Page 4 - The Golf Guide, Summer 2016

Opening Shot

Lost Balls

As I watched the Masters on that Sunday and
watched one of the today’s great young players
surprisingly chunk shot after shot into Rae’s
Creek, I started thinking about all those golf
balls that find watery graves. I imagine in my
illustrious golfing career that I’ve unwillingly
dropped a trash can full or two into the drink.
I’ve also witnessed some of my best friends do
incredible Roy McAvoy impressions by “tin-
cupping” multiple attempts only to make another deposit into the First Aquatic
Savings and Loan. An estimated 300 million balls are lost or discarded in the United
States alone.
What happens to those golf balls in the lakes and ponds around your golf course?
I realize that most of you know that there are companies that come out and fish
balls out and refurbish them to sell back to golfers at a discounted tariff. What about
the ones that don’t make it out to live on the tee for another day? According to
research, golf balls can take from 100 to up to 1000 years to decompose. Not only do
golf balls take between a century and millennium to break down, they release toxic
zinc in the process. This heavy metal attaches itself to the ground sediment and
poisons the surrounding flora and fauna when in water. So, thank you BIGTIME
to those scuba divers who retrieve lost balls. Not only are you giving hackers the
opportunity to play with (reconditioned) Pro V’s, but you are also helping the
environment.
Another question often asked is how long can you store golf balls without them
losing their performance. Unless you store your golf balls in an environment
with an extreme temperature – a freezer, for example, or during the summer in
the trunk of your car – they will last for years. The folks at Titleist say five years
or more for golf ball storage is acceptable. Just remember if you play balls that
were manufactured years ago, you likely are missing out on some technological
improvements that golf ball manufacturers are continually producing in newer
balls.

Many know I’m a golf ball logo geek. If it has a logo
on it, it finds a place in one of my many displays.
You ask what can I do with those older balls that are
hanging around in the bottom of your golf bag or in
the garage behind the antifreeze or motor oil? Those
unwanted souls would be quite interesting as a border
decoration in the garden or perhaps drainage in large
flower pots. Hot glue several together and you have
a caterpillar lawn decoration. Around the Easter
holiday, they can be used as fake eggs. Lost or found,
you can always find a home for that golf ball.

2 GOLFGUIDEINC.COM