We have all done it, yes you know what I mean; we have all ball hawked at one time or another. We walk along the edge of the woods, “keeping out of the sun”, searching for that elusive with white treasure. When spotted we excitedly drop our clubs and zip into the forest hoping it is a quality ball we can use at the next water hole. Alas, it is not and it goes into the shag bag. Now before you deny anything, stop and really think about it; have you ever searched for golf balls while walking the course?
I have stated before that the best ball hawker I ever saw was my friend Mike. I is a ball magnet and always ends up with more golf balls than when he started his round. It is amazing. However, Mike never, and I mean never, holds up play. He is quick and understands that finding these white treasures is secondary to playing golf. That is not the case all the time.
There are many times I have looked for golf balls, but unless it is in a tournament, I rarely take the allotted 5 minutes. It is a quick look and move on. I realize it can cause me some strokes, but I do not worry about that considering the amount of golf I play. Other players have found success looking for golf balls as well:
The biggest complaint about ball hawking is when people take time to hunt for balls when nothing is lost. I received several tweets indicating that players will stop at their lucky spots and hunt for golf balls because they can.
Well, my message to those treasure hunters is to stop! All their actions do is clog up the course, frustrate the players behind, and wreck the rhythm of their game. Unless you are searching for a ball in play, keep the ships moving. In less than 2 months, you will only have 2 minutes to look (not that they will follow that rule anyway). Slow play because of ball hawking is not appreciated by anyone!
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 
You may have a few loose balls rolling around in your trunk but if you hit one into the water, you will likely “lose” it.
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Thanks. Glad to see that someone reads the comments as well!
Cheers Jim
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I can honestly say I haven’t. I only pick them up when I/we have to search for a lost ball. I guess I have always been picky about which ball I play. Now I’m not above picking up other balls when I loose one and have to search for it, but I won’t take a step to look for them otherwise and usually give the ones I do find away. I do have a bucket in the garage with both found balls and balls that got too scuffed. I carry some around to hit into the trees when I have to wait on people in front of me sometimes. Or give them to friends when they don’t have another ball which happens a lot with a couple of them. But going ball shagging is not something I have ever been guilty of.
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Brian,
Well you are the first I think. I respect that and completely understand that ball hawking can slow play, but then that is not the time to ball hawk. I too am particular about the ball I play. I give 90% of the the balls I find to my friends; they do not care. I also have a bucket of used balls I give to my nephews or friends when then need some. Mostly, my balls wear out before I lose them, so they end up in my bucket as well. Have an awesome day.
Cheers Jim
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