Honesty in golf - stolen rangefinder
 

In the movie, The Legend of Baggar Vance, the young boy gives a speech about The Greatest Game there is..."it's the only game where you call a penalty on yourself, if you're honest, and most people are".

Well, at the Sarasota practice range, some golfer who fits in that minority of dishonest golfers stole my trusty Leupold Laser Rangefinder from my golf cart while I was practicing on Monday Dec, 5th, 2016.

If one of your regular playing companions is suddenly using a Leupold rangefinder he/she didn't have before and doesn't have the matching nylon carrying case (I still have the case!!!), you might not want to play with that person again.

Furthermore, I wish that person more shanks, lost balls, and duffs than they've ever had before. You shouldn't get to enjoy this wonderful game if you're not honest.

I bet you just put it somewhere else. OR it fell out of your cart.

I have been playing golf for 40 plus years and can honestly say I never had anything stolen from me. I have misplaced items and left clubs etc. and they always were returned.

Golfers, as a group, are very honest and if there is a thief among us it is as rare as a cold day in July in The Villages. If "something" is stolen it would be rare if they played golf. Good luck in your search. Fore!

I hope you find it, however I hate to tell you that was where a friend's driver was stolen from his bag. Some people can't resist a five-finger discount. It's a terrible feeling to be the victim of any crime. Until you've experienced it, you can't relate. I like to think the best of people, but not everyone is deserving. Best of luck locating it.

Not necessarily a fellow golfer. Many items have been stolen by non-Villagers or in some cases troubled children or grandchildren of Villagers looking to steal these expensive items. Been here 10 years and with 100,000+ unfortunately it is has happened many times and is bound to happen again. Best to be safe and secure your clubs with a lockable cover, available in the pro shops, and don't leave valuables loose in your cart. Sad we have to do this but it's the world we live in now.

I remember about 5 years ago at Sarasota Driving Range when you teed off on the opposite side of the lake, where the practice green area is and a woman had her purse stolen out of her cart. I also remember a person had their golf bag and clubs stolen off their cart in the parking lot of Havana Country Club. That's why I never park my cart in the car parking lot, easy to throw our clubs into someone's car trunk. I remember other incidents in that area, like another poster wrote, probably non-villagers using 466A make a quick trip through a parking lot looking for goods to sell.

Again, we do sell those lockable bag/club covers at all the golf shops. Anywhere we go in the cart after playing, my wife and I put the covers on, put the lock on it and not worry about it. Less than $60 investment (cover and lock) for peace of mind. With 100k+ people here, there are going to be thieves and we're going to do our best to dissuade them. :boom:

Because no one steals in The Villages? I have some ocean front property in Arizona for sale...wink and jk!

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For sure !! Even if you did trust every soul in the Villages anybody can drive in here.

Nein Frau. Don't be goofy. I have read far too many posts on here accusing folks of stealing their nine iron or pitching wedge and then it magically reappeared. It annoys me when someone yells thief without some real evidence.

When the Sarasota course first opened, I would take my daily walk down the cart path on Morse and sit across from the 9th hole on a bench to watch the golfers. As I sat there one day, I noticed a club, obviously left on the edge of the green by someone. The next set of golfers teed off and then drove their carts down the to the green. I observed one of the golfers, after they were done with the hole, pick up the club, look it over and put it in his bag. I carefully watched to see if he would stop at the starter shack to turn it in and he did not. He stole the club. So, you see it is quite possible that there are thieves who play on our courses, drive around the driving ranges and acquire things that don't belong to them.

I have my telephone number on each of my clubs.
Is it possible the golfer who picked up the club saw the owner's phone number and decided to call the owner himself?

You all have me so paranoid leaving my clubs on my cart.

Thanks.

/wrists

The OP spoke of golf as a game played by the rule of ethics and honor. Bobby Jones famous penalty call on himself in tournament play because he believed he accidentally moved his ball ever so slightly is a prime example. I agree its one of the reasons many people are attracted to the game that and its civility.

Golf digest once did an informal study and scattered 25 expensive pitching wedges along greens on various golf courses. Of the 25, 21 came back to the club house. I have never played with anyone who found a club on the course and didn't immediately turned it over to an ambassador.

Executive course play here for all the obvious reasons is a little more relaxed but still many players abide by the rules. Championship play is more formal-stricter to the rules of play

Stealing is beneath contempt and those individuals victimized by such thefts feel very much violated

I never leave anything in the cart period unless I have done my best to protect it, e.g., a lockable bag over my clubs. That is far from fool proof, by maybe they go to the next cart.

Even when I do that I will take my laser range finder into the bar with me as it is the most expensive thing in my bag :)

PS. I have had a set stolen from the parking lot at Mallory (before I locked them). The perpetrator, a grandchild of a Villager. I read/heard from detective he was a pretty good golfer. He would get gramdpa's cart, sneak on a course, when he got kicked off he would leave through parking lot and take a club or set (back and front lots). He did this 18 times before he was caught.