Near violence on the course; what were the circumstances?

[GoletaGolfer]

Glen Annie golf course, about 10 years ago. Our foursome was playing hole #12, a short par 4 with a wide, shallow green. Our carts were parked up a small hill behind the green - all carts in line with the pin when looking from the fairway - it's maybe seven yards from the back of the green to our carts.

 

As we are putting out, I get the sense that one of the players in the fairway is just itching to hit his ball, so I keep my eye on him. He's only 125 to the middle of the green.

 

We all putt out and are making the short walk up to our carts - my head is on a swivel. Just as we climb in carts, sure enough, Mr. Asshat can't wait and hits his shot. His 125 shot goes about 140, and is heading right for my buddy. A respectful silence from Mr. Asshat (Note my sarcasm), so I yell "Watch out, cover up!"  The ball misses the head of the driver of one of our carts by a foot and lands directly on the roof of the cart. Bam!

 

I am livid, for obvious reasons. Their foursome drives up to park where we just were and I am there to "greet" them.

 

"Who hit that ball," I ask, in a not too neighborly, but in control voice. One of the guys, about my age (50) says "I did."  No apologies, just him and his Mr. Asshat face.

 

"Why the f&$k would you do that? We would have been gone from behind the green in less than 10 seconds."

 

"Well, you guys were playing too slow," he says.

 

Now I am really pissed. "So let me get this right. Because you think we were playing too slowly, you wilfully risked my life and the life of my friends by hitting a 2 inch round projectile directly at us at about 90 or 100 mph! Is that correct?"

 

He still did not apologize, and again said that it would not have happened if we had been playing faster.

 

Nearly losing it, I started to walk toward him, and then realized that punching him in the noodle was going to do nothing but put me in the gray bar hotel that evening. I settled for a delightful string of four letter words mentioning the unfortunate length of his manhood as well as the gigantic dimensions and vile facial features of his wife before driving away to the next hole.

[Shupe]

A white claw hit the floor.

[grm24]

Great story. When is the made for tv movie?

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by grm24

[GHIN n Juice]

For a gentleman’s game, there are fewer and fewer gentlemen playing it.

[Kilo1545]

I nearly got into a fistfight with a guy who denied that single length irons and protein shakes were the future of golf.  I was going to hand him a beating, but I had to knock out a set of pushups before I teed off.  I'm trying to build enough mass to hit 160mph.

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

I'd have suggested pocketing the guy's ball.

 

edit:
Ah crap, it's a circa 1998 Top Flite XL.  The guy has the nerve to try to decapitate me and doesn't even have the respect to use a decent ball?

Edited January 4, 2021 by HappyGilmoresBoots

[MtlJeff]

I've told this story a few times but the short version of it is this:

 

I was playing a public course where there was a snack bar after 9, and from it you could not see the 10th hole. We stopped for a while at the snack bar as the group ahead of us was slowish and we had a large gap between the group behind us. 

 

We go to the 10th hole and it's empty. Remember we'd been at the snack bar for a while so it's perfectly conceivable they've finished the hole. I tee off and (obviously) hit one perfectly down the middle. At that point all 4 guys come out of the left trees (they had been looking for a ball apparently).

 

One of the guys picks up my ball and goes to the green. I get down the fairway and since there are no balls in the perfectly geometric center of the fairway, i deduce he in fact picked up my ball...I borrow my friends cart and drive up to the green and tell the guy "i think you picked up my ball". He denies it a couple of times. I ask him if i can see the ball he's holding as i had marked mine. He then throws it in the pond next to green and tells me "if i hit into them again he'd $%%&* ^$%%% etc etc, basically he would kill me.

 

I just said OK cool man and went back to my group. A few holes later one of his playing partners waited for us on the tee to apologize and gave me a Pro V1 to make up for it. 

[Soloman1]

Our foursome just finished teeing off on a long par 3. Two golf course employees drive to the green from another fairway adjacent, get out, pick up all four of our golf balls and start driving back to the clubhouse. What the... ?

 

The two players in the other cart take off after them, yelling and screaming, but not quite understanding the concept that a golf cart can't catch another golf cart 180 yards ahead of them going the same speed.

 

They were so mad, but I was laughing. They came back and called the pro shop. The guy behind the counter couldn't care less, which is quite typical about anything with this golf course. The two guys apparently shoved around the guy behind the counter when we finished playing because he didn't believe them.

 

I had a guy on a lawnmower who kept driving towards us on the fairway as we were playing. I mean this guy drove right up in front of me from the green direction as I was trying to hit to the same green from the center of the fairway. He stopped about 3 feet from me and told me to get out of the way so he could keep mowing. I wanted to hit him, but I couldn't decide if I should use a 7 or an 8 iron.

 

Ironically, the same golf course, which I have vowed never to play again, McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. The rudest, most ignorant, most annoying staff at any golf course in the western hemisphere. They just look like they all need to be slapped.

[straightshot7]

11 hours ago, GoletaGolfer said:

Glen Annie golf course, about 10 years ago. Our foursome was playing hole #12, a short par 4 with a wide, shallow green. Our carts were parked up a small hill behind the green - all carts in line with the pin when looking from the fairway - it's maybe seven yards from the back of the green to our carts.

 

As we are putting out, I get the sense that one of the players in the fairway is just itching to hit his ball, so I keep my eye on him. He's only 125 to the middle of the green.

 

We all putt out and are making the short walk up to our carts - my head is on a swivel. Just as we climb in carts, sure enough, Mr. Asshat can't wait and hits his shot. His 125 shot goes about 140, and is heading right for my buddy. A respectful silence from Mr. Asshat (Note my sarcasm), so I yell "Watch out, cover up!"  The ball misses the head of the driver of one of our carts by a foot and lands directly on the roof of the cart. Bam!

 

I am livid, for obvious reasons. Their foursome drives up to park where we just were and I am there to "greet" them.

 

"Who hit that ball," I ask, in a not too neighborly, but in control voice. One of the guys, about my age (50) says "I did."  No apologies, just him and his Mr. Asshat face.

 

"Why the f&$k would you do that? We would have been gone from behind the green in less than 10 seconds."

 

"Well, you guys were playing too slow," he says.

 

Now I am really pissed. "So let me get this right. Because you think we were playing too slowly, you wilfully risked my life and the life of my friends by hitting a 2 inch round projectile directly at us at about 90 or 100 mph! Is that correct?"

 

He still did not apologize, and again said that it would not have happened if we had been playing faster.

 

Nearly losing it, I started to walk toward him, and then realized that punching him in the noodle was going to do nothing but put me in the gray bar hotel that evening. I settled for a delightful string of four letter words mentioning the unfortunate length of his manhood as well as the gigantic dimensions and vile facial features of his wife before driving away to the next hole.

 

There are few things more annoying than someone who does something clearly wrong but somehow still blames you for it, huh?

 

I think I had an encounter with Mr. Asshat's son. Very similar scenario.

 

It was a par 3 for gosh sakes, and my friend and I are standing near the pin, hitting our putts. As my friend is about to attempt his birdie putt, a ball literally hits him on his leg.

 

This hole is only 135 yards. We turn around to see these two 16-18 year old punks on the tee box. I yell, and it may have included the F word.

 

They come up to the green and begin accusing US of playing slow (even though there was a foursome in front of us that we waited every shot on). 

 

Basically the same as your scenario. Them hitting us with their tee shot was our fault because we are playing slow, apparently. They then accused me of being inappropriate for using the F word on a golf course.

 

Long story short we kind of chastised them but what are we doing to do, beat up these kids? They were half of our size so we just moved along. I think my buddy did keep his ball at least lol. They drove away toward the club house/parking lot after that. 

[doctorgriffo]

35 years ago, playing with my dad and brother when I was 13, a group of old guys behind us kept hitting in to us (we were held up in front, nowhere to go) - it was pretty obvious that they didn’t think juniors should be blocking up their course. On the 11th, a ball flies past and just misses me in the fairway. My dad, a very mild-mannered and gentle guy, picks up the ball and marches 200 yards back to the tee. We see him towering over the guy who hit it, right in his face, and the body language was pretty clear from where we stood. The guy who hit it was looking for a hole in the ground to swallow him up. Dad walks back to us, and the walk was far enough for him to regather his composure and he said to us “that bastxxx turned down my mortgage application when we moved here 10 years ago - god, that felt good...”

[Sean2]

2 hours ago, GHIN n Juice said:

For a gentleman’s game, there are fewer and fewer gentlemen playing it.

Amen. People not repairing divots/pitch marks, taking their carts wherever they want, not caring if they are slowing down the groups behind them, etc. 

[2bGood]

When I first started golfing, one of my golf partners was a legit Hells Angel. We were friends going back to when we were young, but he was a scary dude I would never want to cross. All the same he was a real gentleman on the course and never caused trouble there. 

 

I can't really recall what happened, maybe he hit a ball accidentally near the group in front, but regardless at some stage these two young preppy guys come racing back yelling at him. He was calm as a cucumber and I think even politely apologised, but he got out of the cart so the guys could behold him in his full glory. He was 230lbs of muscle with 1%er and HA tattoos all over his arms topped off with a handle bar moustache. 

 

Like I say I don't remember all the details, but I do remember the look on these guys faces when they realised what they were up against. They backed down very fast, without a cross word said to them.

 

[llewol007]

These kind of stories never end well. Always the aggressor until they actually hurt someone and then the apologetic guys shows up. Horrible. I would of hit his damn ball 

[Hawkeye77]

14 hours ago, GoletaGolfer said:

 

 I settled for a delightful string of four letter words mentioning the unfortunate length of his manhood as well as the gigantic dimensions and vile facial features of his wife before driving away to the next hole.

So you could add this to the most embarrassing moments thread? 

 

But 10 years ago you really told them both off, lol, based on the story she really deserved it. 🙄

 

 

[Sean2]

3 hours ago, straightshot7 said:

 

There are few things more annoying than someone who does something clearly wrong but somehow still blames you for it, huh?

 

 

A lot of that going around these days. 

[GoletaGolfer]

12 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

So you could add this to the most embarrassing moments thread? 

 

But 10 years ago you really told them both off, lol, based on the story she really deserved it. 🙄

 

 

Good point. She did not in any way deserve it. It was the best I could do at the time without punching him.

[Colin L]

On 1/3/2021 at 5:21 AM, GoletaGolfer said:

Glen Annie golf course, about 10 years ago. Our foursome was playing hole #12, a short par 4 with a wide, shallow green. Our carts were parked up a small hill behind the green - all carts in line with the pin when looking from the fairway - it's maybe seven yards from the back of the green to our carts.

 

As we are putting out, I get the sense that one of the players in the fairway is just itching to hit his ball, so I keep my eye on him. He's only 125 to the middle of the green.

 

We all putt out and are making the short walk up to our carts - my head is on a swivel. Just as we climb in carts, sure enough, Mr. Asshat can't wait and hits his shot. His 125 shot goes about 140, and is heading right for my buddy. A respectful silence from Mr. Asshat (Note my sarcasm), so I yell "Watch out, cover up!"  The ball misses the head of the driver of one of our carts by a foot and lands directly on the roof of the cart. Bam!

 

I am livid, for obvious reasons. Their foursome drives up to park where we just were and I am there to "greet" them.

 

"Who hit that ball," I ask, in a not too neighborly, but in control voice. One of the guys, about my age (50) says "I did."  No apologies, just him and his Mr. Asshat face.

 

"Why the f&$k would you do that? We would have been gone from behind the green in less than 10 seconds."

 

"Well, you guys were playing too slow," he says.

 

Now I am really pissed. "So let me get this right. Because you think we were playing too slowly, you wilfully risked my life and the life of my friends by hitting a 2 inch round projectile directly at us at about 90 or 100 mph! Is that correct?"

 

He still did not apologize, and again said that it would not have happened if we had been playing faster.

 

Nearly losing it, I started to walk toward him, and then realized that punching him in the noodle was going to do nothing but put me in the gray bar hotel that evening. I settled for a delightful string of four letter words mentioning the unfortunate length of his manhood as well as the gigantic dimensions and vile facial features of his wife before driving away to the next hole.

 

This says as much about the OP as it does about "Mr Asshat".  🙄

[bladehunter]

20 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

I've told this story a few times but the short version of it is this:

 

I was playing a public course where there was a snack bar after 9, and from it you could not see the 10th hole. We stopped for a while at the snack bar as the group ahead of us was slowish and we had a large gap between the group behind us. 

 

We go to the 10th hole and it's empty. Remember we'd been at the snack bar for a while so it's perfectly conceivable they've finished the hole. I tee off and (obviously) hit one perfectly down the middle. At that point all 4 guys come out of the left trees (they had been looking for a ball apparently).

 

One of the guys picks up my ball and goes to the green. I get down the fairway and since there are no balls in the perfectly geometric center of the fairway, i deduce he in fact picked up my ball...I borrow my friends cart and drive up to the green and tell the guy "i think you picked up my ball". He denies it a couple of times. I ask him if i can see the ball he's holding as i had marked mine. He then throws it in the pond next to green and tells me "if i hit into them again he'd $%%&* ^$%%% etc etc, basically he would kill me.

 

I just said OK cool man and went back to my group. A few holes later one of his playing partners waited for us on the tee to apologize and gave me a Pro V1 to make up for it. 

Yep. It’s always the slow group in front that starts the cussing.  Odd how that works.  The problem is indeed the problem.  

[BlackDiamondPar5]

It's a passive-aggressive pu$$y move to hit into a group on purpose. I've had Mr. Asshat in my foursome and I told him under no uncertain terms that if he hit them then it was 100% his fault and he was on his own. 

[bladehunter]

1 minute ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

It's a passive-aggressive pu$$y move to hit into a group on purpose. I've had Mr. Asshat in my foursome and I told him under no uncertain terms that if he hit them then it was 100% his fault and he was on his own. 

While I agree 1000 percent snd would never do it.  I have to point out that 9 times out of 10 it’s a two part issue.  Usually it’s a slow group up front who always uses the excuse of “ we had a group in front of us “.  As if you I can’t see the open hole in front of them.   They park carts 40 yards from the green. Walk up and then walk back. Etc.   I’ve yet to hear of a group hitting into a group that’s not slugging around.  Always like Jeff’s story.  Some magical expedition into the deep woods , or “ we had to pee “ etc.  always some sort of misunderstanding.... the clear view hit into  on purpose is very very rare.  

[BlackDiamondPar5]

14 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

While I agree 1000 percent snd would never do it.  I have to point out that 9 times out of 10 it’s a two part issue.  Usually it’s a slow group up front who always uses the excuse of “ we had a group in front of us “.  As if you I can’t see the open hole in front of them.   They park carts 40 yards from the green. Walk up and then walk back. Etc.   I’ve yet to hear of a group hitting into a group that’s not slugging around.  Always like Jeff’s story.  Some magical expedition into the deep woods , or “ we had to pee “ etc.  always some sort of misunderstanding.... the clear view hit into  on purpose is very very rare.  

Agreed. There are numerous solutions including but not limited to; call the proshop, catch up with them and speak firmly but kindly about options (playing through etc), yell at them from the fairway to tell them to move along or jus grin and bare it.

 

Jeff's story was more an accident because they didn't realize the group was still there.   People need to chill a bit.

[Abh159]

I was playing in a charity scramble several years back when I saw two guys really get into it. It was at a point on the course where 3-4 holes all run alongside each other and you can see a lot of players on all the holes.

 

Player A from Group 1 hits his tee shot on a par 3 to about 4 feet and gets "closest to the pin" because he hit it inside someone from a previous group. I think we all know the little sign thing they have in scrambles that I'm talking about. They putt out and the next group (Group 2) steps up onto the tee. They all hit and one guy (Player B) hits it to about 6-7 feet. Once they drive up to the green Player B who hit the shot runs up to the green, kicks his ball to about 12 inches from the hole, and then starts shouting how he is now the "closet to the hole" and starts writing his name on the sign. It's worth noting his playing partners didn't see him do this because of some hills blocking the view of the green from the cart path.

 

Anyway, Player A from the first group watches this go down and then starts sprinting back to the green to confront Player B. They get into a shouting match and at one point Player A starts tackling the Player B to the ground and their partners had to break it up.

 

From a distance it was hilarious to watch. All that nonsense for a $50 gift certificate to the pro shop 🤣🤣

[Gsea]

21 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

I was playing in a charity scramble several years back when I saw two guys really get into it. It was at a point on the course where 3-4 holes all run alongside each other and you can see a lot of players on all the holes.

 

Player A from Group 1 hits his tee shot on a par 3 to about 4 feet and gets "closest to the pin" because he hit it inside someone from a previous group. I think we all know the little sign thing they have in scrambles that I'm talking about. They putt out and the next group (Group 2) steps up onto the tee. They all hit and one guy (Player B) hits it to about 6-7 feet. Once they drive up to the green Player B who hit the shot runs up to the green, kicks his ball to about 12 inches from the hole, and then starts shouting how he is now the "closet to the hole" and starts writing his name on the sign. It's worth noting his playing partners didn't see him do this because of some hills blocking the view of the green from the cart path.

 

Anyway, Player A from the first group watches this go down and then starts sprinting back to the green to confront Player B. They get into a shouting match and at one point Player A starts tackling the Player B to the ground and their partners had to break it up.

 

From a distance it was hilarious to watch. All that nonsense for a $50 gift certificate to the pro shop 🤣🤣

Wouldn't have anything to do with alcohol lol

[PappyVanWinkle53]

OP,

The guy behind your group was in the wrong and he should have apologized......but as soon as you began dropping F-bombs and insulting his wife/manhood, you allowed yourself to "get into the mud" with him and lost any high ground you may have had.....

 

Golfers very, very rarely hit into the group in front of them on purpose......and when it does happen, it is because the group in front is playing so slowly you could time them with a sundial.

 

I appreciate your candor; but in the end, you both looked like fools.

Edited January 4, 2021 by PappyVanWinkle53
typo

[PappyVanWinkle53]

On 1/3/2021 at 11:45 AM, MtlJeff said:

I've told this story a few times but the short version of it is this:

 

I was playing a public course where there was a snack bar after 9, and from it you could not see the 10th hole. We stopped for a while at the snack bar as the group ahead of us was slowish and we had a large gap between the group behind us. 

 

We go to the 10th hole and it's empty. Remember we'd been at the snack bar for a while so it's perfectly conceivable they've finished the hole. I tee off and (obviously) hit one perfectly down the middle. At that point all 4 guys come out of the left trees (they had been looking for a ball apparently).

 

One of the guys picks up my ball and goes to the green. I get down the fairway and since there are no balls in the perfectly geometric center of the fairway, i deduce he in fact picked up my ball...I borrow my friends cart and drive up to the green and tell the guy "i think you picked up my ball". He denies it a couple of times. I ask him if i can see the ball he's holding as i had marked mine. He then throws it in the pond next to green and tells me "if i hit into them again he'd $%%&* ^$%%% etc etc, basically he would kill me.

 

I just said OK cool man and went back to my group. A few holes later one of his playing partners waited for us on the tee to apologize and gave me a Pro V1 to make up for it. 

This sounds like the kind of composure OP should try to emulate next time.

[Pepperturbo]

The OP is a better man than me.  Grey-bar hotel or not, he would have felt my displeasure.  Fortunately, I've never had to take action on the golf course.

 

Lots of people neglect the fact some of us ole guys still have skills.  Can't stand ill-mannered dumb azz...wipes that think there are no consequences for bad behavior.  I have no problem accepting the consequences for my actions.  My wife knows our attorneys number.  Side note, there are times when each of us must get down in the mud with the pigs to show the swine some of us have limits.

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[MtlJeff]

32 minutes ago, PappyVanWinkle53 said:

This sounds like the kind of composure OP should try to emulate next time.

 

I generally try to avoid fights. I've seen a lot of them over the years (school, sports, bars). The people involved in them don't change. I've never seen someone win a fight and get anything tangible from it, i've never seen anyone lose a fight and say "wow he showed me, i guess i'll change my ways"

 

If someone forces me into a fight than i'll do what i do best, cower into a ball on the ground and cry until you are too embarrassed to fight, and then stab you in the back as you walk away

[MK7Golf21]

most of the time these altercations are over slow play and the aggressor being a knucklehead by hitting into you. Our group has been hit into when being held up from groups in front of us on every shot, nothing we can do. Best to just call the clubhouse/marshal instead of getting aggressive or you can end up with a charge of assault and battery and sued.

[GLF4EVR]

Reading this makes me think of a reason why I miss steel spikes.  You could stomp a hole even in a Ram 3D ball or an old Rock Flite. 

[Quasimoto]

7 hours ago, bladehunter said:

While I agree 1000 percent snd would never do it.  I have to point out that 9 times out of 10 it’s a two part issue.  Usually it’s a slow group up front who always uses the excuse of “ we had a group in front of us “.  As if you I can’t see the open hole in front of them.   They park carts 40 yards from the green. Walk up and then walk back. Etc.   I’ve yet to hear of a group hitting into a group that’s not slugging around.  Always like Jeff’s story.  Some magical expedition into the deep woods , or “ we had to pee “ etc.  always some sort of misunderstanding.... the clear view hit into  on purpose is very very rare.  

Sign on 18 holes at golf course - “No Carts Within 40 Yards of Greens”.