Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The Golf Ball Hog works very well once you get the hang of it. Mine paid for itself within a couple of weeks. The construction is pretty solid, and it's easy to extend and contract the telescoping pole.
It works best for getting balls out of ponds, but not quite as well with streams. The rocks at the bottom of the streams can make it difficult to rake the balls up with the golf ball hog. I can still get them, it just takes me a couple of tries. I think the ad says it works in finding balls in deep rough. That may be true, but I haven't gotten that to work yet. When the head meets significant resistance, it spins a little, and can't pick up balls until it's twisted back again.
Ponds are the biggest area you'll benefit from the Golf Ball Hog, and using it just for ponds is good enough. I use mine as I'm playing, so I usually spend just 5-10 minutes at a time, and get 2-3 dozen balls a session. I now have more balls than I can use.
3 factors that will affect your ability to get balls out of ponds are the amount of plant life in the pond, the likelihood that people will hit balls into a particular place in the pond, and the underwater terrain of the pond.
I haven't had any luck in getting balls out of ponds with lots of plant life (looks like seaweed, I'm not sure what it's called) That stuff clogs up the Golf Ball Hog and prevents it from picking up any balls. Worse, you then have to untangle it by hand, and it's kind of nasty.
You'll have the most luck in getting balls out of ponds in spots where people just miss the green. They tend to leave a lot of balls in places like this, and because they were going for the green, they don't expect to hit the water, and the balls tend to be of higher quality (lots of Titleist ProV1 and ProV1x). These are the spots where you can rake 5 balls out at a time with the Golf Ball Hog.
How deep the pond is, and how steeply the pond slopes under the water also affects your ability to get balls. The balls tend to roll downhill under water and settle on the bottom. I've needed all of the 18' telescoping pole to get balls out. There are some ponds where the bottom of the pond is too far from the edge to be able to reach the balls that have settled to the bottom.
Balls coming out of ponds don't look like they do in the Golf Ball Hog promotional video. Unless they were just hit, they are not white. They are muddy, very nasty and they smell. I take a separate plastic bag to keep my balls in. When I get home I throw them in the washing machine with a pair of blue jeans to clean them. Even still, many balls require hand cleaning to get fully clean. Depending on their age, some balls are as good as new, but others are shag balls at best. Usually you can tell the bad ones by their color, sometimes you can't tell until you hit them and find they just don't seem to go as far.
Overall, the Golf Ball Hog is really good, and I do recommend it. I did a lot of research into ball retrievers, settled on this one, and I've been very glad I did.
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Golf Ball HogTM Golf Ball RetrieverThis is a golf ball rake that lets you find lost balls even if they're out of sight - quickly, efficiently, and affordably. The 18-foot reach of the GOLF BALL HOGTM lets you find and retrieve expensive balls from water hazards, high grass, even sand traps, and then folds up as small as a driver! The GOLF BALL HOGTM has a patented flanged tine design that minimizes disturbance of lake and pond bottoms, and its corrosion-resistant telescoping pole allows maximum reach, even from deep water or over a fence! Its flanged tines capture up to five golf balls at once with one simple raking motion, saving you hundreds of dollars in replacements for lost balls.
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