Chapter 1598 Golf Balls (2/2)

Li Du waved two caddies over and asked them, ”Are the two of you still in school?”

The caddies sensed the tension and started to back away. The two of them had worked here long enough to learn the most important lesson: if the patrons are talking, the staff should stand aside.

They knew that the people who came to the golf course to kill time were all loaded. They were just employees at the club, so they could not afford to offend any of them, much less involve themselves in their quarrel.

When Li Du called the two of them over, the caddies were evidently frightful and neither dared to speak.

Bell sensed what was going on and smiled. ”Relax, boys, this gentleman just wants to chat. He won't hurt you guys.”

One of the boys, who looked to be about 13 or 14, mustered up his courage and told Li Du, ”Yes, I'm working here to help with the household expenses. My mother is sick.”

The other teen mumbled quietly, ”I want to buy an iPad and rugby gear but my parents have no extra money to spare, so I have to earn it myself.”

Li Du said, ”Alright, then. Since you're caddying here, you should know the price of a golf ball, right? How much are they worth?”

The taller one piped up, ”The price ranges from five to a hundred dollars. Do you want to buy golf balls, sir?”

Li Du shook his head. He said, ”Then you should also know that the golf balls people use are not always new ones. Some get their balls from second-hand shops, right?”

The teen confirmed, ”Yes, and second-hand golf balls are cheaper. Some only cost a dollar.”

Li Du pointed at the small lake and said, ”There are a lot of dollars at the bottom of the lake. If you get a diving license and rent some gear, you can earn a couple thousand dollars in a day.”

He paused, then turned to speak to Brother Wolf, ”There are a lot of golf balls in the lake. Go pull out a few.”

Brother Wolf seemed unbothered by the Seattle winter. At Li Du's command, he did not hesitate as he took off his clothes and dived into the lake as instructed.

Not long after, Brother Wolf resurfaced. He tossed a few golf balls onto the ground then dived back down, going up and down like this a few times until twenty-odd golf balls were on the grass.

Li Du waved, and Brother Wolf pulled himself out of the lake.

Li Du squatted and picked up one of the golf balls. There were algae growing in the tiny craters of the ball and it looked dirty, but the snow-white exterior was restored after Li Du wiped the algae away with a tissue.

Golf balls were made of two key components: solid rubber made up the core while the exterior was made of synthetic resin. This type of synthetic resin was smooth and tough, which meant any sort of grease or dirt could be easily wiped off.

Golf balls made by big companies were usually more expensive because of the complicated production process. As everyone knew, the average rubber product was soft, but the core of golf balls scored more than 100 on the Shore Hardness scale, which meant it was about as tough as the exterior.

To have the core achieve the same level of hardness as plastic but retain the elasticity of rubber required high-intensity impact, but it had to be done so that the material would not crack. Naturally, this required expert workmanship.

Aside from the rubber interior and resin exterior, other materials had to be added into the mix. At least ten other components had to be included, and sometimes there were over 20 other types of material added!

Li Du looked towards the teens and pointed at the golf balls that looked as good as new, then asked them, ”If I sell these to you for ten dollars, would you buy them?”

The two teens hurriedly nodded, ”Yes, yes.””If we sell them to the general store, we can earn more than ten dollars.”

Li Du said, ”You see? If you guys learn to dive and get the golf balls yourselves, collecting more than a thousand a day should be no issue, right? This lake is large enough for you to fish for more than ten days, and most large golf courses have their own lakes. You could go from golf course to golf course. How many golf courses are there in the state, let alone America? Think about how much money you can make from this.”