The no club left behind rule......

[Luchnia]

I left a wedge near a green in NC once, but was fortunate to realize it was missing before the end of the round and went back and checked the last three holes and found it. Since then, I do what some others do.

If I use a wedge for anything, it goes between the flag and the golf cart next to my putter cover where it is highly visible. I would have to fall over it to forget it now. Plus I check my bag on almost every hole while placing my clubs back after the hole is completed. Clubs are too expensive to make a mistake and leave them somewhere.

 

[RetiredBoomer]

Yeah, the 14 way bag makes this easy. I can tell at a glance if anything is missing. The push cart helps greatly, too. I usually just push it up next to the green on my exit path to the next green. I can put everything back and just take my putter with me and attach the headcover to one of my wedges.

I agree. Individual dividers make a left behind club instantly noticed.
Your bag looks exactly the same all the time, and if it is different, you notice immediately.
I couldn't do without them anymore.

I remember leaving behind and permanently losing one club in decades of playing golf.
The fact that I remember it, though, indicates how upsetting it was.

 

[Scorp]

I've nearly always found the owner of clubs left behind in the group in front of me... or in my group.

Is it right that the club should be able to sell the used clubs that are turned in and not claimed? If they had a system to return the club to the finder if it wasn't claimed in a reasonable amount of time, then I'd say turning it in would be the way to go. Not sure I've heard of such a system anywhere I've been.

I get what you're saying... why should the course get to profit off of someone's loss. I can't say for sure but... I know the supposed club isn't mine so I'm not going to deal with it beyond an attempt to find its owner and then hand it to the pro shop saying where I found it.

Maybe the pro shop will let you leave information with the club in case no one claims it you can get it?

 

[Badger_Golfer]

Ive left a few clubs on the course, usually its always a wedge. I grab a wedge and a putter to save time and save walking, lay the wedge down and forget about it. I left a brand new Mizuno wedge on the green one time and surprise, surprise; no one ever turned it in and no one behind claimed to have seen it.
Whenever I find a club, I always either ask the group ahead if they lost a club or at least turn it in to the clubhouse at the end of the round.

 

[InTheRough]

This is why I'm seriously thinking about personalizing my wedges. You know with super girly stuff and my initials so that no guy would be caught dead carrying them. They'd unload it in the pro shop immediately.

Note: I always return stuff I find on the course. Always. My stuff never seems to find its way back to the pro shop unless it's something that sucks.

 

[scott.french3]

I haven't done it. But, one of my sons borrowed a backup set and one of the irons went MIA during the round. At least, it was a backup set.

 

[OGputtnfool]

I get what you're saying... why should the course get to profit off of someone's loss. I can't say for sure but... I know the supposed club isn't mine so I'm not going to deal with it beyond an attempt to find its owner and then hand it to the pro shop saying where I found it.

Maybe the pro shop will let you leave information with the club in case no one claims it you can get it?

... and what incentive would they have to do that when they can profit off of it?

 

[Maric]

I used to leave clubs all over the place, luckily there were always turned in to the Pro Shop, probably because they were women's clubs and the guys didn't want them. Now when I take more than my putter a bring a bright yellow club rag with me. I put it with the clubs, when you glace back at the green the yellow rag really stands out. Haven't left one since I started doing this.

 

[djt311]

I have definitely left clubs behind but always recognized it pretty quickly. Luckily I have always gotten them back. I have also found my fair share and always have turned them in.

 

[JonMA1]

I can only remember leaving one and it was picked up by the group behind me. I've found probably a dozen or so clubs or head covers, and even a wallet. I kept them all.




Just kidding, they are always turned it or returned when they drive back looking for it. With the wallet, I had to run to catch up to the twosome in front as I was walking and they were in a cart. I just didn't want someone else's wallet in my golf bag.

I make a point of leaving the wedge in my path back

I do the same thing. My memory can no longer be trusted.

 

[OGputtnfool]

With the wallet, I had to run to catch up to the twosome in front as I was walking and they were in a cart. I just didn't want someone else's wallet in my golf bag.

I have driven miles to return a other people's property that had identifying information and an address on it. Definitely makes it easy when all the info is there.

 

[BlueHen2006]

Left an iron on a par 3 during a member guest years ago and luckily the group behind us yelled before we got to the next tee box. Karma almost got me as the next hole I needed that iron on my approach shot. Made par and we ended up getting 2nd place in our flight. Ended up buying him a drink that night.

 

[Sox_Fan]

Have only left behind a wedge(s) on a couple of times but always realized it on the next hole so they didn't have a chance to disappear. Have found plenty of clubs and always turned them in to the pro shop.

 

[Pantherhawk]

No story, but I have a pretty good system that has prevented me from forgetting a club in quite some time.

If I miss the green and am taking a wedge to the green, I don't take the headcover off my putter. Then, I make sure to leave my putter headcover with my wedges. That way, the act of putting the putter back in my bag will guarantee that I didn't leave a club behind.

 

[Scorp]

... and what incentive would they have to do that when they can profit off of it?

Incentive? The pro shops I've been in usually sell clubs. New.
the clubs I find laying around normally aren't.
Incentive? Dude, if you're that worried about it, take the club home with you. Place an ad on the bulletin board at the course and on social media you found the club. Game it until someone reclaims it.

@Pantherhawk that's a nice technique especially if you're used to using a putter cover... if you're like me that recently got one after having never used one before, it might not be as effective.

 

[Scorp]

I guess I'm honest to a fault... head covers, towels, clubs... I'll try to turn them into the pro shop. I haven't found a wallet or phone or keys... but I'd do the same with those.

ATM cards? Yep. 3 different times I've returned them. Twice when I went to a drive up ATM... the first time, the previous person was just leaving and I noticed their card in the slot... they forgot. I chased them down through the parking lot to return it to them.

The second time I found a card in the slot of a drive up ATM there was no one around. The bank was closed so I put the card in the slot. when prompted for a PIN I hit 0 4 times. I did this 3 times until the ATM kept the card. Was this right? To me it was. I wasn't trying to use it and I didn't want anyone else to use it either... and I knew the ATM would eat the card after 3 failed attempts... that's why I used 4 0's.

The last time was a walk up ATM outside of a bank. The previous person left their card in the slot. Again. I walked this one into the bank and gave it to a teller to take care of.

 

[vdubtx]

I have left club on fringe of green before, but it took me all of about 15 minutes to realize it when I was around green of next hole. Fortunately it was still there.

I have found quite a few clubs and always try to go ahead and find the players ahead of me. If cannot find them, they get turned in to club house.

 

[OGputtnfool]

Incentive? The pro shops I've been in usually sell clubs. New.
the clubs I find laying around normally aren't.
Incentive? Dude, if you're that worried about it, take the club home with you. Place an ad on the bulletin board at the course and on social media you found the club. Game it until someone reclaims it.

@Pantherhawk that's a nice technique especially if you're used to using a putter cover... if you're like me that recently got one after having never used one before, it might not be as effective.

The main course I play has a whole section of used stuff. I'm sure most of it has been traded in for credit toward new clubs, but it's odd when you see a random PW, 9i, etc. in the mix. Makes you wonder about where they got it... and all the other stuff, too, then.

 

[Scorp]

Yeah, good point. I don't worry about it too much though. I'll find it and turn it in... after that no biggie.

 

[OGputtnfool]

It's sort of like the questions I asked earlier that no one cared to answer. If you found $20 outside WalMart, would you take it to Customer Service to turn it in? Take it to the Police Department to turn it in?

 

[jdtox]

I'm usually pretty good about keeping track of my clubs but last year I lost a wedge. Realized it a couple holes later went back and of course nobody saw it. Called the course to no joy. People suck.

 

[BigMac]

I guess I'm honest to a fault... head covers, towels, clubs... I'll try to turn them into the pro shop. I haven't found a wallet or phone or keys... but I'd do the same with those.

ATM cards? Yep. 3 different times I've returned them. Twice when I went to a drive up ATM... the first time, the previous person was just leaving and I noticed their card in the slot... they forgot. I chased them down through the parking lot to return it to them.

The second time I found a card in the slot of a drive up ATM there was no one around. The bank was closed so I put the card in the slot. when prompted for a PIN I hit 0 4 times. I did this 3 times until the ATM kept the card. Was this right? To me it was. I wasn't trying to use it and I didn't want anyone else to use it either... and I knew the ATM would eat the card after 3 failed attempts... that's why I used 4 0's.

The last time was a walk up ATM outside of a bank. The previous person left their card in the slot. Again. I walked this one into the bank and gave it to a teller to take care of.

I'm in the 'honest to a fault' club also. I return anything I find on the course to the pro shop. It's not mine, somebody else is missing it, and I know the sh***y feeling of being ripped off, wouldn't do that to somebody else. If I kept somebody else's rangefinder, club, head cover, etc., I'd be reminded of what a scumbag I was every time I used it.

I've only had one ATM card incident like that - pulled up to a drive-up teller on my motorcycle years ago and it was displaying "select next transaction" - the previous person had left their card in the machine and it was still logged in. I was wearing a full-face helmet and a non-descript black jacket, would have been easy to withdraw a few hundred dollars and ride off happily ever after. Instead I hit "Cancel", retrieved the card when it spit it out, and went inside the bank to turn it in.

Honesty is about doing the right thing even when nobody is looking.

 

[OGputtnfool]

For those who claim to return everything they find on the course that is not theirs, does the value of the item matter? Would it matter if it was a Muira 8i or a Northwestern PW?

 

[Scorp]

For those who claim to return everything they find on the course that is not theirs, does the value of the item matter? Would it matter if it was a Muira 8i or a Northwestern PW?

Personally, it cound be a Honma Berea $5,000 dollar driver... that's something I'd probably hit social media looking for the owner and notify the pro shop that the club is in my possession... I'd do the same thing if it was a lefty one of a kind Scotty Cameron whatever high dollar putter with Phil Mickelson's name engraved on it... I would hopefully recognize the value of the club and try to find the owner... it's not mine. I'd figure the owner knows it's missing... and would appreciate it's return.

Something like a Vokey SM8, going to the pro shop.


The other week, I'm heading out to my car and I see an ID badge laying on the ground in a parking lot. I recognize it for what it is and know it controls access to logging into a network. It's not something that should be left unattended. I picked it up and hesitated in my decision... do I take it home and read the card for its assigned owner, or hand it over to help desk personnel... that the card owner may or may not have access to regain possession of their card. (Separate buildings all across campus.)

I put the card in my pocket because, honestly I didn't want to walk across the parking lot to another building. As I'm in my car and plugging in my phone for my ride home, I see a person come back to the parking lot out of the corner of my eye... I see them go through their car and appear to be looking for something.

I pulled my car up and rolled my window down... "you look like you might have lost something..." "I lost an ID card... description is this..."
I hand it to him out the window. He was very appreciative.

I'd like to think I'd do the same thing for anything like what would normally be found on a golf course... now, a suitcase of cash left in a field surrounded by dead bodies? I'm leaving that... or a bag of cash that fell out of an armored truck? I'm probably giving that back too.

Bad karma's not worth it. Besides, I wasn't raised that way.

 

[BigMac]

Personally, it cound be a Honma Berea $5,000 dollar driver... that's something I'd probably hit social media looking for the owner and notify the pro shop that the club is in my possession... I'd do the same thing if it was a lefty one of a kind Scotty Cameron whatever high dollar putter with Phil Mickelson's name engraved on it... I would hopefully recognize the value of the club and try to find the owner... it's not mine. I'd figure the owner knows it's missing... and would appreciate it's return.

And right there is the bottom line - IT'S NOT MINE. It doesn't matter what the value is, or what the circumstances are that caused it to come into my possession. I don't own it, somebody else does, and they would appreciate its return. And it's the right thing to do, and I'd hope that somebody else would be honest enough to do the same thing if I was on the other end of the stick (despite how generally jaded I am about human nature). I'm not a big fan of situational ethics - if it's wrong it's wrong, no matter what kind of mental gymnastics one might try to do to justify it.

If it's a high-dollar club with collector value, they probably paid a lot of money for it. If it's a 40-year old department store box set club, maybe it was handed down to them from their dad and has tremendous sentimental value and they'd be heartbroken to lose it. Or maybe it's all they can afford to play golf and they'll miss having that club and can't easily afford to replace it. Or maybe it's none of the above. Regardless, IT'S NOT MINE. If I want a high-dollar club, I'll save up until I can afford it and buy one myself. If I want a cheap box store starter set club, I'll buy one from a yard sale or on eBay or whatever.

Under the glass on my desk at work, I had a piece of paper that said "Do the right thing for the right reason". It was there in plain sight, both as a constant reminder to me and also in the hopes that others would call me out on it if I made a decision that wasn't in keeping with it.