Get out of your cart when looking for your ball!

[trackster]

This drives me absolutely nuts, and I feel is slowing down the game.  Today I witnessed a group swerving in and out of tightly packed trees trying to find a golf ball.  These trees were on a down slope right on the edge of out of bounds, and I was convinced that they were going to tip the cart.  Is our society that lazy that we cant walk a few yards to try to find a golf ball.  I'm sure many people have witnessed a group in front of them drive small circles in the rough looking for a ball, and then when they finally do find their ball, the cart is usually in the way and then they have to drive around some more.  Time could be saved by getting out of your cart and searching on foot.

[poser]

well at least they didnt use their cart to look for it in a water hazard

[Chris Stewart]

I don't think it's a matter of being lazy. I think you can cover more ground quicker while riding in a cart. If you're looking in a tiny area, maybe not, but if you're looking in a 20-30 yard range I think so.

[preisman]

I try not to waste time by getting out of the cart and walk around blindly. I drive up back and up. If I do not find, I drop and continue on. I do not waste anyone's time doing so. It has nothing to do with being lazy. I just would rather hit the ball then walk around finding it.

[tiger187126]

i walked today and when i hit my first shot into a group of trees not far off the fairway i figured it would be easier to find than with a cart.

i walked up and down the tree line 3 times and couldn't find it. it was just a small group of trees with a parallel fairway so there was no reason i shouldn't have been able to find it, but since i was looking in a 30 yard circle it took a while to walk to the area where the ball was and then go up and down the area.

i just dropped and moved on because they oversold the tee time and i was sandwiched in between 2 foursomes, but if i had a cart i probably would have found the ball in the time it took me to walk up to where i thought it was and do one pass.

i also feel a lot safer looking for a ball in a shared woods/rough between two fairways in a cart. much more protection and easier to see.

[trackster]

While I agree you can cover more ground in a shorter period of time, I feel like getting out and walking the general area, especially in heavily treed areas, is much more productive.  There is nothing more annoying on the course, then watching a golf cart slowly creep up and down the rough, circle back and repeat the process 4 or 5 more times.  From my few experiences with using a cart, I just feel restricted in movement (especially in tight areas) and vision.  I also do think that it is about being lazy, I bet if courses allowed people to drive golf carts up to your ball on the green, people would do it.

[Dave2512]

Less about being lazy than some folks are still giddy about driving a cart, many think it's an amusement park ride.

[Jim Swindler]

The same golfer who would make 4-5 passes looking for a ball in a cart is the golfer who would spend excessive time looking for a ball while walking.  The slowness of the process has little to do with the cart and more to do with the golfer.

[robrey85]

A few of these responses made me laugh, especially the amusement park ride. I drive the cart as much as I can. If I have to jog up a hill to check, I'll do that to.