Driving range wear? Do not hit your balls on our range!

[A.G._Crockett]

all this time I thought the biggest problem at the range was people TAKING balls and putting them in their bags

Jeff,
I thought about this other side of the coin at the beginning of the thread, and maybe it has been mentioned somewhere in the 6 pages.  I think we would all agree that taking range balls to play the course isn't acceptable, and for the life of me I can't see the difference in bringing your own balls to hit on their range.

Similar case: A guy pays the lower rate for walking, then hitches rides on a partner's cart between several holes.  He justifies this by saying the seat was there anyway, that it doesn't cost the course any more for his ass to be parked in it for a few green-to-tee rides, that he did it for "pace of play", and that he walked every actual golf hole.

While he is correct about the empty seat, the bottom line is that he is stealing services from the course, pure and simple.  You can't be a little bit pregnant or a little bit dead, and stealing only a little bit is still stealing.

Swing a weighted club, or buy some range balls.  Support the muni, and be glad they're still there and operating.  And if you decide to take your business elsewhere, don't be surprised if they, too, frown on stealing services.  Just sayin'...

[Keith OHalloran]

all this time I thought the biggest problem at the range was people TAKING balls and putting them in their bags

Jeff, we are talking about the striped ones at a muni, not the white Pro Vs! 

[Tim Martin]

Although there are many intriguing parts to this story the idea that Jerry at 52 needs to hit four(white ) personally owned balls in order not to hurt himself is pure gold. He can't stretch, swing a weighted club or do some exercise.....

[Brent Hutto]

Well Jim Furyk can't hit a putt with stepping up and pretending to be ready, then backing off, then stepping up again to really putt.

Keegan Bradley can't hit a shot with doing a backward/forward cha-cha-cha four or five times to sneak up on the ball.

Compared to those two highly-paid gentlemen, it's small wonder that Jerry can't hit his tee shot on the first hole withoput the safety blanket of having hit four range balls immediately beforehand. The modern version of golf raises these sorts of habits up on a pedestal as a necessary and even laudable "routine".

[Sam Morrow]

I'm gonna guess he told the course employees,  "I'm a man, I'm 52!"

[John Kavanaugh]

all this time I thought the biggest problem at the range was people TAKING balls and putting them in their bags

Jeff,
I thought about this other side of the coin at the beginning of the thread, and maybe it has been mentioned somewhere in the 6 pages.  I think we would all agree that taking range balls to play the course isn't acceptable, and for the life of me I can't see the difference in bringing your own balls to hit on their range.

Similar case: A guy pays the lower rate for walking, then hitches rides on a partner's cart between several holes.  He justifies this by saying the seat was there anyway, that it doesn't cost the course any more for his ass to be parked in it for a few green-to-tee rides, that he did it for "pace of play", and that he walked every actual golf hole.

While he is correct about the empty seat, the bottom line is that he is stealing services from the course, pure and simple.  You can't be a little bit pregnant or a little bit dead, and stealing only a little bit is still stealing.

Swing a weighted club, or buy some range balls.  Support the muni, and be glad they're still there and operating.  And if you decide to take your business elsewhere, don't be surprised if they, too, frown on stealing services.  Just sayin'...

Well, you've said it twice and crickets still abound.  No doubt that the "cart hop" is the number one act of thievery in golf.

In passing I recently asked an assistant pro about the practice and while he admitted that he knew who the culprits are he said that it would cost him his job if he confronted the culprits.

Note:  Next time I purchase personalized golf balls I am going to have "range" printed in black ink.  Just the thought of doogooders finding the ball and breaking into a sweat of self-flagellated rage will be worth the effort.

[Dan Herrmann]

There's a range near me that doesn't allow golfers to bring their golf bag to the practice area.   Reason - too many people were stealing their range balls and stuffing them in their bags.

[Brent Hutto]

At the risk of playing the holier-than-thou card...

On the rare occasions I have accepted a "hop on" ride in a cart I'm not paying for, I have stopped by the pro shop before leaving at the end of the day and settled up the cart fee. Unless of course a cart fee was already bundled in to my green fee.

On modern, spread-out courses where there are long or difficult walks between holes the greatest luxury in golf is not a caddie to carry my bag but another golfer with an empty seat in his cart. I can schlep my own bag and do my own thing without distraction from tee to green but then "hop on" for the handful of 1/2 mile rides between holes separated by housing or wetlands.

Of course doing so is a presumption on the good nature of the guy driving the cart. But I think my scintillating conversation and the general glow of well-being that people get from spending time in my presence is a fair reward...

[Neil Davis]

I feel like we've all been brilliantly trolled by this thread.  I mean, the OP can't be serious?  I don't necessarily think the act of hitting four balls is a capital offense, but it's the attempt afterwards to justify the actions that is so off-putting.  When confronted the OP should've apologized and realized what he was doing was wrong.  Interesting reflection on society, as I think generally most people think of little else besides themselves.

[noonan]

At the risk of playing the holier-than-thou card...

On the rare occasions I have accepted a "hop on" ride in a cart I'm not paying for, I have stopped by the pro shop before leaving at the end of the day and settled up the cart fee. Unless of course a cart fee was already bundled in to my green fee.

On modern, spread-out courses where there are long or difficult walks between holes the greatest luxury in golf is not a caddie to carry my bag but another golfer with an empty seat in his cart. I can schlep my own bag and do my own thing without distraction from tee to green but then "hop on" for the handful of 1/2 mile rides between holes separated by housing or wetlands.

Of course doing so is a presumption on the good nature of the guy driving the cart. But I think my scintillating conversation and the general glow of well-being that people get from spending time in my presence is a fair reward...

The conversation is priceless I am sure

Where I played the majority of my golf - the 4 ball warm up was just what we all did if pressed for time. There are 50 people I know who do this at the other muni.

I am surprised that hitting range balls left behind by another is considered ok in this group.

If I leave my ball on the rack at my lane when practicing when going to the restroom is it ok for you guys to use it?

Everyone here draws the line at liberties they are willing to take at a different point.

The muni's here all get their range balls from ponds. The buying of range balls must be a private club/no ponds course thing.

[John Kavanaugh]

Those balls were in the pond a long time to turn yellow.

[noonan]

Those balls were in the pond a long time to turn yellow.

Please reread the OP. They had never used yellow range balls in the last 40 years until this year. They always used old balls recovered from ponds before.

[Andrew Buck]

Well, since this thread just can't die I've felt compelled to jump back in several times, but thankfully JakaB has arrived to say what should be said in a more succinct way nearly every time.

[Brent Hutto]

Note:  Next time I purchase personalized golf balls I am going to have "range" printed in black ink.  Just the thought of doogooders finding the ball and breaking into a sweat of self-flagellated rage will be worth the effort.

I use balls that have "PRACTICE" printed on them because I can find them cheaper than regular retail ones. On a couple of occasions someone has arrived at my ball and before I can say that it's mine they'll say "This one's a range ball". Our club's range balls actually have the stripes and the word "RANGE" but I guess "PRACTICE" seems pretty close.

[John Kavanaugh]

Brent,

When you changed clubs did you purposely choose a club with the same three initials so you didn't have to buy new shirts?

[Jeff Fortson]

Note:  Next time I purchase personalized golf balls I am going to have "range" printed in black ink.  Just the thought of doogooders finding the ball and breaking into a sweat of self-flagellated rage will be worth the effort.

I use balls that have "PRACTICE" printed on them because I can find them cheaper than regular retail ones. On a couple of occasions someone has arrived at my ball and before I can say that it's mine they'll say "This one's a range ball". Our club's range balls actually have the stripes and the word "RANGE" but I guess "PRACTICE" seems pretty close.

Brent,

I used to buy "practice" ProV1's for practice rounds and casual rounds of golf to save the pearls for tournament play.  Take a Sharpee and put a big black line over the practice and claim you like a "cheater line".  Half the price for a cosmetic issue?  Yes, please.

[Brent Hutto]

Brent,

When you changed clubs did you purposely choose a club with the same three initials so you didn't have to buy new shirts?

Ouch. Busted. Should have figured I couldn't sneak that one by you.

Note:  Next time I purchase personalized golf balls I am going to have "range" printed in black ink.  Just the thought of doogooders finding the ball and breaking into a sweat of self-flagellated rage will be worth the effort.

I use balls that have "PRACTICE" printed on them because I can find them cheaper than regular retail ones. On a couple of occasions someone has arrived at my ball and before I can say that it's mine they'll say "This one's a range ball". Our club's range balls actually have the stripes and the word "RANGE" but I guess "PRACTICE" seems pretty close.

Brent,

I used to buy "practice" ProV1's for practice rounds and casual rounds of golf to save the pearls for tournament play.  Take a Sharpee and put a big black line over the practice and claim you like a "cheater line".  Half the price for a cosmetic issue?  Yes, please.

I know, right? And you gotta figure Titleist is still probably making a couple bucks a ball on the $30/dozen PRACTICE ones.

Going farther OT here...

I've always been pretty agnostic about golf ball brands and such. I know I like the urethane cover ones because they don't bounce over the green on my low-trajectory, spinless, wimpy iron shots. But I've generally stayed away from the Titleist because a 20-handicapper losing two or three $4 golf balls on a bad day is just ridiculous.

Then at last year's Dixie Cup event, Mike Young had some ProV1x's printed up with DIXIE CUP on them and I bought a dozen. Honest to goodness for some reason they were going 10-15 yards longer off my driver than the balls I had been using. I've never seen an actual, honest to goodness difference in distance from any ball. But I kept using them when I got back home and the difference was real.

So that's when I started getting the cheap(er) PRACTICE version. Maybe everybody has one certain ball out there that magically matches up with their swing and whatever unfitted, not Trackman (tm) optimized random driver they are using. Never thought I'd see a truly "longer" golf ball.

[Peter Pallotta]

Brent - that's my experience too. Over the course of a summer, I will try various brands (some budget and some not), and sometimes will even take the time to really try to 'match up' my swing speed and characteristics and wish-list with a given ball-as-advertised, e.g. a bridgestone e-6,s say, or a low compression wilson, or a few years ago the TM Penta (whcih I liked), or the old noodle or the gamer etc etc. Darn if i don't have to say that for several years now, it seems that on the rare time I buy a sleeve of ProV1s, they do indeed go further than anything else. I'm kind of cringing a little bit here...

[Jeff Fortson]

Chrome Soft. I made the change and loving it. Price point is a little lower too.

[Rob Marshall]

Jerry,
You were wrong. You know you were wrong. The guy at the club may have treated you poorly but that doesn't make you right. The analogy of a guy throwing his bowling ball half way down the lane is spot on.

A lot of BS goes on at private clubs but this thread is full of reasons I'm thankful that I an fortunate enough to have played at a private club for the last 25 years.

Laughable. The grass grows back. The dent in the lane is labor intensive to remove.

Laughable? Now you are just being a moron. The point was the guy told you not to do it and you did it anyway. Right in his face. If you told a guy not to throw this ball down the lane and the he did it anyway you would be pissed.  It's a rule. If you don't like it don't go back.

[noonan]

Jerry,
You were wrong. You know you were wrong. The guy at the club may have treated you poorly but that doesn't make you right. The analogy of a guy throwing his bowling ball half way down the lane is spot on.

A lot of BS goes on at private clubs but this thread is full of reasons I'm thankful that I an fortunate enough to have played at a private club for the last 25 years.

Laughable. The grass grows back. The dent in the lane is labor intensive to remove.

Laughable? Now you are just being a moron. The point was the guy told you not to do it and you did it anyway. Right in his face. If you told a guy not to throw this ball down the lane and the he did it anyway you would be pissed.  It's a rule. If you don't like it don't go back.

Just shows how little you know about bowling - and by your statement less about golf. Funny you get your panties in a wad and you have no idea what an ass the employee was. If I had an employee treat a good paying customer like that they would be fired on the spot.

[Andrew Bernstein]

Just shows how little you know about bowling - and by your statement less about golf. Funny you get your panties in a wad and you have no idea what an ass the employee was. If I had an employee treat a good paying customer like that they would be fired on the spot.

Isn't the whole point of this thread that you weren't a "good paying customer?"

[Rob Marshall]

Jerry,
You were wrong. You know you were wrong. The guy at the club may have treated you poorly but that doesn't make you right. The analogy of a guy throwing his bowling ball half way down the lane is spot on.

A lot of BS goes on at private clubs but this thread is full of reasons I'm thankful that I an fortunate enough to have played at a private club for the last 25 years.

Laughable. The grass grows back. The dent in the lane is labor intensive to remove.

Laughable? Now you are just being a moron. The point was the guy told you not to do it and you did it anyway. Right in his face. If you told a guy not to throw this ball down the lane and the he did it anyway you would be pissed.  It's a rule. If you don't like it don't go back.

Just shows how little you know about bowling - and by your statement less about golf. Funny you get your panties in a wad and you have no idea what an ass the employee was. If I had an employee treat a good paying customer like that they would be fired on the spot.

I've forgotten more than you know about golf. Bowling, you are correct. As a business owner, which I am. I would have complied with the employee and if I didn't like the way I was treated I would have gone to his manager.

Btw, what statement makes you think I know less about golf than the dead sport of smoking and drinking..... I mean bowling.

[noonan]

Bowling has very little pro tour and golf still has one. I would rather be in the bowling business than golf. Friday night at 6pm and it is 80 degrees and I am full - I am going better than that muni with the belligerent employee. I must be doing something right for my customers - I treat them with respect  - something I or my family have not been shown there the last 3 trips.

Again - your analogy sucks. The pro and his thinking sucks because the maintenance is done by the city.

I am over it and I will play elsewhere.

[Rob Marshall]

Bowling has very little pro tour and golf still has one. I would rather be in the bowling business than golf. Friday night at 6pm and it is 80 degrees and I am full - I am going better than that muni with the belligerent employee. I must be doing something right for my customers - I treat them with respect  - something I or my family have not been shown there the last 3 trips.

Again - your analogy sucks. The pro and his thinking sucks because the maintenance is done by the city.

I am over it and I will play elsewhere.

You still haven't answered my question and it wasn't my analogy but it was a good one.