Golf ball diver

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Recycled golf balls

The golf ball diver is a profession in which a diver retrieves failed golf balls from waters on golf courses and then resells them as used goods.

conditions

The United States Department of Labor (United States Department of Labor) recommends a certified for this activity diving certificate , which identifies an experience of 200 hours of diving with different skills. The golf ball diver must have reached the age of 18 and begins diving in groups as a trainee. Knowledge of first aid and diving rescue must also be proven. A medical certificate must confirm that the diver is in good physical condition, as he must be able to lift a weight of 30 kg underwater.

activity

Water hazard on a golf course

Golf ball divers are equipped with diving masks , wetsuits , flippers and compressed air bottles . They search and feel bodies of water - for example water hazards on golf courses - for golf balls that have been lost while playing golf . The work is considered to be physically demanding due to the general working conditions. The nets in which the balls are collected hold an average of up to 500 golf balls.

After diving, the used golf balls, often referred to as lake balls ( English for "pond balls"), have to be cleaned and sorted according to condition and brand. Only reusable balls are resold; before that, however, these are still classified in quality classes.

This activity is usually next to or freelance executed. The working hours vary, depend on the weather and depend on the season . A golf ball diver should spend five to eight hours in the water. The wages or the proceeds are linked to the number of balls collected.

Occupational risks

In some regions there is a risk of injury from animals living in and around water such as snakes , snapping turtles and alligators . Chemically (fertilizers) or biologically (bacteria) contaminated water can cause infections such as tetanus . There is also a risk of drowning.

statistics

In the United States, 100, 200, or 300 million golf balls are lost every year, depending on the study, which is estimated to be three times the number of balls found. In one particular pond of the TPC at Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach in the US state of Florida , around 120,000 balls are said to be lost every year; here the 17th hole of the course is a small peninsula in a lake.

Golf ball divers can collect 400 balls or more an hour. In the USA , according to media reports, groups of golf ball divers should recover up to 100,000 golf balls in a single dive. In the United States, it is a business idea with total sales of between $ 200 million and $ 250 million . Every year around 100 million used golf balls are to be brought back into circulation in the USA. Golf ball recycling companies have also set up shop in Canada , which annually process several million golf balls according to type and bring them back into circulation.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefanie Maeck: The wet giant and his white gold. In: spiegel.de, May 23, 2012 (accessed December 29, 2012)
  2. ↑ a b c Golf ball diver. In: bls.gov (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) June 2014 (accessed December 29, 2014)
  3. ^ Egolf-balls, debut de parcours. In: ecommercemag.fr, September 5, 2012 (accessed December 30, 2014)
  4. ↑ a b c Markus Schleufe: Hunter of the lost balls. In: zeit.de, July 23, 2010 (accessed December 28, 2014)
  5. ↑ a b Golf Ball Divers Seek `White Gold, 'May Find Snapping Turtles. In: bloomberg.com, August 15, 2006 (accessed December 29, 2014)
  6. ↑ a b c d Golf ball diving is big business. In: espn.go.com, March 23, 2006 (accessed December 29, 2014)
  7. ↑ a b c Diving for used golf balls: the most dangerous job in golf. In: golf.com, February 2013 (accessed December 29, 2014)
  8. ↑ GOLF; At the Bottom of Golf Ponds, A Big Business Is Lurking. In: nytimes (New York Times) , July 4, 2002 (accessed December 29, 2014)
  9. ^ Philip Caulfield: Body of missing Florida golf ball diver found in lake; Iraq war vet may have drowned , New York Daily News, Jan. 3, 2012; accessed on February 12, 2015
  10. ↑ Steffen Lüdeke: Golfballtaucher - a special kind of profession. In: welt.de, June 3, 2009 (accessed December 28, 2014)
  11. ↑ a b James Buckley Jr .: There's Gold in Golf Balls. In: Sport Diver. Volume 8, No. 4, July / August 2000, p. 17.
  12. ↑ Recuperation services for golf balls. In: mulliganinternational.com (French, accessed December 30, 2014)

literature

  • Alecia T. Devantier, Carol A. Turkington: Extraordinary Jobs in Sports. Ferguson, New York 2007, ISBN 081605861X , pp. 21-24 (English).

Web links

Wiktionary: Golf ball diver  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations