Greatest golfing character you've met

[BHI 99]

My old boss. He could carry on a conversation in his back swing, never hit a bad shot, just said “well that’s interesting”, 2 seconds to line up a putt and never met the club minimum on his bar tab. I was happy to help! 

 

Just genuinely happy to be out playing. 

 

Great guy. 

[TurnDog69]

Probably the guy who kept bemoaning over and over why his wife left him (While finishing 24 natty Bohs on 14 holes and then going to sleep by the woods)

 

[MrTrue]

Met an older gentleman who looked, acted and sounded like bad grandpa Johnny Knoxville. Most crude and hilarious stories I've ever heard. Also arguably the best putter I have ever played with. 

[tsecor]

Met Marshall Faulk, Dan Marino and Joe Theismann playing golf....Marshall Faulk.....what a Word not allowed!! rudest guy of all time....refused to sign a kids autograph on the practice green

 

The other 3 were all great.....well, Theismann was an arrogant dude but his is from ND so its all good

[tacklingdummy]

I have played with a lot of nice people, but played with some that I wouldn't call them interesting, but quite odd characters. Played with one guy that looked like he was time warp from the 1800s. Thick Scottish accent, dressed in old golf clothing with knickers, and had extremely old set of hickory clubs. He said he was a scratch golfer, but was a horrible golfer. He said was playing like a 30 handicap because he had fused toe surgery recently. He also said he worked at Sears. Lol.

 

Another guy I played with was a long haired hippie guy. He said he was a pro golfer and playing the Nike tour. Told me he placed in top-10 in a Nike tournament a couple of weeks prior. Played with him for about 9 holes and he was probably about 10 over in those 9 holes. The guy was at best a 15 handicap and not a pro golfer.

 

 

[larrybud]

Many years ago I used to see this older guy in GAM (golf assoc of michigan) net tournies who dressed like Johnny Cash, along with bling-laden framed sun glasses (like, diamond encrusted or something). Also wore a black hat which looked like this:

 

Some of our discussions revolved around him getting kicked out of 3 local country clubs for excessive gambling (according to him +10k).

 

Seemed like a complete BSer when I first met him, until I saw him driving away in a Bentley.

 

Couldn't write a better movie character, honestly. Nice guy too.

[caeye0710]

Played a round at a little country course called Bowling Green in Front Royal, VA. I grew up right down the road from it. 

 

Played with a buddies dad and he introduced me to some of his playing partners. 

 

Don't remember this guys name, but he got out of his truck wearing a mechanics shirt, jeans, and steel toe boots. 

 

At about 5'5"-ish in height, he had a 48 inch offset driver and a bag full of clubs that were a little mixed (no big name OEMs) and only carried a 56 degree wedge. Probably had 11 clubs in total in his bag. He would hit a 4-hybrid from about 170, but would also hit a "low runner" from 110 with it. 

 

Would hit a sand wedge from 70 yards, or a 6iron bump and run just because "it felt like the right shot"

 

Par 70 and the guy shot 66 with no bogeys. 

 

Still, to this day, the greatest display of creativity on the golf course I've ever seen.

[Wander Bread]

I randomly got paired up with Carl Banks of New York Giants fame when I was a teenager on a local muni in NJ. He only played 9 holes, but couldn't have been nicer. Being a Giants season ticket holder I was pretty much shocked - it was a treat for sure. His knee wasn't in great shape and it definitely impacted his play.

 

Also played a round with Kirk Hanefeld who is a really good PGA pro in the New England area and also played on the Champions Tour. He was probably the best played I have had the pleasure of playing a round with. Guy was throwing darts.

 

Didn't play a round with them, but my uncle was a member of Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank. I flew out to visit him as a teenager and he took me out for 9 holes. We spoke to Joe Pesci in the locker room and ran into Sylvester Stallone working on his swing on the range. Sly was a really nice guy.

[MattM97]

This dude wasn't famous or anything but he was memorable for sure. I booked a single at a course and was paired with 2 guys both buddies and didn't mind me joining at all, one guy was fairly quiet, kept to himself except to applaud a nice shot or trash talk his buddy and enjoyed a dart every few holes. His friend was the memorable one, long hair, shoes older than me, a bag a Strata clubs with wear marks on the face and I'm sure a few of the finest Keswick Dinner Jackets money can buy. BTW look that up to know what I mean. 

 

He asked me if I played this course before and I said once but not the track we played (it had 3 9-hole loops), so he asked if I didn't mind him giving me advice on what to hit for shots. I didn't mind and we were off and he was giving me amazing advice, I think he knew this course better than his own hands. He would give me where to hit if I wanted an uphill putt, downhill, flattest spot, where to miss, etc. Dude was basically my caddie and at the time I shot my lowest round and definitely my most memorable. 

[JohnnyCashForever]

Over 20 years ago, in a company golf league, I was paired with the US president of the company.  He didn't show up until the 2nd or 3rd hole, so he was already down in our match.  He hurriedly arrived, apologized for being late, and made his introductions to me and the other 2-some in our group.  I told him what I did for him.  The site had over a thousand employees.  So I did not expect him to know anything about me or even my department.  I jokingly asked what he did...hoping to sarcastically break the ice.  He flat out said that he was the US president.  Despite my awkward attempt at humor, he warmed to us and turned out to be a great guy.  Really personable and friendly.  You could tell he was good but rusty.  It was a nip and tuck match that was tied going to the 9th hole.  I think I made a long putt on the 8th to tie the match...much to his surprise.  I still remember on the 9th tee that he got really serious and asked, "We're tied.  Aren't we?"  I said yes.  "Then let's have a go at this.  Strict rules.  OK?"  I gulped an OK.  Mr. Rogers had just turned into Goldfinger.  Needless to say, my game crumpled almost immediately.      

[Barfolomew]

This is easy.... This Korean dude I call Leslie Chow, cause he's even crazier then Chow from The Hangover, for real.  He was a pro and says he won the Korean Open back in the day.  Always drunk and high, yells at everyone he sees on how to fix their swing, yells at all the pretty girls, If they are married he has to congratulate the husband.  Everyone knows him and funniest guy ever played with but he can shoot under par and has to gamble on every hole.  He plays at least twice a day everyday on different courses. Teaches guys on the side but he's a crappy teacher, when anyone putts he just yells don't manufacture power..... But he got married to a pretty girl and has to work all the time now and doesn't play anymore cause has to pay her bills lol.... legend

Edited August 31, 2021 by Barfolomew

[Jim53]

Rocco Mediate, great guy and easy to be around. At the time I had no idea who he was, I was just starting out in Golf and playing single. He and a friend, who was a baseball player showed up at the local track he played a lot in College (Florida Southern) and they asked me to join them from the tips, I explained I was new and could barely hit the ball  but they insisted and were very nice the whole time and helped me a lot with tips and keeping me laughing.

 

It was a great round and I saw some great golf, at the time I was aware of what good golf should look like and some of the places they hit their tee shots still to this day amaze me when I play the same course. 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Jim53

[jaderhold]

Played in Arizona with a man and his wife. We got to talking and he said he used to live in Chicago full time but retired a few years and he split home between Phoenix and Chicago. He asked what I did (which is not overly interesting). We started talking again a hole or two later and said he worked with the Chicago Bulls for a very long time, almost his whole career. He said he “signed the checks”. Irwin Mandel. 

 

 

 

 

[dcfas]

There are so many over the years. I’ve met and spoken to Lee Trevino, VJ, Bill Parcells all on separate occasions but the most memorable guy I’ve ever played with was an old school golfer who used to play “the loop” at our local muni each Sunday morning. This guy was in his 60s when I was probably about 22 or 23. The loop was a decades long money match, and was still a thing until recently. I’ve moved and haven’t been involved in years. The old school golfer played cross handed and could bend the ball like I’ve never seen before or since. The only person even close that comes to mind is Bubba. He hit everything low, though, and included his own rambling commentary for just about every shot, and your shots too, usually laughing or chuckling. One of the stories surrounding this guy was that he once broke par with a four iron. Local legend.

[C6 Snowboarder]

I would say the guy I met a couple of weeks ago. it was great - he never walked on anyone's putt line, did not spit sunflower seeds on the green, went to his ball and got ready to hit when it was his turn, fixed his divots and green ball marks, did not drink or chew, marked his ball with 2 red dots, I don't remember his name but we are playing again next week.🙂

[5 O'Clock Charlie]

Was fortunate enough to play in the Hawaiian Open Pro-Am in 1996. I volunteered to pick up a player, and I got Clarence Rose. We played the pro-am together, won the event and he went on to win his first Tour Event at the International later that year. Clarence was a great guy, super nice and a hell of a putter. Hit the ball on a rope. I was coming out of the Marines in a year or so from then and he offered to talk to the coach at Clemson for me about possibly playing there, it never panned out, but it was a nice gesture.

[Soloman1]

On 7/18/2021 at 9:56 AM, larrybud said:

Many years ago I used to see this older guy in GAM (golf assoc of michigan) net tournies who dressed like Johnny Cash, along with bling-laden framed sun glasses (like, diamond encrusted or something). Also wore a black hat which looked like this:

 

Some of our discussions revolved around him getting kicked out of 3 local country clubs for excessive gambling (according to him +10k).

 

Seemed like a complete BSer when I first met him, until I saw him driving away in a Bentley.

 

Couldn't write a better movie character, honestly. Nice guy too.

 

Great hat.

[sevenfourate]

I was 16 or 17. Caddying for my friend in the County (State) Open.

 

Two guys tied after 36 holes and went out for a play-off. One was a Club Pro and had to be rescued from the practice ground - where he could be found honing his game.

 

The other was ‘Max’ [Cant even remember his surname; but just ‘Max’ was fitting as that appeared to be how he lived his life] - who had to be dragged from the bar. And appeared to be pretty merry on the 1st tee…….

 

Club Pro took a well thought out and considered swing at the ball from the tee - with a long iron / fairway wood. Max meanwhile slashed away with his driver on the horridly tight hole like a less classy / slightly overweight Arnold Palmer. ***Rumour around the tee-box was he hit the ball so hard - he had his woods made with one shaft inside another to make them stiff enough 🤷‍♂️

They both make par and head to the second - an uphill par 3.

Club Pro finds middle of the green: a way from the flag. Max fires over the right hand trap and it looks to be heading for the pin. 
 

Sure enough - once we rise the hill; Max’s ball is but inches away. “Is that good - is that good or what” says Max to the crowd 🤣

 

Club Pro misses and it’s all over. Max bypasses all of the golfing hierarchy, the Trophy and initially even the prize-giving; and go’s right back to his seat at the bar where he can be found vivaciously telling stories / living the life / having the craic.

 

Legendary.
 

 

 

[BIG STU]

On 6/15/2020 at 10:01 AM, Bad9 said:

About a decade ago on a February trip to Myrtle Beach 3 of us got paired up with an older guy named Ed Kyle at either Founders Club or Heritage. He said he was a retired greeting card salesman from Philadelphia. He talked and acted like Tony Soprano. He was a hoot to play with, smoked about 3ft of cigar in a round golf and had lots of fun observations of the area. He was amazed at playing with 3 guys from northeastern Canada. We enjoyed it so much he joined us again a couple of days later. To this day we tell people we were convince he was a mob hit man in retirement or witness protection.

Yep know him he is one of us "South Strand " guys--- LOl he got me smoking cigars again ( not a bad thing LOL ). Was paired with him in one of the "Miura Mafia" matches ( South Stranders know about the Miura Mafia) told me if I played with him then I had to smoke cigars which he prompty presented me with one. A lot of those old guys retired and made smart investments retired here and play golf darn near every day. He will play with anyone anytime whether for money or not. But I do not know for sure on him but the real Mafia story is intriging

[Bad9]

44 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

Yep know him he is one of us "South Strand " guys--- LOl he got me smoking cigars again ( not a bad thing LOL ). Was paired with him in one of the "Miura Mafia" matches ( South Stranders know about the Miura Mafia) told me if I played with him then I had to smoke cigars which he prompty presented me with one. A lot of those old guys retired and made smart investments retired here and play golf darn near every day. He will play with anyone anytime whether for money or not. But I do not know for sure on him but the real Mafia story is intriging

OMG. He was a hoot. Ask him if he remembers playing with the Eskimo and a couple of other Canadians. I figured he’d be dead by now

[BIG STU]

8 hours ago, Bad9 said:

OMG. He was a hoot. Ask him if he remembers playing with the Eskimo and a couple of other Canadians. I figured he’d be dead by now

I have not seen or heard of him in a couple of years now---- Between me having a broken back and laid up and they closing my home course Indian Wells I do not see much of the "Miura Mafia" now----- I basically hung my shingle at Indigo Creek now and stay there pretty much of the time. 

[Schley]

Was playing in Dubai maybe 10 years ago at Jumeriah Golf Estates Earth Course. Got paired up with 3 other guys.

 

1. Was one of 3 of the private pilots for the Ruler of Dubai! Couldn't say many stories other than he flew more women around who weren't his wives, then him or his family. He was from the UK and late 50's, but a real gentleman.

 

2. President of a very large military aviation company in the world and was there with his son. These guys were making hundreds of millions off the ME countries for various military aircraft contracts.  He invited me to have a drink in the clubhouse afterwards where I asked questions and he basically answered, with surprising candor. An interesting thing I remembered was that the maintenance of these aircraft provides tens of millions of dollars in annual fees for his team. Sometimes that is part of the aircraft purchase themselves, other times it is extra.

 

His son who was mid - late 20's was living on the Palm Jumeriah on the top floor of one of the condo buildings. Was kind of an arrogant jerk really. The dad didn't spend a lot of time there and the son was basically not doing a thing but eating, sleeping and breathing while spending money living it up in Dubai. He thought he was so cool with getting sleeve tattoos while there. "Check out the sleeves dude!"  Yeah ok gotcha, enough already I see them.

[Mcgeeno]

On 8/30/2021 at 12:16 AM, sevenfourate said:

I was 16 or 17. Caddying for my friend in the County (State) Open.

 

Two guys tied after 36 holes and went out for a play-off. One was a Club Pro and had to be rescued from the practice ground - where he could be found honing his game.

 

The other was ‘Max’ [Cant even remember his surname; but just ‘Max’ was fitting as that appeared to be how he lived his life] - who had to be dragged from the bar. And appeared to be pretty merry on the 1st tee…….

 

Club Pro took a well thought out and considered swing at the ball from the tee - with a long iron / fairway wood. Max meanwhile slashed away with his driver on the horridly tight hole like a less classy / slightly overweight Arnold Palmer. ***Rumour around the tee-box was he hit the ball so hard - he had his woods made with one shaft inside another to make them stiff enough 🤷‍♂️

They both make par and head to the second - an uphill par 3.

Club Pro finds middle of the green: a way from the flag. Max fires over the right hand trap and it looks to be heading for the pin. 
 

Sure enough - once we rise the hill; Max’s ball is but inches away. “Is that good - is that good or what” says Max to the crowd 🤣

 

Club Pro misses and it’s all over. Max bypasses all of the golfing hierarchy, the Trophy and initially even the prize-giving; and go’s right back to his seat at the bar where he can be found vivaciously telling stories / living the life / having the craic.

 

Legendary.
 

 

 

 

That is a great story!

 

It reminded me of one of the winners of my small home towns open tournament many years ago. Late 90's. Not the most high powered lineup out there but we get our fair share of scratch and plus cappers from our region and it is almost always full. Some college golfers, accomplished amateurs etc. Decent prize pool, good food and the owner of the course would let people camp or stay on site in a motorhome etc for the event so we did get plenty of out of town players.

 

I'm a kid working the proshop getting everyone checked in for the tournament.This guy comes rolling into the parking lot in a motorhome that looks like its been put together with duct tape and superglue. Definitely from the 70s. Think cousin Eddie from National Lampoons. You can literally feel the eye rolls from all the golfers as they see this thing rolling in the parking lot.

 

Out comes this guy with long greasy hair, haggard looking clothing (beat up camo cargo shorts and a T-shirt). He checks in with me and says his name is Otto and he has a tee time for the tournament. He's also a scratch handicap as he shows his handicap card (Back then you had a handicap card that had to be verified and signed by your head pro. I dont even remember if there was an online system back then?). His club listed on the card is from one province over and the city is at least a 10 hour drive away. No big deal just odd.

 

Anyways after all the bullets have been fired over our 2 day tournament this guy who had never played our course before wins by just about around 10 shots. Typical winners are usually around even in this event. Every now and again we see a guy fire a really low round and the winner is -4 or so.... Otto's two day total of 134 stood as the tournament scoring record until 3 years ago LOL. Just drove into town and obliterated our track. 

 

Stories are flying all over the patio after the winners are announced. This guys story is growing by the second! This is the late 90's and he had a Persimmon driver and a persimmon 6 wood. Super fun to play with, he's telling stories on the patio. I didnt play with him at all but the guys who did said he had a mis-matched set of irons that was missing the 8 iron (He had apparently left it at the last tournament he played in and was going to pick it up on the way home. Was not worried about it) 

 

I watched him sell his first prize to another guy in the parking lot so he could get enough money for fuel and his next tournament entry. I dont know if anyone remembers the Ping Tisi Tec but I want to say it was worth 500 or so back then new? I don't know what he sold it for but it wasnt 500 lol. It didnt matter to him. He was good with his persimmon driver and wanted the cash instead.

 

He hops in his motorhome after things wrap up and trucks his way to the next tournament lol. From what he told the guys he played with depending on which province he's living in he would take a portion of his summers off and just move around the province he was living in playing golf tournaments. Total legend. Did not give one crap what anybody thought of him. 

[PDWALKER]

Believe it or not it was Mark Brooks. Super down to earth guy and will have a great conversation with you like a human being haha

[ldchristopher]

My friend and I got paired up with a twosome at Glencoe Golf Club in the Chicago suburbs in about 2012 with two guys named Pete and Joe. Joe was okay. Big hitter but not a lot of control, especially off the tee. Pete was a different story. He was wild off the tee but had old Titleist DCI irons and was throwing absolute darts with them. He was about 215 out on the second hole and stuck a 4 iron to 5 feet. Most people pull out their putter. Not Pete. If the putt was less than 10 feet he just putted with his wedge and made almost every one of them. He said he was a 5 handicap but he shot about a 68 that day. 

[TCGolfer35]

Used to play Military Courses in San Diego. Retirees would play and tell stories all the time. One of my favorites had tons of stories and on each teebox would say "Oh man they are right behind us" and then proceed to tell a story.

[monty09]

I met Chip two years ago and would often see him playing in our group of guys but only played with him a few times.  Funny guy and heard he enjoyed a good wager.  I was playing a very private club in another town and figured I would invite him.... we drive up for day and while on the range.. i tell him we will be walking not riding which we usually do in Texas when it gets warm.  He was not thrilled but that was not the funny part.   Our caddie grabs his bag and says "I cant carry this"...  I ask Chip whats in his bag... He said maybe 50 balls and 100 tees... caddie comes in a cart and put his bag on it and drove the cart with his bag as we walked.  Full staff bag filled with bags, tees and score cards.  That was my first experience with Chip out of town.     

 

few weeks ago i invited Chip out of town again for a round but this time he said he had a smaller bag and less tees.  We get to the course and member says lets play a match... 2 on 2.. chip is on my team...  our bet? some nachos and beers post round. Chip didnt play well and shot maybe a 96 but he did make a putt to win the match and turned to our host with the biggest smile and said "I can taste the cheese already"

 

he is one of a kind  

[ShowMe]

Played in an Atlanta sports celebrity charity event a few years back.  We had Terry Pendleton, ex third baseman for the Braves, on our team.  Great guy.  Pulled every tee shot down the third base line.  Incredible putter, though.  We had him putt first and he made almost every one.

 

One of my buddies asked him about the time he walked off the field in the middle of the game.  Terry gave us the inside scoop on that and also on the call he got from Hank Aaron later that night.  We also found out that John Smoltz was the most competitive teammate he ever had.  To quote Terry, "If he walked into a bathroom and you were taking a leak, he would challenge you to a contest to see who could stand the furthest away from the urinal and still hit it."

 

The best part of the day for me, though, was Phil Niekro (God rest his soul).  Phil was stationed on the 9th hole as the celebrity putter, meaning he would putt first for your team, effectively giving the team an extra chance to make the putt.

 

Our putt was below the hole, about 10 feet.  Now, Phil had been drinking some moonshine.  Yes, moonshine.  It was actually for sale as a part of the event.  So he was in an ornery mood. 

 

Phil putts first and leaves it short.  Cusses, gets the ball and tries it again.  Leaves it short again.  Says, "I can't believe I left that mother_%@#$%@ short twice!"

 

I say with a chuckle, "Phil, did the ball the knuckle on you?  Is that why you left it short twice?"  Phil turns and looks at me with an expression that says - do you think this is the first time I've ever heard a knuckleball joke, you moron?  Then Terry steps up to the plate and drains the putt and gives Phil some crap about it.  Just a great golfing day.