I had a weird round of golf today.

[McNutt76]

But you always play so fast. So, a guy who plays fast, tees off without noticing someone on the hole ahead of him, hits a drive in the fairway, has a guy spring out and sprint out and grab the ball and get back out of sight before Sir Speedy gets in view of his ball and never notices? Yeah, that sounds way more plausible than that it wasn't as good a drive as you thought and ran out in to the rough. For you I mean. For everyone else, we'd have to accept that we lost the ball.

The guy wasn't playing golf and I didn't see him until I walked over the hill. He was walking in the rough with a plastic bag and I don't think he knew he had picked up a golfer's ball until he saw me. I would have confronted him about it, but I didn't think it was worth it. That ball had to finish in the fairway, by the way. It was 15 or 20 yards right of the left rough and was about 10 yards left of the right rough. It was drawing, but it would not have reached the left rough.

 

[kkott]

The guy wasn't playing golf and I didn't see him until I walked over the hill. He was walking in the rough with a plastic bag and I don't think he knew he had picked up a golfer's ball until he saw me. I would have confronted him about it, but I didn't think it was worth it. That ball had to finish in the fairway, by the way. It was 15 or 20 yards right of the left rough and was about 10 yards left of the right rough. It was drawing, but it would not have reached the left rough.

I hate to tell you, but folks that scavenge balls know better than to pick one up in the fairway. They know they are already on tenuous ground with golf courses and golfers and don't want to risk getting booted, so they generally wouldn't grab one from a fairway, unless there was no one on the course. You likely just missed it, but you believe what you want.

 

[McNutt76]

I hate to tell you, but folks that scavenge balls know better than to pick one up in the fairway. They know they are already on tenuous ground with golf courses and golfers and don't want to risk getting booted, so they generally wouldn't grab one from a fairway, unless there was no one on the course. You likely just missed it, but you believe what you want.

I believe I was the only golfer in the area at that time because I was at least four holes ahead of the group behind me. There was nobody ahead of me, by the way.

In my opinion, the guy didn't realize I was playing the hole because the hill blocked his view of me. Once he saw me, he transitioned from walking in the rough to walking in the out-of-bounds area.

It wasn't the first time I've seen somebody picking up golf balls on the course this year. Several weeks ago, a couple was taking what seemed like forever searching for a golf ball in a hazard on a par 5 hole. I finally decided to lay up short of the hazard with my second shot and hoped the couple would allow me to play through.

The man saw me when I got within about 50 yards of the couple and waved me on through. I put my shot on the green and he told me that he would rather look for balls than play golf when I walked past him.

I then happened to notice their riding cart was white and our club's golf carts are green. It also didn't have a golf bag on it. That's when I realized they obviously lived nearby and merely were looking for golf balls. I probably should have mentioned something to a staff member about it, but I decided to just finish my round and avoid causing controversy.

 

[kkott]

I believe I was the only golfer in the area at that time because I was at least four holes ahead of the group behind me. There was nobody ahead of me, by the way.

In my opinion, the guy didn't realize I was playing the hole because the hill blocked his view of me. Once he saw me, he transitioned from walking in the rough to walking in the out-of-bounds area.

It wasn't the first time I've seen somebody picking up golf balls on the course this year. Several weeks ago, a couple was taking what seemed like forever searching for a golf ball in a hazard on a par 5 hole. I finally decided to lay up short of the hazard with my second shot and hoped the couple would allow me to play through.

The man saw me when I got within about 50 yards of the couple and waved me on through. I put my shot on the green and he told me that he would rather look for balls than play golf when I walked past him.

I then happened to notice their riding cart was white and our club's golf carts are green. It also didn't have a golf bag on it. That's when I realized they obviously lived nearby and merely were looking for golf balls. I probably should have mentioned something to a staff member about it, but I decided to just finish my round and avoid causing controversy.

Again, I don't think anyone who scavenges golf balls is going to pick one up out of the fairway when people are playing. You said when he saw you he started walking OOB rather than in the rough, like that is some admission of guilt. He was being considerate and giving you room. If you saw him and were missing a ball, why not just ask: "hey, did you grab a ball from the fairway?"

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

I believe I was the only golfer in the area at that time because I was at least four holes ahead of the group behind me. There was nobody ahead of me, by the way.

In my opinion, the guy didn't realize I was playing the hole because the hill blocked his view of me. Once he saw me, he transitioned from walking in the rough to walking in the out-of-bounds area.

It wasn't the first time I've seen somebody picking up golf balls on the course this year. Several weeks ago, a couple was taking what seemed like forever searching for a golf ball in a hazard on a par 5 hole. I finally decided to lay up short of the hazard with my second shot and hoped the couple would allow me to play through.

The man saw me when I got within about 50 yards of the couple and waved me on through. I put my shot on the green and he told me that he would rather look for balls than play golf when I walked past him.

I then happened to notice their riding cart was white and our club's golf carts are green. It also didn't have a golf bag on it. That's when I realized they obviously lived nearby and merely were looking for golf balls. I probably should have mentioned something to a staff member about it, but I decided to just finish my round and avoid causing controversy.

WHEW! The Great Corona War of 2020 averted!