT do it, or if you see someone doing it, have them put it back. Get them to stop and remind them how pissed off they would be if they just popped a reasonably straight 265 yarder only to have Clueless Joe wander over and pocket it, and then lose the little match he had going by one shot because you made a 6.
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Any chance one of them played your ball by mistake?
  1. LPGA Square Two Melody driver 
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That would make it essentially the same thing. Did he look at it at all? BUT- It was a 3'some. The one guy playing from our fairway, and the other two going to two balls in their fairway. So I figured they were all poking around the area looking for that guys ball before going back. And where that guy was playing from was nowhere close to where mine was heading.
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I get very anxious every time I hit a ball onto a neighboring fairway, especially when I know somebody is playing it. I've had my ball picked up or played plenty of turns and it irks me to no end. I've also had plenty of times where I've been walking to the ball and can see it and the actions of those players confuses me as it does you. Even when they don't pick it up, they frequently look at it, look around, look at it more closely, ponder snagging it ... Basically the same actions I imagine from somebody who sees $100 bill lying on the ground at the mall. When I play those types of courses I NEVER pick up a ball I know isn't mine. (I only grab balls lost in woods on holes where it couldn't have come from anywhere other than somebody playing the same hole before me, so it's OBVIOUSLY lost)** I mark my balls very uniquely, and I'm surprised that so many others still don't. ** The other day I came across a nice prov1 sitting against a tree between two fairways. I didn't see anybody on the other hole but they could have been there so I left it. When I played that other hole 15 minutes later, I hooked my ball into the woods and that exact same ball was still sitting there, so at this point it was obviously lost, so I nabbed it. If it's not 105% obviously lost, leave it alone.
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I get very anxious every time I hit a ball onto a neighboring fairway, especially when I know somebody is playing it.

Pretty much. If I hit my ball where I know some people might be coming from then I make sure to keep an eye out for ball snatchers.

I pretty much only pick up golf balls that are in OB areas not shared by two golf holes, water hazards, and heather.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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I never pick up balls that could be in play on the course. I hazards, weeds on the side of the hole when nobody is around sure and usually not even then if it's not a ball I use. Wouldn't assume they picked up someone searching for a ball probably played it as their own. This happens quite a bit. Just a few weeks ago playing my parents club we came across a group searching for all on the adjacent hole. The kid says he's looking for a Titleist red finds a Bridgestone and says oh yeah I was playing a Bridgestone so he hits it. Turns out the Bridgestone was my step-dad's ball. He had lost a ball on the previous hole and just grabbed something out of his bag, I thought he was playing a PV1. Happened to me in league a couple weeks ago. I hit a drive hard left on 18, there is a pond to hit over from 18 tee and I was nervous it may not clear but I saw it bounce on the other side. It was late and 18 our last hole so I helped my playing partner look for his ball because he hit one far right near OB and he was walking so I figured if I found it he could walk straight to that spot rather than searching and having to walk back to his provisional. There was a group on 1 which is side by side with 18, my ball was between the two fairways. I go to look for my ball and it's gone. It's a big reason I use Kick X balls I've never seen anyone using them.

Dave :-)

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It's bad form to pick up lost balls that are still moving..... ;-)

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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It's a big reason I use Kick X balls I've never seen anyone using them.

You bet. Funny story: Hooked my tee ball on the first hole the other day and it ended up just in front of an adjacent green. Old guy ball hawk type walks up to it as I'm getting close and I'm getting ready to say something when he goes to steal it, but he just looks at it and says loudly in an old codger voice "SNELL. SNELL?!?!?! What is that? Did your kids buy you those for Christmas?" :) It's also the reason I mark my balls very clearly - 4 initials around each logo. Nobody with good intentions could possibly mistake my ball for theirs even if it was a prov1. They'd have to knowingly be playing the wrong ball.

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You bet. Funny story: Hooked my tee ball on the first hole the other day and it ended up just in front of an adjacent green. Old guy ball hawk type walks up to it as I'm getting close and I'm getting ready to say something when he goes to steal it, but he just looks at it and says loudly in an old codger voice "SNELL. SNELL?!?!?! What is that? Did your kids buy you those for Christmas?" :) It's also the reason I mark my balls very clearly - 4 initials around each logo. Nobody with good intentions could possibly mistake my ball for theirs even if it was a prov1. They'd have to knowingly be playing the wrong ball .

That means nothing to the clueless. If it's in range, it's fair game. Unfortunately, I have a buddy I play with who will fall victim to the temptation once in awhile. He'll ask if it's anyone's ball while he's looking to scoop it up. I'm constantly giving him the "Probably off the tee at whatever hole, leave it down" line. And that's if I'm around. He HAS gotten better over the years- He was just a "see it, grab it" guy.

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I happened to play Northampton Valley on Saturday, 9:06 tee time. My playing partner and I were playing from the blues and both ended up right around that same spot. I was right under it and the other guy was just right of it in the 12th rough. It took about 4 minutes of searching to find the other guys ball as it was sitting down in the rough. Their fairways are close together so you are going to get a lot of people in the same area. It could just be they thought your ball was theirs or it could be that yours was somewhere further back or up. I hate losing a ball in an area where I know it could be found but there have been numerous occasions where we thought someone else might have hit our ball only to find it a minute or so later. In fact that is what happened with the other guys tee shot on 11 on Saturday. We found it after we thought the other guys might have played it.

Love the greens at Northampton Valley. They are such a nice pace for a public course. I don't think there is anything semi-private about them anymore. What I hate is their tee times are 8 minutes then 7 minutes. They pack them in like sardines which makes for a very long round. We had a 5 hour round Saturday with a lot of waiting. We got paired up with 2 guys that shouldn't have been their on a Saturday morning and eventually fell behind. That led to me and the other guy rushing shots trying to keep pace with the group in front of us. Finally on the last par 5 we were done before the other guys had even made it to the green and they said "do you guys want to just go ahead'? Which we gladly took them up on.

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I don't get ball hawks. I only use a couple different balls if it's not something I use even if I am certain it's lost and not in play I leave it. If I do pick it up I toss it in the cart so they can add it to the barrel of used balls for sale in the pro shop. I don't want random crap balls mixed in with what I use. I'd have know way of knowing when I am low and I carry just 9ish balls in the bag and I don't mix if I am playing Kick X it's all Kick X in the ball pocket. I walk here and there and a bag full of balls is heavy.

Dave :-)

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Then we weren't too far behind you- Was there a twosome of ladies behind you? they were ahead of our first 4some... And we couldn't figure how they could be holding up anyone... My cousins knew the first couple of holes can be slowish because of the second long par 3 backed things up, but it was kind of an even pace after that- not great, but everyone was moving. And yes, it was in decent shape. I had read some golfadvisor reviews and it talked about the bad greens, conditions of tee boxes, etc... and was a bit worried. Maybe the blues were in better condition because of the lesser use. I hadn't played there in 10-12 years and didn't really remember any hole other than 4 and 18.
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We were the group right in front of the 2 ladies. Everyone would have been better off if we would have been paired with the ladies and the twosome we got paired with played alone. I think we apologized to a few of your group when they came into the bar after the round. I am glad the pace went OK for you. We were really rushing because our other guys were slow. We did our best to push them but they really didn't get it. Not only did we have to find our own balls but had to keep an eye on theirs so that there wasn't a minute search after each of their shots.

The tee's and greens were pretty beat up from the winter but they have done a pretty good job of bringing everything back. I would play there more often if the times weren't so close together.

Oh, and one other complaint. I ended up in the sand trap to the right of the 17th green. I had a 2 shot lead on the guy I was playing with. It looked like there was sand in there but it was pretty much pure clay. I ended losing 2 strokes because my 60 degree wedge bounced off the sand and rocketed the ball into high weeds behind the green. I was hot but rebounded with a nice 4-iron on that last par 3 giving me an easy 2 putt for par (for the win on the day). That is not an easy finishing hole.

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Like I said, I assumed one of them picked it up- and I could be wrong

From your description, it sounded like you were well right of the fairway and the ball landed in an area that you could not see. There is always the chance that someone snagged your ball but sometimes balls settled down or bounce in unexpected directions.  I recently had a similar situation and was about the take off after a group that had been near the area where I thought my ball had stopped. Fortunately, I spotted the ball sitting down in the rough before I inquired (accused) the group of taking or playing my ball.

Brian Kuehn

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You bet. Funny story:

Hooked my tee ball on the first hole the other day and it ended up just in front of an adjacent green. Old guy ball hawk type walks up to it as I'm getting close and I'm getting ready to say something when he goes to steal it, but he just looks at it and says loudly in an old codger voice "SNELL. SNELL?!?!?! What is that? Did your kids buy you those for Christmas?"

One reason I like Snell. People don't know how good a golf ball they are ;)

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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We were the group right in front of the 2 ladies. Everyone would have been better off if we would have been paired with the ladies and the twosome we got paired with played alone. I think we apologized to a few of your group when they came into the bar after the round. I am glad the pace went OK for you. We were really rushing because our other guys were slow. We did our best to push them but they really didn't get it. Not only did we have to find our own balls but had to keep an eye on theirs so that there wasn't a minute search after each of their shots. The tee's and greens were pretty beat up from the winter but they have done a pretty good job of bringing everything back. I would play there more often if the times weren't so close together.  Oh, and one other complaint. I ended up in the sand trap to the right of the 17th green. I had a 2 shot lead on the guy I was playing with. It looked like there was sand in there but it was pretty much pure clay. I ended losing 2 strokes because my 60 degree wedge bounced off the sand and rocketed the ball into high weeds behind the green. I was hot but rebounded with a nice 4-iron on that last par 3 giving me an easy 2 putt for par (for the win on the day). That is not an easy finishing hole.

That 12th cost me my "match" with one of the other guys. Well, nearly.. I took a 6 to put me even with him (no strokes, straight up stroke play). back and forth until 18. He put his hybrid to about 12 ft below the hole in the fringe. I hit a magnificent high draw with a 3... at least it started magnificent.. but the breeze above the treeline kind of kept it from drawing all the way back to the hole. hit the rocks pin high just right of green. Took my drop and plopped it to 2 feet. He made his bird for a 76, my 4 gave me a 78...

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You bet. Funny story: Hooked my tee ball on the first hole the other day and it ended up just in front of an adjacent green. Old guy ball hawk type walks up to it as I'm getting close and I'm getting ready to say something when he goes to steal it, but he just looks at it and says loudly in an old codger voice "SNELL. SNELL?!?!?! What is that? Did your kids buy you those for Christmas .

Lol, i remember- that was pretty damn funny. You were really fortunate to be playing a brand he had never heard of, because by the looks of him, he was just itching to add another "found" ball to his collection. I can only imagine how the discussion would have gone if you had been playing a pro v, Bridgestone, or other well known premium ball.

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Any chance one of them played your ball by mistake?


I did this once. Had to be the most embarrassing moment I've had on the golf course - and that's saying a lot considering my game.

Jon

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Note: This thread is 3130 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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