Taking non-range balls from the range...

[nicfromwash]

Any thoughts? If you lose 6 new pro V1 balls on the course, the range will eventually use them.

 

Anyone have experience with this, how bad is it to take a few clean dunlops out of that $9 bucket of balls.

 

Non-Range balls afterall, are found, not purchased by the golf club (In most cases)

 

Personally, I've never tried this.

 

 

:aggressive:

[SadTrombone]

I think that for as much as some of the local courses are charging for a bucket of balls, I should be hitting brand new Pro V1s. That not being the case, if I find a non-range ball in the bucket, I don't have a problem pocketing it. I think $6 for a bucket of 60 balls is a ripoff.

 

...especially when there's no signs, but when you go to buy a half bucket (1 token) and use your Visa card (because you don't carry cash) they give you the old "oh no...there's a minimum $10 purchase with credit cards". I wonder if Visa/MC would like to know...

 

Anyway, yeah go ahead and take 'em. Like you said, it's a $9 bucket...one ball won't break 'em.

 

-mini

[oregongolf]

when i used to pick range when i was like 16, the pro said we could take any non-range balls that ended up in range.

 

we'd find a dozen or so nice balls every time we picked/cleaned range balls.

 

i would think the club has bigger things to worry about -- like making sure the actual range balls get picked up so they don't get mowed over.

[bloodredsun]

I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

Many ranges say that you should only hit range balls on the range anyway so what are you supposed to do when you find a proper ball. Throw it away?

[azone]

Good grief, the balls aren't yours, are they?

 

You have problems adding your score on a hole?

[SadTrombone]

Good grief, the balls aren't yours, are they?

 

You have problems adding your score on a hole?

1. They aren't the course's either. They found them in the woods somewhere. I found them in a bucket. My discovery was just more convenient.

 

2. No....1 + 1 + 1 + 1, etc.

 

-mini

[woof]

well i often have the exact opposite experience the only range within like 35 miles of my house has range balls that haven't been changed in 2 or 3 years and there never cleaned ever and they sit in florida sun and humidity all day and the only time the range picks up the balls is right before they cut the grass once a week

 

soooo hating more than anything hitting range rocks that don't fly right or straight or at all and are cracked and dry and pale i opt to take my older golfballs (used for a few rounds) and hit them outthere

 

in hopes that one day all the golf balls that i hit out there every day will slowly take over the ball population and wen i get a bucket that cost 3 dollars for 25 to 30 range balls (which is might not be horrible if the range had even tee boxes or even actual tee boxes or stalls or maybe yardage markers that aren't out to lunch ) ill get my older balls back to hit and so will everybody else so 25 guys aren't out beating them elves up because they think there horrible wen its usually because there hitting something that is anything but areodynamic.

 

share the wealth

 

but im all for you range pickers who get to keep non range balls and if there is a sign that says youre not aloud to hiut anything but range balls then take those golfballs where they belong ONTHECOURSE!

[stevepoz]

I am going to have to say taking the balls is theft. You can try to justify it if you want, but the balls aren't yours, even if non-range balls, they have been abondoned by the prior owners so they are the rightful property of the range.

[dpriester]

Rationalization is a wonderful thing. Talking about how the range charges too much or that the range found them too doesn't affect the bottom line one bit. The fact is you are taking something that doesn't belong to you. If that doesn't bother you, stop rationalizing it.

[woof]

ummmm at most all ranges if it dosnt have a red stripe or a range logo then how is it the ranges ball? do you steal little kids frisbees bea=cause they land in your yard or on your roof. its not rationalizing if it says range balls only and the ball they give you is in fact not a range ball. also there are lot of ranges with courses attatched so when a 60 year old man pays 5 dollars for a ball and duffs it onto range hes no tgoing to go try and find it in teh midst of 3000 other balls but if it landed in some brush and he could find it he wouldnt have abandoned it to keep teh pace of play. it dosnt make it the ranges ball. not until they take the effort to put s msrking of theire own on teh balkl thus claiming theire ownership rights

its the logical comclusion

[woof]

Rationalization is a wonderful thing. Talking about how the range charges too much doesn't affect the bottom line one bit. \

 

thats ludacris if you spend alot of money at the range for what to hit balls with recklos abandon?? no you go to practice, and hit accurate yardages and to hit quality range balls if you just wanted to swing at something you could go hit small rocks in your backyard and that would be the same as the conditions im complaining about. maybe im opinionated but im pretty sure that all buisnesses have mission statements and a golf ranges should be along the general line of providing well maintained and accurate practice conditions that mimmick that of the real life on course scenario. pardon me if im completely out of line but wen you make 3 to 6 dollars per small bucket i think its only fare to maintain your property.

 

the range i speak of near my house is owned by ppl who live out of state and i still dont think thats an excuse to not have buissness run properly.

[Hawkeye03]

Rationalization is a wonderful thing. Talking about how the range charges too much or that the range found them too doesn't affect the bottom line one bit. The fact is you are taking something that doesn't belong to you. If that doesn't bother you, stop rationalizing it.

 

I could care less either way. Its never really crossed my mind to take balls from a range. But if what you say is true, shouldn't the course put all of the balls they find in a lost and found box since they do not own them. How do you justify them keeping the balls? Just making arguments for the sake of arguing.

 

Andy

[pengster1970]

ummmm at most all ranges if it dosnt have a red stripe or a range logo then how is it the ranges ball? do you steal little kids frisbees bea=cause they land in your yard or on your roof. its not rationalizing if it says range balls only and the ball they give you is in fact not a range ball. also there are lot of ranges with courses attatched so when a 60 year old man pays 5 dollars for a ball and duffs it onto range hes no tgoing to go try and find it in teh midst of 3000 other balls but if it landed in some brush and he could find it he wouldnt have abandoned it to keep teh pace of play. it dosnt make it the ranges ball. not until they take the effort to put s msrking of theire own on teh balkl thus claiming theire ownership rights

its the logical comclusion

 

 

Not that I care too much either way, but one of the oldest principles in law includes ownership via posession so I would think they have ownership rights.

[Rabidpenguin45]

I have no problem paying 6 dollars for a bucket of rock-hard white spherical objects with holes punched in them by a firstgrader premium golfballs. This one course around me, Purgatory, has a decent range in my opinion. The balls arent topflites or hard, they are nikes. Not sure on what type, but its also all grass, so i dont mind going there. Some courses though have poor ranges, inaccurate yardages, so if i find a prov1x in my bucket of rocks, ill take it. Like the saying, the lord givith, the lord takith away. Some golfer loses it, i take it. :aggressive:

 

(disclaimer-never found a quality range ball in my buckets before though) Only find them on the course it seems...

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

I don't take range balls from the range.

 

I don't take range balls from the course.

 

I don't take lost balls from the course.

 

But I will liberate a nice ball from a bucket of range balls. And the guys I know who work at a course would tell me too. It's not a range ball. It's not the course's ball. It's not a ball the course paid for. They lose nothing.

 

If they get to keep real balls in range buckets, then:

 

(1) They can't sell all the lost balls they find on the course. They have to use them as range balls, or

 

(2) they have to have a lost and found for all the lost balls. I mark my balls and can identify them.

[abefroeman]

Are you guys kidding?

 

This is not stealing. If you put a bucket of range balls in your car because you like to chip in your backyard, that is stealing. But a couple of real balls in a bucket of range balls? no way.

 

Its like finding a dollar bill on the ground at McDonalds. Someone else brought it there and left it on the ground. Just like these balls.

 

One year, my club got new range balls and with 5 min to tee off, I realized I had only 1 ball in the bag. Couple range balls went in the bag. I used them on water holes. Lost one in the water, and left the others by the chipping green.

[tbarr15]

Ok, I am probably the only person so far who has first hang experience of running a Driving Range from what it sounds like. I have worked at a very high quality country club, and now I am the Director of my school's Driving Range. I have absolutely no problem with people taking pro v1s from the range bucket at a nice Country Club. At the club I worked at, and I think someone else mentioned this, they tell you to take out any balls that are not range balls. So if you are talking about a country club that has specific range balls, then that is not a problem--in some cases it might even be encouraged.

 

However, now that I am running the Driving Range at my school, I think it is terrible, just terrible, to take nice golf balls from the bucket. In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up. We don't have one type of range ball, they are pretty much a mixed bag. I know that in my situation, once my personal balls are too old to play with I will put them in our buckets. So taking nice balls from us is not right.

 

-If its a country club that has a driving range on it, no problem

 

-If it is a Driving Range standing alone (no golf course anywhere near it) then it is wrong. I can't help but thinking that no birdies would be made using golf balls that were taken from these ranges because stealing would only cause bad Karma.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

Ok, I am probably the only person so far who has first hang experience of running a Driving Range from what it sounds like. I have worked at a very high quality country club, and now I am the Director of my school's Driving Range. I have absolutely no problem with people taking pro v1s from the range bucket at a nice Country Club. At the club I worked at, and I think someone else mentioned this, they tell you to take out any balls that are not range balls. So if you are talking about a country club that has specific range balls, then that is not a problem--in some cases it might even be encouraged.

 

However, now that I am running the Driving Range at my school, I think it is terrible, just terrible, to take nice golf balls from the bucket. In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up. We don't have one type of range ball, they are pretty much a mixed bag. I know that in my situation, once my personal balls are too old to play with I will put them in our buckets. So taking nice balls from us is not right.

 

-If its a country club that has a driving range on it, no problem

 

-If it is a Driving Range standing alone (no golf course anywhere near it) then it is wrong. I can't help but thinking that no birdies would be made using golf balls that were taken from these ranges because stealing would only cause bad Karma.

 

Wait a minute. If you are saying that your range balls aren't clearly marked as such and someone could be removing a range ball that they think is a real ball, then I think you are right.

 

But if you are saying that you rely on people's lost balls (i.e., free to you) to defer your costs and therefore, you don't want people taking the balls you got for free - well, I'm sorry. That's just hypocritical.

[hoganfan924]

Every lost ball that I find on a golf course that isn't a Pro V1 or V1X ends up being contributed to my local driving range (as well as some of my scuffed up Pro V1X's). So if once in a blue moon (maybe 3 times a year), I find a nice V1 or V1X in a range bucket, I'm keeping it and not feeling the least bit guilt about it!!!

[tbarr15]

Ok, I am probably the only person so far who has first hang experience of running a Driving Range from what it sounds like. I have worked at a very high quality country club, and now I am the Director of my school's Driving Range. I have absolutely no problem with people taking pro v1s from the range bucket at a nice Country Club. At the club I worked at, and I think someone else mentioned this, they tell you to take out any balls that are not range balls. So if you are talking about a country club that has specific range balls, then that is not a problem--in some cases it might even be encouraged.

 

However, now that I am running the Driving Range at my school, I think it is terrible, just terrible, to take nice golf balls from the bucket. In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up. We don't have one type of range ball, they are pretty much a mixed bag. I know that in my situation, once my personal balls are too old to play with I will put them in our buckets. So taking nice balls from us is not right.

 

-If its a country club that has a driving range on it, no problem

 

-If it is a Driving Range standing alone (no golf course anywhere near it) then it is wrong. I can't help but thinking that no birdies would be made using golf balls that were taken from these ranges because stealing would only cause bad Karma.

 

Wait a minute. If you are saying that your range balls aren't clearly marked as such and someone could be removing a range ball that they think is a real ball, then I think you are right.

 

But if you are saying that you rely on people's lost balls (i.e., free to you) to defer your costs and therefore, you don't want people taking the balls you got for free - well, I'm sorry. That's just hypocritical.

 

Oh, no definitely the first comment you made, we do not at all rely on peoples lost golf balls because we are not attached to any golf course. All our balls come from our budget, or donations

[idrive400yards]

What I do is put the good balls off to the side, hit all of the crappy ones, then hit the good one's last. better input to how I was swinging that day and they get to keep their "lost, expensive" balls to be used by someone else. I also hit my old used balls out there, no need to keep them in an already heavy bag.

[oregongolf]

In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up.

 

I know it's a fact of the business, but whoever is picking range isn't doing a great job if you're losing that many balls to mow-over.

 

Honestly, taking a premium ball out of a 100 ball range bucket isn't a big deal, regardless of how you add it up. Call it what luck, theft, or a cheeseburger ..I don't care. If your business hinges on one ball every bucket, you need to get out of the business.

 

Seriously, you range operators get balls for maybe $.10/piece?

[SadTrombone]

Seriously, you range operators get balls for maybe $.10/piece?

A touch more. http://www.ilovetogolf.com/range.htm

 

-mini

[oregongolf]

Seriously, you range operators get balls for maybe $.10/piece?

A touch more. http://www.ilovetogolf.com/range.htm

 

-mini

ahh, that's a little more than we paid -- and i still think we overpaid.

 

we paid .14/piece in each 10k increment.

[tbarr15]

In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up.

 

I know it's a fact of the business, but whoever is picking range isn't doing a great job if you're losing that many balls to mow-over.

 

Honestly, taking a premium ball out of a 100 ball range bucket isn't a big deal, regardless of how you add it up. Call it what luck, theft, or a cheeseburger ..I don't care. If your business hinges on one ball every bucket, you need to get out of the business.

 

Seriously, you range operators get balls for maybe $.10/piece?

 

Have you ever worked at a Driving Range? If you have, and have picked the range then you can talk. Anyone who has ever worked at a range knows that you can't help but getting one two or three balls lost every time you pick. If the range is mowed every week at minimum you are losing two balls per week, 104 per year--that is if you are picking the range with an eagle eye. Then, at my particular range, we lose golf balls to the woods frequently because we haven't been able to purchase netting yet. (In case anyone wants to know, netting for our range is going to cost 15k minimum)

 

Will my Range ultimately die off if people steal the premium golf balls, no. But if we are going to call this a gentleman's game, then anyone who takes the golf balls from Driving Ranges is not playing the game the way it was meant to be played

[oregongolf]

In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up.

 

I know it's a fact of the business, but whoever is picking range isn't doing a great job if you're losing that many balls to mow-over.

 

Honestly, taking a premium ball out of a 100 ball range bucket isn't a big deal, regardless of how you add it up. Call it what luck, theft, or a cheeseburger ..I don't care. If your business hinges on one ball every bucket, you need to get out of the business.

 

Seriously, you range operators get balls for maybe $.10/piece?

 

Have you ever worked at a Driving Range? If you have, and have picked the range then you can talk. Anyone who has ever worked at a range knows that you can't help but getting one two or three balls lost every time you pick. If the range is mowed every week at minimum you are losing two balls per week, 104 per year--that is if you are picking the range with an eagle eye. Then, at my particular range, we lose golf balls to the woods frequently because we haven't been able to purchase netting yet. (In case anyone wants to know, netting for our range is going to cost 15k minimum)

 

Will my Range ultimately die off if people steal the premium golf balls, no. But if we are going to call this a gentleman's game, then anyone who takes the golf balls from Driving Ranges is not playing the game the way it was meant to be played

 

Yes, I've worked at a driving range. Both standalone and at a course.

 

You and I both know that losing 104 balls per year is far too conservative. With that said, any non-range balls being pulled has absolutely no bearing on whether you succeed or fail. The number picked out would be so minuscule that it shouldn't matter whether or not people pulled them or not.

 

One could argue that any golf balls that end up in a standalone driving range's ball stash were obviously hit into the range on purpose. On the other hand, non-range balls that find their way into a driving range at a golf course could obviously be accidental and I would say those are fair game.

[tbarr15]

In my case, we have a very low budget, and we are constantly running out of golf balls that get lost in the woods, or cut up in the mower. If you take golf balls from our buckets, we lose money, and the price of the buckets only goes up.

 

I know it's a fact of the business, but whoever is picking range isn't doing a great job if you're losing that many balls to mow-over.

 

Honestly, taking a premium ball out of a 100 ball range bucket isn't a big deal, regardless of how you add it up. Call it what luck, theft, or a cheeseburger ..I don't care. If your business hinges on one ball every bucket, you need to get out of the business.

 

Seriously, you range operators get balls for maybe $.10/piece?

 

Have you ever worked at a Driving Range? If you have, and have picked the range then you can talk. Anyone who has ever worked at a range knows that you can't help but getting one two or three balls lost every time you pick. If the range is mowed every week at minimum you are losing two balls per week, 104 per year--that is if you are picking the range with an eagle eye. Then, at my particular range, we lose golf balls to the woods frequently because we haven't been able to purchase netting yet. (In case anyone wants to know, netting for our range is going to cost 15k minimum)

 

Will my Range ultimately die off if people steal the premium golf balls, no. But if we are going to call this a gentleman's game, then anyone who takes the golf balls from Driving Ranges is not playing the game the way it was meant to be played

 

Yes, I've worked at a driving range. Both standalone and at a course.

 

You and I both know that losing 104 balls per year is far too conservative. With that said, any non-range balls being pulled has absolutely no bearing on whether you succeed or fail. The number picked out would be so minuscule that it shouldn't matter whether or not people pulled them or not.

 

One could argue that any golf balls that end up in a standalone driving range's ball stash were obviously hit into the range on purpose. On the other hand, non-range balls that find their way into a driving range at a golf course could obviously be accidental and I would say those are fair game.

 

 

I agree--that was the original point I was trying to make

[MisterMizzy]

The way I see it, if I don't pluck the Pro V1 from the basket, some other guy will :-). Head Pro would tell me the same thing. And if I see a ball in the basket with my mark on it, you better believe I'm pulling it. I leave enough of them on the course to open a golf ball retail store.

[larrybud]

Good grief, the balls aren't yours, are they?

 

You have problems adding your score on a hole?

1. They aren't the course's either.

 

As a matter of fact, they may be:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1998153.stm

[g8a_golf]

at the course i work at, they let us take any balls we find. in carts, the range balls, the woods... anywhere. if the balls are not callaway range balls, they are fair game.