I don't mind a player retrieving his ball. Like the sign idea. Should I add "please don't play it where it lies" or is his behavior really uncommon?

Ambassador
 

This struck me as great advice.

I would add, take a photo of him in your yard, particularly if he looks like he intends to play the ball from there.

Give the photo to an Ambassador and ask that the player be identified and reprimanded.

Don't take it personally but unfortunately it's the society for which many have evolved into.You experience it everyday in the Villages

Maybe you should hit it out of your yard, back toward the tee. He would have to play it from where it lies.

dotti I don't get that many golf balls in my yard owing to it proximity to this fiarway. However occasionally I do and a few years back not only did the golfer hit from my yard he actually drove his golf cart on my property.

I immediately called the golf shop related the circumstances , description of cart etc.

Factually The Villages bylaws explain that golfers not retrieve their balls as they are trespassing on private property. To quote one yard sign I saw "my yard, my ball"

Have some fun with it, keep a club handy in your back yard. When one lands in your yard go out and hit it back, and make sure the golfer is watching you hit it.
Or take a marker and write a nice note on the ball then throw it out of your yard.

Word will spread quick on where not to hit the ball.

At some courses a private yard is treated the same as a water hazard, if you can retrieve it without stepping in the yard you can have it back, if not, the ball is lost and you take the penalty.

Rude & Wrong
 

He was rude and wrong on all counts. Not you. Fortunately, most golfers know and do better than that.

Good one!:thumbup:

Golfer should have hit a provisional ball and when he found his original ball out of bounds and in your yard he should have played his provisional ball and left his original ball in your yard. The penalty for the golfer is one stroke.

Unfortunately, too many golfers in TV lack golf etiquette and knowledge of the rules. "All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be. This is the spirit of the game of golf." Section 1 of The USGA Rules of Golf

I would buy an air horn and blast it when the golfer reached the top of his/her back swing. The golfer should get the message LOUD and clear.

People should read the rules of golf. First you can not go on private property to get a ball. Second the golfer who does that is simply saying he or she does not care about anyone else's rights. Most are looking for a fight when they enter private property. Finally the golf course does not care about any thing done to private property. Many have complained all have been laughed at for complaining.there have been fights about exactly what happened to you. Several ended with a person going to the hospital. I will not be surprised when something worse happens. There are rules but never inforced

Dottie105, You are oh so right to have spoken to him. A GOLFER? No simply a HACKER OUT of BOUNDS. Some folks grow OLD, but do not GROW UP!

Nobody tries to hit it into someone's yard. Even good golfers sometimes hit an errant shot. And a lot of us aren't good golfers. I think it's nice, and friendly, to put up a sign saying to feel free to retrieve your ball, but you don't have to. I also understand why some don't want people trampling thru their yard all the time.

I don't understand why some homeowners would stand on a ball, or hit or throw it far away. What's with that?

I think that when you have a lot on the golf course, you should expect some balls in your yard/lanai, etc. Maybe non-golfers who buy golf-course lots are surprised by balls in their yard, but they should have anticipated this. Plantings can help divert them from your house.

As Golf1240 said, the ball was "Out of Bounds". Out of Bounds is described in the Rules of Golf as any area outside of the confines of the golf course and any other ground on which play is prohibited.

Play is prohibited from your yard by not only the Rules of golf, but also by common sense.

He should have played another ball from the spot that he last played from and added a penalty stroke to his score.

It sounds to me as though quite a few did not read the entire post by OP. She stated her house is across Pinellas Place from the 8th green. The duffer hit the ball across the street, walked across the street and over to her yard, and hit back to the course - ACROSS Pinellas Place! Totally stupid.

It is not as though her house is on the side of the course.