What lies beneath?

Diver Ron Sebastian has seen it all in 34 years spent combing the bottom of water hazards across the state

By Bob Albright • photos by Jim Vaiknoras

Ron Sebastian makes his living off golfers’ errant approach shots.

Ever wonder what happened to that New England Patriots logo ball you sent deep into the algae-covered pond on the treacherous third hole at Carriage Pines Golf Course in Rowley?

Check out Ron Sebastian’s living room in Ashland. Chances are you might find it.

The 48-year-old self-professed, “200-plus-pound frog” has a collection of over 4,000 antique and logo golf balls that he’s amassed over the years while prowling the underbelly of water hazards across New England since the age of 14.

“I have balls dating back to the 20s,” he says. “Square dimples, logo balls, you name it. Anything that’s unique, I have it.”

It is safe to say that Sebastian is a little unique as well.

Dressed in a wetsuit and sporting his trademark green hard hat, “THE most valuable piece of equipment I own,” and armed with his faithful sidekick, his 12-year-old lab, Rascal, a foursome at Rowley can’t help but stop their cart and stare as he slithers into a pond that had previously only been inhabited by turtles, catfish and errant approach shots.

They call them “ball hawks” and while there is money to be made in his profession – some divers on water-laden southern courses are said to make upwards of $100,000 diving for what they call ‘white gold’ – Sebastian once again stands apart. Sure, he wants his piece of that used golf ball pie – a reported $200 million industry – but it’s the view from his office, complete with lunker snapping turtles, leeches and frogs that is the real attraction.

“I’m fascinated by the ecology of wetlands and the diversity of the wildlife in the water,” said Sebastian, a member of the National Wildflower Society. “I’m big on the whole recycling aspect of it, too, and this is primary recycling. I’m an environmentalist and a naturalist. So I try to do things right and not to disturb the pond.”

Sebastian takes care of about 20 courses throughout the state and has varying deals with most of them. Some divers will pay the course for the right to comb their ponds, a practice called “paying out of water.” Sebastian says he prefers to split a portion of his loot with the pro shop on the way out. It’s very much a symbiotic relationship. The course gets a couple of hundred balls to sell in their pro shop or use on the range, and Sebastian takes his half back to his shop at Conigliaro’s Recycling in Framingham where he sorts, refurbishes, re-packages, and resells the balls.

From snappers to this leech, Sebastian earns his money.

He’s not your basic quick buck type, however. For courses that he has long standing relationships with, he’s not opposed to helping replace an irrigation valve at the bottom of the pond and will also offer his vast botanical expertise.

“One of the big problems we have is with invasive plants,” said Sebastian. “There’s this plant that’s called a water chestnut. A few years ago I spotted some of that at Rowley and was able to eliminate it and stop a major infestation. That’s just another side benefit of having a knowledgeable ball hawk.”

Obtaining an exclusive agreement with each course is a big factor in being profitable in a business which is very territorial and somewhat secretive. Several divers we contacted opted not to go on the record for this article and Sebastian was hesitant to discuss anything pertaining to his unique hand-made equipment and his techniques.

“Ball hawks are like lobstermen,” he points out. “When you get a place and someone comes in and undercuts you it’s not taken lightly. It’s like pulling someone else’s (lobster) pots and if they are caught they will not be leaving the course with any balls,” he warns cryptically.

“You can’t have other people doing it. It’s too hard to do it. You need to have the timing and know when the ponds are ripe.”

“Ripe” as in the Monday we headed out to the third hole at Carriage Pines to watch Sebastian in action. After all, the course had just hosted a pair of double shotgun tournaments the previous weekend making the pond on the par-4 third, which features a brutal, but tantalizing, second shot carry, very ripe indeed. In one 15-minute span with Sebastian standing chest-deep in the muck, we watched him come up with some 15-20 balls in a radius no bigger than 10 feet.

In shallow ponds like that one, the process is aptly called “mucking” and Sebastian will use his hands and toes to comb through the mud to locate his treasure. In deeper waters like the large pond that stretches between the first and eighth holes at Rowley, he’ll strap on his scuba tank and dive.

“All things being equal, I like to dive. I like to get underwater,” said Sebastian, a licensed scuba diver.

That being said, none of Sebastian’s dive sites will ever be mistaken for the Caribbean or even a New England lake for that matter. Visibility is usually a foot or two at best due to all the accumulated silt and chemical-enhanced algae, which grows rampant from the run off of fertilizer-laden fairways.

“It really becomes a matter of feel,” says Sebastian. “You’re using your hands and you’re using your feet and combing through the mud.”

And that’s where the snapping turtles, water snakes and a whole array of other first-aid-kit-101 encounters come to the fore. Suffice it to say, it is no small accomplishment that Sebastian still has all 10 fingers and toes.

“The thing is I know how to deal with snapping turtles,” he points out. “But when you come across something that is 60 pounds and something that you know can take your finger off and is powerful enough to actually push you in the water, it can be very scary.”

That’s where the gregarious diver’s Zen-like quality comes to his aid.

“They can sense that you are not there to harm them. Just like the line in Caddy Shack, ‘Being one with the golf course,’ you have to be one with the pond. They have to know that I’m just a big 200-pound-plus frog.”

For the most part that non-confrontational approach has worked, but Sebastian has had close encounters of the unfriendly kind six times with snappers. Once on the bank of a pond at Far Corner GC he startled a 40-pounder who took the second joint of his index finger down to the bare bone, and he had a similar experience a few years ago at the Colonial.

At Carriage Pines, Sebastian says, you really have to watch for the water snakes that lie in the tall grass right around the pond and the orange-belly leeches that grow as big as night crawlers. Then there’s the plethora of water bugs that bite, sting or leave you with a rash. If you can get by those obstacles, however, there is treasure to be found.

“I have so many clubs that I have a rack in my shop,” he says. “I would say that I probably get 30 to 40 a year.”

The most prominent club in his collection?

“What’s the most frustrating shot to miss?” Sebastian asks with a smile. “I’ve got more putters than you would know what to do with.”

And yes, he’s found full sets of clubs – bag and all – from those golfers who have come to a life-changing epiphany during their rounds. In fact, he was once commissioned by some members of a popular men’s league to go diving for one of their compatriot’s set of clubs.

“They told me that they would pay me whatever it took, so I went in there and got them,” said Sebastian, “and at their season-ending banquet they presented them to him.”

So how many golf balls does he add to the drink each year?

“Oh, I’m awful,” Sebastian says with a grin. “It’s not my thing.”

Watching the game from the water with a handful of balls in one hand, an uprooted water chestnut plant in the other, and with Rascal tirelessly frothing up the algae-covered surface around him, that’s Sebastian’s thing.

The hazards inside the hazard

Making your living as a “Ball Hawk” as golf ball diver Ron Sebastian refers to himself is not for the faint of heart. Here’s a list of some of the potential hazards he has come across in 34 years diving in water hazards across New England. • Six different varieties of water bugs that sting; the largest, “The Great Water Bug” is 2-3 inches in diameter. • Snapping turtles – he’s been bit several times, almost lost a finger at Colonial and Far Corner • Leeches – several different sizes and varieties • Water snakes – very aggressive, fearless • Fishing line, lures and hooks can either cut you or tangle you up during a dive. • Water plants – many will leave you with a rash. • Large and smallmouth bass – they will bite on occasion, very territorial around their nests. Sebastian has seen bass up to 20 inches in his travels. • Catfish – they will sting you and unfortunately seem to get more active when you stir up the mud. • Broken glass, broken clubs – both can cut your feet and hands in a hurry. • Eels – they will bite too • Golfers – often like to blame divers for their failed approach shots..