What kind of golfer are you?

[AliB]

Subject: What kind of golfer are you?

Something for a final poll of the year that occurred to me recently when my playing partners were rummaging around near a water hazard for a ball which IMO was well and truly lost in the drink.
If a ball goes into trouble and is going to be hard to find (and it's not a situation where the score will be affected) do you spend the maximum time looking or do you cut your losses and move on? My partners always seem to feel that finding the ball will make up for a bad shot. Personally I'd rather forget the whole thing and just get on with it!
So what kind of golfer are you?

BTW you only have until midnight tomorrow to vote (and for some reason it's not starting until mid-day!) Hope some of you are still around!

Happy New Year to one and all
AliB

 

[TonyN]

cant vote untill midnight. but i move on if i feel its gone.

I will have a quick look first though.

 

[USER1999]

I hate loosing balls, it wrecks my day.

Mind you, if it is very old I will ignore it, but if it was new, I would be out there all day til I found it. It just bugs me that someone else is going to find it. If it was in a pond, I wouldn't care, but in the rough, I hate that.

That said, I don't lose many, I don't hit them far enough. One of the benefits of being short off the tee.

 

[GB72]

I have put a ball in most of the dodgy parts of my course so am realistic about the chances of finding it. If there is nothing within a couple of minutes and it is not going to damage a good round then I am happy just to walk away.

 

[level5s]

a quick look, if not successful drop a ball roughly in the area and add 2

 

[DCB]

tend not to put the ball too far of the fairway anyway so usually a quick look and move on. If it's in a comp and a good score going then thats a different kettle of fish. Just remember to play a provisional before you go forward to look for the "lost" ball. Keeps play moving along

I once put three balls within 10' of each other off the tee and never found any of them. When asked why I racked up a 10, the answer had to be " I missed the putt for the 9"

 

[Parmo]

If its a gonna I leave it, if there is a chance I will look depending on the speed of play.

I agree though losing a new ball is off putting when you know the cost of each one, but I still would prefer new to old ones as like Homer I think they play a part in everyones game.

 

[Herbie]

If I hit a shot in a comp into a potential lost ball situation,I play a provisional, I walk to the area with the mind set that if I cannot walk straight to it and play, I immediately wave following group through, then I will have a little look, if I dont find it quickly I play the provisional.

If its not a comp I usually walk to where I think it is and if I cannot see it straight away I just drop a ball and carry on, a ball that didnt work for me is not one I want to hit again.If its a friendly with pals an agreement is made by us before or during the round.

I can fully understand the need to find your ball in a comp but I get really peeved at people who spend endless time searching for a ball when its obviously gone as they tend to affect the players they are with or following groups.
So many golfers believe they have 5 mins to search for a ball before taking any action and I have never understood where they get this from but they do.

 

[Yidio]

Trudging about in the rough looking for a ball does nothing except wind me up,especially when you've seen it land & should be easy to find so i just get on with it & forget about it.

If losing balls bothers you,you're in the wrong game imo because it's gonna' happen to us all.

 

[andiritchie]

Golf ball retrievers should banned the place i played yesterday everyone had them and they would not leave any balls.
One guy hit 4 in a row into a brook and wanted all 4 out he went on to lose well over 10 in 9 holes
I was so pissed off by the 8th i was going to go in my bag and give him some balls if he just got a move on but refained

Telescopic golf ball retrievers-Devils work

 

[madandra]

I usually leave them and tell myself if you hit it in the trees you deserve to loose it.


When I played at the local muni I played with a guy who was as tight as two coats of paint, everytime he farted the guard dog barked and one day I punted a new Tour Edition into the follage and declared it lost. He asked if I was going in for it and if not then he was so I said yes, I am going in to get it. I rand down the hill and as I jumped an old tree trunk a branch caught my right ear and almost ripped my ear off. I had 12 stitched put in it and that is why I now leave them for the golfing Gods.

 

[Canfordhacker]

It peeves me to lose one off a good shot (just run out of fairway, bad bounce and the like) so I'm more likely to focus on finding them. If it's a bad shot I'm more prepared to write it off and move on, put it down to my own numptiness.

 

[andiritchie]

Thats generally how i play,i dont like losing balls on the fairway though i will look for a good while

 

[TonyN]

To be honest, I am more concerned about the score than the ball its self as a rule.

The guy i met up with on the 15th yestrday was unbeleivable. On the par 3 17th island green he insisted on looking all the way around the green. He spotted one, under the ice and had to lean over the bridge on the fence to break the ice and then fish it out. He dropped it 4 times on the way back up. There was also one on the ice at the back of the hole to which he had to walk a good 60-70 yards around the pond to get and then back again. It was a loco!

 

[andiritchie]

If a scoring Stableford i dont mind generally if i cant find it however medal is a differnt story,a couple lost balls and my general errors and my round is knackered

 

[MVP]

Looking for balls gets me down ..... especially when i know i hit a good drive but cant find it because of leaves everywhere ..so id rather play another ball in practice..or lose the hole!

 

[evita4]

If it is after a really wild shot, then I lweave it to the golfing gods. If it has just trickled off the fairway or over the back of the green I will have a quick look. I don't spend too much time looking for any lost balls.

 

[brendy]

Ali, it kind of pigeon holes everyone into one of two mindsets. What ever happened to using the 5 minute rule and common sense?
If I hit one into the forest and am playing rubbish, ill hit a provisional and spend maybe 30 seconds hoking then walk on, if Im playing well ill hit a provisional and spend my full allowed 5 mins looking. I dont tend to play non competitive golf so it id never just say sod it and walk on unless I knew it was pretty much a goner.

 

[HTL]

Move on ASAP, only ever look for about 30sec, really can not be arsed.

On a side note Murph is the best ball finder I have ever met.

 

[Cernunnos]

I do hate loosing balls its the expense as well as the mounting score that gets my goat. But just as equally I hate looking for something for a long time or the thought of having to wave others through, so I'd rather play the provisional if I can't almost imidiately find the edent sperical object of my quest.