Diving for golf balls

[puckvirus]

We in the Seattle area have this place called Three Tree Point. Which evidently allot of people like to hit golf balls into the sound. A few divers wrote a few reviews on some websites explaining this intresting junk yard of a dive site. At one spot there is a sunk 10foot boat or so still attached to its trailer. Inside you'll find several hundred golf balls. These divers encourage any golf balls found at the site be placed in this boat. So they continue to pile uP.

 

[DiveGolfSki]

You know all those golf courses use chemicals on their properties. 99% of lawn chemicals have dirivitives from agent orange left over from vietnam in them. This is not myth but fact. All these chemicals eventually get washed into the golf course ponds by rain and nature. Most of chemicals that get into your system are absorbed through the skin, not by mouth like we might think.

LexingtonDiver,

I can vouch for the chemicals and the care required. BTW, those derivitives or specifically most of the chemicals from agent orange, are also in "Round UP".

 

[LexingtonDiver]

LexingtonDiver,

I can vouch for the chemicals and the care required. BTW, those derivitives or specifically most of the chemicals from agent orange, are also in "Round UP".

You are correct. I wrote several interesting papers on it last summer and back in the fall. It was amazing what I found out the further I researched. I can't believe it's legal to manufacturer, sale and use the stuff. It's not to hard to figure out why 50% of males and 33% of females in America will get cancer.....all points to the enviroment, hence H20, the common denominator among us all.

My neighbor recently signed up for chemical lawn treatments.....I gritted my teeth and smiled.

 

[DavidPT40]

You are correct. You know all those golf courses use chemicals on their properties. 99% of lawn chemicals have dirivitives from agent orange left over from vietnam in them.

Well as appealing as that sounds, I think I will have to pass.

I've been to a few seminars at college on different herbicides that cause cancer. The big one here in Kentucky is a chemical used corn fields. Very powerful stuff that causes male frogs to turn female.

 

[Firebrand]

There was an article in a scuba magazine (I can't remember which one) about golf ball diving. It stated that the golf ball diver had to have a tetanus shot at least once a year because of the high fertilizer concentrations in the stagnant ponds. Yes, the golf courses he recovered balls for required he sell the majority back to him at greatly discounted prices. However, he said if you don't mind having aligators swim in front of your mask, dealing with venomous reptiles and a seemingly endless amount of entanglements, golf ball hunting can be very rewarding. You might even be able to piece together a nice set of clubs if you're lucky!

My dad dove for golf balls once, but when he found himself face to face with an 8-foot aligator, he decided that golf ball recovery wasn't for him! (BTW, my dad was an instructor for many many years, and has the lowest SAC rate I've ever seen!)

 

[DiveGolfSki]

You are correct. I wrote several interesting papers on it last summer and back in the fall. It was amazing what I found out the further I researched. I can't believe it's legal to manufacturer, sale and use the stuff. It's not to hard to figure out why 50% of males and 33% of females in America will get cancer.....all points to the enviroment, hence H20, the common denominator among us all.

My neighbor recently signed up for chemical lawn treatments.....I gritted my teeth and smiled.

I don't want to hijack this thread but my brother-in-law is golf course builder/designer, GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendent Association) Class A member and they're starting to implement "low impact" fertilizer/weed control policies. Some grasses are genetically engineered to resist pests, weeds etc.

Without having to resort to sampling a pond's water before you dive in, maybe the best thing to do is dive with a dry suit (not to mention avoiding whatever else is in those waters).

As for your cancer stats ... stay away from my second hand cigar smoke on the golf course ... which I don't think is as cancerous as cigarettes....

 

[PhotoTJ]

I read that artical. Tried it a couple of times. Hated it.

There are much easier ways to make money diving, believe me.

 

[mike_s]

Now that's scarry. I don't think I would have the sense of mind to pickup
a golf ball under those conditions!

This wasn't in a pond, but on the jetties on a shore dive. It was on this past Saturday and the boat traffic was 'very thick'. They weren't directly overhead, but they also didn't seem to concern themselves with the dive flags that were out.

You get a twin diesel 50+ foot sport fisherman come by, you hear it pretty good. It sounds much closer than it is.

 

[Land Locked]

This wasn't in a pond, but on the jetties on a shore dive. It was on this past Saturday and the boat traffic was 'very thick'. They weren't directly overhead, but they also didn't seem to concern themselves with the dive flags that were out.

You get a twin diesel 50+ foot sport fisherman come by, you hear it pretty good. It sounds much closer than it is.

Had that happen to me in Key West, but I'll tell you right now I had my head
up till those diesels shut down and the anchor chain noise stopped. When we
surfaced we found out the captain had frantically tried to wave them off but
they still came right into the dive site.

 

[mattyshark]

just found this item. I did this job a couple of times back in the mid 90's in melbourne,australia, it was absolutly pitch black, I couldn't see a torch when I put it to my face, I just felt around and picked up balls and filled my catch bag, then surfaced and decantered into a wheel barrow( i got about a barrow full each time I did it) the depth was about 4 or 5 meters and bloody cold. one time I felt something run into my foot and in the pitch black that was a bit of a scare(proberly an eel).