A golf ball retrieval apparatus comprising a shaft containing a hollow portion with an opening to the hollow portion at one end of the shaft, and a first plug located in the hollow portion of the shaft capable of moving longitudinally within the hollow portion and having holes on a side facing the opening in the shaft. The retrieval apparatus further comprising a plurality of wires with a first end anchored in said holes in said first plug, and a second end with plastic sleeves attached, the second end of the wires being oriented in a conical array. The wires may be placed in a first position which exposes the wires outside the shaft by less than fifty percent of their length and also in a second position which exposes the wires by more than fifty percent of their length outside the shaft. A second plug is fixedly located in the hollow portion of the shaft to prevent the first plug and wires from penetrating into the hollow section more than that which will place the wires in the first position within the shaft. Wires move while anchored in the first plug in a direction to spread out from one another to permit the plastic sleeve to pass about the midpoint of the ball when the wires are pressed against the ball and then to contract about the ball after the plastic sleeves have passed the midpoint of the ball to enable the wires and sleeves to grasp and hole the ball
