I've had this happen before as well as seen it happen to others. It happens typically later in the day when it's starting to get dark. I believe it has more to do with the tee rather than the ball. 

Ya, don't worry because this happens all the time.  A lot of times it happens when you swipe a little rock or something on the ground, but you usually will only see it late in the day when the sun is going down. 

That is a strange one Keith. That has happened to me a couple of times with an iron when I hit a rock that was just under the grass or dirt below my ball, and it made a spark, (also a nick in my iron) but never with a driver. Could you have possibly hit the ground (and maybe a rock) with your driver?

that happens often especially if your course or range has silica sand.  i remember when i was playing jr. golf and it was dusk, we would roll the ball in the trap if they had silica sand and hit the ball just to see the sparks!

This has never happened to me. 

Simply said...

Pretty sure it was a small piece of rock you hit your driver with that was on the ground that caused the spark. I've had it happen to me too!

Have you been hittin' the gym, Keith?

Defiantly have seen this before....usually just as the sun is setting and the light is getting low.  I have always attributed it to small fragments of rock that might be stuck to the ball with dirt or rock that might be embedded in the ball.   But yes, it will throw off a spark!  lol  

It happens with titanium drivers when certain small pebbles of sand brush against it at speed during the swing. 

yeah back when i was a little kid i used to get really excited about going to the range at night because i could sometimes see sparks with my driver. might be the metal hitting some bits of rocks on the ground causing it. i dont know for sure but i have seen it before.

Nothing to worry about and it will not hurt anything. This has been happening since the first full titanium drivers like the Great Big Bertha in the 90s. All it takes is a microscopic piece of sand to produce sparks.  Very cool effect  at night when you're hitting balls!

Thanks for the reassuring responses and that apparently, I'm not entirely crazy.  We're all golfers here, so we all have a bit of a crazy streak in us.

I wouldn't be surprised if I picked up a bit of sand.  Since I'm in Georgia, we have more clay-like soil, but I'm sure it was probably a perfect storm of goofy conditions that produced it.  And yes, it was getting late.  It was a really cloudy day, around 7pm when it happened.

A lot of time sparks happen also if you swing a driver and it skims the ground that has sand on it.

Used to see this all the time in the days when I practised on the range after work. My practice balls always had some dirt and sand on them. Only happened when hitting Titanium woods.

It is very common with titanium drivers. If you swing your driver at a ball another million times, I can guarantee you WILL see it happen again, sooner or later. 

Reviving this old thread...

At home, I've been practicing with DT SOLOs as they seem to be the nicest to my simulator screen and don't tear it up like some of the softer cover balls do.

But, they spark all the time! Even if its a perfect impact... maybe the downward angle of attack does it?

Pretty neat to see. At first I thought I was crazy, but I see it all the time now.

Sadly, I see it on mishits as well. 

Food for thought.  Impact of the metal driver against a piece of sand from the course could cause that spark.  The solo is a harder ball and with that piece of sand and driver making impact, POW...... just a possibility......

With muy old driver it happened quite a lot when on the driving range but had no effect on the club. I