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Yes I have some questions regarding golf ball diving. i apologize in advance if previous information has been posted regarding this subject. I have recently become very interested in doing this but I do not know what the "do's" and "dont's" are so to speak. I have a friend that is a diver as I am not a diver myself as of yet. I called a golf course the other day and asked them how they recovered their golf balls and they informed me that they have a company that has divers come out and do it. So basically my question is since golf balls are considered "free for all" does this mean I cannot recover any of them myself since they already have someone doing it for them and if so why not if they are anyones property who goes down and nabs em? I know courses probly require whoever recovers them to give the course a % of the loot but again can anyone just dive right in and do this without any hassle? Dont get me wrong I wouldnt just go dive right in without the course knowing what I was doing but was really just wondering if anyone can do it without much hassle from the course. Any information is much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
You will probably be diving on private property.Permision must be granted for you to go into the pond.
This can sometimes be classed as a commercial dive and depending on the area , you may be required to produce the proper commercial diving credentials.
You may be required to bid on the course or pay and admission fee in the hundreds of dollars per day with a split of the profit going to the course.
You may be able to subcontract with a commercial "balling operation"
Over the years I have had the opportunity many times to dive for the "white Gold". Have alo known many dive shops to "keep a float " with a steady harvesting on some courses.
Yep,the courses have finally found out that they are being ripped off of several thousand dollars a year by golf ball divers.
If you really enjoy going onto the course before sun-up ,diving in zero vis, risking your life in that cold pond or have no other source of income,talk to the golf course manager and reach an agreement on payment,sales etc.
Make sure you claim all the money you make with the feds as they want their cut too.
Our dive club contracted with a couple of golf courses for ball recovery and normally we did a 50/50 split on the balls. I have also done some privately for other courses for either asplit on the balls or for a fixed fee of .25 per ball which included both recovering and cleaning the balls.
Most courses have some kind of agreement in place with somebody and as indicated it is in most cases private property and you need to get permission. Most courses also have preferred times for you to dive and there are saftey issues to consider in addition to the diving ones as there are still balls flying around the course during daylight hours.
On the other hand, if you work with them they can be very accomodating providing a golf cart, a hose to rinse the ooze off you and the dive gear, etc. to help make things a little easier for you.
Ponds look great from the golf course but they are all mucky, smelly and zero vis. Wear a hood and gloves in addition to a full wet suit or dry suit and I personally like a full face mask. It also takes a certain degree of situational awareness to crawl around the bottom of the pond and cover it effectively in ooze that can be up to your elbows. You need to start with a light touch to collect balls near the top and then move down into the ooze. If it's "your" pond a thorough cleaning of the pond to remove the really old balls can pay off as future seraches will be quicker with nearly all the balls being marketable.
It also takes hours to do a good job and a diver who is very thorough will make big points with the management. I have on occassion gotton onto a closed course by diving a pond that had just been covered by the existing diver or company. Coming up with several hundred balls that a sloppy diver missed last week will get you invited back as the primary diver they use or invited to bid on any contract they may offer.
I think if you had enough courses to dive and did it five days a week, you could probably make a living at it. But then who would want to?
I've done some golf ball diving and here is what I can tell you about it.
Normally the course will have a contract or agreement of some kind with an individual or company. The diver either pays a flat fee or a percentage of the golf balls to the pro shop. Diving for golf balls without permission is considered theft since the course owns the water hazard and anything in it. If you can get permission most places will require you carry some insurance to protect them if you get injured.
Golf course water hazards are ZERO vis, the water is full of nasty chemicals from the fertilizer used on the course. They are full of grasses, weeds, crap thrown in including junk and things you would not believe. Most divers have rigged up various tools for the job. Picking them up by feeling your way along the bottom is only marginally effective.
If you do it make sure you use old wetsuits and equipment. It's going to get thrashed and stink when you are done.
I still do some diving for a local course, mainly repairs to their pumps and fountains but they pay me $100 an hour plus all the golf balls I can grab. In about 20 minutes I get a trash can full before I get bored. I sell them at flea markets and garage sales and make a few buck and I have enough practice balls to last me a lifetime.
Make sure you get permission and get a lot of diving experience before you start. Just because you have C-Card DOES NOT qualify you. You need training in low vis conditions, you need to be able to be very capable of correcting problems underwater including entangalment. You need your own gear and you need a capable buddy to back you up if you get in trouble.
The areticle in Rodels is a good one on the subject.
The highlights - you and get arrested for theft and/or trepass if you do not have an agreement with the course. The balls are not necessiarly free.
Divers die doing golf course diving.
Hazards include snakes (poisenous ones), gators, turtles and all the stuff in the water from chemicals to broken glass and worse.
Vis is zero.
This is a dollar industry and there is enough money in it to ensure that te parties with the legal rights to those balls will enforce them if they discover you doing unauthorized dives.
Funny this thread should come up. I was diving Casino Point on Catalina the other day and found a golf ball under a rock. Decided to video tape it for humor.
Locals here often hit golf balls into the ocean (a practice I have tried to discourage with little success). Perhaps you could try diving in the ocean!
Some very good responses on the hazards of diving for golf balls. One thing I wanted to add
The original poster commented -
"if they are anyones property who goes down and nabs em"
I assume this comment pertains to the idea of marine salvage of "he who find it / recovers it ....owns it"
On the broad issue of marine salvage. If a boat sinks, it remains the property of the owner or insurance company who took title off the boat upon payment of the policy. Ownership of your recovery is not automatic. You may collect a salvage fee fee for your successful endeavor. This may include ownership and it may not.
For example, a "go fast" boat sinks in 150 feet of water 2 miles off the coast. Boat owner gets paid by insurance company, insurance company now owns sunken vessel.
You find the boat and with lift bags bring it up. The boat may have an insured value of $500,000 and the insurance company may give you $100,000 for bringing it up and to port. In turn, they will sell the boat to recoup a portion of their payout or negotiate with the insured who may want to repair the boat for their use.
It is best to negotiate the terms prior to going down and getting it. These agreements are called "no cure,,,no pay" and spell out what you will get paid if you are successful. Obviousaly, if you dont succeed you get nothing.
It is a hollywood falsehood that if you recover something it is yours.
How about natural water hazards such as a creek that runs through the golf course? As far as I can remember the creek is public propery up to the high water mark. Does this mean you can collect balls there?
I'm just curious because a golf couse took all the balls we recovered from a small creek, several garbage cans full in about 2 hours. This isn't scuba diving related but if there was a lake on the course then that might be open.
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