Losing balls (to nowhere)

[Judah Ben-Hur]

I've only been out twice in my life. The first time was with Top Flite XL yellow. They do stand out better for me than white at this time of year. I lost 3 of them but they weren't the balls fault. Yesterday, I tried out the Srixon Z Star yellow for the hell of it. Man, those things are like look at me, look at me. They litterly glow from many yards away. Looking for golf balls is definetly a game of angles depending on the height of the grass. Sometimes you have to train yourself to look down instead of looking ahead. It helps that I've shot semi-auto pistols and reload the brass so you look for everyone of them little suckers. The hard ones are the standing staight up ones. Your looking at a black hole staring right back at you. So far I haven't had too bad of a time finding golf balls in the higher cut. I didn't lose any balls yesterday until I switched to some white Wilson SmartCores. I lost 3 off the same tee because they went into a ravine. It wasn't worth getting hurt going after them. Two of them were brand spankin' new.

Two days out, 6 balls lost. Only one was fast roller into the edge of the fairway so who knows where the hell that one went.

[steelernation]

If i hit the fairway and the ball is lost, i wont count the penalty. I have had rangers, other players on other holes take my ball so I dont see how thats fair to be penalized.

Sun glare is the worst for finding balls.

Last round oout was played at 5pm got all 18 in and the last 2 were in the dark, neither me or my mate lost a ball! In fact we shot better in the dark on those 2 holes than we did the other 16.

[Koth]

  trickymicky69 said:

I may feel strange asking the man in the shop for purple balls

Yeah. I would never play with pink or purple balls either.

Just saying that if you don't want to lose them, that is the best colours to play with.

[rwfastrax]

This is the worst thing to get me out of a good rhythm and focused state. Takes me right out of my game. I agree with watching every shot for as long as you can. Many time it's a case of looking in the wrong general area to start with...sometimes the ball settles shorter than you think...sometimes longer.

[sean_miller]

I envy people with good eyesight. When I play alone, I hit a lot of irons off the tee, especially on holes with poor visibility in the landing area.

[kris]

This usually happens to me when I"m playing by myself because my distance vision is not that great. i always score better when playing with others who can tell me where the ball landed.

[bwdial]

  sean_miller said:

I envy people with good eyesight. When I play alone, I hit a lot of irons off the tee, especially on holes with poor visibility in the landing area.

I have 20/13 vision... but to be fair, I envy people with handicaps under ten... so I guess we're even. :p

[armandoartist]

  bwdial said:

I have 20/13 vision... but to be fair, I envy people with handicaps under ten... so I guess we're even. :p

Classic!! busting up!!

[shades9323]

  trickymicky69 said:

I may feel strange asking the man in the shop for purple balls

Asking for purple balls wouldn't be that strange, now asking him to provide you with blue balls is another story...

[brgolf]

  DavidFehertysBike said:

Maybe the lochness monster ate them?

At least that explains why the lochness monster has never been found in lochness.

[Uncle Peter]

Try having a friend or two watch it after you hit it.

[case31]

Did you look in the hole?

Sorry, I've been told that too many times when I have an on-the-course lost ball.

[longdrive23]

During the practice rounds, do you guys take a penalty in these cases?

I just assume that if an official/marshal was around, he'd have found the ball for me, so I just drop it and dont take the penalty. For tournament /official rounds, I have no choice but to take the penalty :(

[sean_miller]

  longdrive23 said:

During the practice rounds, do you guys take a penalty in these cases?

Fred Couples said something similar years ago - amateurs penalize themselves for lost balls just off the fairway. Balls that would found by a spotter in a tournament. Coincidentally, smaller tournaments often don't have spotters.

[groovezilla79]

Check out the Callaway golf sunglasses. The "neox" lens or whatever it's called actually works. I've been able to spot balls in high grass, rough and in the woods that I don't think I normally would have seen. Best $100 I've spent in a long time.

[MasterP]

I had a drive hit a yardage marker in the fairway once. I saw it hit the marker and ricochet to the right. Never found it.

I usually have my partner watch my tee shots just in case I lose sight of it in the sky, which happens at certain times of the day. Polarized sunglasses help, but sometimes you still don't catch sight of it when you look up.

[trickymicky69]

It didnt happen tonight, the golf fairies must have been "down the pub"

[Valleygolfer]

I played with a guy the other day that couldn't see the ball ten yards after he hit it. Couldn't read a green to save his life. The only long putt he made was one I read for him. I bet when he plays alone he loses balls every hole. The moral here? Maybe you should get new glasses.