People picking up your ball

[stephenmatthia]

WTF?!?!

So I was playing today and a had a horrible front 9 (+5). I gave myself a little pep talk at the turn and played MUCH better on the back. I got to the 18th tee needing par to shoot even for the back. I crush my drive just barely into the right rough. I'm walking up to my ball thinking that I'll have a PW or SW in for an easy par and my ball is absolutely no where to be seen. After I hit my tee shot and was waiting for the other folks in my group to hit I saw some guys playing the first hole over near where my ball landed apparently looking for their ball. One of them played their shot, saw my ball sitting there, and just picked it up. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So after looking for my ball for a while I walk all the way up to the number one green and ask them if anyone picked up a Titleist with 2 black dots. This joker reaches into his pocket and tosses it to me and says "Sorry, I didn't know it was yours." I don't get some people.

[oo1oo]

haha, happens to me all the time. when they see a prov1, they'll just snag em. pretty embarrassing when they give it back.

[Trendsetter916]

Man that's the worst when people play your ball. I had a ball in the light rough and a lady comes from another hole going in opposite direction of the hole I am on. I see her go towards my ball and I am thinking to myself she better not be hitting my ball. Next thing I know she is yelling fore and the ball is coming right at me and my dad. It lands about 8 feet from us I look at it and it has my markings and I ask her why she hit my ball her response was I thought it was my callaway ball. I was playing a Srixon z star x with big red money signs on it far from a callaway. I was stunned so she comes and picks my ball up throws it in the rough and she goes it was about right there LOL.

[*sigh*]

Some people just have no common sense...

[Dizz]

Just happened to me the other day actually. Short par 4 about 310 yards and I hammered a drive about 10 yards short of the front edge. My buddy hits one left of left so were screwing around in the left trees so when we get back to the fairway the 2 guys we got paired with told me that they think one of the guys in front of us picked up my ball. The next hole is a dog leg par 5 and there was a backup so the group in front of us is waiting on the tee. So I ask if anyone picked up a ball just short of the green and the guy tosses me back a ball which wasn't mine and I tell him no thats not my beat to death Professional 90. Finally he "finds" my ball in his pocket and says "I didn't realize you guys were on this hole so I picked it up." And I'm almost laughing to myself because we've been waiting for these jokers every shot how the hell could he not know we were behind him?

[dabdias]

Well, the other day a Marshall picked up my ball. On the first tee I hit a terrible shot and I thought it had gone out of bounds, I was going to hit another one and the starter says "No mulligans" (is out of bounds a mulligan?). So I can't hit another ball and I just see the Marshall driving to the area where my ball could be. When I get there, a guy who was close to a practicing area tells me that the Marshall had picked up a ball!!

[kejoal11]

A couple of weeks ago I was playing with my regular foursome. We played late in the day and the course was pretty empty. There was a sinlge behind us and we tee'd off on a par five. We were getting ready to hit our second shots and let him tee off. After he tees off we hit our second shots and wait for him. My ball was in the middle of the fairway about 60 yards short of the water about 80 yards to the green. The single hits his ball and thanks us and moves on. His ball lands close to mine. He proceeds to hit my ball Nike One Tour and kindly leaves me a top flite XL 2000. I questioned him about it and he looks at the ball and says to me "it looked like my ball when I hit it". The nerve of some people. LOL

[generalbolg]

i hate when this happens. my solution? i ALWAYS make them walk back to the spot, and drop my ball exactly where they found it. this is often a huge point of contention as they typically have moved up their fairway and are nowhere near where they thieved my ball. tossing my ball back to me only remedies half the problem. i appreciate getting my ball back, but id like to play my round too. they are 100% in the wrong, and i should go out of their way to make pretend the situation never happened.

[ddubya]

I absolutely will not play Erskine Park in South Bend, IN because of this. It's like every older gentleman there sees any ball they snatch it. Last time there, my ball was picked up three times....WTF...I refuse to play that course anymore.

[mrb]

This happened to me last saturday. Playing my local muni, I walk on, and on the second hole I catch up to a threesome...mom, dad and son, and I join up with them.

 

Fast forward a few holes...par three...pull my tee shot into the left trees. There's another group standing on the next tee...I yelled fore just in case, but it hit a tree and dropped straight down. Everyone in the group saw it...the mom, the dad and their son. Needless to say when we walk up to where my ball should have been, it's not there. At this point, after a lengthy search, the ball is nowhere to be found, so the logical assumption is the group in front of us had to have picked it up as they walked off the tee.

 

What irritated me was two things...first, there was no mistaking they had no inkling of playing the ball, so they picked it up just to pick it up. Second was that they had a kid, maybe 7 or 8 years old, with them....so this is what they're teaching him...that it's okay to pick up another player's ball on teh course....nice.

[tdk8180]

I now carry a mega phone in my bag to alert those idiots who pick up balls. I don't care, that costs me money and I hope it teaches them a lesson.

 

The first time I did it, my friends were like, "dude, wtf", and I was like, bs that is 4.00 he is picking up of mine.

[bantam]

I now carry a mega phone in my bag to alert those idiots who pick up balls. I don't care, that costs me money and I hope it teaches them a lesson.

 

The first time I did it, my friends were like, "dude, wtf", and I was like, bs that is 4.00 he is picking up of mine.

 

Great idea!!! I have always wanted to have a remote control exploding devise or a loud alarm installed in my ball when it got over 500 yards from my bag. I am getting a megaphone...+1

[bantam]

Found one! 800 yards...shound be plenty:)

 

Fanon Megaphone, 20 Watts, 800 Yard Range

Powerful built-in signal alarm for fog horn or general alert. Features weather-proof construction, adjustable volume control, a carrying strap, pistol-grip talk switch, and signal alarm switch. This dynamic megaphone can be heard at up to 800 yards.

Product Code: MV-16S

[Hidalgo]

i hate when this happens. my solution? i ALWAYS make them walk back to the spot, and drop my ball exactly where they found it.

 

Same here. If they protest....well....they usually wish that they'd never met me after I read them the riot act and explain to them that they have the IQ of a squid.

 

I absolutely will not play Erskine Park in South Bend, IN because of this. It's like every older gentleman there sees any ball they snatch it. Last time there, my ball was picked up three times....WTF...I refuse to play that course anymore.

 

I used to play a muni that had the same problem. It wasn't unusual for someone playing a hole parallel to ours to just pick up ANY ball that happened to be on their hole if it wasn't theirs. I told a man one day that if he was THAT hard up for balls I had a bunch of scuffs in the bag that I'd be glad to give him.....if he'd promise to never pick up another ball that he found on the course. He frowned and walked away.

[blade_man]

My brother in law is that guy! I hate it and have gotten on to him hundreds of times, his excuse "I don't see anyone around" and I always tell him "that's because you are 72 y/o and blind!" even had him pick my ball up when we were looking for it, "didn't know you were playing a #2!" if you want to hunt ball look ob while you are not playing golf!!!!! walk the course at night or late evening not while ppl are playing.. ok, end of rant for now. really ticks me off when ppl do this.. ok now end of rant......till later, just really get to me.......

[longballjs]

since you only carry what seems to be 13 clubs - Id carry a 22 and shoot em in the @$$

[cigarnut81]

I had this happen in a tournament last year. My buddies & I are playing in a charity 4-man scramble & we are standing on the tee of a 360 yard par 4. My partner who is pretty long but rarely that long decides to go ahead & tee off as the group in front of us is putting out. He pounds it about pin high but in the rough left of the green & those jackWord not allowedes pick the ball up with the excuse of it came too close to hitting us. Number one the ball was rolling when it got to the green so no damage would have been done. We were as polite as we could be when we confronted them & they tried to start a fight over it. All we wanted was his ball back. Needless to say they were disqualified for their conduct & we ended up not getting the ball back. We did end up in a tie for first but lost in the playoff. This is why I think their should be an etiquette quiz before you are allowed to play golf. They do something like that in Switzerland. You have to pass a quiz before you are allowed on the course. The etiquette is the most essential part of golf. I am not perfect with it but I certainly try to be.

[The Boom Bapp]

Happened to me last night, 417 yard Par 4 18th. Parked a flushed 3 iron draw at the edge of the water and was looking at smooth 7 iron into an uphill green with a back right pin.

 

I start walking toward the fairway from the tee box and I see a 4-some riding across the fairway heading back to the club house, thinking nothing of it, I walk down into a ravine and lose sight of my ball because I am heading down hill. I hit the peak and being that this is my home course, I know where my ball should be. No ball, I walk to where I thought it landed, see the ball mark in the fairway, (rained the last 4 days so the fway is softened up a bit) and nothing. From here and hitting what would be 2, make the green, and sink the putt, I would end with a nice carded -2 69.

 

Instead, I have to play a provisional ball, drop and hit 3, make the green, make the putt and ended with a 5 even par 71. I end my round, head into the club house and I hear this guy mention how he crossed the 18th and found a ball just sitting at the edge of the water in the fairway and how he always wanted to try a NIKE ONE Tour ball and seeing how he just found one, here is the chance. I walked up to the bar, placed my card down, ordered a Italian hoagie and started chatting. He asks how I hit the ball today and I say "Great, had a great round going in to 18 and had a chance for a 69 but I could not find my ball that I thought landed in the fairway at the edge of the water". He gets this shameful look on his face and says, "That sucks, what Word not allowedhole would do that!" I said, Yeah, ended with a nice 71 so I am not too disappointed, I just finished a few minutes and walking to my ball, I saw some guys crossing the fairway in carts and I think they may have picked it up". He was all like “Some people just have no respect ya know??”

 

One of his buddies chimed in a busted his friend’s stones. "Dude, you f'ed up this guys round man, you need to buy him a beer for not having any respect!". Dude hesitated and said "I don't think that was his ball, that was a Callaway ball I picked up!" His friend asked me what ball I was playing I said "a Nike ONE Tour with my initials stamped on it".

 

“You picked up his ball Jeff; you said it was a NIKE when you put in your pocket!”

 

So he pulled the ball out of his pocket and sure enough, the first thing I see are my initials! Busted! He was apologetic and offered to by me a beer and I said "Well seeing how you cost me 2 strokes, how about 2 lagers and my ball back?"

 

With his buddies laying into him and a noticeably pissed look on my face, the guy made good and saved me $6 bucks on beer, $4.50 on my Hoagie and a couple more for my ball!

 

Rule of thumb on the golf course:

IF YOU DON'T HIT IT, YOU DON'T GET IT!

[cigarnut81]

Great story Boom Bapp

[raidernut1234]

Playing Manteca Muni, my buddy has a career round going at +3 into 18. Hits drive up the left side, which is hole 16 going the other way. An old man and his son are hackin' away on that hole. From 100 yds away, I see him walking near my buddie's golf ball. Fly over on the cart, of course no ball to be found. I describe my buddie's pro V and the markings. The old man says " we'll help you look for it" Walks over behind the tree and slyly pulls ball out of his pocket, drops it in the rough (CLEARLY visible and it was where we had already looked), and declares "I found it for ya!!" . My buddy wanted to club him with a 7 iron, I nearly pi$$ed my pants laughin'.

[larrybud]

So I was playing today and a had a horrible front 9 (+5). I gave myself a little pep talk at the turn and played MUCH better on the back. I got to the 18th tee needing par to shoot even for the back. I crush my drive just barely into the right rough. I'm walking up to my ball thinking that I'll have a PW or SW in for an easy par and my ball is absolutely no where to be seen. After I hit my tee shot and was waiting for the other folks in my group to hit I saw some guys playing the first hole over near where my ball landed apparently looking for their ball. One of them played their shot, saw my ball sitting there, and just picked it up. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So after looking for my ball for a while I walk all the way up to the number one green and ask them if anyone picked up a Titleist with 2 black dots. This joker reaches into his pocket and tosses it to me and says "Sorry, I didn't know it was yours." I don't get some people.

That's nothing. I had my ball hit by someone out of MY OWN FAIRWAY. The thing was DEAD CENTER, and my balls have red dots and a red line on it. The guy who hit it was in a cart, and I saw them milling about while I was walking up to my ball. When I got up there, my ball was gone. He was probably 75 yards down the fairway when I started yelling. The guy barely could speak English, so it took a minute for him to realize I was talking to him.

 

I said "You hit my ball". His response: "It had lettering". I was p'ed off... I said (or more like yelled): "THEY ALL HAVE F***ING LETTERING!"

[owaisdurrani]

Was playing today and hit my drive a bit right. Group from the opposite side comes and picks my ball up. I went up to the guy and politely asked him if he accidently picked my ball up. He totally goes out on me and even throws in a few f bombs. During the argument he reaches to his pocket and refrences to how this was the second ball he hit. IN BIT SHARPIE IT SAYS MY NAME. He totally turns yellow and leaves. I crack up and still cant stop laughing.

[JakeBarnes]

My first round of this year I had someone steal my ball. I was playing a Par 5 that ran parallel to the first hole on the course, with the first hole on the left of the par 5. I step up to the tee and absolutely stripe one, but to the left. As I am walking down to my ball I see a foursome pull up in carts in the area where I hit my ball. I started to double time it, thinking that I might have to defend my ball. When I get there, my ball is nowhere to be found, but one of the guys in the foursome is standing in the area. I asked him if he saw a Bridgestone ball with a black spade drawn on it. He proceeded to tell me he just hit his ball and that he hadnt seen my ball.

 

I continue the search and eventually have to take the penalty. Two holes later, we are on a parallel tee box and the guy I asked walks up to me and hands me my ball from the Par 5. I guess I should at least be happy that he had the decency to give me my ball back.

[kyo-nax]

Had it happen to me couple of weeks ago. Playing Chateau Elan Chateau course. First Par 5 on the back 9. If anybody played there, it's better to be on the right side then left. I hit my 3 wood, perfect draw sits on fairway. Can't see the green, but GPS says 260. Another 3 wood. I killed that like I've never done before. I see it take a hop and knew I flew the green on to the rough next to the bathroom. Get to my next shot, there are 2 guys standing there over my ball. He proceeds to hit it fat and ball goes 5 feet. I go up and say I think that's my ball. He asks me what ball I'm playing. I say Srixon. He says he's playing Srixon. Then I ask him did you mark it, he says no. Well I always mark Green dot and a line over the aim line. He says he made sure that it was his. Well, let's just make sure, while I walk up I can clearly see my green dot and line. He's buddy start asking me question how far you were out and so on. I explain while walking up, and this D****BAG calls me BS. By that time, ranger over hears it (I know him, played with him) coming out of the bathroom and walks over. Then these two just says he marked his ball like I do. I seriously had at that point, but took a deep breath, I said goto my bag, check all the balls in the sleeve, they are marked that way. Ranger steps in, asks the guy what he was playing and says PRO V1....

 

 

Get real. You know, it was my fault how I flew the green but how were you able to get right behind the bathroom in that specific point coming from the other side!!!

Ranger tells him to hurry up and drop the ball because there are group waiting. He proceeds to take 5 hard practice swing and hit it fat, another 5 feet. I was so pissed so I said something I will never say to another player "You should pick it up, because that's gentleman's 8". He gets all red faced and picks up the ball and throws it in a fairway. Ranger tells both of us to calm down. My game went total south after that. Bad day all because of this. To top it off, I find a Fusion 4 iron (the fat sole one) at 17 so I bring it into the shop. It ends up being that D with capital BAG's iron. He says thank you and left. I just wish I never found that club.

 

 

Venting over...

[bintandream]

I feel your pain. I had a similar experince just a few weeks back.

 

It was slight dogleg par 4 of about 315 yards. Big water hazard on the right and small one on the left. High risk drive to cut the corner over the water to get close to the green with a drive.

 

Pulled out my driver and gave it a good swing, not even trying for the green. My buddies all hit good drives too. Approaching the green, my buddies were all about 25 to 40 yards out. Everyone was getting ready to approach the green but me cos I could not find my ball. Some one from the other fairway walked over, onto our fairway looking for a ball.

 

He saw one on the fringe and looked at it, then placed it back down. Walked across the green and picked up another ball (which I thought could be mine), looked carefully at it, then pocketed it and waved a thanks to us with a big smile.

 

When we all got onto the green, I walked over to that ball only to find it was some super beat up maxfli. The ball that the dude had picked up was my ball. It was my first par 4 eagle putt attempt. Game over. no more eagle putt attempt.

 

dan

[bantam]

Just ordered my bullhorn. Thought a nice BB gun for my 14th club would be nice. Wish they made a walkie talkie ball. You could talk to be bonehead from his own pocket...

[Richie3Jack]

True story. This happened years ago. It was back when the Titleist ProV1's had just come out and they were a big increase in price, so I really valued having them.

 

Playing a round with my old man and another friend and my 2nd shot on a par 5 went into a bunker. But the bunker was shaped like a horseshoe and the ball went in at a specific part of the bunker that it was easy to get the line of where the ball was.

 

So some hacker playing a different hole apparently hits their ball over that way. They then pick up my ball out of the bunker and drops it. And then proceeds to hit it.

 

I yell at the guy that he just hit my ball and he asks 'were you hitting a Titleist 3 ProV1?'

 

'Yes' I replied.

 

'Well that wasn't it.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then he tried to proceed, but I stopped him again and said that he hit my ball and he damn well knows it and he then got ticked off at me for making him go get my ball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3JACK

[johnnybogey]

This happens so much at my local course it's not even funny. Like someone mentioned above, they see PRO V! and their eyes light up.

 

My local course is the first course I played when I was just starting out. On the tee, I would usually let the others in my group tee off first. This way, when I do slice / hook my ball into the other fairway or into the rough near another fairway, I can quickly walk to my ball since I was the last to tee off in my group. I figure, the less time the ball is out there unattended, the better.

 

The closest anyone has gotten to picking up my ball is when I am walking up / driving up to my ball from a distance, I can see someone looking at my ball. Before anyone picks up a random ball, they usually look up and around to see if anyone is near.

[DaveyH]

At my home club it happens on the odd occasion i just tell the fella's if they want a pro v just ask me instead of robbing one.

[stage1350]

That's why when I'm in a tourment or scramble, I write the names of porn stars in big bold letters on my balls. Very few people will pick up a ball that has

 

RON JEREMY

PETER NORTH

JOHN HOLMES

MANDINGO

 

written on them. It also makes them easy to ID.