Ball stolen by a Jackass!

Just wanna rant off...

Played NSRCC today afternoon. Had a decent rd going and it was the last hole of the Navy course, a Par 5 heading back to clubhouse. Teed off with my ball, a ProV1x, and ball had a very slight fade which landed in the right rough(still on my side of the fairway, not the opp hole rough)which was also witnessed by my flight mates. Proceeded to drive to my ball and saw a guy fr the opp Navy hole 1(playing the evening 9 holes) standing somewhere over the position of my ball and quickly took a swipe at the ball. As I neared my ball position, I was not able to find any ball there at all. I asked the guy wat was the ball he had hit, and he said it was a Wilson ball. So I proceeded to look all ard but could only find a Ultra ball near to where my ball had landed. I walked back and asked the guy once more if it was my ball he had hit, and he firmly said No. I was pretty pissed at losing the ball and was just short of getting the guy to dig out his bloody pockets and show me which ball he had played! Argh! Ended up dropping another ball and play my 4th shot instead of going back to re-tee as there was another flight coming. Ended up with a stupid Triple Bogey when all I needed was Double Bogey or less to play below 80, smth I hadn't played to in a while...damn the jackass! 

Wat would u guys have done in this kind of scenario? Oh, and did I mention i lost the Skin for the hole as well. 

Sorry for the loh soh post.............

No point crying over spilled milk now.

I would have challenged the joker to empty his pocket, especially with bets and personal target on the line.

Too many of such jackass around..

Well Asahi, it being the last hole, it really left a freaking bad taste in my mouth. Apparently this Navy hole 9 & hole 1 are quite notorious for such "thiefs". So guys who play NSRCC often, do take note here and always do some form of markings on your ball.

Wilson ball? Mine is a Wilson as well! Can i just check to make sure you are not hitting my Wilson accidentally?

Thats my response

Happened to me before. Ball was picked up by an old man. He denied picking my ball and when I asked to see his ball, he showed me my ball from his pocket.

I've had my fair share of 'ball theft' in the past and hence, I decided to mark or rather draw very distinct and big markings all over my ball, so much so that those idiots wouldn't dare claim it's theirs.... and I haven't had a single ball stolen ever since..... :-P

s-killer wrote:

Wilson ball? Mine is a Wilson as well! Can i just check to make sure you are not hitting my Wilson accidentally?

Thats my response

 Now this is quick thinking on ur feet! I kept thinking Prov1 and when he said Wilson, I juz assumed so! I'll keep this "style" in mind for future reference. Hahaha!

2008 wrote:

Happened to me before. Ball was picked up by an old man. He denied picking my ball and when I asked to see his ball, he showed me my ball from his pocket.

 Wah Lao eh bro 2008! I would have shafted the ball up his bloody ass man! How dare he say No and then got the cheek to still take the ball out from his pocket! I thot Golf is supposed to be a Gentleman's game of Ethics?! 

Guess ethics dun apply in this part of the world...

Had an encounter at kranji last year as well, at the 13th par 4 which shares fairways with par 5 6th hole. hooked my drive slightly and it landed in the second bunker. As i was driving to the ball, buggy from 6th hole went to the second bunker and loitered around. When I reached, there as no ball in the bunker but some footprints.shouted after the buggy and asked if he took my ball, that bugger didn't even say sorry and just took my ball out of his pocket and tossed it back to me.

Happened to me too... but he returned it later.

Well sometimes when my ball ended up in the borrowing fairway, I drive over and I can actually see the jackass just pick up my ball and drove off. What I do I just drop a ball and treat the Lynx cat ball as a free gift lo.. Because last time if I do get angry and pissed, my putt will be 3 and game over...
As for ball dropping to rough, even shallow rough also can makan the ball... My OC and I were sure that our balls went straight and landed probably rolled a while to rough. It not those lalang type of rough. Went over and yet I cannot find my ball, and I was about to confront the flight opposite hitting balls nearing my ball area. Luckily OC spotted the ball and mentioned it was just right in front of me!

I am very curious if let say he show you the ball and it indeed belongs to you with the marking and he still denied saying it his then how??

i never pick stray balls on the golf course

even if its a expensive ball

Cos next hole sure will buang.. what comes ard goes ard

Bogeyman..

If I'm your flight mate I would have given u a free drop and take your 2nd from there..

chien wrote:

Bogeyman..

If I'm your flight mate I would have given u a free drop and take your 2nd from there..

Same here. Especially given the circumstances, I'd have let it slide. 

But now that we know that you can play a sub-80 score... hmmm

Edited

I think we've played golf long enough to know how common this scenario is.

We can't control the other guy hitting or picking up our ball and thereafter denying having done any of it.

If it's done, so be it. I let the momentary frustration wash over me, and then get back to what I came to the golf course for... to play golf.

After more then one such incident, I realised I can only control myself and what I do, so either I let what happened fester inside of me the whole round, thereby spoiling my game and day, not to mention how my flight mates will be affected too by my black mood and rantings (which by the way, I realised is just as inconsiderate). Or I can choose to laugh it off as another story to tell and continue to enjoy the company of good friends and what's left of the golf.

I also realised that I can also prevent the other guy from hitting or taking my ball by keeping an eye on the ball position. And if he should approach where I think my ball is (helps if I've marked my ball more precisely by tracking its landing), then I call out to alert him. A polite but loud enough "Excuse me.." will usually make the other guy pause. If he should continue, I hold his attention by continuing to talk to him until my buggy reaches him and we both can visually verify which are our balls. Then there's no room for doubt or unhappiness either way.

Prevention is always better than a cure... cos most times in such circumstances, there is no cure.  

Works for me.  

What's with the invisible ink?  

That's the second secret agent in this thread.  

Agree with the others who stated that I would have give you a free drop in the area of where your ball was and possibly then hit by another member on the other hole.

Here is the ruling I would apply:

18-1. By Outside Agency

If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.
Note: It is a question of fact whether a ball has been moved by an outside agency.  In order to apply this rule, it must be known or virtually certain that an outside agency has moved the ball.  In the abscence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must play the ball as it lies or, if the ball is not found, proceed under Rule 27-1.

In this instance the "outside agency" would be the other player from the other group who came down and apparently hit your ball.  He might have denied it as he did not think he did, could be embarrassed, or for a number of other reasons.  The key words are "known or virtually certain", since you hit your ball in the vicinity of where this person then hit his shot, and then stated when asked that he was hitting a wilson (Ultra is a wilson ball, FYI, and you found that ball in proximity to where your ball was).  When you add that up it would be reasonable to assume he hit your ball and as such should be dropped without penalty as close to the spot as possible where that person presumably hit your ball.

(Sorry for the spy text....copy and paste does not work so well).

Just kidding Dan.

Thanks for a very useful ruling that will help all of us here the next time such a situation should arise.  

simon1982 wrote:

I am very curious if let say he show you the ball and it indeed belongs to you with the marking and he still denied saying it his then how??

 Wah, I think if this is the case, the bugger is really asking for trouble. U never know who u might meet in the golf course. The guy whose ball u picked up might be some Yakuza head! Whahahaha

I have been on the opposite side before. I hit a slice to the other fairway and after hitting my ball, the oncoming flight came and accuse me of hitting his ball. Call me gian peng etc. tiok wrongly accuse also sibei sians...