Golf Tip: How to find a lost golf ball, beginner's edition

This week’s golf tip is one that every single golfer needs from time to time: how to find a lost golf ball. These five basic keys can save you time – and shots – when you’re out on the course this season.

The focus of this week’s golf tip is one every player can relate to. A stray golf ball -and whether we can find it- is among one of the most stressful things we can have on a golf course. This is especially true when we are late in the round with a good score.

On the other hand, if you can find your lost golf ball quickly, not only can you avoid a penalty and save the money you would have used to buy a new ball, but it can also be a major mood booster for the rest of the round.

So, in this article, we will share five tips on finding a stray golf ball, some of them will also cover how we can avoid running into the problem in the first place. Let us begin.

1. Watch The Ball All The Way

This is one of the most common mistakes golfers make that often leads to losing the golf ball: when we are not satisfied with our shot, we often turn your sight immediately as your ball veers away right or left.

This is often an automatic reaction, and of course, we have the right to be mad at our own performance. Yet, we should try to resist turning away, as losing sight of the ball means it will be even more difficult to locate it. So, don’t succumb to your emotion. More often than not during this situation, we suddenly remember the necessity to find the ball, but by then it’s far too late to pick up the ball’s flight.

If you can’t resist this bad habit of turning away from the ball after the swing, consider getting a caddie. At the very least, you can ask your friend or partner to help watch your ball as you are taking your swings. Keeping your anger and overall emotions in check will have its benefits for your overall game, so consider fixing this issue if you have it.

2. Get Help, and Give Help

We’ve touched this point briefly above: one of the best ways to keep your ball(s) in check is to get help from a partner, or a caddie. Hiring a caddie is one thing, it’s their job to watch and find your ball, among other responsibilities. Yet, unless you are always playing golf with a close friend, it can be difficult and often awkward to ask your fellow competitors to look for your ball.

Arguably, the best solution here is to first offer your help. Offer to watch for their ball flight, and even don’t hesitate to venture into the rough and help search for the ball. Think of this as an extra exercise. The key here is not to hope for a returned favor, but do this as a genuine act. Worst case scenario, you can make a new friend. If you do this right, it is highly likely that some of your fellow competitors will return the favor.

3. Be Realistic About Your Distance

More often than not, we lose the ball because we are putting too much focus on getting more distance, which can lead to us producing mis-hits. There can be many different factors that can cause this: your playing partners might have just got a nice distance from the tee, and your pride gets the better of you. Also, it’s quite often that we aim for more distance to chase the score.

Try to resist your emotion, and be realistic. Seeing your fellow competitors produce a good distance doesn’t necessarily mean you will need to do the same, only to run into more problems later in the round as you lose the ball. Acknowledge that there might be better players than you with better swings, and don’t be afraid to veer off a little to get the ball closer to the tee box.

Aim for consistency and accuracy instead of distance. Sometimes, a mis-hit can give the illusion of going further than it really is, so be careful with this.

4. Search The Ball Wisely

Even after you’ve followed all the above tips, there will always be occurrences where you lose the ball anyways. So, this tip will be about how to search your lost ball(s).

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First, remember the importance of following the ball’s flight until you can see where it lands. When you are searching the area where the ball came down, be sure to walk in several different directions (don’t forget to take your golf cart with you!). Searching just one way can often make it difficult to spot the ball, so move in one direction, and then go back the opposite way. This enables you to see the ball if it’s obscured by light, rock, or thick grass.

Next, avoid searching wildly. By searching wildly, you might make the ball even less visible by knocking the grass on top of it. Also, searching wildly can also result in the ball being moved, which means a penalty.

Actually, the best chance of finding an obscured ball is when someone walks over it, so carefully walk around the area.

5. Make Use of Various Tools, Equipment, or High-Visibility Balls

Thanks to technology, there are various tools and equipment that can prevent you from losing a golf ball ever again. There are various golf ball finder apps available for both iOS and Android. To help keep watch on the ball’s flight, there are sunglasses designed to filter light precisely, creating a sharp contrast to help you keep track of your ball during a flight.

Of course, there are also dedicated golf ball retriever, such as Callaway’s 15th Club Ball Retriever. While it won’t help to find your ball after you’ve lost it, it will give you an easier time in collecting your ball. Arguably, investing in great golf irons – Callaway Apex Irons for example – will also reduce the number of mis-hits and consequently the number of times you lose the golf ball.

Next: Fort Worth Invitational: Fantasy Golf Picks

Last but not least, if you lose your balls often, consider investing in high-visibility golf balls. There are many different brands available with various color selections from sky blue to bright green to flashy pink. While using colorful balls might earn you a scorn from your fellow golfers, it is worth considering so you can solely concentrate on the game.

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Golf Tip: How to find a lost golf ball, beginner’s edition

By Jordan Fuller | May 23, 2018