Golf Ball diving!

I am in the process of getting certified and was thinking of ways to pay for the equpiment that I just purchased. I was wondering if any of you guys had ever dived for golf balls at a local golf coures. Could you give me some advice on it if so.

How do you charge the course?

Do you work by the hour, job, or how many balls you find?

Do you normally need a light or can you just feel for them?

Do you drag a net bag with you to put them in?:boom:

I hate to have to tell you, but you're going to be needing quite a bit more new gear if you want to go golf ball diving & still keep the skin on your body. Water traps are very nutrient rich from fertilizer runoff & will usually give you a nasty rash from all the wierd stuff growing in them.
Add a drysuit & full face mask to that list of gear, and a surface air supply wouldn't be a bad idea too, it'll save the trouble of lugging a half dozen tanks around with you. Tack on some training for the extra gear, though if you hook up with a good experienced buddy he can run you through the ropes.
Forget the lights, when the bottom gets stirred up they won't do any good anyway.
Normal operating procedure is to give the golf course a % of the balls you find. You'll have to negotiate so you get to keep as large a % as you can.
Don't forget the liability insurance, that can make the diffrerence in getting the "concession" or not.
You can make a scoop with long fingers to drag through the mud, about 1/2" spacing is good.
After you start finding bushels of balls you'll want to invest in a ball washer, it'll increase the $$ you get for the balls.

...and here are a few links.

http://www.travelgolf.com/departments/clubhouse/profiles/golf-ball-diver.htm

http://www.charleston.net/stories/062903/spo_29balls.shtml

http://www.tpc.com/daily/sawgrass/news/golf_ball_diver_discovers_hidden_treasures.html

http://www.scubadiving.com/feature/200211waterhazards/
and this thread...
http://www.scubaboard.com/t31518/s7c13978fefd375a9053c47cca9677440.html

That should give you some ideas, and get you started.

Watch the Cottonmouth's!

Do a search of this board. This topic was covered in depth just last month.

Brief synopisis.
1. You will need a contract with the golf course to dive for balls.
2. Golf Ball diving without a contract could result in your arrest for theft and/or tresspass.
3. Golf ball diving is conducted by feeling your way around in zero visibility in the muck, poisionous snakes, aligators etc.
4. The water is full of chemicals, pestisides, fertilizers, alge and bacteria.

If you need money to pay for your gear, try opening a boat cleaning business at the local marina. Scraping alge of the bottom of boats in their slips.

Well after reading those replys I am going to think twice about going diving for golf balls. I just really want to do something with diving to help me pay for the equipment. The idea about cleaning off the bottom of boats is good but I live too far inland for that. There are a couple of large freshwater lakes nearby. What are some services I could offer at freshwater lakes?

below_sea_level once bubbled...
What are some services I could offer at freshwater lakes?

Click to expand...

Search and recovery of items that clumsy/unlucky boat owners drop over the side comes to mind. Perhaps you could put up a flyer at some local marinas.