How to Get a Golf Ball Out of the Water

By Herm Otto

When you've just hit your ball into a water hazard, you might think that you can never get it back again. But what if you can see it and don't want to leave it behind? There are a few methods you can use to retrieve the golf ball from the water.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step 1

Determine whether or not your ball is within an iron's reach of where you can safely stand on a dry, secure surface. If so, use the longest iron in your bag to reach out, hook the ball around its girth with the clubhead and pull it across the underwater bottom surface to the shore where you can safely reach it and pick it up. Use care when dragging the ball to disturb the bottom as little as possible so not to lose sight of your ball in a cloud of silt.

Step 2

Use a ball retriever, whether you carry one or someone in your group has one. If a retriever is available, determine what its reach length is.

Step 3

Determine whether or not the ball is within the reach length of the retriever. A good retriever is telescopic and can reach as far as 18 feet. If in reach, use the retriever. If not, move on and forget about the ball.

Step 4

Extend the retriever far enough to reach the ball. The best retriever is the one that requires the least hand action to grasp the ball. This is the dome type.

Step 5

Position the dome at the end of the retriever over the ball and lower it onto the ball, just as you would drop a hat on your head. The dome is hinged so that when it is fully over the ball, it drops enough to grasp the ball. Lift the grasped ball straight up and out of the water. Gently swing the retriever around to dry land and set the ball down.

Step 6

Clean the ball with your cleaning towel and dry it with your drying towel. The ball is ready for play again.

Tips & Warnings

Don't turn your golf round into an Easter egg hunt, as tempting as it may be, when you see many other balls in the water near your ball and within reach. This will prove distracting for you and will slow the pace of play. A good ball retriever can also be used to retrieve your ball from thick or barbed brush, from under the skirt of a coniferous tree or from other inaccessible, hazardous or hard-to-reach lies. This includes your unplayable or out-of-bounds lies.

A good ball retriever can also be used to retrieve your ball from thick or barbed brush, from under the skirt of a coniferous tree or from other inaccessible, hazardous or hard-to-reach lies. This includes your unplayable or out-of-bounds lies.

Be careful near water. No golf ball is worth falling into the water.

About The Author

Herm Otto is an architect and was a university instructor for over 25 years. He is also an avid golfer who began golfing 10 years ago. As a Demand Studios writer, Otto writes golf and travel articles for GolfLink. He now resides in Arizona.