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

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, Socrates said:

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.  

 

I do "steal" range balls for 23 hours.  I play every other day and hit the range on the other days.  I'll borrow 6-7 range balls, put them in my bag and then warm up with them the next day, at the range,

[TiScape]

6 hours ago, Ben B said:

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.....😂

Haha yeah. And don’t forget about drinking tap water out of the garden hose!!!! 😱

 

🤣

[J-Blade]

2 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

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

Peter Jacobson used to have a habit of chewing on his used tees. I remember an announcer pointing out all the pesticides, fertilizer, that could be on those tees. 

[Hawkeye77]

15 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Haha yeah. And don’t forget about drinking tap water out of the garden hose!!!! 😱

 

🤣

At my grandparent's farm I drank it straight from the pump at the well, haha, but can't bring myself to drink out of a hose for some reason. Still the best water I've ever tasted.

[TiScape]

4 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

At my grandparent's farm I drank it straight from the pump at the well, haha, but can't bring myself to drink out of a hose for some reason. Still the best water I've ever tasted.

Gotta admit it was nasty. Could definitely taste the rubber. But we didn’t know any better so 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[tatertot]

49 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

I do "steal" range balls for 23 hours.  I play every other day and hit the range on the other days.  I'll borrow 6-7 range balls, put them in my bag and then warm up with them the next day, at the range,

Used to be a guy at my local range ... he'd get a jumbo basket of balls ... hit about 1/3 of them ... and put the rest in his trunk for future hitting. The establishment was not pleased.

Edited July 27 by tatertot

[tatertot]

36 minutes ago, J-Blade said:

Peter Jacobson used to have a habit of chewing on his used tees. I remember an announcer pointing out all the pesticides, fertilizer, that could be on those tees. 

We used to pick apples off a grove of trees in the middle of a little 9-holer near us and eat 'em during the round. Never thought about it, but it's hard telling what we ingested along with the apples.

[HandsomeMatt]

Not a habit but I've kept one or two, once in a while there would be something obscure that I'd never buy but wanted to try out. Usually it's the range balls that you get for warm up before actually playing, many courses just have baskets of miscellaneous oddballs. I assumed it was found on that course anyway so isn't it just recycling? For as many range buckets as I've had through the years with cracked balls, no dimples, and all the ones I've left behind because I wasn't trying to finish a bucket before teeing off, I don't feel guilty. 

[Bonneville85308]

One of my several golf jobs as a teenager was range attendant at a private club. We had a specific model of range ball that was marked as such.  I was told by the boss that I should dispose of (either keep for myself or trash) any non-range balls that got picked up, just the same as with any range balls that are cut/damaged. For that reason, to this day, if I find a near-new premium non-range ball in the range basket at a course that uses range-specific balls, I usually keep it and feel justified in doing so.

[Stanks]

Hit the ball. If you wanna grab it, who cares? Now, if the range is all high end premium balls at a private club, then that's just not cool. 

[dubbelbogey]

I set them aside for hitting with driver at the end of my range session. Typical range balls usually fly like crap (even the ones that are not "reduced distance" balls) and hitting a real ball is more satisfying and gives a truer indication of expected flight and distance. Sometimes the difference is not subtle at all. I actually save my own worn out scuff balls for the same purpose.

 

I admit to having taken one or two antique-ish looking balls  (e.g. something from 70s era or earlier) from time to time or maybe the odd one that had a particularly funny custom stamping.  But this is only at a range where I know the range guy and know for sure he filters out non-range balls himself and gives those away. At those ranges where mixed regular balls are the norm? No way. That's part of their livelihood.

 

 

[Rory4Pres]

I'll usually take the premium ball and donate it to the nearest lake.  What can I say, it's important to give back.