32. Used Golf Balls

American golfers lose 300 million balls a year — and all those bad swings are someone else’s business opportunity. Zachary Crockett hits the links.

SOURCES:Todd Hutchinson, president and owner of BallHawker.Lashan Wanigatunga, founder of Two Guys With Balls.RESOURCES:"BallHawker, Challenge Enterprises Turn Wayward Golf Shots Into Successful Endeavor," Natalie Gilstrap (Clay Today, 2023)."Temecula Golf Ball Diver Nets $100,000 a Year," by Jeff Zevely (CBS8, 2022)."Golf’s Recycled Ball Market is Big Business," by Erik Matuszewski (Link, 2021)."The Inside Story of What the Original Titleist Pro V1 Launch Was Really Like," Andrew Tursky (Golf Digest, 2020)."Head of Golf Ball Retrieval Company Sentenced for Manslaughter After Diving Death at Wales Golf Course," by Alex Myers (Golf Digest, 2017)."Man Dies While Illegally Diving for Golf Balls," by Alex Myers (Golf Digest, 2015).EXTRAS:"Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).

Who decides which snacks are in your office’s vending machine? How much is a suburban elm tree worth, and to whom? How did Girl Scout Cookies become a billion-dollar business? In bite-sized episodes, journalist Zachary Crockett looks at quotidian things and finds amazing stories.

To get every show in the Freakonomics Radio Network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio, start a free trial for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

• No. of episodes: 118
• Latest episode: 2025-07-21
• Business

Where can you listen?