Tips on ball hunting

[Langos]

Hello I am greatly into golf.

Any Tips or advice on spots to hunt for golf balls on the course

[Abu3baid]

3 hours ago, Langos said:

Hello I am greatly into golf.

Any Tips or advice on spots to hunt for golf balls on the course

Woods on the left and right side, but more on the right.. ponds or the like.. Make sure you are looking down at the ground when you are looking, because you might not be able to spot them if you keep your head up..  

[SavvySwede]

1. Don't do it while you're playing.

[9wood]

4 hours ago, Langos said:

Hello I am greatly into golf.

Any Tips or advice on spots to hunt for golf balls on the course

Do it early in the morning before the pro-shop opens

[14ledo81]

More balls on the right.  Better balls on the left.

 

[Jackal66]

Be aware of people coming up around you. You don't want to interfere with others.

 

Jack

[Club Rat]

Watch out for "Snakes" they usually hunt golf balls too.

[RandallT]

Only pick up the ones that aren't still moving. (always a classic line)

 

[gregsandiego]

If you pick up what appears to be a totally abandoned ball in the fairway, 10 seconds later you'll hear someone shouting:

"Did you see a Titleist 4" ?

 

[rkim291968]

3 hours ago, RandallT said:

Only pick up the ones that aren't still moving. (always a classic line)

 

... and keep your eyes open and down.  

My advice - look for balls around red tee.   A few guys are too embarrassed to walk up to red tee to pick up/hit his 2nd ball.   I find a surprising number of balls around red tee while waiting for my wife to tee off. 

[Yukari]

Whatever you do, don't hold up the group behind you. Also make sure it is not a golf ball that is in play by someone else. 

[Golfingdad]

24 minutes ago, Yukari said:

Whatever you do, don't hold up the group behind you. Also make sure it is not a golf ball that is in play by someone else. 

This.  Be 100% sure that the ball you're picking up doesn't belong to anybody on the course.

[turtleback]

11 hours ago, Langos said:

Hello I am greatly into golf.

Any Tips or advice on spots to hunt for golf balls on the course

Buy your own.

[No Mulligans]

Yeah to don't hold up the group behind.  But there are opportunities when waiting for the group ahead or if there is no one behind you.

The area beyond the greens where the short pitches that were thinned go.

The spot where greenside bunker shots that are thinned go (a line from the bunker over the hole and into the junk).

Near tee boxes where the toe and heel misses go.

To the right where the slices go.

Watch out for poison oak.  

As an aside I recently texted my sister asking her if we were allergic to poison oak.  Riddle me that batman.

[rkim291968]

When in doubt, don't pick it up.  When in blind spot, don't pick it up.  

[inthehole]

If you like Pinnacles, Top Flites, Noodles ... mark a tree about 200 yds on the right & enter the woods.

 

If you like Pro-V1's, Z Star & other assorted tour balls ... mark a tree about 270 yds on the left & enter the woods.

 

Although, at the pricier courses around here ... I find Prov1's in a creek about 150 yds to the right all the time.

 

On a serious note, I got lyme disease from chasing golf balls in the weeds & woods.   My doc says next to hunters, he gets more cases of lyme from golfers than any other group, including gardeners/landscapers.

[rkim291968]

18 minutes ago, inthehole said:

On a serious note, I got lyme disease from chasing golf balls in the weeds & woods.   My doc says next to hunters, he gets more cases of lyme from golfers than any other group, including gardeners/landscapers.

What about snake bites?   During snake season, I don't even chase my own balls into tall  roughs & brushes.   I had a close encounter with a large rattlesnake two years ago which convinced me to error on a safe side.

[Fourputt]

39 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

What about snake bites?   During snake season, I don't even chase my own balls into tall  roughs & brushes.   I had a close encounter with a large rattlesnake two years ago which convinced me to error on a safe side.

I've played most of my life in Colorado and never seen a rattlesnake, so it's not all that common in most places.  I've certainly done more than my share of stomping through deep native grass and weeds.  I've seen garter snakes and bull snakes, but never anything that was dangerous to humans.  

There are places on some courses where signs are posted telling golfers not to enter because of snakes, and I tend to believe them.  Heavy patches of scrub oak and rocky ravines are just the sort of places where rattlesnakes like to hang out.