found a driver on the golf course. How do you deal with this?

[adamscottmaster2013]

My friend and I played at the golf course twilight hours last Monday with another person and his kid.  Around the 18 holes, I found a almost new TM SIM 2 driver, probably fell off the golf cart.  Because my friend and I don't know when we will come back to this golf course, and that everyone had already left, the guy that my friend and I were paired with said that he will turn in the driver because he often plays at this golf course.  He said that he plays at the golf course three times a week.  I gave him the driver so that it could be returned to its rightful owner.

 

My friend told me this morning that he went back and played on the same golf course on Saturday.  When he asked if anyone had turned in the driver, the front desk folks said no one did because they had logs of what being turned in. 

 

Should I go ahead and report him because the facility has the name of the people that paired up with us on Monday?  IMHO, it is just wrong not to turn in a $500 driver that is belonging to someone else.

 

Thoughts?

[RSinSG]

I bet some drunk guy with a big beer gut dropped it. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. 

[LeoLeo99]

41 minutes ago, RSinSG said:

I bet some drunk guy with a big beer gut dropped it. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. 

 

That seems very judgmental of you.  Maybe you need a healthier diet.

Edited June 21, 2021 by LeoLeo99

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, adamscottmaster2013 said:

My friend and I played at the golf course twilight hours last Monday with another person and his kid.  Around the 18 holes, I found a almost new TM SIM 2 driver, probably fell off the golf cart.  Because my friend and I don't know when we will come back to this golf course, and that everyone had already left, the guy that my friend and I were paired with said that he will turn in the driver because he often plays at this golf course.  He said that he plays at the golf course three times a week.  I gave him the driver so that it could be returned to its rightful owner.

 

My friend told me this morning that he went back and played on the same golf course on Saturday.  When he asked if anyone had turned in the driver, the front desk folks said no one did because they had logs of what being turned in. 

 

Should I go ahead and report him because the facility has the name of the people that paired up with us on Monday?  IMHO, it is just wrong not to turn in a $500 driver that is belonging to someone else.

 

Thoughts?

 

It's been a week now.  You absolutely should tell the golf course about it since they have names.

 

Don't be accusatory but tell the golf course the story. There are all sorts of reasons the club may not have been turned in (yet ?).

 

The guy could've tossed it in his car and just forgotten about it.

 

But yes, IMO you should inform the golf course.

[Greenie]

That's why I have my name,# and address on all of my clubs. Even my driver..

 

I would inform the course. If the guy does play there three times a week he should be easy to track down. 

 

I recently found a club and it had the guys info on it. I figured it was from the group ahead. I called the number on the club. My buddy and I watch one of the guys ahead answer his phone. I start off with nice drive. I then mention a few things we noticed about the group. The guy says who is this. We are cracking up. I said I'm the guy that found your club and we are right behind you. He rode back and got his club. He thank me and said good one. You really had me going.

[putterboy75]

Yes, call the course and tell them the situation. I'm surprised the person that lost it hasn't called the pro shop asking if anyone turned it in?

If the guy you gave it to does indeed play there as often as you indicated, the golf shop will know him and probably will have an opinion on if they like having him around regularly. This could be a hint to if he just kept the club or honestly forgot to return.

 

Also agree, assume innocent until other info shows otherwise. I was walking very late in the evening last Friday (we had a 7:30pm start time) and found a PW on hole 7 on the side of the green. I picked it up to bring in and drop in the clubhouse but by the time we finished around 9:30pm it was almost completely dark and the shop was closed. I simply forgot to return the club and didn't realize until yesterday. I called the course and let them know I had it in the event the owner had asked.

[Hawkeye77]

Given the history here isn't the call to the course more of a Prince Albert in a can thing?

[Mr. Bean]

2 hours ago, Greenie said:

That's why I have my name,# and address on all of my clubs. Even my driver..

 

 

Well done!

 

I have my phone number but that is sufficient. If the founder wants to return my lost club they will. If not, a phone number does not help. So far it has helped. Well, I only lost a club once, must be 15 years now.

[Mr. Bean]

1 hour ago, putterboy75 said:

Yes, call the course and tell them the situation. I'm surprised the person that lost it hasn't called the pro shop asking if anyone turned it in?

 

 

Hasn't sobered up yet..?

[Krt22]

6 hours ago, Greenie said:

That's why I have my name,# and address on all of my clubs. Even my driver..

 

I would inform the course. If the guy does play there three times a week he should be easy to track down. 

 

I recently found a club and it had the guys info on it. I figured it was from the group ahead. I called the number on the club. My buddy and I watch one of the guys ahead answer his phone. I start off with nice drive. I then mention a few things we noticed about the group. The guy says who is this. We are cracking up. I said I'm the guy that found your club and we are right behind you. He rode back and got his club. He thank me and said good one. You really had me going.

I put my DL and SSN on there as well, just in case there is any ambiguity. 

[Greenie]

3 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

Well done!

 

I have my phone number but that is sufficient. If the founder wants to return my lost club they will. If not, a phone number does not help. So far it has helped. Well, I only lost a club once, must be 15 years now.

 

I agree with you. With an honest person, having my info on my club I'm hoping it might speed up returning it to me. Getting a phone call while I'm still on the ourse or if it is turned in I'm hoping it might prevent just anyone claiming it is theirs.

 

Unfortunately the only time I left a club behind it was my Vokey 56 and 60 wedges. I left the green turned the corner and came up the tree line on the other side. As soon as I reached for my driver I noticed I had left my wedges behind. I hopped in the cart and went back to see one guy in the foursome behind carrying my clubs back to his cart. I pulled up to them and asked if they found some wedges. The guy I saw carrying them said no they didn't find any clubs.  I got out of my cart,walked back to his bag and pulled them out of his bag. I said so these clubs with my name on them are yours?. He didn't say anything and the other guys were laughing. I guess he planned on keeping them.

[Baitkiller]

Wow..

Humans are a constant source of amazement. 

[Kaysquare]

There's an old guy at my course who has a very old set of Ping clubs.  He does leave one around a green now & then.  His name is on all his clubs.  If you find one of his clubs, & turn it in to the Pro Shop, or drive up to his group while he's playing to give him his club, he WILL get  your name and he WILL leave a hundred dollar bill for you in the Pro Shop.  People that play behind his group watch closely for lost clubs.  🥰

[Greenie]

16 minutes ago, Kaysquare said:

There's an old guy at my course who has a very old set of Ping clubs.  He does leave one around a green now & then.  His name is on all his clubs.  If you find one of his clubs, & turn it in to the Pro Shop, or drive up to his group while he's playing to give him his club, he WILL get  your name and he WILL leave a hundred dollar bill for you in the Pro Shop.  People that play behind his group watch closely for lost clubs.  🥰

 

Wow! I would never feel right taking a $100 bill for something I feel is the right thing to do in the first place.  

Maybe one beer. 

 

[TerpFangolfer]

17 hours ago, Greenie said:

 

I agree with you. With an honest person, having my info on my club I'm hoping it might speed up returning it to me. Getting a phone call while I'm still on the ourse or if it is turned in I'm hoping it might prevent just anyone claiming it is theirs.

 

Unfortunately the only time I left a club behind it was my Vokey 56 and 60 wedges. I left the green turned the corner and came up the tree line on the other side. As soon as I reached for my driver I noticed I had left my wedges behind. I hopped in the cart and went back to see one guy in the foursome behind carrying my clubs back to his cart. I pulled up to them and asked if they found some wedges. The guy I saw carrying them said no they didn't find any clubs.  I got out of my cart,walked back to his bag and pulled them out of his bag. I said so these clubs with my name on them are yours?. He didn't say anything and the other guys were laughing. I guess he planned on keeping them.

 

I had this basically happen a couple weeks ago...except I was too slow to see the guy.

Left my custom Vokey Wedgeworks V grind 60 with my initials stamped(!) (you can't get these anymore!) next to the 2nd green. My son had distracted me with a skulled chip that we had to go find...becasue I never leave clubs. Anyway, as we came up to the next hole (a par) I reached into my bag and  pulled out what I thought was my 60 & my putter. Got over to my ball and I'm holding my 56 (same finish). I thought oh well I grabbed the wrong stick and just used it. The thing was with the layout, I had also grabbed my driver...to tee off next hole because the tee is way back. Had left my bag alongside the fairway.

So I tee off, get to my bag, and glance in to see why I had missed grabbing my 60 and it's not there - first thought was my kid had grabbed it...nope (it was just the 2 of us), very late in the day - in fact I looked back and could see no one behind us all the way back to 1 fairway (it's a flat, relatively open course...and private I might add). I nearly took off back towards #2 green but there was a group on a tee that crosses between. The routing of the course meant that after 6 green I would be right near 2 green...and again, I can almost see that area the entire time. Well, as we come up #4 I see someone from #8 over near 2 green. Its common for people to slice off 8 and end up in the vicinity of 2 green. I couldn't see the person actually up on the green, but they were close.

We finish 4, then 5 is a par 5 we finish quickly, I can see back that still no one is behind us (after 6:30 by now). Play up 6 and now I can see 2 green, and run over...it's nowhere to be found. Circle the green, re-check my bag, re-check my son's bag...nothing. Again, as far as I can see (and I can see at least 90% of te area) NO one has played #2 behind us.

 

Long story short - 2 weeks later, club has been on the lookout...never turned in. I have actually been looking on Ebay periodically...if anyone sees a custom Vokey 60 with "MWR" stamped...let me know!

 

Very disappointing...I know personally I have turned in a minimum of 10-15 clubs over the years (plus headcovers, rangefinders, etc etc)...would never even occur to me to keep one...oh well, it was 3+ years old and due to replacement - I've had pros say wedges "wear out" faster than any other club (haha...as they try to sell me another wedge!)

[Greenie]

17 minutes ago, TerpFangolfer said:

 

 

Very disappointing...I know personally I have turned in a minimum of 10-15 clubs over the years (plus headcovers, rangefinders, etc etc)...would never even occur to me to keep one...oh well, it was 3+ years old and due to replacement - I've had pros say wedges "wear out" faster than any other club (haha...as they try to sell me another wedge!)

In the last three weeks my buddy and I have found 3 wedges and three headcovers. I would never think of keeping anything I found on the course unless it was a lost ball. 

 

We were able to return two of the wedges to the groups that were in front of us on those days but the other wedge didn't belong to the group in front of us but the one guy (young kid) said he would take it if we didn't want it. Do some people actually think it's theirs if they find it?

 

No one ever came looking for the one wedge or headcovers so we turned them in when we finished up. 

[mcounci2]

I'd try and get in touch with the guy you were playing with and see what he says.  Think about this...you're an 18 year old cart kid at a course and somebody hands you a TM Sim2, says "somebody lost this, put in the lost and found."  Part of you thinks about how that club would look in your bag. 

There are a few different levels of honesty that club would have to make it through to get back to its rightful owner.

[Kaysquare]

1 hour ago, Greenie said:

 

Wow! I would never feel right taking a $100 bill for something I feel is the right thing to do in the first place.  

Maybe one beer. 

 

This guy insists on giving the $100.  I know two gals who've had it forced on them.  He just says he loves those clubs, they cannot be replaced, and he's got more money than sense.  🤣

[D0ch0l1d4y]

I left my range finder on the driving range here in KC area (Falcon Lakes). Got home, realized it wasn't there and called the course - nothing. Not over the course of the next week either. 

 

I could have easily just said "yeah, it's a white bushnell" since they have a dozen in the L&F drawer...but I'm not taking someone elses.

 

People just suck some times.

[bcski]

In the future in a case like this you should hang on to the club, call the pro shop the next morning and say:

 

"I found a club on the course last night.  We tee'd off at _____.  My name and number is_____.  Please have anyone who inquires about a lost club call me to identify it."

 

DO NOT tell the pro shop the club or brand!!!  This will ensure it gets to the correct person.  If no one claims it after 30-60 days donate it to the local high school team.

[putterboy75]

On 6/22/2021 at 10:23 PM, Par Be A Joke said:

In the future in a case like this you should hang on to the club, call the pro shop the next morning and say:

 

"I found a club on the course last night.  We tee'd off at _____.  My name and number is_____.  Please have anyone who inquires about a lost club call me to identify it."

 

DO NOT tell the pro shop the club or brand!!!  This will ensure it gets to the correct person.  If no one claims it after 30-60 days donate it to the local high school team.

This happened to me last week. I stopped at Forest Dunes in Roscommon, MI to play 9 holes on my way further north and started around 7pm. I found a Callaway PW on the 7th hole and meant to turn it in when we finished....I totally forgot, it was dark and we were the only players left out there (we walked so didn't have to worry about having the cart back in by a certain time.) It must have been 10pm when we finished the 9th hole and we wanted to get out of there asap. I didn't realize I still had the club until the next morning when I looked in my bag (I was initially annoyed because Roscommon is way out of the way)

 

I called the golf shop and told them the situation, I did tell them the club & brand, I also left my phone #. No calls yet about the club.

 

In your opinion, am I obligated to ship it back to the golf shop at Forest Dunes? I suppose I could use this as an excuse to play there again, but it might be awhile before I am heading anywhere close to that direction.

 

I'd be happy to ship it if you think so, even if I have to pay.... karma from the golf gods.

[Greenie]

11 hours ago, putterboy75 said:

This happened to me last week. I stopped at Forest Dunes in Roscommon, MI to play 9 holes on my way further north and started around 7pm. I found a Callaway PW on the 7th hole and meant to turn it in when we finished....I totally forgot, it was dark and we were the only players left out there (we walked so didn't have to worry about having the cart back in by a certain time.) It must have been 10pm when we finished the 9th hole and we wanted to get out of there asap. I didn't realize I still had the club until the next morning when I looked in my bag (I was initially annoyed because Roscommon is way out of the way)

 

I called the golf shop and told them the situation, I did tell them the club & brand, I also left my phone #. No calls yet about the club.

 

In your opinion, am I obligated to ship it back to the golf shop at Forest Dunes? I suppose I could use this as an excuse to play there again, but it might be awhile before I am heading anywhere close to that direction.

 

I'd be happy to ship it if you think so, even if I have to pay.... karma from the golf gods.

I did the same thing one time. 

 

I put a wedge in my bag I had found, forgot about it and didn't realise I had it until I got home when I began to clean my clubs. No one ever came looking for it while I was playing.

 

I called the course and someone did leave their name and number in case it was found. I called the person and offered to ship the club to him at my cost because the course was an 1 1/2  hr drive for me and I wasn't planning on going back there any time soon. The guy became rude and said that was unacceptable because he needed right away. I explained the distance I had to drive and gave them the option to come and pick it up if he needed it that quick. That was unacceptable to him too. He was nothing but rude in our conversastions. We finally agreed to meet half way. He picked it up and never said thank you. 

 

If it makes you feel better to ship it to the course then do it. I would call the course again and ask again if anyone asked about it. At that point I would probably forget about it if no one has asked about it. I'd ask the course if they preferred you ship it back to them or just leave your name and number and tell them if anyone inquires about it to give you a call. 

 

IMO I don't think you are obligated to ship it to the course. If someone has asked about it then certainly you ship it.

 

 

[nsxguy]

@putterboy@Greenie

 

You guyz are way too nice.

 

If it was me I'd ship it back to them,,,,,,, at THEIR cost.

 

They're the ones that were careless with their property and they should be the ones to pay for their carelessness.

 

They're lucky they're even getting the club back. If you didn't return it they'd have to pay a lot more to replace it.

[Greenie]

7 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

@putterboy@Greenie

 

You guyz are way too nice.

 

If it was me I'd ship it back to them,,,,,,, at THEIR cost.

 

They're the ones that were careless with their property and they should be the ones to pay for their carelessness.

 

They're lucky they're even getting the club back. If you didn't return it they'd have to pay a lot more to replace it.

I felt bad I carried it home in the first. 

 

For a while after that I had an attitude if I saw a club I left it where it was. I left a club where I saw it shortly after that incident and when the guy came back I told him where I had saw it. When he rode back by I asked him if he picked it up and he said no one behind knew anything about it. Someone must have kept it. I felt bad about that one too.

 

A very good friend of mine said never let the poor actions of someone affect you when you are trying to do the right thing. It's worth the gratitude of many over the unappreciated of the few. Something like that..LOL

[nsxguy]

7 minutes ago, Greenie said:

I felt bad I carried it home in the first. 

 

For a while after that I had an attitude if I saw a club I left it where it was. I left a club where I saw it shortly after that incident and when the guy came back I told him where I had saw it. When he rode back by I asked him if he picked it up and he said no one behind knew anything about it. Someone must have kept it. I felt bad about that one too.

 

A very good friend of mine said never let the poor actions of someone affect you when you are trying to do the right thing. It's worth the gratitude of many over the unappreciated of the few. Something like that..LOL

 

Remember, no good deed goes unpunished. 🙃

 

Seems we mostly hear about clubs that don't get returned. Makes sense. You lose a club, and because no one turned it in you're annoyed. You get your club back and "Whew, that worked out",,,,,,,,,, and you forget all about it.

 

You did the right thing by picking it up but unfortunately you forgot to give it in. Oh well.

 

Net-net the guy gets his club back and it costs him a little,,,,,, instead of a lot,,,,,, 👍

 

 

 

[sui generis]

This is step 1: https://pinhighinc.com/

 

The rest is luck. 🙂

[KBong]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:01 AM, Greenie said:

I did the same thing one time. 

 

I put a wedge in my bag I had found, forgot about it and didn't realise I had it until I got home when I began to clean my clubs. No one ever came looking for it while I was playing.

 

I called the course and someone did leave their name and number in case it was found. I called the person and offered to ship the club to him at my cost because the course was an 1 1/2  hr drive for me and I wasn't planning on going back there any time soon. The guy became rude and said that was unacceptable because he needed right away. I explained the distance I had to drive and gave them the option to come and pick it up if he needed it that quick. That was unacceptable to him too. He was nothing but rude in our conversastions. We finally agreed to meet half way. He picked it up and never said thank you. 

 

What a clown....I would have just hung up on him.

His fault for leaving the club behind.....you did nothing wrong and even offered to ship it to him at your cost.

 

Too many idiots on this planet.

[Medson]

I’d call the golf course and explain the situation. However, I honestly wouldn’t expect golf course will do anything as they are not in the business of policing golfers. 

 

I always turn the stuff I found to the pro shop. In general, I think I’m 50/50 in term of getting my stuff back. Like most of people, wedges are the ones that most likely got lost. After a wedge shot, I always place the wedges between flag stick and my cart and on the green. So I or my playing partners will see it on the way to cart. 

[putterboy75]

On 6/27/2021 at 12:01 PM, Greenie said:

I did the same thing one time. 

 

I put a wedge in my bag I had found, forgot about it and didn't realise I had it until I got home when I began to clean my clubs. No one ever came looking for it while I was playing.

 

I called the course and someone did leave their name and number in case it was found. I called the person and offered to ship the club to him at my cost because the course was an 1 1/2  hr drive for me and I wasn't planning on going back there any time soon. The guy became rude and said that was unacceptable because he needed right away. I explained the distance I had to drive and gave them the option to come and pick it up if he needed it that quick. That was unacceptable to him too. He was nothing but rude in our conversastions. We finally agreed to meet half way. He picked it up and never said thank you. 

 

If it makes you feel better to ship it to the course then do it. I would call the course again and ask again if anyone asked about it. At that point I would probably forget about it if no one has asked about it. I'd ask the course if they preferred you ship it back to them or just leave your name and number and tell them if anyone inquires about it to give you a call. 

 

IMO I don't think you are obligated to ship it to the course. If someone has asked about it then certainly you ship it.

 

 

Good advice, this makes me feel better. I'll call one more time and see if anyone's asked about it in the lost & found. For what it's worth....it's not a club I'd want anyways, but it is a recent release Callaway with a graphite shaft, so I'd imagine it's worth something.

 

Maybe this is just a good excuse to go back to Forest Dunes....

 

I wonder how many people just don't realize they even left a club somewhere until the next round (or the next, or next depending on the player) that could be a while for some folks. Thanks for your input.

[nsxguy]

8 hours ago, putterboy75 said:

I wonder how many people just don't realize they even left a club somewhere until the next round (or the next, or next depending on the player) that could be a while for some folks. Thanks for your input.

 

This is certainly true. You pack your bag into your car and even if you unload the bag when you get home you won't miss the club until the next time you play.

 

I can only remember leaving a club behind once. I left a PW (part of the set) by a green a long time ago. It was never turned in.

 

I've found this works for me. My putter ALWAYS has a cover and I ALWAYS put the cover on before I put it back in the bag.

 

Similar to Mr Medson, I uncover the putter and leave the cover between the hole and the cart. Any chipping clubs are left with the head cover.

 

No more lost clubs.