Perhaps you don't like to play golf balls too long before retiring them, so you have a bunch of cast-offs. Maybe (like me) you pick up balls you find when playing, even if you have no intention of playing them. In either event, you've got LOTS of old golf balls. What can you do with them?
Don't put them in the garbage. Especially if you have hundreds of old golf balls sitting in your garage (like me), disposing of that many in a landfill can have negative environmental impacts. Since golf balls typically are made from synthetic materials like polyurethane, and contain heavy metals like zinc, nasty chemicals can leach into soil and groundwater over time.
Don't put them in with the recycling. Recyclers don't want them.
Put them in your shag bag. My bag holds 85 balls, and that's more than enough for chipping practice. I've filled my shag bag with the best of my cast-offs. That still leaves me with hundreds more, though.
Sort out the still-usable ones. Your good-quality cast-offs may still be useful to other people. Sort out the ones that are in good shape and that can be used by beginning golfers, or golf teams in need of practice balls.
Donate some to your local high school or college golf team. Maybe they could use more practice balls. Reach out to the team coach.
Bag some of your best cast-offs and give them to a golfer who's just learning the game. Until they get better, they won't care or notice if the balls aren't tour quality.
If you live on a golf course, put out a box of free balls for passing golfers. Just put out the good ones that you don't want. Charge a voluntary small amount, if you prefer.
Put together bags of (good) balls and donate them to a thrift store.
Sell balls to a used-golf-ball retailer. Some of them buy used balls, but you'll need to have a lot of them to sell. For example, LostGolfBalls.com may buy your stash if you have at least 5,000 balls. Don't have quite that many? Team up with your friends who are also golf-ball hoarders. LostGolfBalls has 21 locations around the U.S. that can take them off your hands. Also look into WeBuyGolfBalls, GolfBallBuyer, ReuseGolfBalls, and GolfBallPlanet. See our list of used-golf-ball retailers; some of them also buy balls.
Sell bags of (good) balls on Craigslist, eBay, Nextdoor, or Facebook Marketplace. Again, just sort out the good ones.
Use old golf balls for craft projects. You'll find lots of fun ideas on Pinterest. For example:
For the really awful golf balls... Some of your stash of old balls aren't suitable for any of the ideas above. But short of tossing them in the trash, you could:
Use them in place of rocks/stones at the base of outside garden pots. This is best suited for pots for non-edible plants; you don't want to contaminate your veggies or herbs.
Use them to weigh down the bottom of tall indoor vases.
Not recommended: Many golfers get rid of golf balls they don't want by hitting them at the driving range so they don't have to pay for a pre-round warmup bucket. I won't recommend that – and most golf courses don't want you to engage in that behavior – but I'll acknowledge that it's common.
Yeah, some of these ideas take some work on your part. But golf balls that end up in landfills in large numbers can take centuries to decompose, and as they do they release toxins and microplastics into the surrounding environment. Environmental agencies, waste-management authorities, and conservation groups all promote proper disposal of golf balls.
When you consider that it's estimated that several hundred million golf balls are lost or discarded each year, you can understand that it's a serious issue.
留言