Taking good balls from range buckets

[jsgolfer]

A great legal mind speaks...

not.

Or "and the horse you rode on!"

[jsgolfer]

It's not ambiguous.

The club found the balls on their course and sell you a bucket of balls to use on their range. Just because the typical range ball has a stripe does not mean the other balls are not owned by the club.

Hit them and leave them on the range.

I save those balls for my shots with the driver.

please oh lawyer-san, tell me how those balls are owned by the club.

[Patch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

It's not ambiguous.

The club found the balls on their course and sell you a bucket of balls to use on their range. Just because the typical range ball has a stripe does not mean the other balls are not owned by the club.

Hit them and leave them on the range.

I save those balls for my shots with the driver.

please oh lawyer-san, tell me how those balls are owned by the club.

You purchased them from the new owner to be used on their driving range. .

[jsgolfer]

You purchased them from the new owner to be used on their driving range. .

Seriously!  This is so beyond who cares, its unbelievable. Does anyone really think that the course cares?  We have thousands of balls at our range, if a found ball makes it into the buckets, they are typically crap balls as our course maintenance staff takes the good ones.

So in yours and Desmonds minds, if I hit a ball into the range and cant find my ball it belongs to them no matter what?  Lets say I have my initials on it and I see it in a bucket, I paid for it, but since I lost it in amongst the other thousands of balls, it's now belongs to the range.

Color me flabbergasted that this is an issue.

[Strandly]

At the time the golfer abandons the ball, the golf course operator uses its resources to find it, takes ownership, and then uses it on the range.

1.)  Finding a $20 bill on a sidewalk doesn't make it yours.

2.)  It's unlikely the owner wanted to abandon the ball in the first place so if anything the golf course should set it aside to be re-claimed.

3.)  Non-range balls in a range basket are there by accident anyway, if the course knew about it it would be in the bargain bin instead.

I think I've kept 1 ball from a range bucket and I've left several others since they weren't a ball I'd use anyway.  I don't have a problem with someone keeping a ball if they plan to use it.

[Shindig]

I save those balls for my shots with the driver.

That's what I do too. Besides, OP, do you really want a ball that didn't perform perfectly for its previous owner?

[Big C]

Interesting discussion. Once every 10 buckets or so, I find a premium ball in great condition. I always keep them. Does that make me a thief? Ehhh... I guess you could technically make the argument. I've never lost any sleep over the practice, though. And given my tendency to snap hook my drives at inopportune times, there's a (greater than zero percent) chance that the ball I'm pocketing was mine to begin with!

[Mr. Desmond]

1.)  Finding a $20 bill on a sidewalk doesn't make it yours.

2.)  It's unlikely the owner wanted to abandon the ball in the first place so if anything the golf course should set it aside to be re-claimed.

3.)  Non-range balls in a range basket are there by accident anyway, if the course knew about it it would be in the bargain bin instead.

I think I've kept 1 ball from a range bucket and I've left several others since they weren't a ball I'd use anyway.  I don't have a problem with someone keeping a ball if they plan to use it.

Admittedly, there are loopholes with balls still on the course and a golfer finding a ball who "takes" it as his...

In this case, the course has expended small resources or contracted with others to find the balls and placed it in its range ball inventory. It now has claims of ownership to the golf balls.

I guess anyone can justify a response that golf balls are open season, and it's okay for them to take any ball not marked as a range ball at a course. But then they must escape the screams, fists, clubs, and ire of the people playing the course.

[newtogolf]

Seriously!  This is so beyond who cares, its unbelievable. Does anyone really think that the course cares?  We have thousands of balls at our range, if a found ball makes it into the buckets, they are typically crap balls as our course maintenance staff takes the good ones.

So in yours and Desmonds minds, if I hit a ball into the range and cant find my ball it belongs to them no matter what?  Lets say I have my initials on it and I see it in a bucket, I paid for it, but since I lost it in amongst the other thousands of balls, it's now belongs to the range.

Color me flabbergasted that this is an issue.

The thread isn't about you hitting a ball into the range, the thread is about taking premium balls out of a bucket of balls you rented to use on the range.  Would you be okay if I went to the bowling alley and decided one of the loaner balls looked good and fit me well so I just threw it in my bag to take home?

When you take property that isn't yours it's stealing.  You can attempt to justify it however you like, but it's property that doesn't belong to you and thus you have no right to it.

[Strandly]

When you take property that isn't yours it's stealing.  You can attempt to justify it however you like, but it's property that doesn't belong to you and thus you have no right to it.

Kinda like how the golf course came to acquire that ball in the first place, right?

[inthehole]

OMG already - if I find a ProV1 in good shape in a bucket of balls, of course I'm going to pocket it.   If I find a Pinnacle, I'm probably leaving it.    Call the police, I pocketed a range ball ... get a grip with the moral high ground

[newtogolf]

Kinda like how the golf course came to acquire that ball in the first place, right?

The golf course didn't steal the ball, the owner abandoned it.

[Strandly]

The golf course didn't steal the ball, the owner abandoned it.

When you take property that isn't yours it's stealing.  You can attempt to justify it however you like, but it's property that doesn't belong to you and thus you have no right to it.

lol...

[newtogolf]

Since you guys like to steal golf balls from ranges I'm sure you wouldn't mind strangers rummaging through your golf bag and taking any golf balls they find inside it.

[Big C]

Since you guys like to steal golf balls from ranges I'm sure you wouldn't mind strangers rummaging through your golf bag and taking any golf balls they find inside it.

Come on man. Not even a close comparison.

[RGoosen]

I've never really thought about taking a range ball from a bucket. I do see non-range balls from time to time and those I use for 3 wood and driver. I'm not so sure I would chastise someone for taking a golf ball or two out of the bucket, but it sure looks wierd or desperate. If I get to the point that I'm having to take balls from the range when I play, then maybe I should play a cheaper course. I'm not going to play moral police officer... If you feel guilty doing it it isn't worth it. If not, more power to you. I just think it looks weird.

[iacas]

It's stealing. The ball is clearly not YOUR property.

None of you know who purchased the range balls. For all you know the range bought 10 dozen Pro V1x from lostgolfballs.com or something. You don't know who purchased the balls, and you don't know who owns the balls now, but it's safe to assume the range does. Either way, it's not you.

If I hit a ball onto the range because it has a little scuff or I made a triple with it, I'm not donating a ball to you - I'm giving it to the course.

[Strandly]

I like how the course can find someone else's property and it's fine but someone else can find the same property and it's stealing.  You guys are great.