Good one mixed in with the range balls: Hit or Keep?

[J-Blade]

If you find a nice Pro-V1, or similar ball in the bucket with your range balls, do you feel a moral obligation to hit it, or put it in your bag... Asking for a friend 😉

[Hawkeye77]

Even if it's one of mine (it's happened) I just hit it back out there because who knows how many people have touched it.

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 minute ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Even if it's one of mine (it's happened) I just hit it back out there because who knows how many people have touched it.

 

Exactly. Leaving out any moral quandary that may be involved with stealing a ball that belongs to the range, a main reason someone pays ProV1 prices is for Titleist's excellent quality control. That quality control is compromised with a ball you find in your range bucket.

 

That range ball may have come out of a pond, may have been heavily played, may have been hit hundreds of times. It might visually look OK, but how much do you really trust it to perform when you have ZERO knowledge of its history? 

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

4 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Exactly. Leaving out any moral quandary that may be involved with stealing a ball that belongs to the range, a main reason someone pays ProV1 prices is for Titleist's excellent quality control. That quality control is compromised with a ball you find in your range bucket.

 

That range ball may have come out of a pond, may have been heavily played, may have been hit hundreds of times. It might visually look OK, but how much do you really trust it to perform when you have ZERO knowledge of its history? 

 

 

And the germs!

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

And the germs!

 

I don't do much with my golf balls that would make me ALL that concerned about germs, but maybe you have a... More intimate relationship with your golf balls?

[Hawkeye77]

Just now, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

I don't do much with my golf balls that would make me ALL that concerned about germs, but maybe you have a... More intimate relationship with your golf balls?

Haha, not my germs that worry me! 

[J-Blade]

You guys think the range balls are sterilized before you get them? 🫤

[Socrates]

5 minutes ago, J-Blade said:

You guys think the range balls are sterilized before you get them? 🫤

Usually washed, so that is something...

 

Really good balls, I save to hit with a driver or fwy wd.  It's going back from where it came.

[AzRoger]

Could be one of mine, I hit my used ProV1's on the range all the time. They've been played a minimum of 18 holes, many 36. I keep a few used ones in the bag for putting and chipping practice, any remaining get hit on the range. Our pro shop keeps a big bucket of used balls and hands them out to juniors.

[J-Blade]

Based on how they look, I'm pretty sure my muni doesn't wash the range balls 🙂 , and even so, if a "good one" was on the range and got picked up by the cart, would it not also get washed with the rest?

 

Honestly, I had though the discussion here was going to be more of a moral dilemma (Is the ball the property of the range, etc?).

 

I am glad to find I'm not the only germaphobe on here, though... 🙂 You guys got me thinking now 🙂

[Yrrdead]

I usually pull them. At shorter ranges , normal golf balls that get mixed in can be hazardous to surrounding areas. Limited flight range balls are limited flight for a reason. 

 

Not saying to fill your bag with range balls but if you are a bigger hitter on a shorter range and you find normal compression golf balls in your bucket, maybe toss them to the side/donate to kids/put them in a shag bag.

[Jeff58]

Just now, J-Blade said:

Honestly, I had though the discussion here was going to be more of a moral dilemma (Is the ball the property of the range, etc?).

If it’s not a range ball, it doesn’t belong to the range or course. It belonged to the person who left it there, like me. I always leave good quality balls that I don’t play at the range. Hit it or keep it, good with me. 
 

Our course has a policy of removing non-standard balls after they’re retrieved, and essentially leaving to die. Hopefully someone gets a chance at them before that happens.

[bcjim]

I've occasionally taken an obvious premium ball in good shape but i then also donate one from my bag.  Usually one that i found on course or hit for a round.

[596]

I'll hit any non range ball with either woods or driver. I save them to the end of the bucket.  Big difference in flight and distance between range balls and regular balls.  I want the flight and distance with longer clubs when warming up or practicing.  

 

I never keep them.

[Double Mocha Man]

Several years ago our Assistant Pro would pick through all the balls that were just picked up on the range. He would cull out the good ones, take them back in the pro shop and sell them as used golf balls.

[Doaner84]

I pull the nicer balls aside to hit with my driver and woods and hit the rest of the bucket using irons and wedges.

[Ben B]

On 7/23/2025 at 6:39 PM, J-Blade said:

If you find a nice Pro-V1, or similar ball in the bucket with your range balls, do you feel a moral obligation to hit it, or put it in your bag... Asking for a friend 😉

Nothing wrong with it. Personally, I usually save those for my driver as the range balls are not always in great shape. 

 

I cannot tell you how many balls I have pulled my bag and hit on the range. This was a common practice when I was younger. Though typically they were balls that I had played for a few rounds, maybe a scuff from a cart parts, or back when square grooves were a thing, the ball had chew marks on it. Or I had run out of range balls and I needed to hit more. 

 

For those worried about germs....that's funny. All the ranges I go to wash the balls first. Not to mention, the balls are sitting out on the range getting exposed to UV light. I dont know, I grew up during a time in which my parents made us go outside and they locked the doors. We drank water from the garden hose, played in the mud, creeks, swam in the lake, ect. Mom would walk out and set down a plate full of sandwiches, chips, ect and turn around and go back inside and shut the door. I don't remember washing hands too often. I have never even thought about germs on a range ball.....😂

[Double Mocha Man]

3 hours ago, Ben B said:

For those worried about germs....that's funny. All the ranges I go to wash the balls first. Not to mention, the balls are sitting out on the range getting exposed to UV light. I dont know, I grew up during a time in which my parents made us go outside and they locked the doors. We drank water from the garden hose, played in the mud, creeks, swam in the lake, ect. Mom would walk out and set down a plate full of sandwiches, chips, ect and turn around and go back inside and shut the door. I don't remember washing hands too often. I have never even thought about germs on a range ball.....

 

... and you're still alive???

[BYK]

On 7/23/2025 at 6:51 PM, Hawkeye77 said:

And the germs!

lol we're worrying about germs on a golf ball?🤣

 

[tatertot]

5 minutes ago, BYK said:

lol we're worrying about germs on a golf ball?🤣

 

Like the germs could live thru all the chemicals they roll through.

[tatertot]

On 7/23/2025 at 5:39 PM, J-Blade said:

If you find a nice Pro-V1, or similar ball in the bucket with your range balls, do you feel a moral obligation to hit it, or put it in your bag... Asking for a friend 😉

You realize that's theft, right?

[Hawkeye77]

11 minutes ago, BYK said:

lol we're worrying about germs on a golf ball?🤣

 

 

It's all fun and games until someone gets schistosomiasis . . . .

 

 

[J-Blade]

7 minutes ago, tatertot said:

You realize that's theft, right?

That's why I asked... I can see that as well. 

 

It's been a long time since I found a keeper in my bucket at either of the 2 ranges I go to, though. 

[BYK]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

It's all fun and games until someone gets schistosomiasis . . . .

 

 

🤣🤣🤣

[Double Mocha Man]

13 minutes ago, tatertot said:

Like the germs could live thru all the chemicals they roll through.

 

The germs usually spin off when I hit a duck hook.

 

 

 

Edited July 27 by Double Mocha Man

[J-Blade]

4 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

It's all fun and games until someone gets schistosomiasis . . . .

 

 

I guess that's why they turned "Poppy's Pond" at the Nabisco/Dinah Shore into a pool... 

 

Did they have the same thing this year in Texas? 

[J-Blade]

1 minute ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

The germs usually spin off when I hit a dick hook.

I'm guessing you meant "duck" hook? 🙂

That's when I usually say, "schistosomiasis".. 🙂 

[Hawkeye77]

15 minutes ago, tatertot said:

Like the germs could live thru all the chemicals they roll through.

 

Herbicides, pesticides, goose poop, miscellaneous bird poop, ground squirrel and other animal urine and defecation, the unwashed hands of the picker (and when his nickname is "Picker", lol, watch out).

 

It's a jungle out there - don't lick your fingers during a range session!

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, J-Blade said:

I'm guessing you meant "duck" hook? 🙂

That's when I usually say, "schistosomiasis".. 🙂 

 

That was a totally weird typo.  I did go back and fix it.

[Socrates]

1 hour ago, tatertot said:

You realize that's theft, right?

I doubt it.  If someone were to drop their cell phone on your front lawn and you found it, do you now own it? 

 

And I've worked at golf courses for a lot of years and I'd never have a problem with anyone finding a good ball in the range balls and putting it in their bag.  Now, one of the courses range balls.... that is theft.