So a guy on a golfcart just pulled up and grabbed my buddies ball. What would you do?

[Chief Broom]

There are two things I've found you can do to help prevent someone from hawking your ball. First always mark your ball. This way if there is ever any question if your ball may be someone else's you can easily point out which is your ball beyond a shadow of a doubt. Next try your best to keep a close eye on where your ball is at so that if you see someone looking for a ball in that area you can head over that way to make sure they don't get yours by mistake (or on purpose). That second part can be problematic, but do the best you can under the circumstances. If I see someone picking up what may be my ball I'll call out to them to make sure they don't take it without verifying it's not mine. There have been plenty of times I've stopped someone from making off with my ball or mistakenly hitting my ball for there's. Once I made the guy go and check the ball he just hit toward his green because we were both playing the same brand and I was pretty sure it was mine. I told him to check it for my mark and sure enough it was mine and he brought it back to me so that I could continue playing. The only guys I've had any real problem with are the near professional ball hawks who zip around in their carts and can grab your ball without you even knowing it. But I've found that by taking a few precautions you can usually keep up with your ball even on a crowded course. Just the other day a buddy and I were playing and his ball was right where another guy was looking for a ball and it turned out they both were playing the same type with the same number! We were positive that the ball in question was ours but I told my buddy that had he marked his ball there would have been no confusion to begin with.

[Tomboys]

these are ridiculous stipulations.

Can't help it. I'm a hopeless romantic.

[Radford Wooly]

Wow. First time I ever noticed double groundhog avatars in sync.

They were nowhere near us, they were on the green and drove back and grabbed it. Can't explain why, so my buddy just dropped another ball and continued to play.

[Slammin' Sam]

Even if your buddy did hit close to them, theft of someone's golf ball isn't justified here. Golf is supposed to be a game of tradition, honor, and integrity and two wrongs don't make a right. I'd have reported them to the clubhouse.