Golf is a game of misses...
“Well, I try not to miss ever, but when it does go in [it's] probably about once every ten times,” said golfer Mona Smitch.
And for those golf balls ending up in natural waters, like on three of the holes at Avila Beach Golf Resort, they are mostly forgotten.
“If nobody's pulling them out, they're just there," said Tamara Jones, founder of Sandy Feet Guardians.
That’s why Jones has spent years organizing clean-up events to collect golf balls.
"We picked about 15 five-gallon containers out that one day,” Jones said.
Oceanographer Serena Lee talks about the dangers plastics like these pose for the environment:
“These items last for ages and ages and ages," she said.
At Avila Beach, a low tide next Wednesday will give Jones' group the chance to gather lost golf balls.
But they still need volunteers to help.
“The more people that we have engaging in our social pages and committed to our effort, then the five or 10% that can show up become more dependable," Jones said.
She says golf balls end up not only in the creek but by the beach too, as storms bring them down along with other items.
“With these big storms, all kinds of things arrive, including plastic bottle lids, plastic toys, all kinds of things that don’t belong in nature,” Jones said.
Avila Beach Golf Resort will also be sending out staff to take part in the clean-up.
Moms like Hilda Skvagerason and her children seem eager to join in as well, making it a volunteering opportunity for all ages.
"We could bring the kids out and they could find a bunch of golf balls. That would be so much fun," Skvagerason said.
Jones' organization goes beyond picking up golf balls; she’s dedicated to cleaning up the environment with community-based help.
“I'm happy with anybody that really wants to help participate and just start to make a little bit of a difference. I think it matters,” Jones said.
To find out more about Sandy Feet Guardians' clean-up events, click here.
