We All Have Bad Luck Stories - How About Good Luck Ones?

I'm just as guilty as the next guy to complain about bad bounces etc. but I rarely say anything about when the bounce goes my way. One of my buddies seems to always have good luck and he gets a lot of grief from the rest of us. He's famous for things like hooking a tee shot on a dog leg left hole and having it bounce off a roof into the center of the fairway, or pushing into OB left only to have the ball ricochet off a rock back into play.

Today on a downhill par 5 dog left I pulled my drive. It went over a pump house so we couldn't see it land, but we have all hit in that area before. We all thought it would be inbounds but probably in the rough which makes for a miserable layup. We drive to the probable area where my ball should be and can't find it. I'm thinking I'm going to have to make the drive of shame to hit 3 off the tee or take a two shot penalty drop when one of the guys sees my ball on the left edge of the fairway much further than expected. I get to the ball and its mine, but when I look closer I see that there is a 1/4 slice missing. Apparently the mower who was working the hole ran over the ball and almost cut it in half before squirting it to the edge of the fairway. Instead of a tough layup I had a 5W to the green and made birdie. I figure that makes up for a couple bad bounces.

My wife loves to golf and she plays very well. I feel extremely lucky everytime we play.

This is a funny topic. I can think of all kinds of bad breaks but no real lucky ones come to mind. Not saying they don't happen. I obviously focus on the bad ones.

I had a really good one a few weeks ago. On the tenth hole which is a fairly steep uphill par 3 of 160 yards I hit a massive pull hook tee shot that went left of left and I was thinking it might be on the 18th tee except that I could hear it hit the trees up there. I hit a provisional which was a weak clank onto the hill short of the green. Blah. So I trudged up the cart path left of the hole and started looking through the underbrush for my ball where I thought it might have ended up. After a bit of fruitless searching I looked on the green and noticed that there was a ball about 3 feet from the back right pin. I thought that was funny as I was certain my provisional was short. Well it turned out that the provisional was short and my first ball had gone from a really terrible shot to a birdie! Yippee! Makes up a little bit for all of the times I have tugged one slightly and caught the stupid cart path left of the green and bounded into the penalty area behind the green.

Golf is a game of luck and skill, the better the skill the better the luck.

Playing a match this past weekend against my cousin at Manhattan Woods who is playing off a 1hcp. We get to 15 or 16 all square, its near dusk so shadows and sun playing a factor semi short par 4 up hill. Elect to go 5 iron off the tee and proceed to snap hook the ball like i never have been before , just full on closed club face, cut across the ball. Look in the woods for a hot second but didnt see anything and i didn't expect to as i hit it so hard. Drop a ball, grab a club, take a practice swing and just as i go to address my ball, my cousin yells out that my ball is in the middle of the fairway. Talk about a lucky break. Ended up losing our match on the second playoff hole but oh well

I've had quite a few breaks go my way this year. I have a problem with overextending and as such I've had a fair amount of tops/thins. This year I've had quite a few of those where I've hit a "sweet spot" on those where it's not a full on top but not so thinned that it shoots off way into the distance, and I've ended up having a shot that basically ends up how I wanted it albeit a little bit short. As they say, the scorecard doesn't have pictures.

In our league match Wednesday, I hit a pull hook screaming to the on fence. Hits a tree and falls in bounds. Second shot, I have a big tree in the way, so I try to hit a big draw and pull that. Plays plinko in a tree on the ob fence and falls in bounds. Should have had 4 penalty strokes on the hole and ended up with 0.

Not mine, but a friend's shot I witnessed. Par 5, downhill, slight dogleg left. Cart path runs down the left side. He hits a poor drive, and decides to knock a 3i down the fairway, except he hits it really fat. The ball flew about 60 yards, lands on the cart path, and starts skipping down the slope. Now, the cart path doesn't have a kerb, and it isn't straight. It's got bends and kinks in it, but the ball just seems to follow them. A couple of times it looked like it was going to bounce off, only for it to bounce back towards the middle of the path and continue its unlikely journey.

That duffed 3i ended up going a little over 200 yards, and left him a shortish iron to the green.

I made a birdie a few years ago on a very tough par 4 at my home club. These were the 3 shots:

1) Drive blocked way left , there is red stake all the way down the left. Ball hits tree in the hazard and comes out to middle of fairway.

2) Approach from 170yds hooked right of green , where there is a swamp that is OB. Ball hits another tree in the swamp and bounces back about 10 yards in front of green

3) Blade the chip a bit (not terrible , but would've been 20 feet past the hole), hits the flag and goes in

Was playing in a scramble a few years ago. Our team was a friend of mine, his son, their church pastor, and me. The pastor was very cool. So we get to talking and I ask him if gets any undue proportion of lucky bounces on the golf course. He laughed and said no, it's usually more unlucky ones. The next hole is a par 3 and the pastor pulls his shot way left, about 30 yds left., hits a rock or two, bounces off the cart path a few times and rolls onto the green about 10 feet from the hole.

Just Wednesday night I pulled my drive into the trees and it kicked out to the middle of the fairway.

One of my first rounds after courses opened back up here in FL. Playing my father's home course. Par 3, over water, about 150. The greens had just been aerated 3 days prior, so no expectation of good score given that putting was going to be fun.

Hit a horribly thin 9i that never got 10 feet off the ground. Cleared the water by less than 10ft. 2 bounces up the hill, rolled 20ft across the green and into the cup for my first ace.

I believe that if the HADN'T aerated the greens, my ball would have been going so fast on the green it would have either (1) hit the pin and bounced sideways 20ft, or (2) rolled right over the cup and off the back.

Sometimes its better to be lucky than good...

I've got a good one. The 12th hole at my home course is a steep downhill par 3 with a creek running in front of the green. It usually 2 clubs less than the yardage but I went 3 clubs less as I was striking the ball really good that day. Anyways, the shot was a little chunky and I thought for sure I was going into the creek. Instead my ball hits a rock and bounces nicely up onto the green about five feet away. I make the birdie putt and also collect a skin on that hole.

Playing with an employee and on a short par 3 he blades a wedge at about 165MPH. Turns his head in disgust, mutters something that can't be written on the site and fails to see his ball hit the pin perfectly square and drop in the cup for his first and only ace.

Just played 9 this morning and had a drive on the 7th hole, thought I hooked one into the pond about 200 yards down on the left side, so I hit a provisional and same thing. Start walking down see a ball well short of the pond on the left of the fairway, it's my first ball. It must've hit a tree and fell down into the fairway. I then proceed to hit a terrible 3 hybrid into the next fairway, take my medicine and try to pitch out to approx 110 yds. Take a pitching wedge and hit it about 30 yards short (something about that hole makes the approach play longer than it is and I know it so shame on me.) Duff a chip shot, so chip again, end up with a tripe 8.

Years ago I was playing a 180 par 3. Back then I played to about a 10 handicap, but my expectations for the shots I hit were pretty unrealistic for my handicap. Anyways, I hit my tee shot on the hole and pulled it hard left. Then the ball started slicing back, but I could tell that the ball would still end up way left of the green. I turned my head in disgust, but then I realized that I should at least watch it to make sure I can find it... There was a rather large mound left of the green. My tee shot just barely made it to to the top of the mound then kicked hard straight right and rolled onto the green towards the pin. Eventually it stopped right next to the hole.

My friends were cheering for me, but given the angle and how big the green was, I was convinced that it was one of those shots where it was actually a 20+ ft putt. I also spent more time lamenting about the shot instead of the result that I never even stopped to consider how lucky I was. As we drive our carts to the green, the ball keeps looking like it's right next to the hole. When I got to the ball, it probably would have fallen into the hole had it rolled over one more dimple.

The sad thing about it is that given my attitude, I just didn't care about the great luck (and birdie) I just had. Tapped it in for my birdie, waited for my buddies to finish, then kept fuming about my "terrible" tee shot on the next hole. Looking back at that day, I now realize how terrible it must have been to golf with me. I just had a terrible attitude when things didn't go perfectly. Every so often I think about that shot as a reminder on how I should act on the golf course. Unofortunately, it wasn't that incident that changed my attitude. That didn't really happen until years later when I got so frustrated with the game that I took a few years off. When I returned, I came back with a much better mentality and realized bad my attitude used to be and I enjoy playing the game so much more now.

Hit 2 shots yesterday that looked like they were going out of bounds. They both hit trees and actually ended up in the fairway about where I hoped they’d end up. That will never happen again.

Luckiest shot I ever hit was on a par 3. Hit a 8 iron that leaked right of the elevated green. This hole had posts and rope to block off the fairway and green for some reason. Ball hit the top of a post and rolled onto the green to about 6 feet. Kept a good round going.

Saw a guy hit it into a pond in front of a par 3 green, hit the bottom of the retaining wall of the pond, take a a magic bounce up and forward, land on the green and go in for a hole in one.

end thread/

Playing with my high school buds one of them toed a drive sideways that ricocheted off the ball washer missed me by inches and caught another bud square in the family jewels.

Just lucky I guess.

375 yard par 4:

Pull OB left, hits tree kicks out to fairway

Pull approach, deflects off tree limb, hot bounces 2x up cart path to front of green.

35 feet, uphill double break putt. Bury it for birdie.

Forgive me but I tell this story as often as I can. I use to play with a group of guys from work, some serious, some not, this guy was the middle, super talent but very middle of the road by way of results. e

Every golfer I played with tells you after the round what could have been, if not for the tree, bounce, divot, sun, pace, etc. Sitting down for a beer after playing this guy, he had the nicest way of pointing out every lucky bounce of the day. "I shot 95 but should have shot 100 if I didn't bounce out of the woods or clear the lake on 5. It was always a refreshing day to play with that guy

Part of my post from a previous thread . Hole in ones....

I've witnessed three from friends in my group over the years. Two by my one friend and one by another. All three were ugly. One was a worm burner that included bouncing through a creek. Same guy a slicing worm burner that runs through the left sand trap pops out and rolls into the hole. The third one the guy hit it thirty yards deep into the woods on the right and we watch it come out of the woods, roll down the hill and roll across the green into the hole.

close her up now..lol

There is no good luck. Only bad luck and good bounces that I deserve.

:D

This was a combo of good luck and my general idiocy of years ago (and to a much less degree, still today) of berating myself in ways that even my ex-wife wouldn't...hahaha.

Hit a drive down the middle at my home course in my hometown (don't live there anymore) about 15 years ago one late Fri. afternoon round as a single. Had a 6 iron in from about 160, green about a 1/2 club elevated, no bunkers in front....very hot summer day, and we were in near drought conditions. Cold-topped the shot, I mean just hit it at least 3 grooves low. In my disgust, I didn't even look at the ball, or where it went....turned around and snapped my 6 iron over my knee, and cursed myself unmercifully, swearing that I didn't even "know why I play this God-forsaken game!", as I started walking to find the offensive white orb. Don't see it anywhere, so I just keep calling myself names...."uncoordinated dumb @ss" and "last doofus anyone would pick as a partner for anything requiring hand/eye coordination" were two that still resonate, as I keep walking. Well, when I get to the point that I can see over the raised front of the green complex and see the entire stick, my mouth falls open. A ball is laying ONE INCH from the hole; I didn't believe it was mine, at first reaction (of course, who the heck else's on a course basically deserted due to the heat would it have been?)...when I got to it, yes, it was definitely my Top Flite XL2000 Straight (remember those?)! I just tapped it in w/ the head and 1/2 shaft of my broken 6 iron, laughed sheepishly at myself, and put the broken club in a compartment of my bag, and took it to the club repair shop the next morning. I guess the combo of dry ground and whatever topspin I put on that ball by topping it had it roll all the way up there (*shrugging shoulders to this day).

That incident taught me a calming lesson, that golf just isn't worth getting that worked up about....b/c sometimes it doesn't even give you what you deserve, good or bad. Now, I've not always lived up to that lesson; I'm still harder on myself than anybody else, but I've never broken another club, on purpose.

2000 PGA Championship Tiger Woods hooks his drive into a bush and luckily a spectator threw it out before cameras could catch it.

I think we've all had the lucky bounces just about as often as the bad ones. The bad ones just stick out more and haunt us :). 

One great bounce that sticks out for me is one I actually didn't hit. I was probably 15-16, and caddying for our assistant pro in a PAT as he was going through the stages to get his PGA membership. A guy we were playing with absolutely laced it the first round and shot 72. All he needed was 83 on the second round and he cleared by one. Should be easy, right?

Long story short, a few double-bogeys and bogeys in the second round brought him to 13-over par (par 71) going in to the par-3 18th hole. Obviously needed a birdie to hit the magic number of 83. 

Hole 18 at the track was about 135-ish uphill, and this guy flares a shot so far right it should've been OB in someone's back yard. Whether he hit a tree or a house, we don't know, but the ball ended up on the lip of the hole and he tapped in for birdie to pass by one stroke. 

My guy I caddied for was so nervous - shot 90-80 I think. No good luck for him that day, needless to say. 

On the flip side, I caddied for my uncle in a US AM qualifier and he hit the stick from 100 out and went in the water. Missed by 1. 

Some years ago I was playing an Open tournament at my course.  I started in struggling mode.  On the fourth, a driveable par four I hit driver into a fir tree.  I got there hopeless and when I looked up the tree I see something falling over my shoulder.  It was my ball, which bounced on the ground and was left with a shot to the green.  It didn't hit me just by a hair, which would have mean a penalty.  I made birdie and won my category by one shot. The kid playing with me that day was witness to it and he often reminds me of it when we bump into each other at the club.   

Par 5 with a deep(6-8')dry creek in front, full of med/large size rocks.  My brother hits 4 iron going for it in 2 and the ball disappears into the creek on the fly, bounces 3 times(at least) and then spits it out to 2' and he makes eagle.

Playing with some friends early this year probably February.  It was a somewhat chilly morning.  Hole number 10 is a 170 yard par three over water.  It was cold enough that the pond was frozen.  My friend tops his tee shot which then skids all the way across the pond, hits the rock retaining wall and bonces up on the green.  Two putt par.  Of course we were all laughing so hard that we tried to replicate and all of us end up on or near the green.

On the first hole of a 3-man playoff, I clipped my bunker shot so clean the ball was heading for the next tee box.  It hit the flag with such velocity that the fabric wrapped around the ball taking all the speed and dropping the ball 5 feet from the cup.  I made the putt and went on to win the playoff in 3 holes sending me to the championship at TPC Sawgrass.

amazing.

PS- I feel like ive been paying the golf gods back for this bit of good luck for the past 10 years...  but it is worth it.

Our 12 man team made the playoffs and Sunday I played a really close match getting two strokes as my handicap is back up to 8.  I was one up on the 17th tee due to making a couple of long putts and my opponent ( will call him N) missing a sidehill 2 footer on 15 that I almost gave him because he had not missed anything all day.  17 is short par five and I hit first hitting my worst drive of the day way right over the trees and onto the other side of the 16th fairway.  Fortunately this the one spot on the course where you can get away with such a shot. N stepped up and smashed one down the middle to within easy distance of reaching the green.  I was thinking that there was a pretty good chance that we were going to be tied heading to 18. 

Anyway I had a good lie in the wrong fairway and figured I could just play down 16 the wrong way and then hit some kind of wedge shot to the green.  I needed to keep it right to avoid getting stuck behind the trees between the two holes. So I pulled out my 3 hybrid and promptly snap hooked it into the trees.  I walked down there and could not find my ball.  It was pretty open but no ball anywhere.  At the last moment N found my ball just off of 17 fairway in the rough kind of hidden in the grass.  I had 98 yards in and decided to hit a 9:00 fifty degree wedge.  Normally this would be a 9:00 pitching wedge or nine iron but I had been hitting my pitches and my irons a bit long all day so I finally shortened up on the club a bit.  I put a good swing on it and dropped it 6 inches from the hole.  I turned and shrugged my shoulders and N laughed a bit.  N had laid up just short of the green with a 6 iron and failed to get up and down so I won the match 2 & 1 with two ugly but lucky shots and one good and lucky one.  I asked N later why he laid up on the hole and he said that he figured I was in so much trouble there was no point in taking any chances.  LOL at times in the past I have hit two perfect shots on that hole and then skulled a wedge into a double bogey, in this case hitting two horrible shots worked out pretty well for me.  Golf is a funny game with a lot of luck involved.  

Also I would like to mention that N is a great guy and it was a really fun match which I enjoyed a great deal.  I felt kind of bad for him when it was over...