Abstract: An improved golf ball retriever for recovering an inaccessible ball from a water hazard or the like which eliminates scooping action and ball maneuvering during the retrieval action. The device includes three moveable, partial biased fingers or gates disposed in a larger than ball sized cylindrical housing that permits a single vertical downward movement to entrap the ball in the cylindrical housing. The upper rim of the housing includes a luminous material which acts as a guide in murky water. The ball retaining fingers are non-linearly spring biased to allow delicate finger movement and engagement to the point of positive ball entrapment without disturbing or prematurely dislodging the ball.