Golf Ball Diver

 Last week, Opal was offering golf balls by the dozen on the Celo List with a mention that she’d been retrieving them from the river. I was intrigued and asked Gretchen where Opal was finding so many golf balls. She sent the picture with this note:

“Our regular swimming hole is at the low water bridge on Rock Creek Rd. You can literally hear people tee off from there if the wind is right. But they get stuck in certain areas downstream from the bridge, and she can spot them from the hanging bridge and then go dive for them. When we have flood waters, there's some parts on the island down river where they get caught in holes. She calls it "golf ball island." She will spend HOURS doing this -- never tires of it. One day she found over 100 -- dove for each one, in strong current, probably 6-foot deep water.  

“But it's actually even a bigger family obsession; my parents live back in the golf course neighborhood 6 months of the year -- right on the river -- so when my nieces and nephews come visit, they all spend hours looking for golf balls in the river. Pre-Covid, Opal and her cousin have set up a blanket on the golf course and sell the balls right back to the golfers. It's pretty funny. “