Thousands Of Golf Balls Spill Onto Wisconsin Highway

ROCK COUNTY, WI — It's still a few months before golf season begins here in Wisconsin, but an incident that happened in Rock County last week had area golfers scrambling for all the free golf balls they could gather.

According to a report from the Janesville Gazette, a delivery truck carrying thousands of Nitro golf balls spilled part of its load just after midnight on Feb. 19 onto a stretch of Highway 11/14 and Milton-Shopiere Road just east of Janesville.

The result? 5,000 orange and white golf balls spilled out onto the highway.

According to reports, the Rock County Department of Public Works sent a street sweeper to help clear dozens upon dozens of golf balls from the road over concerns that motorists would slip and slide on the suddenly-hazardous terrain - or worse, send the balls careening off the road at window-shattering speeds.

But before that happened, officials said that people stopped all along the incident scene, scooping up as many golf balls as they could find.

Nitro golf balls retail for between $5 to $8 per dozen.

According to a Golf Digest report, Valerie Kopac said by the time she went to clean up the balls at 11 a.m., there was nothing left but empty packaging.

According to the report, one man who was seen collecting balls from the roadway said one had cracked his windshield after being kicked up from the car in front of him.