3. Ballfinder Scout

Sure, you know the way around your favorite golf course like the back of your hand. But do you have any idea where all your precious golf balls wind up?

Wander aimlessly no more. Instead, find your missing muffin with the BallFinder Scout, a battery-operated handheld digital locator for misplaced golf balls. As long as at least three dimples of the ball's surface remain exposed - that's less than 1% - the BallFinder Scout can find whatever you managed to whack into the great unknown. (That is, unless you bury your ball deep within the underbrush, a sand pit, or a water hazard...)

The Ballfinder Scout uses space-age pattern recognition to identify and locate golfballs in a 35-foot radius

Sarnoff Corporation is a developer of optics and location devices that partnered with Scout to help develop the BallFinder. It uses digital video and color recognition to identify lost golf balls - including those of other players. It can examine up to 600 square feet of terrain per second, and renders an image on a 3.2 megapixel viewfinder to locate balls up to 35 feet away. And it's nicely packaged in a small, cellphone-sized package for easy portability.

With the push of a button, balls are located, locked on screen, and outlined with red brackets, reminiscent of fighter jet enemy aircraft identification systems. Bright blue LED lighting aligned along the upper face of the unit directs you to the exact location. No squinting or squatting necessary!

At a price tag of $199, the Ballfinder Scout is a good investment if you lose lots of balls - or if you work as a caddy, and want to supplement your tip income! Considering the price of Titleist Pro V1 balls - around $45 a dozen - it might make a compelling investment just on an ROI basis.

Like the Stewart Golf X1R Remote-Controlled Golf Caddy also featured in this buyer's guide, the Ballfinder Scout can't improve your game. It might, however, improve your game by ameliorating the inevitable relationship between clumsy swings and lost balls!