Ever have a ball disappear, vanish with no trace of it ever being here?

[DoubleEagle]

Yes it has a few times. One time I had a fox grab my ball and take off.

I had a fox take my ball once and no one believes me.  I know the ball was on the right side of the fairway.  Walking, so I get about 30 yds from tee box and look up and a fox is running across the fairway with my ball in his mouth.  I did not take a stroke!!!!!!!

[Lihu]

I have lost my tee shots before. I see the bounce and think it's got to be easy to find. But no. . .

Just recently I hit a little off and saw the ball bounce in a knoll, and looked around for almost 3 minutes. It turned out to be deep in a puddle of water.

[bentvalve]

People in opposite fairways pickup balls all the time, super frustrating!!! Whatever happened to "if it not yours don't touch it"

[Bakry]

Lol. Poor you guys. But isn't it a club rule not to pick up balls from the courses? I'm a newbie and o ly play at ranges tho.

[saevel25]

Lol. Poor you guys. But isn't it a club rule not to pick up balls from the courses?

I'm a newbie and o ly play at ranges tho.

Not when you play on public courses, it's the wild west out there. No one yells "Fore", and people pick up golf balls that isn't theirs.

[Golfingdad]

Not when you play on public courses, it's the wild west out there. No one yells "Fore", and people pick up golf balls that isn't theirs.

Happened today to a playing partner on the first freaking hole.  Yanked his drive left and near the green on an upcoming hole.  No rough to speak of, no water, nowhere for the ball to be, other than in the pocket of one of the guys who passed through there before we got there.  Just annoying.

[saevel25]

Happened today to a playing partner on the first freaking hole.  Yanked his drive left and near the green on an upcoming hole.  No rough to speak of, no water, nowhere for the ball to be, other than in the pocket of one of the guys who passed through there before we got there.  Just annoying.

Yep, same here. Its one of the few things I will look out for. I will yell across the course to let people know that the ball there is mine.

[Lihu]

Partly my fault, but I lost a drive into another fairway, and someone hit it into a bunker three holes ahead of us. I found it again when I was making an up and down, and noticed a ball in the bunker that didn't "belong" to any of us. Had the same logo on the Titleist proV1X that I found last week on another course (I did check to see if anyone was the owner, no one admitted to being its owner).

In any case, I took the penalty on that hole where it was lost, and put the ball back into my bag.

[Bakry]

I'm sure there's some guy out there with a big black plastic bag full of pro balls. Haha

[Lihu]

I'm sure there's some guy out there with a big black plastic bag full of pro balls. Haha

The funny thing is I have over 5 dozen brand new balls, I just keep forgetting to bring them with me. These are my shag balls most of which I bought for $20 per 48 at Target. I sometimes buy titleist pro v1 from a local ball monger who swims into the ponds for 0.50/pc too. I have something like 150 balls in this "shag bag", now that I rarely lose balls. Plus I end up finding some of them. I do look for the owners, but if no one is within a 300 yard radius, pretty much a keeper. They're great for chipping practice. I have another 80 at home that I hit into a net. Plus I have all the balls that I played out for scoring rounds. I used to lose one or two per round, but end up putting them in the shag bag too. The bag is getting heavier these last few months. I should donate some to the local range or something. . ,

[StrayCat]

Not when you play on public courses, it's the wild west out there. No one yells "Fore", and people pick up golf balls that isn't theirs.

Some don't even follow the old rule "Never pick up a lost ball that's still rolling."

Can't really say its gotten worse over the years though, even back in the 70's and 80's there were people that wouldn't give a thought as to how that ball might of gotten there and if it could still be in play by someone else.

People not yelling "Fore" anymore is another story.  That has most definitely gotten worse.  Need an f-in hardhat on some courses anymore.

[treebound]

Years ago as a kid a friend and I were playing a couple of the back holes around dusk on a course next to his family's vacation camping lot. I hit a worm burner approaching a green and just before the ball was about to roll up onto the green a big owl swooped down and snatched up the ball. That owl was probably thinking it just picked up dinner and all it got was an old pond found golfball. As to snagging balls on the course, if I'm 100% positive that the ball is abandoned then it is fair game, but if there is so much as a remote chance that it is still in play then I'll leave it be. Myself having mis-hit balls in the past up to two fairways away with a wicked push or slice I know all to well just how far a bad shot can go astray.

[dhicks33]

I was playing quick earlier this year and 2 older gentlemen were in front of me so they allowed me to play through. I teed up and hit a shot just left of the cartpath. So I go the exact spot I saw the ball land and its not there. It didnt hit the path or anything else, it should have been exactly where I went. I turn and look at the 2 gentlemen and ask Is this where it landed?One of them nods yes and the other yelled absolutely. So I walked area right around there nothing. They come over to help me and nothing, we spent 10 minutes looking for that ball and walked nearly the entire hole with no sign of it. No idea what happened there.

[Hardballs]

This happens to my friend most weeks at the mo! But the grounds a bit soft still, we've found that the as the ball lands, a clump of dirt sticks to the ball, and as it rolls it covers it self! Kinda camouflaging itself! It's happened an awful lot over winter!

[Crim]

Fall of last year I split a pretty big fairway but couldn't find my ball because their were leaves EVERYWHERE. It had to have rolled underneath one...I was pretty pissed, haha. It's not every day I hit a good drive.

Other than that, I've lost a few discs from disc golf this way. Could have sworn they hit the fairway or an opening. They probably ended up rolling into the woods or something.

[Lihu]

This happens to my friend most weeks at the mo! But the grounds a bit soft still, we've found that the as the ball lands, a clump of dirt sticks to the ball, and as it rolls it covers it self! Kinda camouflaging itself! It's happened an awful lot over winter!

. . .or it could land deep in a puddle of water like one of mine did, recently. I found it after 10 minutes, but we were waiting for the green to clear only 80 yards away. I just happened to be standing there and preparing my "lateral" ball for deployment when I caught a glimpse of it in the corner of my eye. There it was under 3 inches of water half covered in mud. I just tapped it out, and bogeyed the hole. Not really worth getting soaked in stagnant water for a par.

[Ernest Jones]

. . .or it could land deep in a puddle of water like one of mine did, recently. I found it after 10 minutes, but we were waiting for the green to clear only 80 yards away. I just happened to be standing there and preparing my "lateral" ball for deployment when I caught a glimpse of it in the corner of my eye. There it was under 3 inches of water half covered in mud. I just tapped it out, and bogeyed the hole. Not really worth getting soaked in stagnant water for a par.

@Lihu , just so you know in the future - that's a free drop under the casual water rule. One club length, no nearer to the hole. No penalty.

[Golfingdad]

I found it after 10 minutes,

@Lihu, just so you know in the future - that's a free drop under the casual water rule. One club length, no nearer to the hole. No penalty.

Well, not technically. ;)  But in a casual round, I'd certainly play it as such.