Keep that golf ball in the fairway

As an avid golfer, I’ve lost my fair share of balls in the trees and other terrain. If you’ve ever hit the links, you know what I’m talking about. Those little white suckers seem to disappear at will. How many times has the crack of the swing been followed all too often by the query, “Did you see where that went?”
Like many of my compatriots, my first instinct upon losing a ball to the black hole of the lumberyard, or to the watery depths, is to call Mulligan and grab another. I can’t begin to guess how many of those little white devils I’ve sacrificed to the Unknown over the years. And, apart from my bruised handicap, I’ve given little thought to the impact my errant shots have had on the landscape around me.
According to CNN, research teams at the Danish Golf Union, have come up with a startling answer to that all too silent question. The Danes have discovered that it takes the average golf ball between 100 and 1,000 years to decompose when abandoned to nature. When you think that 300 million golf balls are lost annually in America alone, it’s hard to rationalize the negative effect they have on the ecosystem. This is especially so since it has been proven that, during decomposition, golf balls release high quantities of heavy metals. When submerged in water, as they often are, the zinc in the coating is slowly released, attaching itself to sediment and poisoning surrounding flora and fauna. 
This startling research has given me pause. No longer will I shrug my shoulders and call for a Mulligan. If anything, I have a renewed incentive to cut down on my slice or improve my hook. If you think about it, you wouldn’t throw an empty bottle in the woods, so why not spend an extra five or 10 minutes looking for that little white ball of toxic refuse? And, if you can’t find it or merely pass the buck and expect someone else to come pick up after your incompetence, think about the impact you can make on the environment by removing what is bound to become a partially degraded poison ball.
I feel guilty thinking about the casualness with which I gave up looking for so many wayward shots over the years. I feel like a big fat hypocrite self-righteously telling people that I don’t litter, while thousands of shiny white abandoned souls scream out, decrying my ignorance.
Next time you go out for a casual round, think about your impact on the green Garden of Eden around you. If anything, use this information as motivation to spend a little more time at the driving range. We could all benefit from a little more practice on the ole’ swing. And I’m pretty sure all of nature will breathe a collective sigh of relief when you end up in the fairway instead of the woods or water.