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

[Abu3baid]

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

You mean because it took him 10 min to find it or Because he abandoned it and just so happend to find it?

[Golfingdad]

You mean because it took him 10 min to find it or Because he abandoned it and just so happend to find it?

Because it took 10 minutes.  If I've learned correctly from this website, there is no such thing as "abandoning a ball" or "declaring a ball lost."  It only becomes such once you run out of time to search and/or play another ball.

[MS256]

On a par 5 I hooked my tee shot over into some native grass between the hole I was on and another hole. Not much problem because I saw exactly where it went. Drove up there and saw it right where I knew it would be, got out of the cart and hit a nice draw around a clump of trees to the center of the fairway and 70 yards from the green.

Still good birdie opportunity to win the hole.

Went down there and got out of the cart and was just about ready to swing and I saw a cart coming down our fairway with somebody holding a ball out the side. As soon as I saw I knew.

I had hit the wrong ball. Even though I had it clearly marked I hadn't even thought of the possibility that it wasn't my ball, and never even looked.

Told my competitors that I was out of the hole and had to watch one of them win the hole with a par.

I don't know how they knew I hit their ball (other than just putting two and two together) because they were on the other side of a hill and out of sight when I hit their ball.

[Lihu]

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

Yeah, I seem to play those birdie holes crappier. Drivable? Maybe by a single digit player, but not me.

[Hardballs]

. . .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.:-X

And just so ya know, I'd have given you a free drop anyway, in winter here we're quite generous with free drops! You have to be or the enjoyment can easily get zapped from the game!

[Hugoboum]

I had three balls lost in my last few rounds this year.

One ball I pushed it a little right towards the trees.I search and found like three balls but none mine.So I play the provisional.Then,like ten holes later a guy in my group putt a ball exactly the same as mine .He told me it was his,he found it during the round.He was a good guy,so I was not sure.

A week later,same thing,a guy in  my group putt a ball exactly like mine at the 18th after I lost one like that at tthe 3rd.It was his only one like that,he found it at the beginning.Again,none tried to see if it was mine and I couldn't claim the ball.Now,I mark them,can't believe people steal partners' balls.

[Lihu]

I had three balls lost in my last few rounds this year.

One ball I pushed it a little right towards the trees.I search and found like three balls but none mine.So I play the provisional.Then,like ten holes later a guy in my group putt a ball exactly the same as mine .He told me it was his,he found it during the round.He was a good guy,so I was not sure.

A week later,same thing,a guy in  my group putt a ball exactly like mine at the 18th after I lost one like that at tthe 3rd.It was his only one like that,he found it at the beginning.Again,none tried to see if it was mine and I couldn't claim the ball.Now,I mark them,can't believe people steal partners' balls.

Steal is such a strong word. There was probably no intent to do so.

My son and I were behind a slow group several months ago, and we hit drives down the middle. I noticed this man walk towards us and stoop down around the proximity of the balls. Yes, he took them?!? He probably assumed that we were "hitting" into them which we weren't, because he had to walk toward us to pick them up. On top of this, we had to wait for their second shots before teeing off. We finally called the shop, and were flagged ahead of them after the 4th hole. However, we had 6 balls taken away from us by this man?!?

So, I get Titleist Pro-V1/X balls from the ball mongers for around $0.50/pc instead of bringing my good balls. I have also been picking up lost balls, recently. I do check for the owner. Only one time did I "find" the owner, but he ignored me and casually "dropped" a ball by his fairway. Got a brand new Pro-V1X too, and he looked unfazed "losing it"! I just shut up and took the ball.

So, your partners might have just been "careless". Even the man brazenly taking our balls thought he had a reason for doing so. There are also those that don't care about losing their ball and would rather not have someone say they "found their ball".

[Hugoboum]

Well,it was the attitude.I say : Hey I lost the exact same ball that you just happened to find . He responds :Oh,sorry.Don't know what you're talking about. The nastiest I got still was the day I drove on the adjacent fairway.There's two balls,so I go there to see which is mine.The guy just shoots into one and another guy says the other ball is his.Ok.I ask them if they have seen a ball,and the third guy says the first picked  it up.I know it's my fault for missing my drive but damn.

[MattM]

Yup! Happened to me three weeks ago. Hit a gorgeous draw right down the fairway and watch it roll into the middle. Get up there and it's nowhere to be found. Drop another and hit it without taking a penalty. In my opinion if you hit it into high grass or something and you can't find it take a penalty because you screwed up the shot, but if you hit the shot you were trying to hit and some planets align and your ball disappears.....that's just another ball out of the pocket. I look at it this way....we all have seen the video of the bird on the PGA tour stealing the golf ball from the fairway. Because it's on camera and people are there to see it it's not a penalty. Why on earth would someone take a penalty for a ball they know to be there that someoen picked up or plugged because of mud etc?

[RayG]

Several years ago, a soggy day after a rain storm that lasted a few days. Drilled that perfect draw to follow the dogleg. Watched it splash so we knew about where it landed. Except we get out there and there are about 50 ball sized holes pockled all over the fairway but no ball in sight. I kind of figured I would be in one of them- but which one. I figured I must be in one of the further ones on the left side since that was the line. Stuck my hand into a likely candidate and- BINGO! my ball. Except I had to go practically across the fairway to avoid the casual water. Had my share of wandering folks pick up MY ball from MY fairway- Since they can't hit anything close to straight and are in my fairway, they must figure nobody else can hit one straight & long, so it must be okay. But- when in Virginia Beach at Stumpy Lake or Redwing. DON'T stick your hand down the holes in the fairway. Apparently, snakes and other critters with teeth wind up with balls in their burrows all the time. That was the last bit of advice from the guy in the pro shop before heading out. DON'T stick your hands in the holes. drop- no penalty.

[Lihu]

Several years ago, a soggy day after a rain storm that lasted a few days. Drilled that perfect draw to follow the dogleg. Watched it splash so we knew about where it landed. Except we get out there and there are about 50 ball sized holes pockled all over the fairway but no ball in sight. I kind of figured I would be in one of them- but which one. I figured I must be in one of the further ones on the left side since that was the line. Stuck my hand into a likely candidate and- BINGO! my ball. Except I had to go practically across the fairway to avoid the casual water.

Had my share of wandering folks pick up MY ball from MY fairway- Since they can't hit anything close to straight and are in my fairway, they must figure nobody else can hit one straight & long, so it must be okay.

But- when in Virginia Beach at Stumpy Lake or Redwing. DON'T stick your hand down the holes in the fairway. Apparently, snakes and other critters with teeth wind up with balls in their burrows all the time. That was the last bit of advice from the guy in the pro shop before heading out. DON'T stick your hands in the holes. drop- no penalty.

This is one reason why we don't walk so much anymore. Then we have a chance to get out there before they take our balls!

I hit one down the middle left once, and as I walked up to my shot, some people drove up in a cart and hit my ball into their fairway.  At first I think that was really bad form, especially when I was telling them that that could be my ball they're hitting. Well, I finally got up to "my" ball, and discovered theirs instead. So, it was just a simple mix up. I ended up with a Callaway Hex Chrome + and he got my Callaway Hex Control (Costco special). So, I instantly felt better as my Mizuno club hit that sweet sounding $4 ball.

My only lesson learned is to bring cheap or used balls when it's busy. Save the good balls for. . .well. . .something.

[rkim291968]

I had this happen yesterday TWICE!   The first one was the best tee shot I had all damn day and as I am heading to it, I see this guy come walking across from the fairway he was on, onto mine and just pick up my ball and keep walking.    When I get to him, I tell him I believe he has my ball.    He shrugs, pulls my ball out of his pocket and hands it back to me....

Then two holes later, I hit a push fade that ends up a little right of the fairway when a guy comes driving by in a golf cart from the next hole on on the left, stops, picks up my ball and drives off.   I don't think that guy was even playing golf.....  Never saw him again..

Happens more often than not.  Once, a guy drives into my fairway, picks up my ball, drives off to his fairway, AND gives the ball to his golf partner.   When I finally caught up with him (he could not hear my yelling at him from my tee box), his explanation was that his partner hit an errant ball to my fairway and he was doing her a favor by retrieving it.  It turned out to be true.   Other times, they were just picking up what they thought was a lost ball.