Range Balls

[Tomba29]

You're lucky not to have been caught previously or you'd have a theft charge on your record.

 

If I know i'll be back the following day i'll ask them if they can store my basket, other than i'll find a kid who looks low on balls and give them away.

[BMRisko]

The range I go to will usually let you store your remaining basket in the shop if you say you'll be back the next day. Give it a try...its a pretty reasonably request. I do miss the days of unlimited balls off the grass at my buddy's home course though.

[italianstallion]

I work at a golf course where I have to pick the range on a daily basis. I find most people when tired just leave their balls behind. But, we wouldn't appreciate people taking them at all. Its pretty sketchy to us even if someone said can I bring them home and come back, because we don't know if we will get them back at all.

[HipCheck]

[vthokie1157]

when i practice i usually buy one bag of range balls from the club where i practice that usually contain about 50-60 balls and due to that fact that i practice a lot of other things before i get to the full swing i usually am left with 5 or 6 balls at the end not because im tired but just b/c i take my time and dont need that many. Sometimes though if i get more than enough balls from either grabbin some extra short ones off the range (i practice late after school and no one is like ever out the plus the range guys are nice enough to give me balls that they are picking if i need em which i usually dont) i will take them home in the small bag that they supply and no one says anything to me, i mean the ppl that work there see me and everything and they do not mind at all.

[Furrankee]

when i practice i usually buy one bag of range balls from the club where i practice that usually contain about 50-60 balls and due to that fact that i practice a lot of other things before i get to the full swing i usually am left with 5 or 6 balls at the end not because im tired but just b/c i take my time and dont need that many. Sometimes though if i get more than enough balls from either grabbin some extra short ones off the range (i practice late after school and no one is like ever out the plus the range guys are nice enough to give me balls that they are picking if i need em which i usually dont) i will take them home in the small bag that they supply and no one says anything to me, i mean the ppl that work there see me and everything and they do not mind at all.

 

You're lucky. I have to pay for everything on the range: balls, chipping, pitching, bunker play. And some of it's timed, meaning the price of your practice increases the longer you practice. You pay for everything except putting. Funny though, the putting green runs like 6 on the stimp. You actually have to "hit" the putt to get it to the hole.

[Steve_FLA]

The range balls are property of the golf course/driving range. They are charging you a fee to hit their balls on there practice facility. If you find a ball that is not a range ball and want to take it...OK I guess. But taking range balls from the facility is stealing, even if you give them back the next day.

 

I am not saying you or anyone should go to jail for taking range balls...but I don't think anyone should take them from the premises...they are not yours.

 

-Steve

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

Heck No. I pocket all the non range balls I can. LOL Any ball other than what is original to the range is fair game.

 

-CHRIS-

 

Okay, so what if you find a range ball on the regular course while playing? If someone else liberated the ball from the confines of the range (either by pocketing it or hitting it over/under/through the fence), is it now fair game?

 

Is there a difference in your answer if the ball is clearly from the adjacent range or if there is a question about its range origin?

 

(Can you tell I like theoretical discussions?)

[thusgone]

Heck No. I pocket all the non range balls I can. LOL Any ball other than what is original to the range is fair game.

 

-CHRIS-

 

Okay, so what if you find a range ball on the regular course while playing? If someone else liberated the ball from the confines of the range (either by pocketing it or hitting it over/under/through the fence), is it now fair game?

 

Is there a difference in your answer if the ball is clearly from the adjacent range or if there is a question about its range origin?

 

(Can you tell I like theoretical discussions?)

 

I think the rule is this: You should not take any balls that you know belong to the facility or to a particular golfer. I think this rule takes care of the "found a ProV in my jumbo bucket of striped Pinnacles" as well as the "found a striped Pinnacle right next to my ProV in the rough." It also keeps the guy in the next fairway from wandering over and helping himself to your ProV. . . . As for Karma, well, you can wriggle and lawyer all you want, but those rules are made by somebody else . . . Mind you, this is all theoretical.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

I think the rule is this: You should not take any balls that you know belong to the facility or to a particular golfer. I think this rule takes care of the "found a ProV in my jumbo bucket of striped Pinnacles" as well as the "found a striped Pinnacle right next to my ProV in the rough." It also keeps the guy in the next fairway from wandering over and helping himself to your ProV. . . . As for Karma, well, you can wriggle and lawyer all you want, but those rules are made by somebody else . . . Mind you, this is all theoretical.

 

Without commenting on your opinion (because I want the discussion to continue), I will say this: I think there are way too many golfers out there who pick up "found" balls too easily and without thinking that someone else might be playing that ball. If a ball is sitting up on the fairway, in the rough, or in a bunker, I think it's fair to assume that (1) it hasn't been there very long; and (2) someone didn't just "overlook" there own ball when it's that obvious.

 

As someone who has had their ball picked up from an adjacent fairway/rough on more than one occasion, I ask anyone reading this - Is my used ball really worth disrupting my game? Do you really need it that bad? And if so, can you at least mark where my ball was so I can play a new ball from where I hit the first one? Thank you.

[freddiec]

Hip Check, that was awesome. Hannity and Combs. Your killing me.

I can't believe this question got this much feedback.

 

Seriously, asking for a doggy bag at a driving range? That's classic.

[TexasAg]

So here's a new twist on this thread:

 

A local range recently installed a token machine to dispense balls. I bought several tokens (maybe $4 each) and got tired before I used them all. So I took my 2 leftover tokens and went home. The next time I came back, I went straight over to the machine and started to put my tokens in.

 

The owner came over all in a huff and said "you're not allowed to take the tokens home. We have to pay 50 cents for each of them. We can't have people taking them home" I noted that they didn't have that posted anywhere and that if they can't make any money selling me a 50 cent token for $4, then they need to go ahead close up shop.

 

While I've never taken balls from the range, I take tokens with me all the time. The shame of it is the owners are members of my golf club and I won't go back to their range and I don't really want to have anything to do with them. It left a very sour taste in my mouth.

 

So am I the only person that occasionally takes home a token to be used at a later date?

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

So here's a new twist on this thread:

 

A local range recently installed a token machine to dispense balls. I bought several tokens (maybe $4 each) and got tired before I used them all. So I took my 2 leftover tokens and went home. The next time I came back, I went straight over to the machine and started to put my tokens in.

 

The owner came over all in a huff and said "you're not allowed to take the tokens home. We have to pay 50 cents for each of them. We can't have people taking them home" I noted that they didn't have that posted anywhere and that if they can't make any money selling me a 50 cent token for $4, then they need to go ahead close up shop.

 

While I've never taken balls from the range, I take tokens with me all the time. The shame of it is the owners are members of my golf club and I won't go back to their range and I don't really want to have anything to do with them. It left a very sour taste in my mouth.

 

So am I the only person that occasionally takes home a token to be used at a later date?

 

I think tokens are a completely different matter. Like you said, who would intentionally keep a 50 cent token that they paid $4 for. And those tokens are only good for one thing - they are no good to you for anything else. Range balls can be used off the range - therefore, no incentive to return them once they leave the facility (e.g., buy them cheaper at mat range, but use them at a more expensive grass range [or open field.])

 

Would anyone even think of giving you crap for pocketing a video game arcade token that you paid for?

(Do they still do tokens at arcades? Come to think of it, are there still arcades?)

[thusgone]

I agree with Charlie Foxtrot about balls sitting in the open on the golf course. I think everyone has had the experience of hitting a ball to a spot and then being unable to find it b/c someone came along in the interrim and pocketed it. Whenever that has happened to me, it's really hard to get my concentration back -- something about the injustice of it all, I suspect.

 

To respond to the rest of your hypo, I also think that range balls are not fair game, no matter where you find them (provided you find them at the same facility from which they came). They are clearly marked as range balls, and you shouldn't be using them for anythig but practice. I have a friend who is a casual golfer and he loves to use range balls on the course, much to my embarrassment.

 

Finally, CF I'm sorry if you didn't think my earlier post continued the discussion. I intended for it to, and to be a little light-hearted/funny at the same time.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

 

 

Finally, CF I'm sorry if you didn't think my earlier post continued the discussion. I intended for it to, and to be a little light-hearted/funny at the same time.

 

No, I didn't think that at all. I just meant that I didn't want to take a position yet because I liked the progression of the discussion.

[jscw]

...

So am I the only person that occasionally takes home a token to be used at a later date?

Honestly I don't see the problem to take tokens home. Bottom line, you paid $4.00 for a token worth only $0.50. If I owned the range and half of my customers just bought tokens, brought home, and the token never come back, I'm extremely thrilled.

 

My course started to use new range ball system this year. They used tokens before, and now they use PIN system (paid in pro shop, get a 24-hour valid PIN.) In the beginning of PIN system, they still accepted the token although they didn't sell tokens anymore BECAUSE LOTS PP JUST BOUGHT EXTRA TOKENS FOR WHATEVER REASONS (well, one reason is $3 for one token, $10 for 4, and another one they can practice even after the proshop close.)

 

IMHO, the win-win solution is customers can save their unused range balls in stores. In this case they can still enjoy the discounted price and range owner doesn't need to worry about the lose of the balls. Of course, the range balls must be good enough to hit and bad enough to stay in the range -- logo overrun ProV1 is definitely a bad choice for the public.

[tm8838]

L.M.H. -

 

If you tell me that you also hit off grass at your range, my head may explode.

Grass is all we have.

[JSC]

I hope this argument below clears my thinking.

 

Here are the rates at my range.

 

$8 - 60 balls (small bucket)

$14 - 180 balls (large bucket)

 

Purchasing one small bucket at a time (for three practices): $24 - 180 balls

OR

Purchasing one large bucket and save balls for later: $14 - 180 balls

 

$10. Call me cheap, but over a year, cost savings adds up to about $500 a year. That's a sumo squared. And again, I always bring the balls back the following day, usually, and hit them back into the range. Never do I think about stealing.

 

About the "asking for a plastic bag", I asked for a plastic bag because carrying 75+ balls in your golf bag makes for an extremely heavy bag, especially when it creates an "end load" at the bottom. Asking for a bag and carrying it by hand, like groceries, lessens the load.

 

With all due respect, you are both cheap and wrong. Now, there's nothing wrong about being cheap. I, myself, consider myself cheap. Actually, I consider myself frugal, but that's a different story. Anyway...

 

There's no need to "clear" your thinking. Virtually every golf range has a similar price structure: larger buckets will incur a lower per ball cost. So yes, everyone knows that you save money by buying a larger bucket. However, there is an implicit understanding that those balls should be used in one session.

 

And please don't equate "purchasing" a bucket of range balls with purchasing groceries. There's a huge difference. When you purchase groceries, you own them. When you "purchase" a bucket of balls, you do not. And however well intentioned you or others may be, not every ball taken off range property will come back. This may not apply to you specifically, but it is true of the group of customers who take balls from a range. Not every single customer will return, and some balls will get lost or left behind on the way back. So every range owner will tell you... given a choice, they would rather have their balls stay on premises rather than have a customer promise to bring them back.

 

And now, this is where you are wrong... by taking balls off the property, you are affecting both the range owner and other customers like myself. There will be less balls in rotation, and the range will need to collect the remaining balls more frequently. This means that sometimes I will have to wait for the ball dispenser to be refilled, and since less balls get hit more frequently, the quality of the balls goes down more quickly. Taken to an extreme, if every customer pays for the largest bucket and takes home 75+ balls, the range will run out of balls eventually. Maybe later in the day, or later in the week... but they will run out. Just because you bring them back the next day, doesn't mean it's not part of the problem.

 

I don't mean to sound harsh, and apologize in advance if I do. And in no way do I think you're a thief or are stealing, but I would say that it is a selfish attitude. IMHO the bottom line is, the golf range is a business, and if everyone did what you do, it is to the detriment of the range owner and other customers.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

by taking balls off the property, you are affecting both the range owner and other customers like myself. There will be less balls in rotation, and the range will need to collect the remaining balls more frequently. This means that sometimes I will have to wait for the ball dispenser to be refilled, and since less balls get hit more frequently, the quality of the balls goes down more quickly. Taken to an extreme, if every customer pays for the largest bucket and takes home 75+ balls, the range will run out of balls eventually. Maybe later in the day, or later in the week... but they will run out. Just because you bring them back the next day, doesn't mean it's not part of the problem.

 

Good point, I'm surprised no one thought of that earlier.

[Furrankee]

I hope this argument below clears my thinking.

 

Here are the rates at my range.

 

$8 - 60 balls (small bucket)

$14 - 180 balls (large bucket)

 

Purchasing one small bucket at a time (for three practices): $24 - 180 balls

OR

Purchasing one large bucket and save balls for later: $14 - 180 balls

 

$10. Call me cheap, but over a year, cost savings adds up to about $500 a year. That's a sumo squared. And again, I always bring the balls back the following day, usually, and hit them back into the range. Never do I think about stealing.

 

About the "asking for a plastic bag", I asked for a plastic bag because carrying 75+ balls in your golf bag makes for an extremely heavy bag, especially when it creates an "end load" at the bottom. Asking for a bag and carrying it by hand, like groceries, lessens the load.

 

With all due respect, you are both cheap and wrong. Now, there's nothing wrong about being cheap. I, myself, consider myself cheap. Actually, I consider myself frugal, but that's a different story. Anyway...

 

There's no need to "clear" your thinking. Virtually every golf range has a similar price structure: larger buckets will incur a lower per ball cost. So yes, everyone knows that you save money by buying a larger bucket. However, there is an implicit understanding that those balls should be used in one session.

 

And please don't equate "purchasing" a bucket of range balls with purchasing groceries. There's a huge difference. When you purchase groceries, you own them. When you "purchase" a bucket of balls, you do not. And however well intentioned you or others may be, not every ball taken off range property will come back. This may not apply to you specifically, but it is true of the group of customers who take balls from a range. Not every single customer will return, and some balls will get lost or left behind on the way back. So every range owner will tell you... given a choice, they would rather have their balls stay on premises rather than have a customer promise to bring them back.

 

And now, this is where you are wrong... by taking balls off the property, you are affecting both the range owner and other customers like myself. There will be less balls in rotation, and the range will need to collect the remaining balls more frequently. This means that sometimes I will have to wait for the ball dispenser to be refilled, and since less balls get hit more frequently, the quality of the balls goes down more quickly. Taken to an extreme, if every customer pays for the largest bucket and takes home 75+ balls, the range will run out of balls eventually. Maybe later in the day, or later in the week... but they will run out. Just because you bring them back the next day, doesn't mean it's not part of the problem.

 

I don't mean to sound harsh, and apologize in advance if I do. And in no way do I think you're a thief or are stealing, but I would say that it is a selfish attitude. IMHO the bottom line is, the golf range is a business, and if everyone did what you do, it is to the detriment of the range owner and other customers.

 

 

Lol. Don't worry I'm not offended by your comments and I never intended to steal from the range or slight my fellow golfer. Those thoughts never even crossed my mind. :drinks:

 

Anyway, golf is just an expensive hobby.

[larrybud]

Hey Charlie, I'm totally with you on all points, and I'm glad that at your practice range, there are signs that lets people know the consequences. At my range, however, I've never seen any signs that say not to take golf balls. There are signs that say "no chipping" on putting greens. Anyway, I'll check tomorrow.Another thing is, I never ever had any intention to intentionally take balls off the property. I just thought it was allowed. Now, knowing that I cannot, I'll probably never take balls off the range property again.

If you're taking them home intentionally, how is that not taking them off the property intentionally?Obviously the balls are the range's property. They don't know if you're going to bring them back. If it's a busy range and everybody did what you want to do, they're run out of balls in a couple of days.

[larrybud]

So here's a new twist on this thread:

 

A local range recently installed a token machine to dispense balls. I bought several tokens (maybe $4 each) and got tired before I used them all. So I took my 2 leftover tokens and went home. The next time I came back, I went straight over to the machine and started to put my tokens in.

 

The owner came over all in a huff and said "you're not allowed to take the tokens home. We have to pay 50 cents for each of them. We can't have people taking them home" I noted that they didn't have that posted anywhere and that if they can't make any money selling me a 50 cent token for $4, then they need to go ahead close up shop.

 

 

 

I doubt tokens cost them 50 cents each, but I can see where the owner is coming from. There's only a certain amount of them in circulation at the range and they could run out. I do think that he could have approached you in a different tone, however, and that may have made you react differently.

 

 

 

If he came by and said "Hey, I'm so and so, the owner, and we'd appreciate it if you didn't take the tokens home with you. If you'd like, we can give you a raincheck for the unused tokens, but I only have so many of them and could run out. Thanks.".

[cmarkmyers]

Working at a range I can tell you for sure that I would go off on anyone trying to take range balls for whatever reason. I have no idea if you are ever coming back; for all I know you live on a farm or off of a lake and just want to go home and hit balls.

 

Now if someone comes up to me and says they can't hit all of their balls and wants a bit of I refund I am more than happy to give them a card for more balls to use at a later date. I want to keep the customers happy and I want them to come back. I will bet that many places will do the same.

 

As far as taking non-range balls, that is also a no-no. You have no idea if they came from some other customer or from me or my co-workers. But if you ask, "Hey, can I keep this Pro V1?". Heck yeah, be my guest. Just ask first.

 

Bottom line is I think most people are like me. Someone does something without asking you get pissed. But if just asked first you are more than happy to accomodate them. I want to keep customers happy but I don't want them to think they are getting one over on me.

 

As far as tokens go, I never thought about that (we don't use them). I never would have thought of that as wrong and to be honest I probably would not have asked in advance.

 

Side bar - We have had some interesting 'customers' at the range. I had one person that bought 4 buckets (about 300 balls) and just carried them to his car. He was going to take them on vacation and hit them into the ocean. I had another customer that came into the range, walked right by me with a big shopping bag and set up to hit. He had about 150 balls he found on a neighboring golf course and wanted to hit them on our range. He said after he hit them he wanted to walk out and collect them all for later use.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

Now if someone comes up to me and says they can't hit all of their balls and wants a bit of I refund I am more than happy to give them a card for more balls to use at a later date. I want to keep the customers happy and I want them to come back. I will bet that many places will do the same.

 

Then you are a hell of a lot nicer than anyone at any range I've ever visited. None of the ranges I go to would do that. Hell, at one of them, I paid for a jumbo bucket (paid with a pre-paid frequent user card which gave me a PIN # for the ball machine), then found out it was "All the balls you can hit" night and they wouldn't let me convert my purchase to all you can hit even though it was the same price.

 

 

Side bar - We have had some interesting 'customers' at the range. I had one person that bought 4 buckets (about 300 balls) and just carried them to his car. He was going to take them on vacation and hit them into the ocean. I had another customer that came into the range, walked right by me with a big shopping bag and set up to hit. He had about 150 balls he found on a neighboring golf course and wanted to hit them on our range. He said after he hit them he wanted to walk out and collect them all for later use.

 

Now that's just ig-nant.

 

For guy number #1, I wonder if he would mind if I used his debit card to buy a gross of barbed fishing hooks which I would then scatter randomly around his house and lawn.

 

For guy #2, nobody "finds" 150 balls on a neighboring golf course. They trespass night and they steal them. Nonetheless, I say that he may pay a discounted rate to hit the balls on your range and then collect them all. However, he must sign a waiver acknowledging that:

 

(a) he must collect the balls only while no fewer than 6 other golfers continue to hit balls on the range;

 

(b) he must be able to definitively identify the ball as his own, and not the range's, before the ball leaves the range and returns to the hitting area;

 

(c ) he may collect only one ball per trip to the range area, and that ball must be returned to the hitting area before any additional balls may be collected;

 

(d) if he returns a ball to the hitting area that cannot be definitively identified as his own ball, and not the range's, he must return all of the balls collected to that point to the range by individually throwing them in random part of the range area and start the entire collection process over again;

 

(e) he may not collect only a portion of the balls - he must collect all of them, or leave all of them;

 

(f) he may not wear any protective gear or apparel onto the range, save a large red and white striped stove-pipe hat like the "Cat-in-the-Hat" wears and which is curiously also worn by ravers;

 

(g) the Cat-in-the-Hat hat is mandatory, not optional, and must be supplied by Guy #2;

 

(h) for a minimum of 10 minutes per hour of the collection process, guy #2 must drop his pants (underwear optional) around his ankles and the pants must remain around both ankles; he must continue to collect balls during this period;

 

(i) the Cat-in-the-Hat hat is optional during the "dropped pants" portion of the collection process;

 

(j) no cameras will be allowed, but the range, at its sole option and expense, may provide a professional courtroom sketch artist to render drawings of the collection process; the drawings may then be sold by the range and guy #2 shall receive no portion of the proceeds of the sale; and finally

 

(k) prior to signing the waiver or hitting the first ball, guy #2 must provide a certificate of completion of psychiatric evaluation to determine why is is such a @#$%ing idiot!

 

Edited to make it easier to read.

[Goldenhawk]

There is a driving range in Gainesville, Virginia that uses Callaway Big Bertha Blues as range balls. I'm sure a good number of these ball have gone through "five finger discounting."

[cmarkmyers]

Nice response Charlie :)