Your most humbling experience on the course

[braincramp52]

I'd like to hear about the most humbling experience you've ever had playing golf. Mine happened over 30 years ago but I still remember it well. I was in my mid 30's and now that I look back on it I thought I was a pretty good player. There were quite a few guys at my club that were much better but at a 8 handicap I could get around the course. Every year we had a match play club championship where you were flighted into either the Championship flight or A,B,C or D flight. This year I had made it to the semi's in the A flight and I had beaten my first two guys pretty bad. The guy I had to play in the third round was a skinny old dude who was 70 years old. He had only played one round of golf that year because of shoulder problems. He got to the third round because the guys he was matched up to play were disqualified because they didn't set up a time to play their match with the old boy. I was fairly long off the tee back then. In the late 80's if you could hit it 250 yards around here you were pretty long. We met up one Saturday morning and he introduced himself. Nice guy. But to this confident 37 year old my first thought was I was gonna make short work of this old fart. Well. lets just say things didn't go as planned. While I was spraying my drives all over the course and 3 putting at will, this old boy drove the ball 160 yards down the middle and made everything he looked at. The further ahead he got, the harder I pressed. I played the worst round of golf I had played that season and I'm 100% sure it was because I thought I had this old boy beat before we hit our first shot. I learned a valuable lesson that day and I've never forgotten it. Oh, he kicked my butt 5 and 4.

[North Butte]

Asking for my most humbling golf experience is a little like asking which mosquito bite has itched the most. Too many to even begin figuring out which is the worst!

[golfandfishing]

After I got my am status back I was in the state match play and drew a 15 year old. I didn’t underestimate him as I knew he was good and certainly he played way more than me at that time. I was 3 under when he closed me out on 14 green, I can take that, I played great he was just very, very good. The humbling part was in the clubhouse he said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do as his RIDE HOME wasn’t going to be there for another hour because we finished so early.

[bub72ck]

When I was 15, I shot 66 in the first round of the club championship. I got a lot of attention from the newspaper and boldly informed the reporter I was ready to "close the deal". I played ok on the front nine of the final round and get to number 10. It's a Par 3 downhill about 175 yards and the tee is 15 feet from the clubhouse door. The was historically a large crowd that gathered right by the tee to watch the final few groups of tournaments and that day was no exception. I step up to the tee and hit a straight shank OB in front of 50 people. I shot 43 or so on the back and lost by a few shots. That was in 1998 and I remember it like yesterday...

[TIM929]

This weekend. Ball striking was on till..

 

Par 4. tee'd up and hooked it behind a tree that was 10 yards to the left of the fair way. 170y hard left turn to flag, I should have chipped it on the fairway but my ball striking was on, so of course tried to hook it again on the green.

 

Clean contact with a dead straight flight to another fairway..

 

Should have dropped one(playing partners, I'm sorry), but found my ball on the other fairway.. Trees between the flag and I, I had a clear shot to the fairway but I would be going backwards 30 - 40 yards, so I attempt the jump the trees.. hit the middle of the tree and ball drops.. duff the 50 yard flop, pitch the next one on.. was fired up on the walk to the green, 3 putted..

 

and there goes my score.....

 

I humbly remembered on the way to the next hole somebody somewhere said to me "don't follow a bad shot with a stupid shot" or something like that...... Thank you Jedi Master, where ever you are.. You were truly ahead of your time.

[DavePelz4]

We had a group of about 20 Chicago guys who got together to meet/play several years ago. One of the guys brought his friend who only plays 2-3 times a year. He showed up with irons that were at least 15 years old. On the front I think he shot 37/38 and on the back he had a stretch where he went birdie, eagle, birdie, par, birdie and I think he shot 68 for the round. Turns out he played for THE Ohio State and against Justin Leonard in the NCAA's. His irons literally had a dime sized spot in the middle of the face. He said he rarely played because of losing the passion for the game but the talent is clearly still there.

 

It was truly humbling to see such amazing talent basically be turned on at will while some of us just struggle to break 90.

[Hawkeye77]

Years ago after putting on a little recently married weight went out to league in my favorite plaid Jack Nicklaus Hart/Sch/Marx golf pants. Well, the only way I could manage to get them fastened was if I lost the very thick waist banded boxer shorts I had worn to work. So off I went - on the second hole I was stepping out of a deep bunker and ----- ripped out the seam in the back. Adding insult to the affair was the cart girl rolling up while I was breezily putting, lol. Went back to the clubhouse and grabbed some pull on athletic-ish shorts (think gym shorts - cheapest in there) from a rack and had them put the shorts on my account. Got back out and my playing companions delighted in letting me know I'd grabbed some large ladies shorts. I've never managed to be more embarrassed on a golf course. Still play with the same three guys that we were playing with then, surprise - they all still remember.

[SnapHooker_307]

I was 1 under par after 12 holes. Shot 38 on the front, birdied 10, 11, and 12. Super excited!! Hole 13 has houses on both sides of the fairway... Hit OB twice and took a 10.

[shanx]

See username

[TIM929]

> @DavePelz4 said:

> We had a group of about 20 Chicago guys who got together to meet/play several years ago. One of the guys brought his friend who only plays 2-3 times a year. He showed up with irons that were at least 15 years old. On the front I think he shot 37/38 and on the back he had a stretch where he went birdie, eagle, birdie, par, birdie and I think he shot 68 for the round. Turns out he played for THE Ohio State and against Justin Leonard in the NCAA's. His irons literally had a dime sized spot in the middle of the face. He said he rarely played because of losing the passion for the game but the talent is clearly still there.

>

> It was truly humbling to see such amazing talent basically be turned on at will while some of us just struggle to break 90.

 

forget asking "so, how often do you play"... moving forward I'll go straight to the club face..

[TIM929]

> @Hawkeye77 said:

> Years ago after putting on a little recently married weight went out to league in my favorite plaid Jack Nicklaus Hart/Sch/Marx golf pants. Well, the only way I could manage to get them fastened was if I lost the very thick waist banded boxer shorts I had worn to work. So off I went - on the second hole I was stepping out of a deep bunker and ----- ripped out the seam in the back. Adding insult to the affair was the cart girl rolling up while I was breezily putting, lol. Went back to the clubhouse and grabbed some pull on athletic-ish shorts (think gym shorts - cheapest in there) from a rack and had them put the shorts on my account. Got back out and my playing companions delighted in letting me know I'd grabbed some large ladies shorts. I've never managed to be more embarrassed on a golf course. Still play with the same three guys that we were playing with then, surprise - they all still remember.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHA LOL!

[Titleist_PT23]

Last year I pulled a drive into a bunker. A bunker on an adjacent par 3. It's an interesting walk over to play your next shot while guys are putting out, and waiting for the signal on who plays first...

[ctsgolf]

Shooting a 92 off a 4-cap on a 7,100 yard D. Ross designed private track in front of a couple dozen collegiate golfers. The frustrating part was being on the course, the humbling part was signing my card at the end.

[PouncePony]

Having never broken 80 and being 1 over after 11 holes ... then going triple, double, triple on 12-14.

[braincramp52]

> @PouncePony said:

> Having never broken 80 and being 1 over after 11 holes ... then going triple, double, triple on 12-14.

 

Ouch!

[kc_hacker]

I used to play a bit of competition golf, but it had been 5+ years since I decided to jump back in. Most of the events I had played in had been match play but my first jump back in was a handicapped stroke play event. Had gotten my game back into shape and was looking forward to it.

 

Started on hole 9. Put my tee ball on the driving range. Got in play, missed the green, thinned a chip 30 yards over the green. Ended up making a quad to get the ball rolling. The humble part didn't come until a few minutes later - I had to deal with being mortified and angry first.

 

Got my head back together and the rest of the round went fine. I became friends with one of the guys I was paired with. Almost every time we play now, he loves to tell the story to new people we play with - "did I ever tell you about the time kc_hacker made an 8 on the first hole I ever played with him?"

[Carl Spackler3]

Needing a 7 on a the par 4, 18th for personal best and firing a crowd pleasing 8

[cardoustie]

Golf related:

Hitting balls on the range beside Moe Norman

3 holes of sim golf and a personal lesson from Johnny Miller

On the course:

Playing with Brendan Steele in the first 2 rounds of a Nationwide event in front of crowds

Having 50 or so people following my group in the Ontario Amateur and accidentally kicking my ball while waiting for the green to clear on a par 5, then waiting 10 minutes for a rules official to show up

[ezpz]

Pretty much everytime I play in tough conditions, a tough course or both at the same time makes me realize I know nothing :)

[Nard_S]

Played with a chain smoking 70 year old gent who carried a TM Bubble Driver. Could poke it over 260 splitting the fairway withe smoothest of swings.

 

Another guy who shot better than his age and could not hit it more than 175 yards off the tee, he walked & played men's white too. Humbling yet memorable, he was a real pleasure to spend 4 hours with.

 

A 13 year old kid, who swung like Justin Rose, if knew the greens would have broke 30 on the 9 holes he played, he had to go do homework after that.

[Hawkeye77]

> @cardoustie said:

> Golf related:

> Hitting balls on the range beside Moe Norman

> 3 holes of sim golf and a personal lesson from Johnny Miller

> On the course:

> Playing with Brendan Steele in the first 2 rounds of a Nationwide event in front of crowds

> Having 50 or so people following my group in the Ontario Amateur and accidentally kicking my ball while waiting for the green to clear on a par 5, then waiting 10 minutes for a rules official to show up

 

Good stuff, but to the first two all I can say is "wow"!

[jacob7071]

A few years ago, I finally qualified for the Texas mid-am. I was in the middle of the afternoon wave on day 1 and saw that the leader from the morning wave was 1 under par. I birdied 9 to get to 2 under, and at this tournament, there were leaderboards around the course and volunteers collecting scores every 3 holes to give us live (ish) scoring. We report our scores after 9 and head to 10. On the 10th tee, we had to wait for one of the TGA photographers who's driving toward us. She set up her camera and got ready to take our pictures, only, after I swing, she puts the camera away. Same thing in the fairway - she took my picture and ignored my fellow competitors. On the way to the green, I thought, the leader was 1 under, and I'm 2 under. Is that why she's here? A 3-putt on 10 led to back nine scores of bogey, bogey, double-bogey, bogey, quadruple-bogey, bogey, triple-bogey, par, par. She stopped taking my picture on hole 11.

[tatertot]

Thought I was good ... played in our Club's match play second round against a 23-year-old D-III college player who had just graduated and was working as a part-time counter guy at the course while his wife finish school ... shot a 72 for the day ... he shot a 63. Figured out my place in the golf universe pretty quickly.

[BeerPerHole]

> @Hawkeye77 said:

> Years ago after putting on a little recently married weight went out to league in my favorite plaid Jack Nicklaus Hart/Sch/Marx golf pants. Well, the only way I could manage to get them fastened was if I lost the very thick waist banded boxer shorts I had worn to work. So off I went - on the second hole I was stepping out of a deep bunker and ----- ripped out the seam in the back. Adding insult to the affair was the cart girl rolling up while I was breezily putting, lol. Went back to the clubhouse and grabbed some pull on athletic-ish shorts (think gym shorts - cheapest in there) from a rack and had them put the shorts on my account. Got back out and my playing companions delighted in letting me know I'd grabbed some large ladies shorts. I've never managed to be more embarrassed on a golf course. Still play with the same three guys that we were playing with then, surprise - they all still remember.

 

LOL. Very nice!

[farmer]

The first time I had a chance to shoot under par, I was 1 under on the last hole, went into mental white out and 4 putted from 10 feet.

[hwturner17]

Played at a course this past weekend that was about to host a USGA AM Qualifier. They had the course in great shape and the greens were rolled for the past week or two, so they were rolling around 13-14. When you combine those greens with the fact that the "feels like" temp outside was 109 at 10:30 AM, I'd say that was one of the more humbling experiences I've had recently as a golfer and as a man

[hwturner17]

> @farmer said:

> The first time I had a chance to shoot under par, I was 1 under on the last hole, went into mental white out and 4 putted from 10 feet.

 

Been there man. You'll get through this. Just takes time

[hwturner17]

> @"Carl Spackler3" said:

> Needing a 7 on a the par 4, 18th for personal best and firing a crowd pleasing 8

 

legends never die

[braincramp52]

> @farmer said:

> The first time I had a chance to shoot under par, I was 1 under on the last hole, went into mental white out and 4 putted from 10 feet.

 

Ouch!

[cardoustie]

> @jacob7071 said:

> A few years ago, I finally qualified for the Texas mid-am. I was in the middle of the afternoon wave on day 1 and saw that the leader from the morning wave was 1 under par. I birdied 9 to get to 2 under, and at this tournament, there were leaderboards around the course and volunteers collecting scores every 3 holes to give us live (ish) scoring. We report our scores after 9 and head to 10. On the 10th tee, we had to wait for one of the TGA photographers who's driving toward us. She set up her camera and got ready to take our pictures, only, after I swing, she puts the camera away. Same thing in the fairway - she took my picture and ignored my fellow competitors. On the way to the green, I thought, the leader was 1 under, and I'm 2 under. Is that why she's here? A 3-putt on 10 led to back nine scores of bogey, bogey, double-bogey, bogey, quadruple-bogey, bogey, triple-bogey, par, par. She stopped taking my picture on hole 11.

@jacob7071

Too funny, the EXACT same thing happened to me about 5 years ago in the Ontario Mid Am. We start on the back and in severely windy conditions I shoot 2 under par on the back, missing a 5 foot birdie putt on my 9th (the eighteenth hole). No Mr. Miss the Mid Am cut is in the lead and thinks about it .....

I go from the lead to blow up on the WAY easier front side and shoot 80. My photog also vanished !

 

Of course one or two years before I had done the opposite in the Ontario Amateur. Start on the back and shoot 6 over. Throw-down a 4 under on the front for a 74. My buddies all called me laughing that I had imploded on my back 9 with such a good round going. I explained it was the opposite, I was so relaxed with my messy start I stopped caring and tore up the front nine