GOLF BALL DIVER

[Adam Grose]

Welcome to Scubaboard. Do you have the PADI golf ball diver certification?

Stop it.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I did the PADI anchor pulling certification which permits me to be used by dive charter operators to safely pull up their anchor for free. What a bargain!

 

[DeputyDan]

It is my understanding that this really is quite dangerous due to Wildlife (gators or crocs depending on where you work) as well as chemical/pesticide runoffs.

No personal experience.

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida ...(lots of goof balls here, why dive for them)....good luck with your endeavor!

 

[DaveC]

Have done golf ball diving when I was younger and dumber. Never again.

 

[Ready4Launch]

Hello all! I have just recently found out about golf ball diving. My friend is a commercial diver and is interested in this specialty, but I have been searching online and haven't really found any big companies offering positions to divers. Has anyone done this? Do you just call the golf courses and develop a contract on your own or do you work under a company? I am well aware of what the job entails and am not worried about the labor or conditions. Thanks!!

Are you in Ventura or Santa Barbara County?

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

It is my understanding that this really is quite dangerous due to Wildlife (gators or crocs depending on where you work) as well as chemical/pesticide runoffs.

No personal experience.

Yup. There was an article about it that I read a couple years ago. There are health concerns due to chemicals and wildlife (you’ll want to take some shots).

It’s competitive. Divers have agreements with courses to dive their ponds, etc.

Poaching golf balls is a thing. Divers have shown up to “their” courses and found the bodies of water picked clean.

You have to recover a LOT of balls to make much money at it.

 

[Dominik_E]

There seems to be a lot more to golfball diving than I thought. The "need to find a lot of balls to break even" thing I figured...

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

There seems to be a lot more to golfball diving than I thought. The "need to find a lot of balls to break even" thing I figured...

I’m a golfer. Another thing to consider is that a LOT of balls...particularly those that end up in water hazards...are going to be budget and junk/XX-out (factory reject) balls. I would be surprised if more than one in ten recovered balls are worth much, from a resale value standpoint.

I’m not trying to discourage you. Just saying that I would not want that to be my only source of income.

Interesting read. Public waters are another option (west coast).

Teenage Diver Finds Tons Of Golf Balls Rotting Off California

 

[pauldw]

What It's Like To Be a Golf Ball Diver