School project--golf ball diving

[ballfrog]

You should at very minimum be a certified diver. Specialty dive training such as search and recovery might be helpful as well. Equipment would be mask, fins, regulator, BC, weights, tank. Wetsuit would be wise as you likely spend a lot of time in the water hunting golf balls.

Practical requirement would be permission from the golf course. You wouldn't want to be hassled for tresspassing even if the course is a public course. Many golf courses already have arrangements for divers to collect golf balls. Also would be wise not to dive where alligators are nearby.

good luck.

A full wetsuit is the bare minimum. Crawling in that goo with pine cones, fishing lures, bullheads, leeches and all other sorts of creepy-crawlies without a suit is likely only done once. I almost never use fins. Very large lakes or ponds with plastic lining are the exception. You have to be pasted to the bottom and dig in the silt to find balls, so the fins just get in the way most times. You'll also need collection bags. I recommend they attach with a quick release mechanism or at least something that will easily break away encase of entanglement. (or if you have to run because you forgot to get the wisely mention permission or weren't wise enough to avoid alligators) j/k

 

[Juliabonnette]

Just with this you have helped me so much. I cant even imagine jumping into a pond full of prey. Sounds like your job never gets boring though and youre always on the look out. I actually read about that guy from FLA. thats terrible. Im going to use all of the information you have provided me with, and if i come up with any more questions, i will definately contact you.
Thank you very much for spending the time to contact me back.
Best of luck with all your dives, and be safe!
Thanks again!

 

[nimoh]

wow, didn't realize how big golf ball recovery is (even though I am a professional diver). I retract my earlier post

 

[Prof Diver]

Another issue is the accumulation of nasty chemicals and biological nightmares in many golf course ponds. Be VERY careful if you embark on this path.

I can second this. I wear a full face mask and often a dry suit. Leeches can be a biological nightmare for me, especially if they latch on to a lip. I get all puffy and can't seal a regulator for a day or two. As for the chemicals, I've read the Material Safety Data Sheets and if they say you can swim within an hour of treatment and drink the water the next day, I don't consider that too nasty. What I do consider nasty is that many courses are now using reclaimed water, that's always a joy to dive in.

Many golf courses in the country do use bore water down in Australia. So it's not as bad as sewage diver.

 

[ballfrog]

wow, didn't realize how big golf ball recovery is (even though I am a professional diver). I retract my earlier post

You'll just have to come out with me when I get in the Rochester area this summer.

 

[Prostardiver]

I helped train a couple to dive who went out and started recovering golf balls. We were in the shop one day talking about it. Aside from the chemicals there are the snakes to deal with. They were standing in the water once and he yelled, "SNAKE!" She reached over, picked it up, looked at it and tossed it back saying, "It's just a water snake."