Helping each other locate and look for balls

[rollin]

Firstly let me point out that I almost always golf as a single and am paired with strangers most the time.
I'm always trying to keep eyes on all the balls in the group. Always help locate them as we walk or ride up the holes. Unfortunately I'm not a good tracker at all and usually need more help than others. But always help all I can to locate the others balls unless we are on completely different sides of the hole and just too far apart. But even if I know my ball is further up and a good idea where it is and another persons ball is on the other side I then walk on over as well to help anyway. I think it saves time, I think its good etiquette, and the friendly thing to do.

Only when a person loosing a ball is one of whom will look far too long is when I get aggravated with the whole thing. But aside from that I find (as a single) that most people do help each other as we move along and when practical to do so. I also find that not as many but enough people will go out of their way to help others for the sake of saving time and for sake of being helpful. I also found some people really are very good at it and they know it and they then purposely help all the others a ton.

But every so often I get paired with individual or two or even on rare occasion all three others who just don't bother. Just go off to their balls never ever bothering to help even when very practical to do so. Even when they know exactly where their balls are and are also further up and on the same side they still don't even bother to make the smallest effort to assist. I find that rude, disrespectful, and a bummer. How many times I have found balls for others and it has helped lead to better pace as well as a feeling of enjoyable company. But again , there are those who just don't bother or care and I have even gone to help those people after they offered me no help at all and then still even after helping them they still don't bother to help the next time I need it.

How about you? Are you one to help? Will you go out of your way to help when time allows and/or when practical to do so? Or are you guilty of being one to not be bothered?

 

[wadesworld]

I will always help.

First, I always try to track the ball off the tee and point out reference points to them. However, like you, I'm getting older and have a hard time seeing the ball down in a lot of cases. I should probably wear my glasses on the course more often.

Next, it depends on our pace of play. If their ball is behind mine, I'll stop and help them look for theirs for a few minutes. If we don't find it, I'll announce "I'll go hit mine and come back." And that's what I do.

If my ball is close to even with theirs , I'll usually say, "Let me hit this and I'll help you look." And I'll hit quickly and then go help them search.

 

[jhstew1]

i will always help look, but I will admit if it starts happening on every hole it gets old quickly

 

[tequila4kapp]

I always help. I also play as a single a lot, Rollin. I think that trains us to have eagle eyes because we are accustomed to not having any help finding our wayward shots.

 

[P.J.]

Always take the time to help my playing partners. I'm blessed to be generally one of the longer hitters in most groups so I typically hit last. Might as well help on my way to my ball.

 

[blugold]

I will help. But if people helping the search also need to conduct their own search, it can really bog down the pace

 

[rollin]

I will always help.

First, I always try to track the ball off the tee and point out reference points to them. However, like you, I'm getting older and have a hard time seeing the ball down in a lot of cases. I should probably wear my glasses on the course more often.

Next, it depends on our pace of play. If their ball is behind mine, I'll stop and help them look for theirs for a few minutes. If we don't find it, I'll announce "I'll go hit mine and come back." And that's what I do.

If my ball is close to even with theirs , I'll usually say, "Let me hit this and I'll help you look." And I'll hit quickly and then go help them search.

That's good imo you have good sense of etiquette and common courtesy towards your fellow golfers. I do very similar to you.

i will always help look, but I will admit if it starts happening on every hole it gets old quickly

If I am having a real bad/errant ball striking day where I am looking for too many and I know the people I'm playing with are the helpful type i'll always make a point or comment to say "don't worry guys, thanks, its ok, I'll just look for a minute and just drop one".
But if we are keeping pace or have to wait anyway then I find most will still help anyway even after I might say that.

I always help. I also play as a single a lot, Rollin. I think that trains us to have eagle eyes because we are accustomed to not having any help finding our wayward shots.

You would think so but I am that bad at it lol. I mean I do find others balls as I help. But I can see where my ball went, take notice of a certain greenery, shadow, bush, whatever and yet when I look down to put my club away I lose the darn target area and when I get there I cant find the darn thing. In fact its one the main reasons I use yellow balls. You cant find them any easier on the ground, but imo I can track them in the sky (in flight) easier. Although I just got a good deal on white ones and so now its back to white ones. But anyway what does help me is my range finder because I have a good idea of how far I hit my clubs and the range finder helps me more than anything aside from other people helping.

 

[Tadashi70]

If the pace of play is moving and we aren't holding people up, I help locate lost balls. I typically keep a good eye on wayward drives so I can find most golf balls with a few seconds.

I will say that as a single playing with a group of buddies, I would not be surprised if they did not help. I've run into this and have seen within my own group. Sometimes, after the 4th lost ball into a few holes, gets old.

 

[Hawk]

I try to keep a good eye from the teebox to avoid delays in the first place. Really hard this time of year though.

 

[rollin]

I will help. But if people helping the search also need to conduct their own search, it can really bog down the pace

Yea, it does require some practicality as to just when it can hurt rather than help. But for myself, I am not one to spend much time looking for my ball unless I have the time to do so. In fact i'll often look for other balls longer than my own. But in most cases if most people helped each other then imo I think it helps pace most of the time. As said earlier, its just that one person now and then who cant seem to let it go that causes the problem.

 

[Tywithay]

I like to try and help people find there ball any time I can. I also have a good eye for the ball in flight, so I will keep an eye on everyone's and try to give them a good idea where to look. What chaps my backside is the guys I play with will sometimes walk back to the cart to put there clubs up, or sit there talking, while I am hitting; rather than watching my ball. If I by chance don't get an eye on mine because I am trying to keep my head down, there's times I have no clue where it ends up. If they say something about me looking for my ball, I'll usually let them know by saying something like "well, it's tough when there's only one guy watching for it." If I am playing as a single and lose track, I won't look too long for it, I'll just drop and continue on, or hit another if I am pretty sure the first one is lost. Luckily, the courses I play don't put you with another group during the week. So, when I am alone I can basically take all the time in the world.

 

[rollin]

If the pace of play is moving and we aren't holding people up, I help locate lost balls. I typically keep a good eye on wayward drives so I can find most golf balls with a few seconds.
.

yea, I find it rather impressive when people have the knack for tracking balls and are quick to find them. I find it even more amazing when a group has a spotter and all four balls go astray and the spotter knows and finds every one of them rather quickly. that's pretty cool to me to be able to do that.

 

[Mash]

I always try help out. I have rounds where I miss fairways more often that I'd like to as well, and I appreciate it when people help me out, so why not do it yourself? I try to track the ball from the tee and then help search around the area I think it landed.

I have to say last week I stopped helping someone out after hole 12. He hit 9 drives, and 8 flew in the trees, on fairways that were pretty hard to miss. One drive was lucky and ricocheted back on to the fairway. Instead of clubbing down on his provisionals, he continued to hit his driver, often sending those tree bound as well. He also proceeded to try to hit his 3-wood to the greens from 200-250 out, a skill he clearly did not have, so again, we had to arrange a search party and move into the rough and woods. After twelve holes I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not a good golfer, so I try to avoid people having to search for my ball for 10 minutes on every hole by not hitting shots I don’t haven’t mastered. Even though I can’t tell other people how to play their game, I think I have the right to say I’ve had enough.

 

[Trout Bum]

I always try to help others find their ball if it's wayward unless mine has gone in another direction as well and I need to find mine.

 

[rollin]

I like to try and help people find there ball any time I can. I also have a good eye for the ball in flight, so I will keep an eye on everyone's and try to give them a good idea where to look. What chaps my backside is the guys I play with will sometimes walk back to the cart to put there clubs up, or sit there talking, while I am hitting; rather than watching my ball. If I by chance don't get an eye on mine because I am trying to keep my head down, there's times I have no clue where it ends up. If they say something about me looking for my ball, I'll usually let them know by saying something like "well, it's tough when there's only one guy watching for it." If I am playing as a single and lose track, I won't look too long for it, I'll just drop and continue on, or hit another if I am pretty sure the first one is lost. Luckily, the courses I play don't put you with another group during the week. So, when I am alone I can basically take all the time in the world.

yea I here ya, that's a bummer when you work to help track theirs and no one pays attention to yours
You may as well play by yourself

 

[Ole Gray]

How cool is it to help a guy find his balls. On a frosty morn it's not always that easy to do. Folks walking briskly and looking briefly at best for the lost creatures. All of a sudden Joe Stud finds his balls and :bomb:, the game is back on! It's like a kid on Christmas morning spotting that perfect present when a golfer finds his balls.

 

[rollin]

I always try help out. I have rounds where I miss fairways more often that I'd like to as well, and I appreciate it when people help me out, so why not do it yourself? I try to track the ball from the tee and then help search around the area I think it landed.

I have to say last week I stopped helping someone out after hole 12. He hit 9 drives, and 8 flew in the trees, on fairways that were pretty hard to miss. One drive was lucky and ricocheted back on to the fairway. Instead of clubbing down on his provisionals, he continued to hit his driver, often sending those tree bound as well. He also proceeded to try to hit his 3-wood to the greens from 200-250 out, a skill he clearly did not have, so again, we had to arrange a search party and move into the rough and woods. After twelve holes I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not a good golfer, so I try to avoid people having to search for my ball for 10 minutes on every hole by not hitting shots I don’t haven’t mastered. Even though I can’t tell other people how to play their game, I think I have the right to say I’ve had enough.

as said earlier, I will feel bad if having an errant day. I just wouldnt want to put anyone through that much searching that many times and will just say not to worry.

 

[tahoebum]

I always help. I have always had a knack for tracking and marking a ball, maybe because I couldn't afford to lose a ball the first 10 years I played golf. Luckily my regular playing buddies don't lose many balls. If we have a foursome it's unusual to look for more than 1 or 2 balls in 18 holes.

 

[Barberakb]

I almost always do. Especially if no one is waiting on us.

 

[KevvDogg]

I will always help to look. I usually keep a good eye off the tee, but sometimes once it lands it can be hard to spot, but I will always help others look for their ball.

 

[v.man]

I will always help to locate balls for my playing partners. If, however, it is my turn to hit, I'll do that first and then join in the search. There is one exception to the rule and I've learned this the hard way. During match play tournaments, I will generally not help look for a ball that belongs to one of the other players involved in their own match (I'll help my opponent usually as a courtesy unless he's been a douche). But, I have felt the wrath a couple of times from another person's opponent when I've found that person's ball, especially when he's gone on to win the hole. Now, I won't join in the search unless both parties request it.

 

[gizmo3putt]

I always help find the missing balls, even point out locations for other groups with wayward shots that I just happen to see head in our direction from other fairways.

 

[MacTS]

I always play with friends, and we always look out for each others golf balls...Including helping to find if necessary

 

[emart2173]

Pretty much everyone I usually play with helps others look for their balls. I do my best to watch each ball and help look. The only times I can remember not helping is if I'm walking and my ball is on opposite of the fairway/hole from someone else's ball and my ball needs to have a search party sent for.

I play some courses as a single and I don't recall ever playing with someone who wasn't helpful in looking for another person's ball.

I think its a little rude to completely ignore helping when your ball is findable and ahead of where the others are.

 

[ArmyGolf]

If I feel like I have a good reference point where somebody's ball is, and I already know where my ball is I will help look. If my ball is on the opposite side of the fairway as a potential lost ball I will usually go to my own and not help in that instance.
I play as a single a ton and rarely get help from others, but that's OK in my books and I actually prefer that they focus on their own ball than looking for mine.