How to Make a Golf Ball Retriever
By Bill Herrfeldt
Golf balls are expensive, some costing about $4 each, so you hate to lose them. A golf ball can end up in the water where the only way to retrieve it is either to wade out to where it's located or have a trusty ball retriever in your golf bag. Or it finds itself in the bushes and sometimes in a tree, where it would be handy to have a ball retriever instead of either shinnying up the tree or rooting around a thorny bush to find it. Golfers are loathe to spend money on such things as ball retrievers, but you can make one for only a few dollars.
Instructions
Difficulty: Easy
Find both the glue and the telescoping handle at a "dollar store." The telescoping handle is attached to a ceiling duster, and the head can either be easily removed or it can be broken or sawed off. Also, look for a tube of glue, ideally one containing an epoxy.
Go to a kitchen outlet store and buy a small tea strainer whose handle can be removed, exposing the wire or metal rod holding the strainer together.
Fill the hole of the telescoping handle with the glue, up to about an inch from the tip, then wipe the excess from the outside of the handle.
Put the wire or metal rod of the tea strainer inside the telescoping handle.
Allow about 24 hours for the glue to dry and the tea strainer to be permanently affixed to the telescoping handle.
Put your new ball retriever either in your golf bag with your clubs, or in a pocket if, when it is collapsed, it fits there.
Use your new ball retriever the next time your golf ball find its way into a shallow lake, trees or bushes. In fact, sometimes a golf ball find its way into the gutter of a roof, and you'll find that your new equipment will come in handy to get it back.
About The Author
Bill Herrfeldt specializes in finance, sports and the needs of retiring people, and has been published in the national edition of "Erickson Tribune," the "Washington Post" and the "Arizona Republic." He graduated from the University of Louisville.
