[Tribas4u]

I know and hear that many will search and search to find their ball,but is it really worth it?


Garland golfer dies after fall on Richardson course


A 61-year-old man was fatally injured Friday after falling over an embankment while trying to retrieve his golf ball at Sherrill Park Golf Course, police said.

The man was identified as William Michael Grant of Garland.

Sgt. Kevin Perlich said Grant was playing in a golf tournament when he overshot a green.

Police said Grant was trying to get the stray ball when witnesses saw him slip and fall about 10 feet.

An ambulance was called for him about 4:15 p.m., and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Perlich said it appeared that Grant broke his neck, but that had not been confirmed by the medical examiner's office.

[MadMark]

Well I have retrieved balls (using a golf club) on a few occasions that were ill advised. One rewarded me with a dose of poison oak. Another one a bull snake bite. I have stepped into animal burrows, and tweaked an ankle a few times while walking off the fairway looking for a ball. Kind of learned a few good lessons with those mis-adventures. Any more I won't spend much time , or energy searching/retrieving golf balls. I'd just as soon take the penalty, and put a new ball into play.

[Muhabsssa]

One advantage of playing cheap balls. If I can't find it quickly and easily, I'll take the penalty.

[anconueys]

Holy carp, Sherrill Park isn't a very hilly course.

He must have been either feeble or clumsy...

[hLabXZlK]

I climbed a 10 foot fence to get a golf ball yesterday. It was only a top flite.

[Kimeoffessyr]

Out here in the desert, you learn quickly that retrieving a golf ball can be very costly. I stuck my hand into a "cat's claw" bush not long ago only to find out that extracting said hand required me to bleed from lots of little pricks. The "cat's claw" is aptly named.

If I find them close at hand, I will step into the desert to get them, but not far.

[RilmAlime67]

I don't get too bent out of shape with retrieving balls. Bodily harm or death isn't worth a $2 piece of Surlyn

[esconsise]

If I can't find the ball right away I will take the penalty.

Holy carp, Sherrill Park isn't a very hilly course.

He must have been either feeble or clumsy...

It does not take much of a fall to really mess oneself up. Twice I have fallen and both times the results were not good at all. One was on a construction site I was in charge of fell over a concrete curb and twisted my knee really bad (within hour it was swollen the size of a basketball). Another time I was on a start-up at a paper mill working late at night and fell only a couple feet landed just right to shattered vertebrates 6 and 7 doctors told me I was one of the luckiest people they had ever seen. By the way both times I was much younger than now and in great shape so it does not take much just a miss step and fall just right and you can die.

[chppjdf]

I was paired up with a couple of guys in a tournament and on the 3rd hole one of them hits his approach shot into the middle of a pond - he walks over and starts searching near the edge of the pond. Sympathetically - we all tell him there is no way he is going to find the ball - its smack in the middle of the pond a good 15 feet away.

Obviously we have no idea what we are talking about so he proceeds to climb down these big rocks that lead to the water and next thing we hear is this guy scream as he lost his balance and landed in the pond - I look over and he is in up to his ‘family jewels’ in water Not so sympathetically we all laughed our butts off as well helped him back to dry land.

[Kimeoffessyr]

I was playing with a buddy who parked his two-wheel cart next to the lake while he retrieved a ball. Next thing we knew, his bag, trolley and all splashed in and started floating away. He was in knee deep before he could grab it. He didn't think it was as funny as I did.

[tactWeiccaf]

Your stories are amusing because no one was seriously hurt. I feel very badly for that poor man in TX. Part of me says that at least he died doing something he loves and then I think of his family. How sad.

[Styparty]

I remember this one from a few years ago:
FOXNews.com - Man Survives Alligator Attack on Florida Golf Course - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

Man Survives Alligator Attack on Florida Golf Course

VENICE, Fla. — A Tennessee man survived an attack by an alligator while retrieving a golf ball at a Florida golf course Monday.

Bruce Burger, of Lenore City, Tenn., reached into a pond at the sixth hole of Lake Venice Golf Club Monday afternoon when the alligator apparently grabbed his right forearm Course Manager Rod Parry told FOXNews.com.

“He didn’t see the gator,” Parry said. “Obviously, the gator reacted to what he probably thought was some kind of food.”

The alligator latched onto Burger's right forearm and pulled him in the pond, said Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He used his left arm to beat on the reptile until it freed him.

Parry said the man reportedly called for help and a lady came, got in his golf cart and took him to the clubhouse.

"I saw him reach down to get his ball and he yelled ... 'Help. Help. I've been bitten by a gator,"' said Janet Pallo, who was playing the fifth hole and ran over to take the man to the clubhouse.

A compress was held directly on Burger’s wound until paramedics arrived.

Burger had puncture wounds on his right forearm as well as a strained groin from the attack. Parry said when medical personnel arrived, Burger was placed on a gurney and transported to a local hospital.

"We hope he’s doing pretty well,” he told FOXNews.com.

Morse said the gator measured 10 feet, 11 inches.

Parry said it took officers around an hour and 20 minutes to bait the gator before taking him away. He was unsure if the gator was one-eyed, but did say he was told it was blind in one eye.

Parry said course employees recalled another time when a golfer had been attacked on the course. The golfer’s shoe was punctured when an alligator bit his foot while retrieving a ball at the same pond where Burger was bitten.

The pond at the sixth hole has a "Beware of Alligator" sign posted because the staff is aware that a large alligator likes to hang out there.

"Unfortunately, that's part of Florida," Parry said. "There's wildlife in these ponds." And there are plenty of stories of golfers drowning in water hazards.

[tactWeiccaf]

And there are plenty of stories of golfers drowning in water hazards.

How do you drown in a water hazard? I mean - wouldn't your friends help you out if you were stupid enough to go all the way in. It isn't as though you'll get caught in an undertow or riptide - well I suppose you could if you were playing a links course. Did they drown in the ocean? Or was it a pond on an inland course?

[repldoinfo]

How do you drown in a water hazard? I mean - wouldn't your friends help you out if you were stupid enough to go all the way in. It isn't as though you'll get caught in an undertow or riptide - well I suppose you could if you were playing a links course. Did they drown in the ocean? Or was it a pond on an inland course?

Sadly there was a maintenance guy that drown in a water hazard that a friend of mine runs. It was early in the year and the ground was wet, his mower got to close, and in he went. I know a single is different than a group of buddies out for an afternoon, but depending on the situation it's possible.

[Styparty]

How do you drown in a water hazard? I mean - wouldn't your friends help you out if you were stupid enough to go all the way in. It isn't as though you'll get caught in an undertow or riptide - well I suppose you could if you were playing a links course. Did they drown in the ocean? Or was it a pond on an inland course?

Golfer Drowns In Water Hazard - Portland News Story - KPTV Portland

Official: Golfer had apparent heart attack - Golf - ESPN

Golfer has heart attack, drowns in club pond | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET

Woman, 71, Drowns in Golf Cart Accident - Los Angeles Times

Sports | Football Player Drowns At Golf Course | Seattle Times Newspaper

[tactWeiccaf]

So it's really not about stupidity for the most part. These people had medical conditions. That makes more sense.

[seosoftseo]

I will spend about 20 seconds looking for a ball, I play cheap ones & don't care if I lose an entire dozen.

[Brutton]

I will spend 30 seconds looking. If its a tournament and my score means something I may spend a little longer - but not much.

If people are looking for their lost golf balls for a long time (more than a few minutes), simply because of the cost, then they should hit less expensive golf balls. Just my 2 cents.

[Spisivavona]

Thats why I play cheap golfballs. If I lose one, no biggie.

[77rexulceme]

I play some premium golf balls and won't even go into the woods to look for 'em because I don't want to get Lyme's Disease. Some people are just funny that way. My father in law goes crazy when he can't find his tee after his drive. I constantly remind him that my club gives them away for free.