Imagine diving in the pitch black, now imagine it even darker. Now imagine you have a light, it's on and it is still pitch black, kind of gives you an idea of the visibility you have in a golf pond.
I am an expert golf all diver, I can't say I am an expert at much but golf ball diving I am. God gave me a talent and it turns out to be golf ball diving, go figure. I have worked on some of the most beautiful golf courses in some of the worst conditions imaginable and smiled all the way.
Golf ball diving on the business side is all based on the titlest ProV1.
The amount you as a diver make is negotiated on the percentage of Prov's in the mix. Typically as a diver you make between .08 and .10 cents per ball. An average diver pulls 2,000 balls per day , a good diver kick that number up to 3,000 balls per day and a great diver 3,500 + balls per day. So 2k balls = $160 - 200 per day - 3k = $240 - 300 per day - 3.5k $280 - 350 + per day. You make as much as you pull simple as that. It can be lucrative.I supported a family off of what I made with ball diving.
It is not easy, well it was for me . . .again not to brag . . . .but my first week I beat all of the other divers except one, Tim Leatherman. He and I became partners and split our hauls. What makes it hard? Working in pitch black, loosing all sense of direction, not knowing which direction, is which . . .even up! Winter time golf ponds get into the low 30's, I have had to break ice to get in. Balls weigh ten lbs per one hundred, you swim with up to 1,000 balls hanging off of your neck. Once you drag your bag out of the water you have to measure them out to get a count and empty your bag. You do this by pouring them into a five gallon bucket. Three hundred balls per bucket is the rule, and two buckets per grass seed sack. Six hundred balls per sack ,stacked all over a golf cart is pretty funny sight. Moving 3k plus in balls out of the water adds up. I was in awesome shape as a golf ball diver. Sometimes I miss it!
Golfball Diving is hard on gear. The chemicals in the ponds strip chrome of of regulators, eat the rubber off fin straps, desinigrates wetsuits and gloves. I went through a pair of gloves every two weeks, mask and fin straps once a month, and dry suit seals once every five months. Wetsuits never lasted either, got a new one every three months. I have tried every brand of wetsuit, best fitting suit for the price is a tie, the excel 9mm and the aqualung 8mm both great suits. My dry suit was made by Bare, I liked it, worked well. Booties never lasted too long , most fell apart in less than a month. The silt from the ponds got everywhere, it would embed in your wet or dry suit , making short work of the zippers. Knives , if made of stainless steel, rusted away.
The difference diving dry and wet? I dove both, in the ocean I use a wetsuit, in the golf ponds I prefer the Dry suit. Nothing beats the freedom of a wetsuit. So why the drysuit? Because you stay dry, remember the water quality? It is bad, I noticed the first time I dove dry I felt better at the end of the day, after a couple weeks diving the ponds I felt alot better. The ponds can suck the life right out of you.
What kind of gear do you need? Besides the obvious, mask , regulator, air supply , gloves and bc. There is some specialized gear necessary. Starting with the bag you put the balls in , they are custom made by the diver ,they don't sell them in Scuba shops. You can make a bag from the "green mesh bags sold in the shops. You modify them by adding a piece of line in the top about a foot and half looped. Attach the loop to the bag then to a piece of pvc threaded pipe with a hose clamp. That is your bag, carry three on your person, one around your neck and two spares in your pockets. A note here make sure your suit has pockets. Gloves have to be kevlar. Your mask can be a standard type mask or an aga mask pictured.
One thing you have to deal with as a ball diver are the night hawks. What the? Night Hawks or thieves. Guys who dive the ponds at night to make a quick buck. The lucky thing here is they usually stay shallow. there are however organized groups that hit courses in certain areas . They suck because it affects your bottom line less balls for you. the only way to combat this problem is to service the courses often and keep the ball count low for the night hawks.
Every once in a while I did however get some visibility. This was a welcomed treat. But once you grabbed that first ball the vis would disappear quick. Sometime in the moment of visibility you could see some cool stuff, big bass, catfish, Crawfish and assorted other wildlife. The coolest thing I ever saw in a golf pond was at a course up in Brookings Oregon , Salmon run, and yes I saw a . . . salmon. I knew the best spots in all of Southern California for bass fishing.
Courses of Note:
Sterling Hills Ventura California : By far the biggest bass I have ever seen - 10 lbs +
La Costa Carlsbad California: Regularly got kicked off due to me playing with found clubs, a diver died there!
Salmon Run Brookings Oregon: they have salmon in the ponds
Mountain Gate Los Angeles: most balls pulled in one day 20,000 balls - we pulled over 100k in three days
Coronado San Diego California: they have salt water ponds
Casta Del Sol Mission Viejo California: ponds Suck, made a rescue, elderly lady passed out on the sand trap
Marbella San Juan Capistrano California : Biggest Catfish
San Juan Hills San Juan Capistrano California: Thick Crayfish
Glen Annie Santa Barbara California: Deepest ponds 45 ft plus, dove there on nitrox
There were some good times on the courses and a few bucks to be made.
My stretch as a diver lasted two years and in that time two divers I knew drowned. Diving in the ponds although most are relatively shallow is still dangerous! I was asked to pull one out, I never found him, the cops did. Remember it is pitch black, you can never find what you are looking for.
On a brighter note, I could play golf for free on most courses in Southern California, I only wish I played golf!
Cheers
Dave
