Be able to dive blindly without the use of a compass or lighting.
Expect to be diving in low/no visibility conditions after the 1st time you touch the bottom and kick up the silt. Most courses don't have enough water flow to whisk it away, it's not like the ocean. So groping for golf balls is more likely - not diving.
And there's the poisonous snakes - and gators as mentioned in the south. Not to mention a snapping turtle that can take a nice chunk out of whatever touches it. IDK about where you live but in SoFl we used to always see large toothed eels in the course ponds. And we used to fish in them so there's likely a lot of clear monofilament line in some of them - a linecutter is a must in addition to at least one knife. Once you've gotten tangled up in something underwater you'll understand the need for multiple cutting devices that you can reach with either hand.
And possibly barbed wire, old fencing, dead trees or who knows what else left over (or later thrown into) from when they dug the pond. So you'll need to carry a way to cut yourself free from it. And be able to without panic as it will likely only be you diving. Having a friend watching from shore isn't an answer either as they can't see underwater to determine if you're OK.
Plus you really should be a
certified solo diver before you even attempt it. What you don't know now can kill you very quickly.
Did I mention the silting? It also clogs regulator 1st stages unexpectedly.
Be able to dive in water in poor conditions normally under 30' depth for long periods.
And lots of algae unless they use as chemical herbicide - most do - to control it. So you'll need a full- suit with skin protection unless you want to dive in a chemical soup. Also it's not for a
new diver in any way shape or form. It's cold, dirty, dangerous work.
Check with the groundskeeping staff in your area, likely most of them have contracts with someone already. We have a golf ball dive company here locally, they contract with multiple courses to provide golf ball retrieval services all over town. How many courses are within travel distance of your location that don't already have someone else? About the only way you're possibly going to compete with them is price. And realistically who is going to sign a contract with a 17yr. old for professional services...
Also you're going to need a large, expensive insurance policy to indemnify the course owner(s) against your accidental death or injury.
I watched a guy do it once here on a course, he had sort of a long power rake which he used around the edges but as soon as he walked into the water, the pond turned basically an opaque shade of dirty brown. Not my idea of a dive environment. I moved on (was playing a round) so didn't get to see him actually dive in it. Even here where the water was probably 85
o at the time he was wearing a full 7MM wetsuit because the long exposure time in the water is chilling. In 100+
o air temperature at the time - that couldn't have been much fun either. What's the water temperature in RI ponds? 60's, 70's?
Really, look for something else. We don't want to read about you in the Accidents and Incidents forum...
Sorry if this harshes on your dream but you need to understand the reality of it, not what's on a glossed-over website ad. There's probably a couple of golf ball divers here on SB, maybe contact them for details. Doing a search should turn up some leads, this has been discussed here previously.
If you're looking to off-set the cost of buying gear see if you can work in a local dive shop. I have a buddy who initially offered to do anything around one of ours - including clean-up and tank monkey. They liked him, hired him part-time, he now sells on commission, gets to DM (he got the training at a discount also - IIRC free classes but he had to buy the materials) on weekend trips and gets a discount on a lot of what he buys. Doesn't make a fortune but it helps. He'd also been a certified diver for about 5 years and their customer for most of it.
He also has gotten to go on local trips for free since he works them. On boat trips that mostly means loading/unloading customer's gear - and lots of tanks - at the boat. Most of the diving here is in SoCal or Mexico where the boat provides a DM so he gets to dive also. He also pays his share of the room/food costs. His diving is free afaik since they often fill the boat on a private charter. Many boat operators will give you a free spot above about 10-12 paying customers.
