Honesty Test

[Leaguegolf]

For those of you that don't read Golf Digest, here's a little test........

Golf Digest recently conducted a test where they took 25 desirable, brand name wedges worth about $100 each and affixed shaft labels with a fake name but a real Golf Digest phone number and discreeetly "lost" the clubs greenside at public courses around the country. The courses were located in 14 states, from California to Florida, to New York with green fees ranging from $20 to $230. If Golf Digest didn't receive a call within a week, they called the golf shops to ask if the wedge had been turned in.

I'm curious to hear how many wedges you think were recovered. I'll post the answer at this time tomorrow unless someone that read the story gives away the ending before then.

[Blue_Arc]

I'll take a swag at it and say...7

anyone know what a swag is?

[Leaguegolf]

Originally Posted by Blue_Arc

I'll take a swag at it and say...7

anyone know what a swag is?

Hey! One quiz at a time! ......

[Blue_Arc]

Originally Posted by Leaguegolf

Hey! One quiz at a time! ......

A s.w.a.g is a scientific wild guess.

[OnePutt]

I'll go with 25 out of 25 being returned to either the clubhouse or being called in to the phone #. Golfers tend to be pretty honest about golf clubs left on the course, at least they are where I play.

[GolfSavage]

I think there's a lot of honest folks, but they ain't always the ones that find the clubs!

I'll say 19/25 returned or made contact with golf shop.

[Fourputt]

21... I'm an optimist.

[Wazmankg]

Sweet expensive wedges huh ? Well I'd bet the house it won't be 25. I picked up a lost wedge on vacation once meaning to turn it in and found it still in my bag at home a week later. It was from a little hole in the wall course and my son was playing with me (a real occasion for me) so I was a bit distracted. I called them. The guy said nobody had been looking for one. I guess I should have shipped it but I didn't. Frankly it was an old piece of junk. Lesson learned - never put a found club in my bag.


I'll say 17/25... another swag.

[Bigvivec]

I'll put my vote in for 9...I'm not an optimist...

[JimSomebody]

I'll say 5.

(I haven't read the Golf Digest story or any posts except the first one.)

[TwillDog]

I can't answer this because I read the story, but since it is now tomorrow, I'll hint that everyone will be happy with the answer.

When I find a club, I usually stick it in the basket that's on many carts right behind the passengers. That way a) it's not in my bag for me to forget about when I leave the course, and b) it doesn't at all look like I'm trying to take it for myself. I couldn't even fathom taking someone else's property. Those things aren't cheap and I know I value a dollar... I even turn in towels and headcovers when I come across them.

[essurfer]

i want to say like 23. Even the dishonest people I know seem to have good golf ettiquite for some reason.

[Leaguegolf]

Fourputt was the only one to hit it on the nose. Golf Digest reported that they recovered 21 of the 25 wedges. My own personal guess was 20. The test only confirmed what many of us think and that's that most golfers are honest. The part the article didn't touch on was the fact that for every wedge they didn't recover there was probably more than one dishonest golfer involved. How many times have you found a wedge and no one else in your group knew you found it? The thieves probably had knowing accomplices.

It was a small sample test but it convinced me to buy shaft labels.

Once, in my hurry to finish a round in the dark, I left 2 wedges on the 18th fringe. I immediately called the course the next morning and was told both wedges had been turned into the pro shop.......only to come up missing when I showed up to claim them. I was angry but I had no one to blame but myself. However, I did make it clear to the club pro (who ran the pro shop) that I would never again do business with thieves.

[OnePutt]

Leaque; I ordered a set of "Return Address" labels from one of those label companies, the ones that send out those little forms in the mail. They offered some in Gold so I just had my name and phone number printed on them and use them on ALL my clubss. Much cheaper than those golf club labels and I got 250 or so for under $6. They are a perfect size to wrap around the shaft just below the grip, and they look pretty nice being GOLD with Black print.

[Blue_Arc]

I'm a lefty. This greatly increases the odds my clubs will be turned in and...clubs I find i will turn in. Can't use them! Ha!

[Leaguegolf]

Originally Posted by OnePutt

Leaque; I ordered a set of "Return Address" labels from one of those label companies, the ones that send out those little forms in the mail. They offered some in Gold so I just had my name and phone number printed on them and use them on ALL my clubss. Much cheaper than those golf club labels and I got 250 or so for under $6. They are a perfect size to wrap around the shaft just below the grip, and they look pretty nice being GOLD with Black print.

Great idea! Thanks for the heads up!

[Fourputt]

I basically have what has so far proven to be a foolproof way to never forget a wedge. I lay it down between the hole and my bag, and I clip my putter head cover onto it (the head cover has a magnetic closure that grips the wedge shaft). That way even if I don't trip over the wedge leaving the green, when I go to put the head cover back on the putter, I know that I've forgotten the club. I NEVER put the putter back in the bag without the cover on it.

It has been many years since I had to retrace my travels more than a few steps to find a club that I'd left behind.

[Wazmankg]

21 sounds about right. I guess I underestimated the honesty of my fellow golfers. I've left wedges behind a few times in recent years and always had it returned to me or it was still there when I tracked it down. My problem is taking a putter & wedge with me, then deciding to putt it. League mentioned something I hadn't considered. If it was found by someone in a group I'd think at least 1 of them would guilt the person out of any dishonest inclination. So on 2nd thought my take on human behavior was pretty accurate(17) when considering the folks who might have kept it if no one had been watching.

[Blue_Arc]

Good idea 4 putt! When I first started I left wedges green side a lot. I rarely do it now but sometimes...yeah. Need to work on that. I need a routine to try and follow every hole. Lost my lucky Navy ball marker last weekend. I always put the marker in my empty left pants pocket but I think I stuck my glove in the same pocket to putt and when I pulled it out I must have drug the ball marker with it. When I lock up the office, the shop and the yard at work I learned to leave in the same routine every night so as not to forget anything. I need to carry this method over to golf.

[Leaguegolf]

I can't remember the last time I walked, or rode, away from a green having left a club behind. The golf bag I have makes it nearly impossible not to notice that I'm missing a club. Here's a pic from the Clubmaxx web site......

[Blue_Arc]

Nice! What bag is that? ....Duh! I get it now. Clubmaxx!

[straightshooter]

More than 80% returned: Not bad! My faith in humanity is restored.

[JimSomebody]

I guessed 5... musta been in a particularly cynical mood.

I've never left a club on the course, but one day a couple years ago, I noticed I'd lost my umbrella. I play only half my rounds on my home course, and I figured the umbrella had been lost who knows when, who knows where. Then, the next time I was in my home course's pro shop, one of the pro's said, "Hey, Jim! We've got your umbrella!" My name was on the handle, and someone had turned it in. Nice umbrella, too.

[alf174]

Originally Posted by Wazmankg

... I picked up a lost wedge on vacation once meaning to turn it in and found it still in my bag at home a week later....

Same here (but on a local course) and I still feel guilty about it.

[JungleJ]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

I basically have what has so far proven to be a foolproof way to never forget a wedge. I lay it down between the hole and my bag, and I clip my putter head cover onto it (the head cover has a magnetic closure that grips the wedge shaft). That way even if I don't trip over the wedge leaving the green, when I go to put the head cover back on the putter, I know that I've forgotten the club. I NEVER put the putter back in the bag without the cover on it.

It has been many years since I had to retrace my travels more than a few steps to find a club that I'd left behind.

I lay my wedge across the flagstick once it has been removed - so someone eventually has to pick it up, even if I have forgotten. Works quite well.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by JungleJ

I lay my wedge across the flagstick once it has been removed - so someone eventually has to pick it up, even if I have forgotten. Works quite well.

What I don't like about this is that if everyone does it, then the first player in the hole goes to pick up the flagstick and he's stuck trying to juggle 4 wedges plus the flagstick. That or he leaves them lying there and then looks like a jerk if one or more get left behind. I don't feel like it's my responsibility to pick up your wedge, nor would I expect you to manage mine.

If I notice a club as I leave the green, I might pick it up if it's on my way to my bag, or at least remind the group that there is a wedge still on the green if it's out of the way. But I don't necessarily make a point of looking around for stray clubs. That is why I put mine on the path off the green from the hole. I don't put the responsibility on anyone else for keeping track of my clubs.

[JungleJ]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

What I don't like about this is that if everyone does it, then the first player in the hole goes to pick up the flagstick and he's stuck trying to juggle 4 wedges plus the flagstick. That or he leaves them lying there and then looks like a jerk if one or more get left behind. I don't feel like it's my responsibility to pick up your wedge, nor would I expect you to manage mine.

If I notice a club as I leave the green, I might pick it up if it's on my way to my bag, or at least remind the group that there is a wedge still on the green if it's out of the way. But I don't necessarily make a point of looking around for stray clubs. That is why I put mine on the path off the green from the hole. I don't put the responsibility on anyone else for keeping track of my clubs.

I don't abdicate the responsibility for looking after my clubs - once everyone is in the hole I make my way to where the flagstick is and collect my club. But it HAS happened that the club gets passed to me on the way to the next hole, or I have to give someone else their club.

Almost all of my golf is played with very close friends, and so we don't mind helping each other out with things like this. And the chances of there being 4 wedges there are small.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by JungleJ

I don't abdicate the responsibility for looking after my clubs - once everyone is in the hole I make my way to where the flagstick is and collect my club. But it HAS happened that the club gets passed to me on the way to the next hole, or I have to give someone else their club.

Almost all of my golf is played with very close friends, and so we don't mind helping each other out with things like this. And the chances of there being 4 wedges there are small.

You clearly don't play with the guys I do.

I've even seen as many as 7 clubs laid on the green from a group of 4, when all are riding and a couple of players chose to be dropped off at their approach shots then walk in from there. They might take the iron for the shot, 2 wedges and a putter.

[JungleJ]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

You clearly don't play with the guys I do.

I've even seen as many as 7 clubs laid on the green from a group of 4, when all are riding and a couple of players chose to be dropped off at their approach shots then walk in from there. They might take the iron for the shot, 2 wedges and a putter.

To be fair, most of my golf is playing walking and carrying - so nobody is ever far from their clubs.

[Blue_Arc]

I have implemented 4putts routine in my round and I find it fool proof. I lay the wedge in the path I will exit the green and there is no way you can walk past your own club and not pick it up. That path is between the hole and the cart. I can get get rattled easy in the excitement of the play on the green. If I lay the club in the tall grass just outside the bunker I punched out of...I have about a 50/50 chance of remembering it. Ha!

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by Blue_Arc

... I can get get rattled easy in the excitement of the play on the green. If I lay the club in the tall grass just outside the bunker I punched out of...I have about a 50/50 chance of remembering it. Ha!

That's similar to what used to be my problem. I'd take a club & a putter when I was just off the green. If I used my putter and holed it or knocked it up there for a kick in, in my excitement, I'd sometimes forget the other club laying there and just go get my ball. That didn't happen often. Usually after playing the shot I'd look down at the other club and wonder why I didn't use it instead. Now I just put the other one off to the side on the green between me and the hole so I'm sure to see it.

[JimSomebody]

Ever since I started following Larry's advice, I haven't missed any greens, so I don't have the problem of leaving a club on the green after a greenside chip.

Actually, I lay it across the flagstick, and when I've done that, usually I'm the one to pick up my club (and maybe one other) in the process of taking my turn at flagstick duty. No biggie.

[JungleJ]

Originally Posted by JimSomebody

Ever since I started following Larry's advice, I haven't missed any greens, so I don't have the problem of leaving a club on the green after a greenside chip.

I actually laughed at that one...

[C-Tech]

I am so careful about my clubs. I lost the 7I out of my favorite set a few years ago and it took months to find a replacement set on eBay. The set was out of production and I'm a lefty so it was even tougher.

I mostly walk and carry which removes a big part of the problem, but when I ride, I keep them close. I put my wedge, along with a wet towel and the putter cover on the edge of the green in my path to the cart. After putting out, the first thing I do is look for clubs, mine and everyone else's.

[ringin]

It's true that most golfers are fairly honest people, but I think this stems more from that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize you left a club somewhere out on the course. It's then club loss empathy that motivates most of us to turn the lost stick in so the rightful owner can be made whole again. Almost every one of us has done it at some point, and looking in your bag for that wedge you left 2 holes back is a miserable feeling.

[Blue_Arc]

I agree. It's like share panic when I see a club is missing. It's like when you are a little kid and all of a sudden you can't find you mom in the grocery store. It'd take a real heartless guy to steal another mans golf club.

[C-Tech]

I always said stealing fishing gear should carry the same penalties as horse stealing. Once I started golfing, I extended that to include golf clubs.

[ringin]

^^ Probably true, but how often does a fisherman walk off and leave his rod & reel sitting on the side of edge of the lake, only to realize later that he set it down and forgot to grab it before moving on to the next fishing spot.?

[Diane]

I played with a friend the other day and she left 2 clubs on the 16th green. They were waiting for her with the starter. It never crossed our minds that they might not be turned in.

[Fourputt]

The problem we have at the course is not from lost clubs not being being returned to the shop, it's with them never being reclaimed. My guess is that for every club claimed by its owner, 20 are never even inquired about.

The bin in my Starter's shack holds about 25-30 before it starts to get unwieldy and has to be emptied.... and it gets emptied about twice a month. We have 2 large rubber trash cans (each one holds at least 100 clubs) in the cart garage where we move them to, and the first one of those is already about full this year... and it's not even Memorial Day yet. That's a lot of homeless wedges... with a smattering of other irons... and an occasional putter, FW wood etc.