This powder is used to coat your ball prior to hitting it. I envision it being used primarily off the tee as this is where the great majority of balls are lost due to height and distance of flight making it hard to track the ball down.
The powder would have two components, the first would be composed of microencapsulated phosophorus, that upon being struck by the club the encapsulation would be broken and the phosporus would burn(for less than 1 sec) generating a brief amount of smoke to help you track the ball off the club.
The second component would be a florescent powder that is also encapsulated in an opaque material, and upon hitting would coat the ball in florescent powder that would be deposited on any surfaces that the ball contacts as it lands. thus leaving a telltale path leading you towards your ball. The photosensitive, non toxic, biodegradable dyes(like those used in colored bubbles) used would last no more than 5 or 10 minutes upon exposure to light so that other golfers will not be hindered in finding thier own balls.-- jhomrighaus, Jul 31 2006 Smokin Shot Smokin_27_20Shotby etherman. Vaguely similar. [calum, Aug 01 2006] I have no idea whether this would work - the detail of the explanation and the confidence with which it was delivered lead me to suspect that it would not - but what the heck! (+)-- angel, Jul 31 2006 More phosphorus please. Night-time golf will never be the same!-- methinksnot, Jul 31 2006 Flaming golf ball shooting through the skies...
Nice.-- shapu, Jul 31 2006 What [shapu] said-- pertinax, Aug 01 2006 I might even play golf if I can use this.-- wagster, Aug 01 2006 Another un-annotated, negative vote. God I hate those. I wish people would share thier thoughts.-- jhomrighaus, Aug 01 2006 But then, of course, it wouldn't be the Autoboner.-- shapu, Aug 01 2006 You realise that some people (not me) vote against simply as an indication to themselves that they've checked an idea; it doesn't necessarily mean it's 'bad'.-- angel, Aug 01 2006 Not only would this make the sport of Golf more interesting (I always have trouble following professional tee-shots in that sport), but it would also lead to humorous Business Golf days where Mr. Salesman-of-the-month gets to eat humble pie after a week of smack talk ends up in a humiliating phospherescent smoke trail approximately 2 yards from his little toe... Oh the indignity! *cackle* have a T_E_Acake! [+]-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Aug 01 2006 random, halfbakery