Steve Stolarik started hunting for golf balls two years ago using a black light, and he transforms damaged balls into golf ball animals or flowers, while giving the useable ones to golfers who are just starting out.
Retired Ohio State Highway Patrolman Steve Stolarik has amassed a golf ball collection well in excess of 22,000 balls—and it’s still growing, the New Philadelphia, Ohio Times Reporter reported.
“I can’t stand to watch TV,” said Stolarik. “My back hurts 24 hours a day, so I have to keep myself occupied. But, I don’t like television. So, I hunt for golf balls.”
And the darker the night, the better, said Stolarik, who hunts golf balls with the help of a ultraviolet light known as a “black light” that was a gift from his daughter, the Reporter reported.
“It makes the balls glow in the dark,” said Stolarik. “You can see them from 50 feet away. And the darker it is outside, the more they glow.”
When hunting golf balls, Stolarik dons a protective suit, rubber boots, gloves and a head-lamp. While he has fine tuned his skills at night, Stolarik didn’t always hunt at night. He got his start at Salt Fork State Park on a walk during daylight hours, the Reporter reported.
“I sat down on the guardrail along the road bordering one of the holes and the next thing I hear is a golf ball hitting a tree nearby,” he recalled. “Then another hit the tree and another. Pretty soon a guy came up looking for his golf ball. He picked up one that wasn’t his, and then another.
“When he finally left, I started looking and I found 64 golf balls in 15 minutes. I have been hunting golf balls ever since,” said Stolarik.
That was less than two years ago. Early, Stolarik set a goal for himself, but that became too easy, the Reporter reported.
“When I first started, I thought, ‘if I could fill a gallon jug,’” he recalled. “But that was too easy. Then it was a five gallon jug, but that was too easy. Next, I went to a 55-gallon drum, but that was too easy.”
Since then Stolarik has criss-crossed the state looking for golf balls to add to his collection. He also collects aluminum cans along the way to help defray the cost of gas. “It’s his stress release,” said Stolarik’s wife, Marguerite. “It keeps him busy and he enjoys it.”
The balls are all washed and sorted by manufacturer. Damaged balls not suited for the golf course any longer are put to use in making golf ball animals and flowers. “I can paint them what ever color I want,” said Stolarik.
The hunt has not come without its tribulations, the Reporter reported.
“One thing about a black light in the dark is it doesn’t give you depth perception,” said Stolarik. “You can’t really see if there is a hill or ditch there, so you have to be careful. The bushes between you and the ball can also be a problem.”
And, there is getting lost in the dark, but none of that takes into account the human perils, the Reporter reported.
“I was at the golf course on Hamilton Road near Port Columbus Airport once at midnight when all of a sudden there was a Columbus police officer and a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy there to see what I was doing,” said Stolarik. “I guess a guy with a black light out in the night near the airport drew some attention.
“When I showed them what I was doing, they laughed.”
Stolarik tries to keep the local law enforcement aware of his activities when he hunts at night. The hunts are carried out along the right-of-way on roads bordering golf course so there is no trespassing issues, the Reporter reported.
Stolarik scoffs at the idea of selling his golf balls—an idea not opposed by his wife. Instead, he likes to give them to golfers who are just starting out. “I will give people some to get them started,” he said.
That also goes for his second collecting passion—golf clubs. Stolarik has amassed a sizable collection of golf clubs obtained from various locations at a minimal cost, the Reporter reported.
“If you do it right, you can get balls and clubs to start golfing for less than $10,” said Stolarik. “I don’t golf, so I like to help other people.”
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