Vision issue
 

Been here for a couple of months now and been working on the game. Finally getting to the point where the ego might allow public exposure of same. Have read up on joining existing groups with less than a full foursome and am convinced that I can control my behavior well enough, more or less, to be tolerated.

Coming back to the game after 25 years, it was shocking to find the difference in distances that my shots carry, but *far* worse was the realization that I often can't see my ball flight - and can almost never see it after a hundred yards or so - at least whilst still in the air. And this is after researching and learning that neon greenish-yellow balls and yellowish-tinted, non-polarized sunglasses maximize my chances up to even that level of ball flight vision.

My wife helps greatly with where my balls go when we play together, but my concern is how that issue is going to fly with strangers in a group I've paired up with (with which I've been paired? :-) ) I can see where my whining could get old, and I'd hate to have to make a request from others who might not even be playing from the same set of tees.

I'm only looking to be playing the Executive courses at this stage, so that limits the problem to some degree, especially on the shots that end up around the green. But, I've found that on shots of 150 or more that the sidewaysness can end up being rather extreme, and I sometimes don't even know on *which* side to search. I *have* learnt to carefully watch for "splash circles" if lateral water is present, as I *am* typically able to see those from afar.

Thanks in advance for any insights. Surely this must not be all that rare a problem here, eh?

What advice from your eye doc? Can condition be corrected?

I have suffered with vision issues for many years and have found most golfers more than willing to watch you tee shot and let you know where the ball approximately landed. A polite request at the beginning of the round always works for me. Good luck and keep playing.

Thank you! That helps a ton!

Sez I'm as good as I'm gonna get. One new lens after the jellified cataract infested one was removed and a corrective eyeglass lens for the other. Guess I'm theoretically close to 20/20, but once the ball has the sky as its background. . .

BTW, just saw Dr. Licht at St. Lukes. I was happy with my ophthalmologist in Pompano Beach, but am most impressed with the operation here. Everyone was extremely professional and nothing helpful attitudes. The lack of waiting was shocking after my experience down south. I won't have to get the very first appointment of the day in order to avoid wasting two to three hours for no good reason.

Sorry that may not improve. The guys I play golf with, we have one who shares your problem, are always there to help him track where his ball is headed. At times he may get teased but takes it in stride………just part of our group.

Certainly no expectations of improvement. Just glad it's nothing worse - so far.

Teasing is a significant portion of the fun of the game for me. And, I have many more obvious reasons for *getting* teased. I'd *better* take it in stride if I'm gonna keep dishing it out in my standard manner. Now, were they to tell me it went left when it went right. . .

Fascinating topic-great heads up about the amber, non-polarized lenses being better at vision distance-I struggle with seeing my drives as well these days-I lost site of 2 drives yesterday that ended up in the middle of the fairway (where I wouldn't usually look). Anyone have any recommendations for best golf sunglasses to wear for every shot? I've read about Oakley Prizm's-but not sure I want to spend a couple of hundred dollars without really knowing if I'll like them-I do NOT wear sunglasses now while golfing, as I always feared it would effect my depth perception and the Ray-Ban's I have are dark smoke and prescription. Ideas for more budget friendly options?

I love my prescription sunglasses for golfing! can see the ball a mile away as compared with the plain glasses,
where I would lose the ball with less background contrast. .

There are times I keep my head down and have no idea where the ball actually went. . seriously no idea where one drive went several weeks ago. No one was following it for me, so it turned into a practice drive .. . .

good luck

Sunglasses
 

Never pulled out sunglasses in recent decades unless the sun was low in the sky whilst driving the minivan, though still tended to try to make do with the visor. No idea whether they affect my depth perception. But, this cheapo golf range-finder I ordered is absolute *magic*! Totally new since I gave the game up. Fun, too. :-) Don't need no stinkin depth perception. And, the flip-up aspect handles things around the green.

I tried to stick to the physics in researching this issue. Kinda helps one to be a bit more immune to brand name marketing hype. Just ordered a second pair of those "tall" (47mm), amber, clip-on, flip up, non-polarized sunglasses. About 12 bucks. Goofy looking as hell. Go perfectly with my now 70 year old countenance.

I guess the non-polarization aspect is of kinda questionable value. When I got the first pair, I ordered both an amber and a "dark". Testing at the range suggested the amber was a bit better - for me.

As to advice for distances beyond a hundred yards or so, I've got nothing. Heck, I seem to see everything *else* satisfactorily at *any* distance - it's just that dern golf ball in a bright sky! It was *shocking* when I first visited a driving range back in March when first pondering a move here.

Still only see "some" of the shots. No problem seeing the low, thin ones, whether pulled or pushed. :-) When the 8 iron I hit to 4 feet today flew there without my seeing it, I was reminded of what I used to love most about the game - watching the flight of an iron shot that I *finally* hit just the way I had intended. All I got with this one was the wifey cackling about it possibly going into the hole. At least I got to repair the nearby ball mark. :-)

Anything "special" about these - other than being prescription? BTW, congratulations. I'm most envious. :-)

My poor wife's eyesight has never been good, and she could rarely see where the ball went.
I was her 'Seeing Ball' assistance person when we played.
Never had a problem on any golf course with other players.
Just explain your problem, other players were always willing to spot as well.
Poor girl never even got to see he hole in one drop in.

Don't worry. That problem will gradually go away. Last week I hit a 150 yard tee shot that went about 75 yards , hit a tree and came back to the tee box I hit from. I easily found the ball and entertained the rest of the foursome.

nope, other than I got them from a local optometrist. . . not at a mall
where the prices are higher to pay for the mall rent. .

they are progressives, gray and polarized. . as dark as i could get them.
The nice part about them is that if I have to, i can drive at night with them on lighted roads
as I have a license restriction for must wear glasses. . .

however, if they are progressives, some people can't golf with them. I adapted to the progressives instantly and golf with them. However, I have noticed lately that progressives lining up puts causes me issues because of my astigmatism. .

If you have one eye near and one eye far, then glasses can wreak havoc between looking down and looking up when hitting the ball.
My wife has this issue, and has trouble golfing with glasses. . .

so there are many vision issues with golfing and glasses or not

it may just be sun, glare, clouds, haze, or reflection issues. As someone already stated, try amber colored polarized sunglasses. Just a suggestion, might help! You can probably find a cheap pair at walmarts or target.

Fully understand. Had LASIK that worked *wonderfully* for 25 years with zero drop-off in vision. Then, suddenly, oops. Weird. Had no idea that could happen. Turns out that previous LASIK surgery then complicates cataract surgery. It's always "something". :-)

The astigmatism issue is what reminded me about the LASIK - which also fixed my astigmatism. Tried contact lenses prior to the LASIK but it left the tennis balls appearing quite oblong-appearing in shape. The LASIK also took care of the fogging of the glasses problem under the lights in the winter. Could deal with just thumbing the sweat off the glasses lenses between points. :-)

Shall not bore you with the glaucoma issues. :-) Currently (apparently) under control.

Experimentation
 

Experimenting with all these variables makes the most sense to me. These clip-on thingies are practically disposable.

Entertainment
 

Yep, all these issues will be gone within a couple of decades. :-)

Hope you captured that tree episode on video.

Too funny! Wish I was there with my phone. We could have sent it to Amerca's Funniest Videos.

Cheap experimentalable lenses
 

Visionary golf oldie but goodie
 

Oldie but goodie. . .

Stevie Wonder rings Tiger Woods and says...

"how do you fancy a round of golf"

Tiger says "I didn't think you would be able to play Stevie"

Stevie explains how he had a caddy put a device in each hole that emits a constant high pitched tone and he can tune an earpiece into, which tells him the direction and distance to it.

Tiger says "you have to understand Stevie I am a pro golfer, it will be too much of a mismatch"

Stevie says" OK well tell you what, a million dollars says I win or are you chicken"

Tiger says "OK done, when do you want to play?"

Stevie says "any night this week"

Yup!

I've been asked to help some older golfers track their ball...

I tell them "I got it!", then I promptly forget where it went as we drive down the fairway...

We have one guy like that in our Thursday group... Was a former minor tour player, but age has really dealt him a crappy hand... He has trouble seeing the ball on the exec courses 130 yds out...

Occasionally, he'll top one off the tee, traveling only 50 yards or so... We'll all shout "We got it!" He laughs and calls us names...

Try this site...

Sunglasses For Cycling, Pickleball, Running, Sports & Active Lifestyle

I bought a few pair for golf and pickleball. Their golf lenses really seem to help...

Happens to me all the time. . if I have to remember where my ball went and someone else's

:beer3:

I am opting for cataract surgery for just that problem.

Electromagnetism
 

Tried the site and learned a bit about VLT on this page. What is visible light transmission? | Banton Frameworks Reminded me that I don't *want* to wear sunglasses and maybe why the "amber" colored lens compromise makes some sense. I definitely see *less* with sunglasses on. Hate em for sports.

Was hoping to do some solo golf on the hot afternoons on the executives once the cart arrived, maybe playing a couple of balls. Could mostly get away with walking solo on the MickyLee, though it was always a guess where the ball would be on the 18th hole. :-( If I'm gonna have to learn to hit it *straight*. . . I just don't know.

Cataract surgery
 

Opted for "early" cataract surgery in the "already affected by glaucoma" left eye so as to qualify for coverage for the cool little drainage tubes they put in that have dramatically dropped the pressure in that eye. Vision is plenty good in that eye now (other than the "blind spot" area on the lower left), but that "golf ball in the sky" thing seems unaffected. Hope yours works out better. Did specifically ask the ophthalmologist the other day if he knew of anything else that might help and he said "no".

Decreasing visual acuity is quite common for those of us at a "certain age." I would hope that folks in your group would be understanding, and help you spot your shots.

That said, there are a few things that may provide some level of help. On cloudy or overcast days, a yellow or orange ball might help. They tend to stand out better against a white sky. On sunny, blue sky days, a white ball works well for me. My wife loves to play with those pink or red balls. I can't see those things under any conditions!

Another thing to try would be glasses with yellow lenses...think shooting glasses. Yellow lenses filter out blue UV light, and enhance depth perception. They also increase contrast, and make focusing a little easier.

If you already wear corrective lenses, and they are progressives, consider getting a pair of single vision glasses for golfing. Most people I know who have done this went with a distance prescription, and found them to be just the ticket for golf.

Last tip: Buy cheap balls. If you're going to lose them anyway, no sense playing with Pro V1's!

I have a similar sight Issue and have no problem in asking my fellow golfers to watch my ball and indicate where it lands. However, I have little use for golf but do like the English language. Congratulations on correcting your sentence that ended with a preposition. You stand alone in that respect. Being retired with nothing else to do I like analyzing replies and in your case it's confusing. I realized that it matters little, but I find it interesting that your handle indicates possibly an Englishman (bloke) and yet your final sentence ends with an 'eh?' which might indicate Canadian. I know, too much time.

Great suggestions!
 

Lots of excellent suggestions in there. Have not tried the yellow lens option, but shall order some to test forthwith.

Had concluded that the greenish-yellow balls worked best for me, but maybe I should take another look at the white ones for sunny days, testing with various shades of amber/yellow lenses. Am now recalling that the white painted wall at one end of the condo tennis court made it extremely difficult for me to pick up even the "not too far away", similarly-colored tennis ball. Hmmm. Don't come across many white tennis balls these days. :-) The sample size for my wife's pink balls that gain both enough altitude and distance for testing is on the small side. :-)

Tried the progressives on the golf course about 35 years ago and that was an immediate "no-go".

As for cheap golf balls, I might be described as "Scottish". On a first name basis with the "found golf balls" type sites. However, much as it pains me, I *do* find myself springing for their "freshly found" ProV1's - and they come in greenish-yellow. Watching nice, high, spinny wedge shots bounce unpredictably far on the MickeyLee forced me into the compromise. Guess balata is a thing of the past, eh? However, in researching the proper spelling, I *now* know what "ballata" is - but don't care. :-)

Love it!
 

Also a *huge* fan of the English language, but also a confirmed absurdist. My "correction" was more of an indicator of my awareness of you prepositionists out there. :-) I'll bet you're even aware of Churchill's famous jab at such a "rule". (Have now learnt {British usage} that his name has only two H's).

Such confusion is *precisely* my intent, though not via my "blok" (bloke?) handle. Bell South merely limited me to eight letters way back when, so had to shorten my usual "mental block" moniker somehow. This has led to near total misunderstanding of intent, though a couple of dentists here and there have managed to still pick up on the double entendre. :-)

Both British and Canadian figures of speech are sources of pleasure for me, as are all accents. My buddy from Alberta sez "gradge" rather than "garage". I also enjoy mixing my "mountain" heritage's colloquialisms with more "educated" jargon. Seems to help keep folks off balance. Also find little inhibition with word coinage. :-) Hard even for *me* to hear my uneducated sounding accent, though. :-) Love hearing and trying to figure out others' accents' origins. But, I *can* do "lie and lay" and can work "affect" and "effect" each as both a noun and a verb. :-) Mind boggling how many scientists can't seem to get even the verbs right.

Always happy to be corrected. Would *hate* to remain unnecessarily ignorant.

Good points here. Darker colored balls show up as a black spot against a grey overcast sky. When orange balls were first introduced in the 1970's, this was one of their selling points. With all the colors available today, you can optimize visibility for the sky conditions. I do play with progressive lenses now. Difficult for several rounds, until your eyes find the right spot on the lens during the swing. Stick with it and they will work wonderfully. Mine have transitions darkening, and I think that helps as well.

My husband has severe vision problems and no matter who he plays with they always watch for his ball. Just tell them in the beginning you need help spotting the ball. Lots of friendly golfers out there.