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I`m a Goofy Golfer, trying not to loose too many balls :)
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Stealing Balls on the Course
It happened to me earlier this week.. I arrived at the course for a late round knowing my regular mate was going to join me a couple of holes later. I started with 2 other players playing steady below my hcp . After hitting my teeshot at the 4th straight on the fairway in plain sight for everyone to see, Peter arrived at the course and I decided to let the group I was playing with go ahead and wait for him. There was 1 flight behind that group and I also let them go trough , politely asking them to leave my ball.. the white one on the right side of the fairway (while pointing to it) where it was ..
We chatted a bit while waiting till Peter could hit his t-shot and when I looked at the fairway again , my ball was gone, It was picked up either by the flight I let pass by, or by one on an adjoining fairway.
At first I assumed it was just out of sight because I was looking from a different angle, but when approaching the place where I should have been it became clear .. the ball was absolutely gone.
So what do the rules say here ?
Frankly I couldn't care, I dropped a ball where I was supposed to find it, hit the green and 3 putted it.
I don't get this.. yes you can pick up a ball you find in the rough, the bushes etc when you know it isn't one lost there by somebody still playing , but picking up a ball in the middle of a fairway when you see there's still people on the that fairway ?
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- By GoofyGolfer at 13/08/2009 - 18:04
- golf
- golf etiquette
- rules
- stealing balls
- GoofyGolfer's blog
crimial vs ethical
Andy, I`m sure there will be courses where wildlife is stealing balls :)
But I`m pretty sure that on the courses where I've seen it happen this was not the case ..
Reminds me of that hole in one story of the guy who misses his teeshot, sees his ball being picked up by a bird and dropped 400+ meters further on the green.
What if we could train some animals to do that ? :)
I am sure the problem is not altogether criminal!
It could well be the wildlife on the course, for all you know. Like it might have been a bird flying away with a ball in its beak, instead of “rogue” golfers who would think nothing of running away with someone’s golf balls. I am in fact aware of this golf course that has in its club symbol, a crow with a ball in its beak.
The problem is that the menace of crows flying away with the golf ball had become so rampant that the authorities thought it would be apt to depict it in its club logo. I am not sure how many people would be encouraged to go and play there seeing such a thing.
Apparently, it is a regular feature for three-four balls to be lost to these crows everyday. So, while I might be wrong about what might have happened in your case, I don’t think it is altogether impossible, that some unknowing creature decided to fly away with your new ball.