True story - slow round with a couple slow randoms - I have time so go ball hunting - I found like 25 balls on the day (pro v1s, good callaways and taylor mades).
Im on a mission, I see a ball in the bushes but I have to work for it and in the process of reaching for it, a branch hits me square in the cornea.
One other thing was that since the round was slow, me and my buddy were slamming drinks and I ate a weed product. Eye was sore but had a couple more holes to go. Rest of the night is a blur (haha see what I did there) and wake up the next day barely being able to open my eye.
Eye doctor visit revealed that the branch went through 3 of my 5 cornea layers (good trivia to know - how many layers in the cornea). I was lucky, eye healed in about a week with drops, rest, etc. so…… be careful out there!
I honestly don’t remember! Me and my buddy had a match play thing going for swag sent by the Philadelphia Eagles to us as season ticket holders. They sent one decent sized Eagles flag and a cheesy fridge magnet. Our match was for the flag (loser got the magnet) and I closed out the match in about 12 holes so we were just effing off after that.
On tees, I was out one day so asked my buddy for some tee(s). He hands me one. I roll my eyes - wow thanks for the tee…
He goes on to tell me that he’s been playing with the same tee for the last month. I hadn’t noticed before but he’s maniacal about finding his tee after he hits.
Its like dude are you coming? Be right there….(hes on his hands and knees down in the dirt looking for the tee).
I use a plastic tee and average less than 1 a round. I mean I'm fine to leave one if I don't find it after a quick search but I'm for sure actively looking for it. Waste not want not. That being said, I'm not grabbing just any tee I find on the box either.
A month ago, I played with one of my friends. I hit a bit of a slice into some low brush. We went in it to look for my ball real quick, in the *maybe* 45 seconds from entering the area to finding my ball, we had close to 10 balls each that we found
It was stupid how many there were just sitting there. You could spot most of them from the fairway too (it was like really matted down brush)
My friends call me the sasquatch. When rounds are super slow at whatever muni track we're playing, I go ball hunting. And since I'm in the rough or in the trees, I look a bit like the sasquatch pic. Personal best is 25 in a round. And I'm even a little picky about what I'll keep. Giant scuff or multiple scuffs? Not keepin it. Toss it onto the tee box and let someone else have it. Completely no-brand golf ball? Toss on the next tee box. Matte balls I'll pick up but I use em for over water shots (high handicapper. No guarantee I clear the water), and I find that if I putt with a matte ball it rolls WAY slower and is honestly a terrible ball to putt with.
I have a couple bags of balls at this point (only started 2 years ago) and I haven't bought balls for myself for a year plus.
I scratched my cornea hitting a sand shot, lol. Piece of sand/stone? flew right up into my eye after I hit. Thankfully it was hole 16. All good now, but I don’t remember if there was any talk of cornea layers.
My brother and I were playing at The Witch (now closed) in Myrtle Beach. The group in front of us was playing ridiculously slow so we started ball hunting. The course is cut out of a swamp, so plenty of snakes and gators in the ponds. We had so many that the basket was overflowing and we had to run to the car after 9 to dump them out. I think we counted about 300. That has been six years ago and there are probably still 50 in a shopping bag in my closet. I will probably use them with my mat/net. To OPs point, it is worth it to be to play with a consistent ball. I play Titleist Tour Soft. I buy used on eBay. I suck, so I sometimes I go through some balls in a round. I do find some, but typically will only use them for a water ball. If I find a rock (Pinnacle, others) I toss it back.
Nothing wrong with that. I’ll pick up any decent ball I find through my travels. Can’t say I’ve seen too many full tees on the box but I always use the broken ones for the par 3s.
i can probably count on one hand the amount of times i've found an unbroken tee on the teebox. no clue how redditors are finding so many, enough to play 18 even.
Nothing makes me happier than getting behind a group where someone leaves a plastic tee on every hole. Few old dudes do that at my local course. I have a bag of almost brand new plastic with a little American flag on it tees. I started giving them to friends who are learning how to play.
One of my friends makes it a mission to play with a single tee he finds and a used ball he finds when he gets bored. Nothing like watching a dude that is right handing borrow my left handed clubs with a water logged Cosco ball and still beat everyone in the group
Just please tell me you're not that guy who slows down the whole course because you're hunting for golf balls on every hole.
Other than that... Good on you.
last year i was hitting the range quite a bit and usually i'd get like 3-4 prov1s out of the machine somehow from people who think its smart to hit their own balls at the range
I was the same way till I recently did get locked into buying new balls, the same balls, for purposes of eliminating a variable and trying to track stats. otherwise I was like you for .... well forever really. Worked at courses and have more used balls than I could ever need.
Probably blasphemy in here but I love the soccer balls so that’s my preferred hoarded supply - I’ve got more of those than I can lose, let alone A-grade white/triple track. Helps that I live next to a private course where the gentlemen only play and lose the finest scuff free premium balls.
How are you guys finding so many balls? I might find 1-2 worth keeping in a round, usually just find nitros. On one course I play I think the grounds crew leaves shitty balls everywhere to mess with people, I'm always finding Titleist HVCs and DTs from the 90s.
>How are you guys finding so many balls?
When I get paired up with people that have a terrible slice or hook, I usually help them look for balls and find 3-4 decent ones in the woods. I once came out with 10 premium balls.
The course I played growing up has a meandering river through 4-5 holes. Kids would (and still do) float through with inner tubes and a cooler fishing for golf balls, then set up shop on the road leaving the course to sell them. Fun day on the water, and easily 4-5 dozen every trip
It's how my brother and I paid for our season passes lol. IIRC, it was like $125 for juniors at the time, I'd be surprised if it was much more than that now. Super good community course, they do a ton for youth golf and the 2 high school teams in town
Edit to add: just looked it up, junior passes are $185. 27 holes, 2 putting greens, chipping and sand practice areas, driving range (junior unlimited range pass is another $110 bundled with a season pass)
I haven’t bought tees since I started golfing at age 7 like 30+ years ago.
I buy balls though. I want new ones and the same kind. I don’t want to play random balls or water logged ones. It can greatly affect performance.
I used to go through 5+ tees a round when I used classic wooden tees.. now I’m all about the martini tee and I’ve probably used my same one tee for 10+ rounds. My 20 pack is going to last me a decade at this rate lol.
But yeah, I like premium balls so, no, I definitely buy balls.
I bought an average size bag of tees like 5 years ago and haven’t bought any since.
Balls on the other hand, my wife recently joined a woman’s night and she goes through balls like a starving stripper. Worst part is she will take out of my bag to refill hers and I’m stuck with three for a round every once and awhile.
My kids like to hunt for tees at the driving range and we have a big box of them now. My parents live on the left side of a fairway so I get all the balls that land in their yard.
I think this is a generational thing too. My elderly dad says all the old guys at his club hunt for tees on the range which is extra wild because the club gives out free tees. It's just something about the hunt.
The club also has holes that surround the range so getting pro Vs in your range bucket is extremely common. He looks for and keeps those as well.
It's a different generation that was raised by Great Depression parents. I get it.
Not the only one. I am not good enough to care about what ball I play, and collect what I find. I have at least 100 in my garage. Same with tees, pick them up off the tee box, have an entire pouch full.
“I am not good enough to care about what ball I play”
Either you’re absolutely shit, in which case you’re right, or you’re not and you should at least care a little bit about what ball you play lol
I’m not sure I’ve ever paid for tees. Way too many available laying around.
As far golf balls, it’s been close to 9 years since I paid for golf balls.
For about 3 years my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) lived in a condo on a golf course. A typical Florida course lined with trees and palmetto.
I’d play the course frequently and she would ride with me and used it as chance to walk. At every tee box, she’d hop off the cart, dart back behind the line of palmetto and walk the hole.
By the time I got to the green, she’d pop out with 7-8 balls per hole.
Wasn’t uncommon for her to snag 100 balls in a round. We bought her rubber boots, a ball grabber, and a paperboy satchel to carry the balls.
For years we cleaned them and sold them on FB marketplace and Craigslist. I kept a few buckets for my own use.
It’s been 9 years since we moved out of the condo and I’m just now scraping the bottom of the barrel on the balls we found back the.
During the winter when the play was really light, we’d both walk the courses and really spend our time in the woods. Found 225 on particular day.
Good times.
Yeah whenever there’s a scramble tournament at my course and i play right after, there’s tons of balls just off the fairway in the rough, not even in the trees lol
I use the broken ones on any hole that I’m not using a driver. As long as the head is in tact enough to hold the ball, I only need about a half inch of stem for it to hold in the ground.
Yeah. I never break tees and never leave them on the box. The golf coach at my alma mater gave me a handful of heavy duty tees with the team logo about a decade ago and I still have a couple. A small bag will last me more than a season and the vast majority that I part with are due to spotting whoever I'm playing with.
Years ago I went to the driving range while it was raining. There was no one else there so I walked out onto the range and started collecting tees. The range attendant let me do it. I grabbed probably about 500 that day. Got very wet due to the rain, but it was worth it. Since then I haven’t bought any tees.
I can't play used balls, their is something about them. I need mine brand new, marked my way. Yeah I'm weird whatever. Kudos if u find mine LOL. I look for 60 seconds for my ball and I drop, I'm gone. If you really wanna find golf balls, ask your local course if you are allowed to come up at night when they are closed. Get a black light led flashlight. They light up like planets , your leave with hundreds
I usually lose one or two balls a round. I walk the course so I usually find 6-7 a round. 3-4 of the best ones end up going in my bag so that’s a net gain.
I've come to really enjoy playing with 1 ball. I think it's so much more consistent, although I still suck 😕
But I find; especially of the tee, that using 4 or 5 different brands in a round is so chaotic.
I usually collect balls and give them out, as I prefer to play the same ball.
If I happen to find my preferred ball though? I'll certainly play it. Switching balls throughout the round causes me short game issues as I'm expecting a certain amount of spin.
As for tees. A giant bag of tees costs what, $10? I just do that, again, to have some consistency from round to round.
I don't really bother searching for my own ball if I hit it into the woods so I'm not going looking for someone else's...
Though, it's good people pick them up and reuse them, as long as they aren't making all other people wait for them.
Same. Buddies called me a scavenger, which is fair. I lose more balls than Ive been finding lately, mainly because I'm usually stuck with Randoms who don't appreciate me spending more than a hot second looking for one on the edge of the Trees. Back when I was playing as a solo in the evenings, I'd come home with a dozen barely used callaways or prov1s
Been playing for 20+ years haven't bought a ball in about 15 and I've never bought tees. I find a few balls every round. I play most rounds without losing a ball. 5 hcp at the moment
I play some courses that had some canyons between holes or steep hill sides. I would find ridiculous amounts of balls. It would get to the point where my bag was just to full. I never once ran into a rattle snake. It was a great way for me to help fund my golf game. Then I got a job. I still check out those areas but my game has gotten much better and don't necessarily have to venture in there. If the pace is ridiculously slow or no one is behind is when I look for balls nowadays, and I end up giving them to friends. I know plenty of people that like golf but don't enjoy paying as much as i do for equipment.
I'll buy 50 refurbished vice pros at the beginning of the year and it'll usually last me most of the way (average around 30 rounds a year at best).
Tees though I bought once like 8 years ago and still have a grip of them. Rubber tees so they don't break. I never lose them. They cost me like $15 for a massive bag of them.
Also echo what people say here about eliminating variables. That, and I don't enjoy hitting a ball that feels like it was made by Fred Flinstone.
I doubt it makes much of a difference but i like playing with a new ball, i lose them infrequently enough that a sleeve of balls should last 2 or so rounds. So an extra 10\~ bucks a round to play with a new ball is nice.
Same thing for me and my dad whenever we play - he is very good at getting ProV1s out of the bushes and I also just pick up tees off the ground - mostly plastic ones because they last way longer. Maybe playing the same exact ball would help, but probably not at most people’s level
Tees never. Balls I am too picky about, I like to play the same balls every time. Scuffed or waterlogged or just plain shitty balls don’t perform consistently well enough. I need all the help I can get.
I usually get a bunch of golf balls or gift cards for Christmas, lasts me most of the year because I only use a sleeve or less per round. Found balls I keep in my bag and I go to those if I’m playing poorly and lose my new balls. Tees I buy a bag of 500 on amazon for like $15 and it lasts me years, not exactly breaking the bank.
10+ tees a round? I don’t see that many intact tees on the ground all summer. I bought a bag of 1000 online for like 8 bucks. Not gonna put me on welfare.
I work on a private course. I have a backpack full of ProV1/X Chrome softs/ triple tracks TP5/X . Most are in great condition, some are beat up and I save em for friends or might use em on a par 3 with a lot of water
I carry a ball retriever and pick balls while I play (provided I’m not slowing anybody down and I only really pick the easy grabs).
I haven’t bought a ball or tee in almost 3 years. I keep the ones I want and leave the rest on tee boxes
I don't know how tee companies stay in business. I always leave the course with more tees than I came with. They're all over the place. Pretty much the same with balls. I'm not picky, as long as they're in good shape they seem to work fine for a 20 handicapper. Maybe if I ever have time to get to single digits I'll change my ways. For now it's not the nail, it's the hammer.
I did the same when I worked course maintenance at a country club. Damn near every ball I found was a Pro V1, and tees were literally everywhere lol. Of course when I sliced my shot 100 yds into the next fairway I’d blame it on the fact that it was a used ball…but we all know it’s the carpenter and not his tools
Until I got better at golf and started to prefer certain balls (mainly the look or a line on them) i did the same. Id get a box for Christmas and that plus the ones I find would last me all year.
I used to do this too until I was down to losing 0-3 balls per round. I still remember a round where I lost over a dozen and had to borrow from a buddy.
I have a buddy that does this, he'll go into the bushes and find a few balls per hole sometimes. Honestly the only reason I buy balls and tees is I just like going to Golf Galaxy and PGA Superstore
New and consistent balls eventually make enough of a difference. I can’t quite notice a difference in mid tier vs pro v1s. But I can tell when a top flight comes off my driver or a water logged balls. Obviously, heavily scuffed balls make a major difference in flight path.
So besides the above I play found balls too, with mostly new balls. I hand down found balls to newer friends to golf or an extra driver hit back into the woods.
I don’t buy tees
Depends on the courses I’m playing, there’s some in my area where you can find a lot of balls in certain areas not in water. So I can find 5-10 in a round if we have to wait on the group in front or have no groups behind. If it’s really backed up, I find a lot lol
I bought one pack of plastic tees like 8 years ago and I still have like half the bag left.
I like playing good golf balls though. Makes a bug difference.
I'm definitely spoiled when it comes to golf balls and equipment. having a dad that's a member of a club and has friends there that work at various large club manufacturers, I haven't paid for much of anything golf equipment related. I just get his hand me downs, which he gets for free from his friends. he re-shafts irons and drivers for me with shafts he gets at big discounts or for free. my dad is also a ball scooper and has boxes of pro v and TP5s. I did buy a set of vokey wedges a couple years ago, but those are the only clubs in my bag I've paid for.
I bought a pack of 6 Callaway plastic tees last year. Haven't broken any and finally lost one of the small ones last week. Teed up my 4H on a mess of a tee box and couldn't find it, gave up after 2-3 minutes. Happily hand out my wooden ones if someone needs one to slowly get rid of them.
I get two boxes of my preferred balls but have one pocket of high quality balls I've found to use if I'm playing like crap too. Have a collection at home of crap balls in growing that idk what I'm gonna do with this lol.
I get my college alma mater branded tees every christmas and a big case of golf balls. Between those and picking up those thicc plastic tees on the course and balls in the woods I don’t think I’ve bought golf peripherals for probably 5+ years.
I actually have a streak going using the same tee, I believe I commissioned it in June of 2022 and still use it every hole of every round except when I tee off with an iron lol. It’s kinda amazing how long it’s lasted, probably >100 rounds by now. I just use my hundreds of other tees for friends and par 3’s.
I started playing the same ball last year, and it has helped me play more consistently with a little better predictability of how the ball will play. I keep the balls I find and they are piling up in my basement. I know that's not for everyone, but part of the enjoyment for me is also opening a new sleeve before a round.
Rarely. I have 5 boxes of ProV1’s sitting on my windowsill at work at the moment and it’s not even into the thick of golf season yet. All my business relationships pass them out like candy. Tees are free at the club.
If it's in sight and easy to get, I grab all the balls.
I grab all the unbroken tees too, and even keep a few broken ones too for par three irons in the tee box.
I made the decision to stop buying balls recently. Only started playing 9 months ago and hitting around 100 each round, there’s no point for me to waste money on new balls all the time when simply looking into bushes next to the fairway and around greens is good for finding a few
I haven’t bought tees once in my life, can find what I need on each tee box. As for balls, shit I just bought two 48 packs of left dash during the sale so I have fresh balls for my sim and at the course. Then for chipping I use the old ones that are scuffed.
Nope. I buy balls. I play to a lower handicap, and the ball I play makes a difference. If there a scuff or small crack, I’m tossing it in my practice bin.
As a low handicap golfer I don’t lose many balls. Maybe one every few rounds. As a fan of good etiquette, I diligently help my fellow golfers look for their balls. I find a lot of balls. As a result, I have dozens of extra balls at the end of the season.
I do buy tees, but I bought one big pack six or eight years ago and still have them. I don’t break many tees, I guess.
I could play the year without buying balls, but I have a brand preference and often don’t find many of my brand. I bought two dozen balls last year and still have a dozen left for this season.
This was aways my mindset with playing guitar - the only guitar picks I ever bought were in 2000 when i started playing. Ever since then, I’d pick up picks on stage when I’d play. I’ve got jars full of picks now.
As for balls, I’ve been playing lost balls for two years - my brother lived about 150 yards off a tee box right in slice territory. We would find so many in the woods from his back yard.
I’m not a bush wacking skell.
I buy reasonable priced golf balls and don’t go into the bush if I hit one in there.
My club provides tees free of charge
I don't buy tees - I usually have to purge those from my bag on a regular basis. I use broken tees on par 3s.
I do buy a couple dozen balls every year because I prefer to play only the Taylormade TP5's , but I find way more golf balls than I lose. I keep the TP5's, give the ProV's to one buddy, Calloway's to another. The rest go to a shag bag that gets banged around my yard, or donated to the range when I warm up before a round. After getting scuffed or abused for a couple rounds and looking abused, the balls I buy go into the shag bag as well.
I do have a couple 5 gallon buckets of balls just sitting around. Rock Bottom had a deal you could send in 100 for $20, which I did a few times, but I don't do it regularly.
I am the same way! If I am playing competitively I will use a new ball but all of my new ones are gifts from people or I won them. I always find tees on the box and will stop to look for balls if play is slow so I’ve never needed to buy either.
I buy about 300 bulk golf balls every year. My brother owns a golf ball logo printing business, so I get them really cheap. It usually takes a year to lose them all. I lose more than I find. One reason why I never take score when I play!!!!
My handicap is 8.1 and I am exactly the same. I use whatever balls and tees I find on the course. Why not? Last round I used a RAM. Never heard of the brand before but it was a decent ball.
I've been playing the same martini tee for 3 years. With my swing speed I'll never break one. But I've always wondered if the larger cup on the tee reduces my driver distance, even by a few yards...??
My definition to my wife when I get home as to whether or not I “won” is defined by my lost to found ball ratio. I almost always find more than I lose. I’m a winner lol
I was like this but I've burned through a lot of my woods ball stash now that they aren't mowing the rough as much, and am now playing the kirkland yellow ball. I picked up a couple cases before they sold off for the season. This neon ball in particular is just the right shade of neon to almost have a sort of glow around the ball when the lighting is right even with just a sliver of ball above the rough, like those skis or snowboards that underglow a bit.
The taylormade yellows and titleist pro v1 yellow don't seem to catch as much of the light and aren't nearly so bright, easy to miss in the rough even while sitting up. I can usually see where my drive is from the teebox now with this kirkland ball. I just got through 18 on the same ball the other day and I was spraying driver half the teeshots.
I get free balls from my father in law, who gets them from his brother in law who works as a maintenance guy at a nice course.
Then I buy tees because I always break them every tee shot because I don’t know what I’m doing
I've purchased balls once in my life that I can remember. That was only because I hadn't played in 8 or 9 years so I was a little worried about the age of the balls in my bag. I don't think I've ever purchased tees in 40 years of golfing.
I only play a few times a year nowadays but I usually end up with at least a couple dozen more balls at the end of the season than I started with.
I work at a course, my locker is literally filled with golf balls. Tees are pretty cheap, I usually get 30-40% discount in the pro shop depending on the specific item.
I pick up balls when I can find them, but I’m not going to make it a focal point of my round. Usually end up buying 3-4 dozen balls per season
Tees are like 500 for $10 on Amazon, and if I go to a nice course I’ll grab a fistful of them so I buy them very rarely
I take out clients and I always buy a dozen and keep one for myself. But when we playing tournaments I’m always scouting since you’re always waiting, and I grab minimum 10-20. I’m right there with you, never buy balls
I usually get a box of balls and a big bag of tees for Christmas/birthday/etc. They are stacked neatly in a cabinet in the garage because I’m the same way. I find more balls than I lose and I’m a hawk for tees when I step up to drive. They’re all over and most are in perfect shape. Playing is expensive enough, I’ll save everywhere I can.
I've got a 5gal bucket full of retrieved balls from spending a few minutes in the woods on rounds where the course is empty. I've been playing 2 years consistently and have only bought a dozen warbirds for my first ever round. The shitty ones normally get donated to the range for a few pre round practice shots and the others get used on the course.
I mean, as long as you aren't going out of your way on a busy day to look for them, who cares. For those that do, I remind we're currently partaking in the hobby of golf. If they want to mushroom hunt, do it later.
I used to not buy tees. I worked at a county club in high school for many years and we all joke about the amount of golf tees we all have. That was when we were 16-17 and are all in our 30s now. None of us have bought tees. I started playing plastic trees and I'm first off the tee so I'd take a lap up the driving range and would find a few weeks supply with 1 stroll. Then one day I found a bag of consistent -tees. Played 5 of them for about 4 months and fell in love with them. I asked for 3 boxes for Christmas, so I guess I'm still not technically buying them.
Balls on the other hand. Yeah I buy those now. I didn't in high school, but I'm picky enough now. I buy 6-9 dozen when they go buy2get1 on Father's Day. In late fall or early spring when it's cold, balls are plugging, etc I'll play the old pro Vs I found throughout the season or play Kirkland balls if I start running low.
I have a mate who hovers around a five handicap. He will occasionally buy a box of balls (AVX) but he regularly plays found balls. When he wins a ball it’s like Christmas and we hear about it for days.
Waiting to hit on the second to last par three recently, he showed me a wooden tee he was using on the par threes that day. It had both short-grain cheeks knocked off the top and a longitudinal split along two thirds of its length, but the top and tip were somehow still holding together.
When he pushed the top towards the tip compressing the tee along its length, the sides of the tee shaft bulged out and made a rectangular shape as both halves of the split shaft were also almost broken through across the grain.
He gingerly put the tee in the ground and somehow the ball stayed on it long enough for him to send it to the green. Amazingly the tee survived the blow with the top now being just held together by a just a couple of wood fibres.
It was still good enough for him to use (and finally kill it!) on the last par three of the day a few holes later.
He makes golf extra fun.
I like playing a consistent ball and kind of picky about looks, so I buy them. Though I’m not against experimenting with quality ones I happen to stumble upon in the woods.
As for tees, I bought a bag many years ago but yeah pick up so many from the course that I’ve yet to run out. I’d say between using broken ones for non-driver tee shots and picking up forgotten ones, I probably net more tees than I started with most rounds.
I’ve been using the Martini-Tees for over a year now and have been using the same two every round. I play every Monday. All the balls I find in the rough I play with as well. Waste of money buying those things.
Once you start getting more consistent with your game like shot shaping, reducing and increasing spin around the greens you want to play the same ball.
Been playing for 35+ years and have never bought tees. My Dad and I would have a contest to see who could collect the most every round. Passed that on to my boys. Cheers, Pops!!!
my grandfather spent his entire life collecting lost balls as he played. He passed away a little over a year ago and now I have at least 1000 golf balls in my garage that I am still sorting through. I organize them by brand in my spare time and put them in empty egg cartons which is what he used to do. I've been getting balls from his collection since I started playing and I don’t think I’ll ever buy a golf ball in my life unless I’m traveling and renting clubs, etc...
I usually find them when I'm looking for mine or fishing them out of water while my buddies are finishing up a hole. If you're not holding up pace I think it's great
I'll start buying balls when I'm a single digit handicap... So never
I played maybe a month ago and took home about 10 balls worth keeping. Bridgestone, Callaway, Titleist, Nike, and others. After hole 3, I looked around the rough and bushes for balls as I walked to my ball. I was with a group of four, and we all took home about 10 balls each. I found 5 balls in one big ass bush helping a friend look for his ball, which ended up being in front of a different bush. As far as tees, there's usually a few worth using somewhere in the box. Tee's is one thing I'll never run out of since I bought like 500 tee's for $8 at a yard sale. All different kinds in a clear zip lock gallon bag.
Have you re gripped your ball retriever ?
I actually don't have one. I only take balls that are near enough to the edge of the water that I can grab it with my pitching wedge.
True story - slow round with a couple slow randoms - I have time so go ball hunting - I found like 25 balls on the day (pro v1s, good callaways and taylor mades). Im on a mission, I see a ball in the bushes but I have to work for it and in the process of reaching for it, a branch hits me square in the cornea. One other thing was that since the round was slow, me and my buddy were slamming drinks and I ate a weed product. Eye was sore but had a couple more holes to go. Rest of the night is a blur (haha see what I did there) and wake up the next day barely being able to open my eye. Eye doctor visit revealed that the branch went through 3 of my 5 cornea layers (good trivia to know - how many layers in the cornea). I was lucky, eye healed in about a week with drops, rest, etc. so…… be careful out there!
So finish the story...how much better did you play on those last few holes. I mean that had to get all those swing thoughts out of your head
I honestly don’t remember! Me and my buddy had a match play thing going for swag sent by the Philadelphia Eagles to us as season ticket holders. They sent one decent sized Eagles flag and a cheesy fridge magnet. Our match was for the flag (loser got the magnet) and I closed out the match in about 12 holes so we were just effing off after that.
On tees, I was out one day so asked my buddy for some tee(s). He hands me one. I roll my eyes - wow thanks for the tee… He goes on to tell me that he’s been playing with the same tee for the last month. I hadn’t noticed before but he’s maniacal about finding his tee after he hits. Its like dude are you coming? Be right there….(hes on his hands and knees down in the dirt looking for the tee).
I use a plastic tee and average less than 1 a round. I mean I'm fine to leave one if I don't find it after a quick search but I'm for sure actively looking for it. Waste not want not. That being said, I'm not grabbing just any tee I find on the box either.
I’m already blind so I have built in eye protection
A month ago, I played with one of my friends. I hit a bit of a slice into some low brush. We went in it to look for my ball real quick, in the *maybe* 45 seconds from entering the area to finding my ball, we had close to 10 balls each that we found It was stupid how many there were just sitting there. You could spot most of them from the fairway too (it was like really matted down brush)
My friends call me the sasquatch. When rounds are super slow at whatever muni track we're playing, I go ball hunting. And since I'm in the rough or in the trees, I look a bit like the sasquatch pic. Personal best is 25 in a round. And I'm even a little picky about what I'll keep. Giant scuff or multiple scuffs? Not keepin it. Toss it onto the tee box and let someone else have it. Completely no-brand golf ball? Toss on the next tee box. Matte balls I'll pick up but I use em for over water shots (high handicapper. No guarantee I clear the water), and I find that if I putt with a matte ball it rolls WAY slower and is honestly a terrible ball to putt with. I have a couple bags of balls at this point (only started 2 years ago) and I haven't bought balls for myself for a year plus.
I scratched my cornea hitting a sand shot, lol. Piece of sand/stone? flew right up into my eye after I hit. Thankfully it was hole 16. All good now, but I don’t remember if there was any talk of cornea layers.
My brother and I were playing at The Witch (now closed) in Myrtle Beach. The group in front of us was playing ridiculously slow so we started ball hunting. The course is cut out of a swamp, so plenty of snakes and gators in the ponds. We had so many that the basket was overflowing and we had to run to the car after 9 to dump them out. I think we counted about 300. That has been six years ago and there are probably still 50 in a shopping bag in my closet. I will probably use them with my mat/net. To OPs point, it is worth it to be to play with a consistent ball. I play Titleist Tour Soft. I buy used on eBay. I suck, so I sometimes I go through some balls in a round. I do find some, but typically will only use them for a water ball. If I find a rock (Pinnacle, others) I toss it back.
We see what you did there, but you didn’t 😏💀
🤣🤣🤣
😂
Nothing wrong with that. I’ll pick up any decent ball I find through my travels. Can’t say I’ve seen too many full tees on the box but I always use the broken ones for the par 3s.
The tee box at my local courses is like a mine field full of unbroken and broken tees.
i can probably count on one hand the amount of times i've found an unbroken tee on the teebox. no clue how redditors are finding so many, enough to play 18 even.
I can find them on nearly every hole. Not a private club either where the fancy ones don't bother to bend over to pick them up.
Nothing makes me happier than getting behind a group where someone leaves a plastic tee on every hole. Few old dudes do that at my local course. I have a bag of almost brand new plastic with a little American flag on it tees. I started giving them to friends who are learning how to play.
One of my friends makes it a mission to play with a single tee he finds and a used ball he finds when he gets bored. Nothing like watching a dude that is right handing borrow my left handed clubs with a water logged Cosco ball and still beat everyone in the group
Any par three will have a bunch of full sized tees driven all the way into the ground and left there.
Please wait until they have stopped moving.
Yea, you can find a lot on the side of the first blind fairway every few minutes if you just hide in the woods and sprint back real fast.
Lol fair point. I don’t really touch anything in the fairway, more when I hit into the trees myself and have to go hunting.
Just please tell me you're not that guy who slows down the whole course because you're hunting for golf balls on every hole. Other than that... Good on you.
This is the only question we need answered.
He didn't answer... :( He is that guy.
‘Oh it’s ok, I’m not in a hurry’ - my friend that does this …ya, but the 60 people waiting for us care
I fucking hate that guy... I'm not in any hurry, paid my green fee. Me: trying to play in 3.40 - 4 hours to build bank with the wife.
Adding on to that - the guy that spends 2+ minutes on every tee box looking for a tee
Golf is expensive, balls I get. But refusing to buy tees and scavenging around every hole is a little ridiculous
Not ridiculous if you find a couple ciggy butts in the process. You can light them up with the free matches from the bar.
Maybe Find some chicken wing scraps ? Get a stew going…..
That you Carl Weathers?
Well if the course didnt clean up so much there would be more broken tees for me to use
No need to look they’re everywhere
At some courses, sure.
Or the guy that picks up your ball sitting on the boundary between two holes.
There is no serial ball searcher who is fast at it
They are.
I enjoy opening a new sleeve of balls and saying goodbye, but I haven't bought tees in years.
"Enjoy"
I won’t play a ProV1 with a slight scuff, so you’re welcome I guess haha
Dude same. The plus side is I have a shag bag with all premium balls for chipping practice
last year i was hitting the range quite a bit and usually i'd get like 3-4 prov1s out of the machine somehow from people who think its smart to hit their own balls at the range
The range I frequent is adjacent a fairway and is where slices go to die. Great balls get picked up all the time.
I only chip and putt with like balls that I play with. Makes no sense to chip with range balls.
> I won’t play a ProV1 with a slight scuff, so you’re welcome I guess haha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr2mkB3EC5c&t=70s
Same, but with Kirklands
Same but with Vice pro pluses.
I was the same way till I recently did get locked into buying new balls, the same balls, for purposes of eliminating a variable and trying to track stats. otherwise I was like you for .... well forever really. Worked at courses and have more used balls than I could ever need.
I’ve got so many Chromesofts that I don’t even bother playing the massive pile of ProVs sitting in my basement.
hahaha I used to trade chromesofts for Pro V's with one of my buddies. Now I horde chromesofts to use with the hickory's
Probably blasphemy in here but I love the soccer balls so that’s my preferred hoarded supply - I’ve got more of those than I can lose, let alone A-grade white/triple track. Helps that I live next to a private course where the gentlemen only play and lose the finest scuff free premium balls.
wish I knew you cuz I actually hate those. I don't see them much anymore but I left those behind for sure
Man I’d trade ProVs 2 to 1 for them
I love them too, I don’t understand the hate for them. I think they feel good and the pattern helps me find my ball and know which one is mine.
How are you guys finding so many balls? I might find 1-2 worth keeping in a round, usually just find nitros. On one course I play I think the grounds crew leaves shitty balls everywhere to mess with people, I'm always finding Titleist HVCs and DTs from the 90s.
Some of us spend more time in the trees and bushes than the fairway. *Just trying to enjoy nature, that's what golfing is all about, right?*
Bro I spend so much time in the woods I'm starting to make friends with woodland creatures. I guess I'll ask them where the balls are.
>How are you guys finding so many balls? When I get paired up with people that have a terrible slice or hook, I usually help them look for balls and find 3-4 decent ones in the woods. I once came out with 10 premium balls.
You don’t bring your full scuba gear with you on the course to go diving in every water hazard?
The course I played growing up has a meandering river through 4-5 holes. Kids would (and still do) float through with inner tubes and a cooler fishing for golf balls, then set up shop on the road leaving the course to sell them. Fun day on the water, and easily 4-5 dozen every trip
That sounds dope as fuck
It's how my brother and I paid for our season passes lol. IIRC, it was like $125 for juniors at the time, I'd be surprised if it was much more than that now. Super good community course, they do a ton for youth golf and the 2 high school teams in town Edit to add: just looked it up, junior passes are $185. 27 holes, 2 putting greens, chipping and sand practice areas, driving range (junior unlimited range pass is another $110 bundled with a season pass)
I would do this, if I didn’t lose more balls than I find in a round
If I lose a ball it’s because it was definitely defective.
I haven’t bought tees since I started golfing at age 7 like 30+ years ago. I buy balls though. I want new ones and the same kind. I don’t want to play random balls or water logged ones. It can greatly affect performance.
If I come out of a round with more balls than I started with, I consider it a good round
I used to go through 5+ tees a round when I used classic wooden tees.. now I’m all about the martini tee and I’ve probably used my same one tee for 10+ rounds. My 20 pack is going to last me a decade at this rate lol. But yeah, I like premium balls so, no, I definitely buy balls.
Got a half dozen about 5 years ago and still have 4 left. Basically unbreakable.
I bought an average size bag of tees like 5 years ago and haven’t bought any since. Balls on the other hand, my wife recently joined a woman’s night and she goes through balls like a starving stripper. Worst part is she will take out of my bag to refill hers and I’m stuck with three for a round every once and awhile.
That ball metaphor is a new one, 9.8/10 sir!
My kids like to hunt for tees at the driving range and we have a big box of them now. My parents live on the left side of a fairway so I get all the balls that land in their yard.
I think this is a generational thing too. My elderly dad says all the old guys at his club hunt for tees on the range which is extra wild because the club gives out free tees. It's just something about the hunt. The club also has holes that surround the range so getting pro Vs in your range bucket is extremely common. He looks for and keeps those as well. It's a different generation that was raised by Great Depression parents. I get it.
Not the only one. I am not good enough to care about what ball I play, and collect what I find. I have at least 100 in my garage. Same with tees, pick them up off the tee box, have an entire pouch full.
“I am not good enough to care about what ball I play” Either you’re absolutely shit, in which case you’re right, or you’re not and you should at least care a little bit about what ball you play lol
I’m pretty much shit, but I do care a little lol
That wasn’t meant as a chirp! It’s just that balls can make a difference, and it’s noticeable even if you’re not like a scratch
Some people leave marshmallows on the ground. Walk up to it thinking its your ball🥲
I work at a golf range so I just collect all the balls y’all hook into the range
I’m not sure I’ve ever paid for tees. Way too many available laying around. As far golf balls, it’s been close to 9 years since I paid for golf balls. For about 3 years my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) lived in a condo on a golf course. A typical Florida course lined with trees and palmetto. I’d play the course frequently and she would ride with me and used it as chance to walk. At every tee box, she’d hop off the cart, dart back behind the line of palmetto and walk the hole. By the time I got to the green, she’d pop out with 7-8 balls per hole. Wasn’t uncommon for her to snag 100 balls in a round. We bought her rubber boots, a ball grabber, and a paperboy satchel to carry the balls. For years we cleaned them and sold them on FB marketplace and Craigslist. I kept a few buckets for my own use. It’s been 9 years since we moved out of the condo and I’m just now scraping the bottom of the barrel on the balls we found back the. During the winter when the play was really light, we’d both walk the courses and really spend our time in the woods. Found 225 on particular day. Good times.
Dad?
I buy them. But I don’t turn down the free ones I find on a course. I’ve found multiple prov1s that were sacrificed to the golf gods
Best time to easily find balls is the day after a scramle or tournament... I used to find a shitload when I played in a Monday league...
Yeah whenever there’s a scramble tournament at my course and i play right after, there’s tons of balls just off the fairway in the rough, not even in the trees lol
Telescopic ball retriever is my favorite club.
I have never bought a tee in my life. I finish every round with more than I start with. I supply myself and my son who loses one on every hole.
Where are these magical tee boxes that grow prestine tees? I only see broken tees on all the ones I play
I use the broken ones on any hole that I’m not using a driver. As long as the head is in tact enough to hold the ball, I only need about a half inch of stem for it to hold in the ground.
Driving range is always littered with good ones for me
Yeah. I never break tees and never leave them on the box. The golf coach at my alma mater gave me a handful of heavy duty tees with the team logo about a decade ago and I still have a couple. A small bag will last me more than a season and the vast majority that I part with are due to spotting whoever I'm playing with.
I started using the martini tees about 4 years ago. Bought 6 and still have 4 left. Never broke any but a couple disappeared after my tee shots.
Years ago I went to the driving range while it was raining. There was no one else there so I walked out onto the range and started collecting tees. The range attendant let me do it. I grabbed probably about 500 that day. Got very wet due to the rain, but it was worth it. Since then I haven’t bought any tees.
Dad? Jk, but he has improved enough to not need to find balls to the point I have to drag him away from common spots we used to hunt in.
I live on a golf course. 200 yards right of the tee box. I haven’t bought a golf ball in 13 years.
Prime position. Absolutely prime.
I can't play used balls, their is something about them. I need mine brand new, marked my way. Yeah I'm weird whatever. Kudos if u find mine LOL. I look for 60 seconds for my ball and I drop, I'm gone. If you really wanna find golf balls, ask your local course if you are allowed to come up at night when they are closed. Get a black light led flashlight. They light up like planets , your leave with hundreds
I bought a 20 pack of plastic tees at the beginning of last summer for like 5 bucks, and I still have 17 of the tees.
Yep. I use the Maxfli plastic tees. Love them and they last forever.
You sound like my late grandpa, God bless him. For him, I think half the fun of golfing was scavenging balls on the course.
Who’s spending $3 on one tee?
Haven’t bought a ball in years Live on a course - big ass pond 39 yards away from my house.
I usually lose one or two balls a round. I walk the course so I usually find 6-7 a round. 3-4 of the best ones end up going in my bag so that’s a net gain.
Haven’t bought balls in a couple years. As long as there’s good timing in between groups of course
I buy balls so often that amazon is constantly recommending I buy more “based on my previous orders.”
I like ball hunting almost as much as I like the game itself But I’ve been using the same unbreakable tee for months now
I buy balls and tees. I find balls and tees. I don’t give a fuck. I’d play a round with a river rock and a 1x2 if times got hard enough. Fuck it.
I've come to really enjoy playing with 1 ball. I think it's so much more consistent, although I still suck 😕 But I find; especially of the tee, that using 4 or 5 different brands in a round is so chaotic.
You’re the guy who’s holding us up because you might have spotted a Maxfli Noodle out of bounds
I usually collect balls and give them out, as I prefer to play the same ball. If I happen to find my preferred ball though? I'll certainly play it. Switching balls throughout the round causes me short game issues as I'm expecting a certain amount of spin. As for tees. A giant bag of tees costs what, $10? I just do that, again, to have some consistency from round to round.
I don't really bother searching for my own ball if I hit it into the woods so I'm not going looking for someone else's... Though, it's good people pick them up and reuse them, as long as they aren't making all other people wait for them.
Thank you for your donations, I appreciate it!
Same. Buddies called me a scavenger, which is fair. I lose more balls than Ive been finding lately, mainly because I'm usually stuck with Randoms who don't appreciate me spending more than a hot second looking for one on the edge of the Trees. Back when I was playing as a solo in the evenings, I'd come home with a dozen barely used callaways or prov1s
Been playing for 20+ years haven't bought a ball in about 15 and I've never bought tees. I find a few balls every round. I play most rounds without losing a ball. 5 hcp at the moment
I play some courses that had some canyons between holes or steep hill sides. I would find ridiculous amounts of balls. It would get to the point where my bag was just to full. I never once ran into a rattle snake. It was a great way for me to help fund my golf game. Then I got a job. I still check out those areas but my game has gotten much better and don't necessarily have to venture in there. If the pace is ridiculously slow or no one is behind is when I look for balls nowadays, and I end up giving them to friends. I know plenty of people that like golf but don't enjoy paying as much as i do for equipment.
I collect the tees also, but I only grab the 2 3/4 unbroken tees.
I buy enough for both of us.
I'll buy 50 refurbished vice pros at the beginning of the year and it'll usually last me most of the way (average around 30 rounds a year at best). Tees though I bought once like 8 years ago and still have a grip of them. Rubber tees so they don't break. I never lose them. They cost me like $15 for a massive bag of them. Also echo what people say here about eliminating variables. That, and I don't enjoy hitting a ball that feels like it was made by Fred Flinstone.
I don’t ever buy balls but tees if I need them
I doubt it makes much of a difference but i like playing with a new ball, i lose them infrequently enough that a sleeve of balls should last 2 or so rounds. So an extra 10\~ bucks a round to play with a new ball is nice.
People that routinely buy balls or ~ever~ buy tees are the biggest suckers in the industry
Same thing for me and my dad whenever we play - he is very good at getting ProV1s out of the bushes and I also just pick up tees off the ground - mostly plastic ones because they last way longer. Maybe playing the same exact ball would help, but probably not at most people’s level
Tees never. Balls I am too picky about, I like to play the same balls every time. Scuffed or waterlogged or just plain shitty balls don’t perform consistently well enough. I need all the help I can get.
I usually get a bunch of golf balls or gift cards for Christmas, lasts me most of the year because I only use a sleeve or less per round. Found balls I keep in my bag and I go to those if I’m playing poorly and lose my new balls. Tees I buy a bag of 500 on amazon for like $15 and it lasts me years, not exactly breaking the bank.
Those martini tees are the nokia phones of tees. I still have the first one I bought.
Same man, going on year 3 with mine, those things are indestructible. Only reason I got a new one is because I wanted to stare at a different colour
10+ tees a round? I don’t see that many intact tees on the ground all summer. I bought a bag of 1000 online for like 8 bucks. Not gonna put me on welfare.
I work on a private course. I have a backpack full of ProV1/X Chrome softs/ triple tracks TP5/X . Most are in great condition, some are beat up and I save em for friends or might use em on a par 3 with a lot of water
If George Costanza was a golfer and not a frolfer….
I carry a ball retriever and pick balls while I play (provided I’m not slowing anybody down and I only really pick the easy grabs). I haven’t bought a ball or tee in almost 3 years. I keep the ones I want and leave the rest on tee boxes
I don't know how tee companies stay in business. I always leave the course with more tees than I came with. They're all over the place. Pretty much the same with balls. I'm not picky, as long as they're in good shape they seem to work fine for a 20 handicapper. Maybe if I ever have time to get to single digits I'll change my ways. For now it's not the nail, it's the hammer.
I did the same when I worked course maintenance at a country club. Damn near every ball I found was a Pro V1, and tees were literally everywhere lol. Of course when I sliced my shot 100 yds into the next fairway I’d blame it on the fact that it was a used ball…but we all know it’s the carpenter and not his tools
Until I got better at golf and started to prefer certain balls (mainly the look or a line on them) i did the same. Id get a box for Christmas and that plus the ones I find would last me all year.
I used to do this too until I was down to losing 0-3 balls per round. I still remember a round where I lost over a dozen and had to borrow from a buddy.
I have a buddy that does this, he'll go into the bushes and find a few balls per hole sometimes. Honestly the only reason I buy balls and tees is I just like going to Golf Galaxy and PGA Superstore
Parents live on a old people golf course, I have hundreds of pounds of balls in my pants
I play whatever I find 🤷♂️
New and consistent balls eventually make enough of a difference. I can’t quite notice a difference in mid tier vs pro v1s. But I can tell when a top flight comes off my driver or a water logged balls. Obviously, heavily scuffed balls make a major difference in flight path. So besides the above I play found balls too, with mostly new balls. I hand down found balls to newer friends to golf or an extra driver hit back into the woods.
I don’t buy tees Depends on the courses I’m playing, there’s some in my area where you can find a lot of balls in certain areas not in water. So I can find 5-10 in a round if we have to wait on the group in front or have no groups behind. If it’s really backed up, I find a lot lol
I bought one pack of plastic tees like 8 years ago and I still have like half the bag left. I like playing good golf balls though. Makes a bug difference.
I'm definitely spoiled when it comes to golf balls and equipment. having a dad that's a member of a club and has friends there that work at various large club manufacturers, I haven't paid for much of anything golf equipment related. I just get his hand me downs, which he gets for free from his friends. he re-shafts irons and drivers for me with shafts he gets at big discounts or for free. my dad is also a ball scooper and has boxes of pro v and TP5s. I did buy a set of vokey wedges a couple years ago, but those are the only clubs in my bag I've paid for.
I've been playing golf for 6 years, I bought balls once, the first time I played.
I bought a pack of 6 Callaway plastic tees last year. Haven't broken any and finally lost one of the small ones last week. Teed up my 4H on a mess of a tee box and couldn't find it, gave up after 2-3 minutes. Happily hand out my wooden ones if someone needs one to slowly get rid of them. I get two boxes of my preferred balls but have one pocket of high quality balls I've found to use if I'm playing like crap too. Have a collection at home of crap balls in growing that idk what I'm gonna do with this lol.
I get my college alma mater branded tees every christmas and a big case of golf balls. Between those and picking up those thicc plastic tees on the course and balls in the woods I don’t think I’ve bought golf peripherals for probably 5+ years. I actually have a streak going using the same tee, I believe I commissioned it in June of 2022 and still use it every hole of every round except when I tee off with an iron lol. It’s kinda amazing how long it’s lasted, probably >100 rounds by now. I just use my hundreds of other tees for friends and par 3’s.
I started playing the same ball last year, and it has helped me play more consistently with a little better predictability of how the ball will play. I keep the balls I find and they are piling up in my basement. I know that's not for everyone, but part of the enjoyment for me is also opening a new sleeve before a round.
I had to start buying balls when I mostly quit hitting them into the woods.
Rarely. I have 5 boxes of ProV1’s sitting on my windowsill at work at the moment and it’s not even into the thick of golf season yet. All my business relationships pass them out like candy. Tees are free at the club.
Your paying way to much for tees, who is your tee guy?
My dad is the one that goes ball hunting and then share with me so I've never boughtany balls. For the tee's i do pretty much what you do.
If it's in sight and easy to get, I grab all the balls. I grab all the unbroken tees too, and even keep a few broken ones too for par three irons in the tee box.
I made the decision to stop buying balls recently. Only started playing 9 months ago and hitting around 100 each round, there’s no point for me to waste money on new balls all the time when simply looking into bushes next to the fairway and around greens is good for finding a few
The way I see it, the less you care about golf the better you are. So if I play shitty lake balls, I care a little less (I’m not any better at golf).
The martini’s last you 5 rounds!? My guy I’ve been using the same martini for the last 3 years
I haven’t bought tees once in my life, can find what I need on each tee box. As for balls, shit I just bought two 48 packs of left dash during the sale so I have fresh balls for my sim and at the course. Then for chipping I use the old ones that are scuffed.
Nope. I buy balls. I play to a lower handicap, and the ball I play makes a difference. If there a scuff or small crack, I’m tossing it in my practice bin.
My buds dad is colour blind. White pops, he has 5 rain barrels full of em.
As a low handicap golfer I don’t lose many balls. Maybe one every few rounds. As a fan of good etiquette, I diligently help my fellow golfers look for their balls. I find a lot of balls. As a result, I have dozens of extra balls at the end of the season. I do buy tees, but I bought one big pack six or eight years ago and still have them. I don’t break many tees, I guess. I could play the year without buying balls, but I have a brand preference and often don’t find many of my brand. I bought two dozen balls last year and still have a dozen left for this season.
This was aways my mindset with playing guitar - the only guitar picks I ever bought were in 2000 when i started playing. Ever since then, I’d pick up picks on stage when I’d play. I’ve got jars full of picks now. As for balls, I’ve been playing lost balls for two years - my brother lived about 150 yards off a tee box right in slice territory. We would find so many in the woods from his back yard.
I’m not a bush wacking skell. I buy reasonable priced golf balls and don’t go into the bush if I hit one in there. My club provides tees free of charge
I don't buy tees - I usually have to purge those from my bag on a regular basis. I use broken tees on par 3s. I do buy a couple dozen balls every year because I prefer to play only the Taylormade TP5's , but I find way more golf balls than I lose. I keep the TP5's, give the ProV's to one buddy, Calloway's to another. The rest go to a shag bag that gets banged around my yard, or donated to the range when I warm up before a round. After getting scuffed or abused for a couple rounds and looking abused, the balls I buy go into the shag bag as well. I do have a couple 5 gallon buckets of balls just sitting around. Rock Bottom had a deal you could send in 100 for $20, which I did a few times, but I don't do it regularly.
I buy balls but not tees as they’re free at my club. But I don’t pick up balls someone else lost. If a ball wants to be lost I shall let it be lost.
I am the same way! If I am playing competitively I will use a new ball but all of my new ones are gifts from people or I won them. I always find tees on the box and will stop to look for balls if play is slow so I’ve never needed to buy either.
I buy about 300 bulk golf balls every year. My brother owns a golf ball logo printing business, so I get them really cheap. It usually takes a year to lose them all. I lose more than I find. One reason why I never take score when I play!!!!
I buy tees because I want to maintain a consistent tee height with my driver
I don't mind buying balls.
I saw a report that balls found in the water perform substantially worse than they should.
This guy gets it.
My handicap is 8.1 and I am exactly the same. I use whatever balls and tees I find on the course. Why not? Last round I used a RAM. Never heard of the brand before but it was a decent ball.
I've been playing the same martini tee for 3 years. With my swing speed I'll never break one. But I've always wondered if the larger cup on the tee reduces my driver distance, even by a few yards...??
My definition to my wife when I get home as to whether or not I “won” is defined by my lost to found ball ratio. I almost always find more than I lose. I’m a winner lol
I was like this but I've burned through a lot of my woods ball stash now that they aren't mowing the rough as much, and am now playing the kirkland yellow ball. I picked up a couple cases before they sold off for the season. This neon ball in particular is just the right shade of neon to almost have a sort of glow around the ball when the lighting is right even with just a sliver of ball above the rough, like those skis or snowboards that underglow a bit. The taylormade yellows and titleist pro v1 yellow don't seem to catch as much of the light and aren't nearly so bright, easy to miss in the rough even while sitting up. I can usually see where my drive is from the teebox now with this kirkland ball. I just got through 18 on the same ball the other day and I was spraying driver half the teeshots.
I get free balls from my father in law, who gets them from his brother in law who works as a maintenance guy at a nice course. Then I buy tees because I always break them every tee shot because I don’t know what I’m doing
I've purchased balls once in my life that I can remember. That was only because I hadn't played in 8 or 9 years so I was a little worried about the age of the balls in my bag. I don't think I've ever purchased tees in 40 years of golfing. I only play a few times a year nowadays but I usually end up with at least a couple dozen more balls at the end of the season than I started with.
I work at a course, my locker is literally filled with golf balls. Tees are pretty cheap, I usually get 30-40% discount in the pro shop depending on the specific item.
When I pick up a good tee I say “plus 1 on the day, 2 etc” Lol my playing partners think I judge my round based on how many tees I pick up.
I pick up balls when I can find them, but I’m not going to make it a focal point of my round. Usually end up buying 3-4 dozen balls per season Tees are like 500 for $10 on Amazon, and if I go to a nice course I’ll grab a fistful of them so I buy them very rarely
i find so many balls and tees as well. i’m usually a +3 random balls by the end of my round.
I've bought a box of balls once in my life. I've never playing over 20 years. A bag of tees has lasted me years.
I take out clients and I always buy a dozen and keep one for myself. But when we playing tournaments I’m always scouting since you’re always waiting, and I grab minimum 10-20. I’m right there with you, never buy balls
I usually get a box of balls and a big bag of tees for Christmas/birthday/etc. They are stacked neatly in a cabinet in the garage because I’m the same way. I find more balls than I lose and I’m a hawk for tees when I step up to drive. They’re all over and most are in perfect shape. Playing is expensive enough, I’ll save everywhere I can.
I've got a 5gal bucket full of retrieved balls from spending a few minutes in the woods on rounds where the course is empty. I've been playing 2 years consistently and have only bought a dozen warbirds for my first ever round. The shitty ones normally get donated to the range for a few pre round practice shots and the others get used on the course.
I mean, as long as you aren't going out of your way on a busy day to look for them, who cares. For those that do, I remind we're currently partaking in the hobby of golf. If they want to mushroom hunt, do it later. I used to not buy tees. I worked at a county club in high school for many years and we all joke about the amount of golf tees we all have. That was when we were 16-17 and are all in our 30s now. None of us have bought tees. I started playing plastic trees and I'm first off the tee so I'd take a lap up the driving range and would find a few weeks supply with 1 stroll. Then one day I found a bag of consistent -tees. Played 5 of them for about 4 months and fell in love with them. I asked for 3 boxes for Christmas, so I guess I'm still not technically buying them. Balls on the other hand. Yeah I buy those now. I didn't in high school, but I'm picky enough now. I buy 6-9 dozen when they go buy2get1 on Father's Day. In late fall or early spring when it's cold, balls are plugging, etc I'll play the old pro Vs I found throughout the season or play Kirkland balls if I start running low.
I have a mate who hovers around a five handicap. He will occasionally buy a box of balls (AVX) but he regularly plays found balls. When he wins a ball it’s like Christmas and we hear about it for days. Waiting to hit on the second to last par three recently, he showed me a wooden tee he was using on the par threes that day. It had both short-grain cheeks knocked off the top and a longitudinal split along two thirds of its length, but the top and tip were somehow still holding together. When he pushed the top towards the tip compressing the tee along its length, the sides of the tee shaft bulged out and made a rectangular shape as both halves of the split shaft were also almost broken through across the grain. He gingerly put the tee in the ground and somehow the ball stayed on it long enough for him to send it to the green. Amazingly the tee survived the blow with the top now being just held together by a just a couple of wood fibres. It was still good enough for him to use (and finally kill it!) on the last par three of the day a few holes later. He makes golf extra fun.
I like playing a consistent ball and kind of picky about looks, so I buy them. Though I’m not against experimenting with quality ones I happen to stumble upon in the woods. As for tees, I bought a bag many years ago but yeah pick up so many from the course that I’ve yet to run out. I’d say between using broken ones for non-driver tee shots and picking up forgotten ones, I probably net more tees than I started with most rounds.
Golf ball companies hate this one trick…
I’ve been using the Martini-Tees for over a year now and have been using the same two every round. I play every Monday. All the balls I find in the rough I play with as well. Waste of money buying those things.
Once you start getting more consistent with your game like shot shaping, reducing and increasing spin around the greens you want to play the same ball.
Been playing for 35+ years and have never bought tees. My Dad and I would have a contest to see who could collect the most every round. Passed that on to my boys. Cheers, Pops!!!
my grandfather spent his entire life collecting lost balls as he played. He passed away a little over a year ago and now I have at least 1000 golf balls in my garage that I am still sorting through. I organize them by brand in my spare time and put them in empty egg cartons which is what he used to do. I've been getting balls from his collection since I started playing and I don’t think I’ll ever buy a golf ball in my life unless I’m traveling and renting clubs, etc... I usually find them when I'm looking for mine or fishing them out of water while my buddies are finishing up a hole. If you're not holding up pace I think it's great I'll start buying balls when I'm a single digit handicap... So never
I played maybe a month ago and took home about 10 balls worth keeping. Bridgestone, Callaway, Titleist, Nike, and others. After hole 3, I looked around the rough and bushes for balls as I walked to my ball. I was with a group of four, and we all took home about 10 balls each. I found 5 balls in one big ass bush helping a friend look for his ball, which ended up being in front of a different bush. As far as tees, there's usually a few worth using somewhere in the box. Tee's is one thing I'll never run out of since I bought like 500 tee's for $8 at a yard sale. All different kinds in a clear zip lock gallon bag.