2020 Golf Thread

thestardawg

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2005
861
Section 38, Row 13
Good time for that question

My best round still is a 75 when I was 17 at Twin Springs, which is a 9 hole course in Bolton.

My best big boy round was about 10 years ago at Sterling National where I shot a 77, but that was with a bogey-double bogey-bogey finish.

Saturday I felt like a real golfer again. Playing at Sterling I started birdie-par-birdie. Missed birdies by inches on 4 and 5. Made a par save on 6. Missed a 5 footer for par on 7. Easy par on 8.

On 9 I hit a great drive and I'm 90 yards from the green. I hit a lob wedge 10 yards short of the green. Unfortunately 9 has this enormous mound in front of the green. I blade my chip shot and leave myself 65 feet for par and 3 putt. 37. My best 9 hole score before had been even...and it still is.

And then on the back 9 i managed to soil myself and not even break 80. 37-45

Followed by shooting 88 at the Ranch yesterday. Back to the drawing board.
 

Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Best score? LOL. I shot 80 at my home club in my mid 20s, a period when I did not use woods. I'd tee off with 3 or 4 iron, and hit in a way I could pop it out there far enough to have reasonable shots into par fours. I'm happy to report my just turned-15 son has already bested that score multiple times. Must take after his real father.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Like I said, everything is relative. :) What's your best-ever 18-hole score, btw?

Actually, that's a good question to open up to everyone else as well: your best 18-hole score? I'm sure that'll elicit some good stories; I had a 63 once in competition -- albeit on the 4800-yard par 66 Dunaverty Golf Club, a beautiful little gem on the southern tip of the Kintyre Peninsula in Argyll that is incredibly fun to play (and tougher than you would think given the yardage) - but on courses of 6000 yards or more I've had a 70 (-1) in competition, and I think a handful of casual -2 rounds along with a 71 (-1) on The Old Course that was way more memorable than any of them.
Best score was just last year, at age 49. Shot a 75 on a par-72 course with a rating of 70.4. I don't expect to ever top that, but hey, I never thought I'd put that up!
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Crazy week of golf for me this week. Played horrible golf for 4 days in a row with an 81, 81, 79, 81 on Tuesday through Friday plus an actually great 40 for 9 in 30-40mph winds. Didn't play yesterday then went and had a just horrendous range session before today's round and expected more of the same horribleness. Then had 2 birdies and an eagle on the front (along with 2 just stupid bogies) along with 2 more birdies and 7 pars on the back for a pretty easy 68. My game could not be more up and down right now. Maybe today was a sign of something. Then again, maybe it was just a blip. Who knows.
My game is catching fire right now. I can't stay away from a couple big numbers, but everything is so good right now.

It started last Monday when I went 45-35. I hit the ball great on the front but was just a little off and then caught fire on the back with 4 birdies, but had a double. Then shot 73 with a double and two 3 putts followed by a 75 with 5 birdies, a double and a triple.

I could realistically see myself shooting a 68-69 this season, which would be my best score by 2. I can go very low, but always throw in a few big scores.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
My game is catching fire right now. I can't stay away from a couple big numbers, but everything is so good right now.

It started last Monday when I went 45-35. I hit the ball great on the front but was just a little off and then caught fire on the back with 4 birdies, but had a double. Then shot 73 with a double and two 3 putts followed by a 75 with 5 birdies, a double and a triple.

I could realistically see myself shooting a 68-69 this season, which would be my best score by 2. I can go very low, but always throw in a few big scores.
That's the thing though. In order to score well, usually you make a few really long putts, or chip in, or whatever. We always look at the shots we blew - "If I hadn't hit that one ball into the woods, I'd have shot XYZ". But we DID hit it into the woods. And we never really say, "Ok, yeah, but if I hadn't drained that downhill 23 footer and instead 3-putted that".

I'm not trying to pour cold water on you. I think you're playing great. Just remember that even as we eliminate blow-up holes, we have to not always count on making those great putts or chipping in or what have you.

I hope you set a personal best this year. Golf actually is fun when you're playing well!
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
My game is catching fire right now. I can't stay away from a couple big numbers, but everything is so good right now.
This is usually what gets me too. I'm usually good to hit at least 1 or 2 braindead shots into a lake or over the green or whatever and throw in 2 or 3 doubles a round or a some streak of 4 bogeys in a row for no reason. It's almost always the great putting days that lead to the very low rounds (27 putts yesterday), but sometimes it's just not hitting a couple into the shit and making 2 doubles and a triple to go with 12 pars and 3 birdies. Keep playing well and you'll have that day where you finally don't mess up those one or two holes. Hopefully it's in a club championship or Member/Guest with a big Calcutta.
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
That's the thing though. In order to score well, usually you make a few really long putts, or chip in, or whatever. We always look at the shots we blew - "If I hadn't hit that one ball into the woods, I'd have shot XYZ". But we DID hit it into the woods. And we never really say, "Ok, yeah, but if I hadn't drained that downhill 23 footer and instead 3-putted that".

I'm not trying to pour cold water on you. I think you're playing great. Just remember that even as we eliminate blow-up holes, we have to not always count on making those great putts or chipping in or what have you.

I hope you set a personal best this year. Golf actually is fun when you're playing well!
I'm actually not doing anything special like chipping in or making long putts. I shot 73 with two three putts and like 32 putts. I was just hitting fairways and greens.

I've always been a birdie machine, it's just the big numbers that kill me.

I got down to a 1.7 three years ago, but wanted to get to scratch and be more consistent. I couldn't sustain that level. So I started a journey to completely change my game. Which has seen me struggle for the past two years, trying a couple coaches, and finding what works for me. Two months ago I was a 7.3 and have finally started to click to get down to a 4.2, they lowest I've been since being a 1.7.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
I'm actually not doing anything special like chipping in or making long putts. I shot 73 with two three putts and like 32 putts. I was just hitting fairways and greens.

I've always been a birdie machine, it's just the big numbers that kill me.

I got down to a 1.7 three years ago, but wanted to get to scratch and be more consistent. I couldn't sustain that level. So I started a journey to completely change my game. Which has seen me struggle for the past two years, trying a couple coaches, and finding what works for me. Two months ago I was a 7.3 and have finally started to click to get down to a 4.2, they lowest I've been since being a 1.7.
That's sweet. I've never gotten to that level, and at my age, I'm sure I never will. Isn't your game boring though? All those fairways and greens and pars and such?

:p

Seriously, great work. Would love to see you in action in person.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
That's sweet. I've never gotten to that level, and at my age, I'm sure I never will. Isn't your game boring though? All those fairways and greens and pars and such?

:p

Seriously, great work. Would love to see you in action in person.
Not sure what your age is but I'm 47 and after yesterday I'm at a 1.9 and pretty consistently between 1-4 over the past 10 or so years. I'm not sure how much your age really matters unless you're in the 70+ range.


I'm actually not doing anything special like chipping in or making long putts. I shot 73 with two three putts and like 32 putts. I was just hitting fairways and greens.

I've always been a birdie machine, it's just the big numbers that kill me.

I got down to a 1.7 three years ago, but wanted to get to scratch and be more consistent. I couldn't sustain that level. So I started a journey to completely change my game. Which has seen me struggle for the past two years, trying a couple coaches, and finding what works for me. Two months ago I was a 7.3 and have finally started to click to get down to a 4.2, they lowest I've been since being a 1.7.
I'd be so not happy to play you as a 7.3. That's some bullshit. ;)
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Not sure what your age is but I'm 47 and after yesterday I'm at a 1.9 and pretty consistently between 1-4 over the past 10 or so years. I'm not sure how much your age really matters unless you're in the 70+ range.



I'd be so not happy to play you as a 7.3. That's some bullshit. ;)
Yeah the guys at the club weren't happy, but it was legit. All of my rounds are logged during our Friday/Saturday pot games.

It was damn expensive going from 1.7 to 7.3, but this past weekend was pure beat down. I won ALL the money Friday and Saturday.
 

Average Reds

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 24, 2007
35,330
Southwestern CT
Just catching up with this thread, as I haven’t been playing this spring at all. (Short version - I sprained my MCL at the end of February and decided to leave the club I’ve been a member of. I just started swinging the club about three weeks ago.)

My index at the start of the year was 5.3. First round out of the gate was a 91, followed by an 86 (from the whites at a local muni) and then an 84 (from the blues at Richter Park in Danbury.)

Get an invite to a big money match at my old club on Sunday. Got there early to warm up, shot a 75 and won $300. That felt good.

Low round for me is a 71 (-1) at my former club, which I shot last July. It’s funny, because I’m no longer crazy long like I used to be when I was young, but my short game and course management is so much better now and it makes all the difference. My index last summer got down to 4.3 and that’s as low as it’s ever been. (I’m 58.)

It’s a funny game, and I’m obsessed by it. (And now I need to go ice my knee, which is blowing up after yesterday’s round ...)
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Speaking of big money games, I'm going to be putting together a big money game at our club for the end of the year. I'm trying to decide the format, but it'll be $500 min buy-in with optional side games. Invite only with 75% handicaps. I'm thinking about capping at 20-24 guys.

It'll be a two day event. I'll do the normal low gross/net winner. Thinking of doing random two-man teams for each day and paying out winners each day and then paying out a bunch of junk like last place for the two days (having the random teams both days will prevent someone from purposely losing), most birdies, most sandies, etc.

Any thoughts?
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I haven’t been playing this spring at all. (Short version - I sprained my MCL at the end of February and decided to leave the club I’ve been a member of. I just started swinging the club about three weeks ago.)
It's like we're twins - except for the rest where in good shape you're much better than I. But yeah, lost season to MCL sprain in March; hope to get out next month, but need some PT. Some days it hurts just to wake up if I slept wrong, I'm not about to go twisting on it.
 

patinorange

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 27, 2006
30,661
6 miles from Angel Stadium
I took up the game when I was 30 and I'm now in my mid 60's. I got my handicap down to a respectable 12 a couple of years ago but now I am up to 16. I'm pretty consistent in the mid to high 80's. I just can't hit it far anymore and greens in regulation on par fours are becoming rare. I'm actually considering some lessons. I think my loss of distance is something I am doing incorrectly as some of my old buddies are still striping it.

Anyway, my low is 75. I have done it a few times, hitting from white tees. Breaking 80 is a big deal for me.
I would probably do it more often if I could sink a four foot putt more than 1 in 5 times. I have better odds hitting a 15 footer. I hate golf. But I will be out there Thursday and Saturday.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
Speaking of big money games, I'm going to be putting together a big money game at our club for the end of the year. I'm trying to decide the format, but it'll be $500 min buy-in with optional side games. Invite only with 75% handicaps. I'm thinking about capping at 20-24 guys.

It'll be a two day event. I'll do the normal low gross/net winner. Thinking of doing random two-man teams for each day and paying out winners each day and then paying out a bunch of junk like last place for the two days (having the random teams both days will prevent someone from purposely losing), most birdies, most sandies, etc.

Any thoughts?
Well, shit, that sounds great. A few things we've done in money games this year that have been fun, usually with blind teams, are 2-man best-ball but with the 2 hardest holes on both sides counting both players scores, 2-man total score for gross (we don't do net) and 2-man totals for team skins. I'd think about making it an A player and B player in the teams and even creating 2 flights for individual skins at least with a "super skins" that crosses both flights and maybe both days. Make skins worth a lot so people keep playing hard both days. I'd consider doing the blind draw at the end of day 1 and keeping the same teams for day 2 and even having them play together on day 2. Team golf is fun and you'd know where you stood heading into day 2. We've done random draws both online and in-person and in-person is way more fun. We use a deck of cards and have people pair up based on the card they draw. I may do a last place prize of getting 1/2 your entry back in bar credits or something, but I wouldn't announce it until after.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
If you do the pairings at the end of day one, you could have a really interesting Calcutta right after. Are you going to do a trophy? People love trophies with their names engraved on them.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Speaking of big money games, I'm going to be putting together a big money game at our club for the end of the year. I'm trying to decide the format, but it'll be $500 min buy-in with optional side games. Invite only with 75% handicaps. I'm thinking about capping at 20-24 guys.

It'll be a two day event. I'll do the normal low gross/net winner. Thinking of doing random two-man teams for each day and paying out winners each day and then paying out a bunch of junk like last place for the two days (having the random teams both days will prevent someone from purposely losing), most birdies, most sandies, etc.

Any thoughts?
Good lord that sounds like a blast.
 

Gunca

New Member
Mar 5, 2020
44
Had a tough time closing out my round this past Sunday. I was under par with 4 to play, and it definitely got to me. Finished bogey (3 putt), double (OB), par, bogey. It’s a tough game.

Really makes me think how good the pros really are. Not only are they superior to us with their playing ability, but they’re light years ahead of us between the ears.

I was playing a casual round with @Zomp. Those dudes are nails with hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on the line.
 
Last edited:
I was back out this morning at Dunbar, in a two-club wind all the way round...and I just didn't have anything. My swing sucked, my putting stroke sucked, and I had no touch around the greens. Nothing felt right, and I can't figure out where that awesome swing I had a few weeks ago has gone; I'm sure the putter will be back, but the swing is a real problem. I triple-bogeyed #11 after a good drive to fall to +7, and while I guess playing the last seven holes back into the wind at +3 (to shoot an 81) isn't terrible, some of the shots along the way were seriously ugly.

Some people are fond of saying that a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office. I disagree completely - I wish I'd been doing something productive in my home office rather than dicking around for 3+ hours in the wind and feeling farther away from the quality golfer I was a few weeks ago than I was before I started.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
@Conigliaro's Potential - You're a way better golfer than me, but I can relate to what you're saying. Just when you think you've figured stuff out, you have a round like that that makes you rethink everything.

As for that saying....I love my job so much and get to work with great people and impact young lives that for me, a good day of work...well...there's not much better than that. I'd certainly take a good day of work over a bad day of golf.

And don't worry...you'll get your mojo back.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,380
I've been big time struggling with my tee game this year. To the point where it's gotten mental, and I've developed a 4 way miss with the driver. I could go right, left, top or popped up and anywhere in between. It was making golf not fun at all, because the hole is over before it even starts. The irony (of course) is that I was hitting my mid-short irons better than ever, so the feeling that it was just within reach was so tantalizing.

I'm down in Pinehurst for a couple weeks, have a chance to actually go to a range, put in headphones, and do some work. That's already making a huge difference. I'm incapable of working stuff out by playing, I need to spend 30-45 mins on the range figuring out where I'm going wrong and what swing feels get it back to acceptable. I THINK I have my driver back to mediocre, which I'll take. I just want to be 250 yards out there in play off the tee, I'm not looking for anything spectacular. I don't even care about hitting fairways, just want to eliminate penalty strokes and re-tees. I put it together for 9 holes on Saturday and shot 40 that could have easily been 37 if I could hit a putt. Then on the back my driver got loose again (partially because I was tired) and I shot 47, with an OB, a water ball, and missing 2 other fairways and being in jail.

My best round ever is 79, which came in my 2nd 18 holes of the day after shooting 96 in the morning.
 

Zomp

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Aug 28, 2006
13,942
The Slums of Shaolin
73 for me. Junior college regional qualifiers for nationals. First round and was actually in the lead. It messed with my head though and the next day I shot 86 to miss qualifying by 2 shots.
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Can totally relate. Last year I finished double/double to miss the Washington State Am qualifier by 1 stroke.

Then I got a letter not to return to the mid-am this year because I didn't come within 15 strokes each day o_O

To be fair, I had heart surgery a month later.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Can totally relate. Last year I finished double/double to miss the Washington State Am qualifier by 1 stroke.

Then I got a letter not to return to the mid-am this year because I didn't come within 15 strokes each day o_O

To be fair, I had heart surgery a month later.
I don't get the bolded sentence. Can you explain?

On another note, one of my favorite rounds was as a college student, playing in the Maine Open (basically the old Nike Tour, though it was called something besides that...the guys trying to make it to the PGA tour). I played in the pro-am with a 6-handicapper and a pro. I was BOMBING off the tee, outdriving the pro by a good 40 yards a hole. On a legit pro course I shot 81, finishing a couple behind the 6-handicapper, and 10 behind the pro. Could easily have been a 78 but I cost myself three shots after hitting a ball into a green side bunker and getting a fried egg, I hit a terrible shot and flew one across the green into the OTHER green side bunker, blasted out poorly (I was skittish at that point) and three-putted from about 20 feet. My approach only missed the green (the pin was on that side of the green too) by a couple of feet, but I ended up with a 7 instead of a relatively easy 4.

The pro was pissed all day though because here was this skinny college kid crushing him off the tee. Obviously he was a significantly better golfer than me and we all knew that, but still. He didn't like being out-driven all day.
 
I meant to post this when I saw it the other day - the great Yale University Golf Course looks like Carthage after the Romans salted the earth:

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2020/7/2/as-feared-yale-golf-course-has-fallen-into-extreme-disrepair
I might have told this story before, but when I was interning for Golf Digest, we had a corporate membership at Yale, and as golf writers we were of course encouraged to play a fair amount of golf. And I loved the course at Yale at first sight (unlike literally any of my college teammates), so I played it a lot - without realizing that the number of rounds we were allowed on the corporate membership was limited. Nobody ever told me that, so I played it all the time. And then one day, we were all told in a meeting that the company policy was now that you could only play a certain number of rounds at Yale each month, and instead the company would reimburse you for some other rounds you played at public courses instead. (Which, @Average Reds, is how I came to play at Richter Park quite a few times, but I digress.) And that was the last I heard about this...until my golfing memoir about my year in St. Andrews was published, and Gary Van Sickle "reviewed" it on si.com, and a central plank of said review was him bitching about me ruining the corporate membership at Yale for everyone at Golf World as well as Golf Digest. I'm not sure I ever spoke to Gary when we were in the same building...so, ummm, whatever.

Anyway, seeing the course in that sort of shape makes me sad.
 

Over Guapo Grande

panty merchant
SoSH Member
Nov 29, 2005
4,461
Worcester
That's sad. I played at Yale once, thanks to a SOSH auction (back when I was a SandBoxer) and it was a great experience, even though my game wasn't.
 

Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
That was completely unnecessary to let the golf course go like that. Course Maintenance was permitted throughout the pandemic. Courses were allowed to be open almost the entire time. Weather has been overall great, with a warmer March than usual. My course is probably 10 miles by the crow flies from Yale, and is in great shape. You’d think Yale could have afforded to spend some money on the place; it’ll probably cost more to fix it back to previous conditions.

I think Yale is a frustrating design, but one you learn to like the more you play it. I’ve played 4-5 times over the years, usually charity tournaments. You really need to play it a few times to learn the blind shots. And the Biarritz green on 9 is fun, especially if you’re in the wrong side of it.
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Family and I are doing a road trip down the coast from Seattle to San Diego on the 101. Just passed Bandon with my clubs in the back and died a little inside by not stopping.

Playing Torrey Pines on Monday though, so there's that.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
Family and I are doing a road trip down the coast from Seattle to San Diego on the 101. Just passed Bandon with my clubs in the back and died a little inside by not stopping.

Playing Torrey Pines on Monday though, so there's that.
Nice. I drove past Bandon when I moved to PDX with my clubs in the back. Felt the same way. Would love to hear your thoughts on Torrey. I played it in December on a very cold, very windy day when it had rained about 2" the night before. It was long as shit and that rough is no joke. In fact, there's a local rule that says you have 1 minute to look for your ball in the rough before taking free relief. I'm really curious how it plays in the summer.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2004
27,164
Cambridge, MA
Best ever round for me was earlier this year at Red Tail, 75 from the silver tees. Course management has been a big plus for me this year, and I'm more accurate with my driver than with my irons at times. I'm sacrificing 15-25 yards off my max distance with my current approach but more than happy with that tradeoff. I also can't reiterate how much walking has helped my game, even on courses where it's not especially easy.

I've been chasing that 75 for the past few weeks and got close on a couple rounds since, but also got some putting yips that started during a round @TFP was privy to at Metacomet. Got 36 coming up at George Wright / Brookmeadow on Friday to try and get back to form.
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
Nice. I drove past Bandon when I moved to PDX with my clubs in the back. Felt the same way. Would love to hear your thoughts on Torrey. I played it in December on a very cold, very windy day when it had rained about 2" the night before. It was long as shit and that rough is no joke. In fact, there's a local rule that says you have 1 minute to look for your ball in the rough before taking free relief. I'm really curious how it plays in the summer.
Will report in sir
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
I actually can't believe how far offline that ball must have been.
A buddy of mine just got yelled at for not yelling fore... to a couple doing yard work about 75 yards left of the golf course!

Edit: I've been hit a number of times and had a near infinite amount of near misses. I had a skied drive land right at my feet. That one was amusing. Others, not so much. I hit a guy just last year. He was hidden down in a swale and I had no idea he was there. Ripped a low 3-wood into a good wind and he just appeared out of nowhere right as my ball was getting to him. Hit him right in the ball of the ankle joint on a nice cold Denver morning (it was about 40 out). That could NOT have felt good. He was good about it because he thought my practice swing was my actual swing so started walking into our fairway to hit his errant shot while I was taking my actual swing. I'm sure he enjoyed walking the back 9. Worst part was that my ball bounced off his ankle deep into the rough and I ended up making bogey.
 

uncannymanny

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 12, 2007
9,080
I’m just getting back into the game after quitting in my mid-20s. This thread is terrifying.
 

Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
I actually can't believe how far offline that ball must have been.
It kind of looks like the tee is left if the previous hole’s green, based upon the bunker location to the right of this tee. If a righty had a long way on approach or tee ball on a par three, oomphed the shot and pulled it left (which would make the ball go farther than normal) that’s not an unusual shot result.

But yeah, gotta yell “Fore”
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
On the "hitting other people" note...I've never actually done it, but had a few incidents:

- Opening hole of a course in Maine I played when I was just starting out...there was a road along the right side of fairway #1. I tee off and launch one...way to the right. Along comes a police car. I'm tracking the ball and the car and...yep...smash, right into the windshield. He just kept going, and obviously I couldn't get into trouble for that. But man I was terrified.

- Long, uphill par 4, turns to the left. I'm like 18 years old. I pull my drive to the left and have a blind shot to the green - a hill and a ton of trees in the way. I hit a big draw with a 4-iron around the trees. No chance to get it to the green, right? Well..... I had thought the people were gone anyway, but I figured no chance. But I absolutely flushed it - one of those hit so pure you can't even feel the club make contact. I knew I hit it well and saw it bending around the trees. Still...never thought I'd reach the green. I get there and a couple is staring at me, boring holes through me with their eyes. Uh-oh. Apparently, the woman was putting and the ball damn near hit hers...bounced right next to her, missed everyone, but that's as close as you can get. Many apologies to them but they...weren't happy.

- My dad and I once were playing and were in the golf cart driving to our shots in the fairway when a tee shot from the next hole over ricocheted off our cart. Missed both of us but scared the hell out of us.

Who knew golf was so dangerous???
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
Ok, I love the direction this is going because I have lots of these types of stories :)

Speaking of hitting a cop... I had to yell fore to a cop standing just off the green of a par 3. It was at a course called Wildwood just outside Portland. The 9th hole ran along a pretty major road and you could see it clearly from #1 tee. Right after teeing off on 1 we see a cop car light up the blueies and pull someone over. I made a comment about it to my buddy but never gave it a second thought. When we reached the 6th hole and were walking to hit our second shots we both had to wait as multiple cop cars drove across the fairway and to the edge of the hole. By the time we got up to where they were the entire side of the golf course from the 6th tee to the 8th green was lined with cops with their guns drawn. Stopped to ask what was going on and it turns out theguy they pulled over was armed and ran off into the woods when the cop that pulled him over went back to his car. The 8th hole is a par 3 which was now almost entirely circled with cops. There's only a few yards long or right of the green where you can miss before being in the now guarded woods. Hit my tee shot and it was headed right at the cop standing pin high right. Yelled fore very loudly multiple times but she didn't budge. A few of the cops instinctually ducked or covered up. It missed her my a couple of yards, but it was a nervous few seconds. Hitting a cop with her gun drawn surrounded by other cops with their guns drawn could have gotten real dangerous, real fast.
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
I started golf when I was 15 or 16. My grandparents had a timeshare at Orange Lake in Orlando and one of the first rounds I ever played was at the course there with my grandfather. One of the holes is lined with houses/condos with the main access road running along the houses. I hit a slice so far right it flew the houses and into the road and we heard it hit something. As we were heading down the fairway we see a guy coming through the houses angrily pointing at us. Apparently I smashed my ball right in the middle of his windshield. That wasn't a fun conversation for my grandfather.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I started golf when I was 15 or 16. My grandparents had a timeshare at Orange Lake in Orlando and one of the first rounds I ever played was at the course there with my grandfather. One of the holes is lined with houses/condos with the main access road running along the houses. I hit a slice so far right it flew the houses and into the road and we heard it hit something. As we were heading down the fairway we see a guy coming through the houses angrily pointing at us. Apparently I smashed my ball right in the middle of his windshield. That wasn't a fun conversation for my grandfather.
Similarly, I played a course in the DC suburbs, in Maryland but I forget the name as it was nowhere notable; blind tee shot and I hook it hard left and hear a sound we can't really identify - I figure I hit a roof of one of the houses that lined the fairway. Come over the hill to see a rather large, very irritated woman in her night gown in the middle of the afternoon, waiting for us. I took out the sliding glass door to her deck.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
I started golf when I was 15 or 16. My grandparents had a timeshare at Orange Lake in Orlando and one of the first rounds I ever played was at the course there with my grandfather. One of the holes is lined with houses/condos with the main access road running along the houses. I hit a slice so far right it flew the houses and into the road and we heard it hit something. As we were heading down the fairway we see a guy coming through the houses angrily pointing at us. Apparently I smashed my ball right in the middle of his windshield. That wasn't a fun conversation for my grandfather.
That's an impressive slice! I'm sure insurance handled it, but I'll never understand why people who live on golf courses get mad when their stuff gets hit by golf balls. What did you think was going to happen? No one builds houses at the end of gun ranges.

DId I mention I have a lot of these types of stories? Last year in a match play event I hit a tee shot off to the right in between 2 holes. There are a bunch of trees in between the holes and it's one of those setups where hole 12 and hole 13 are parallel to each other. I was walking and the guy I was playing against was in a cart. We find my ball but have to wait for the group on the next tee to hit their tee shots before I can hit mine so we're not in their way. Me and my opponent are just shooting the shit behind a couple of trees about 75 yards from the tee box waiting for the group to finish hitting. Finally the last guy hits, his ball goes past us and I start to move towards my ball. From 30 yards past us I hear the thwack of the ball hitting a tree followed quickly by the sound of the ball hitting my opponents cart. I was maybe 2 steps away from the cart so quickly walked over to make sure he hadn't been hit and that's when we realized that the ball had gone straight into the passenger side cubby hole and somehow stayed in there. It was a one in a billion shot. Also, had I been sitting in his cart and not standing when it hit, it would have hit the back of my head at ~100 MPH.
 
I can't match your stories, @jercra, but I did play in a competition at Dunbar a few years ago where the fog was thick and getting thicker. The 6th and 17th fairways run parallel together, with two bunkers in between on a line and an OB wall down the right on #6, so it's very common for players on #6 to aim down #17, and when there's a lot of traffic on the course it can be a very stop-start experience. Anyway, my group was coming up #17, and we got a shout of fore as a ball bounced in front of one of my playing partners and reared up to strike him right in the middle of his forehead. He went down to the ground for about five minutes, and we were all very concerned for him and making sure he was OK...but then he got up, hit his next shot (a full 9-iron) to 12 feet and made his only birdie of the day.

No sooner had we finished the round, the competition was stopped and then eventually cancelled - largely because of what happened to my playing partner.
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
I got hit about a month ago. A player in my group got absolutely no carry off the tee, probably maxing out around 150. On this particular hole, he was short right. Myself and the 2 other players were on the left hand side, 100-150 yards up ahead of the short guy. The 3 of us were standing near each other. I was looking back at the short guy. They were very much a ready golf group, so right before the short guy pulled the trigger, a guy up with me hit his shot which got a "oh nice ball" from the other guy that was with us. I spun around to catch that shot right as the player who was short swung. I hear fore and the next thing I know, the ball one hopes right into the middle of my back. Stung for a second but I was fine otherwise. I kept the ball from going OOB too.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
3,147
Arvada, Co
I can't match your stories, @jercra, but I did play in a competition at Dunbar a few years ago where the fog was thick and getting thicker. The 6th and 17th fairways run parallel together, with two bunkers in between on a line and an OB wall down the right on #6, so it's very common for players on #6 to aim down #17, and when there's a lot of traffic on the course it can be a very stop-start experience. Anyway, my group was coming up #17, and we got a shout of fore as a ball bounced in front of one of my playing partners and reared up to strike him right in the middle of his forehead. He went down to the ground for about five minutes, and we were all very concerned for him and making sure he was OK...but then he got up, hit his next shot (a full 9-iron) to 12 feet and made his only birdie of the day.

No sooner had we finished the round, the competition was stopped and then eventually cancelled - largely because of what happened to my playing partner.
We had a similar foggy situation at Bandon one year. The caddies would throw a towel down at the front of the tee and say "hit it over that". Rather than someone getting hit with a ball though someone made an ace on #2. They were in the group in front of mine so I only heard the reaction once they got to the green. Though now that I think about it, it may have been BS. My caddie told me there was an older couple (late 70s) out there last year and the wife knew it was the last time they'd be able to go to Bandon. Her husband had never had a hole in 1 so they arranged for someone to put the ball in the hole for him on one of the par 3s so he thought he got an ace at Bandon. They did, and then he made an actual ace on the back 9. That story may also be bullshit, but it's fun anyway.