Broken Club Stories

[dannyhorn]

not that I am proud of my behavior the other day but I'm sure there is a good story amongst us......  bladed an 8 iron approach from the middle of the fairway super thin this week, and already having a rough day outside of golf, I threw it forward about 7 feet, honestly not far and not that hard. The club hits the most awkward angle and snaps in half, while all of my buddies are cracking up. the ball then rolls up to the green and sits 3 feet for a birdie putt, and I make 3.  one expensive birdie and a pathetic learning lesson. Would love to hear some of them... intentional and accidental!

[huskydawg]

If I could pick any club to blade, it'd be exactly that one.  I've noticed that it travels about the same distance.  Nice bird, but hopefully you won't do it again.

 

My father played with a hothead coworker who broke his putter shaft in a fit of rage.  He asked to borrow one from the other group members and they refused for fear of him breaking their putters.  He ended up putting with the what was left of the steel and head (yes it was against the rules but I think it was a casual round where nobody cared).  He actually putted pretty well that way the rest of the way through.

[alittleoverpar]

Back when I was young and had a temper, I was going for a par 5 in two and topped my 3 wood.  I didn't break it, but I threw it up into a tree and it got stuck up there.  It stayed in that tree for several weeks before it fell out and I got it back again.  I think that might have been the last temper tantrum I threw on a golf course.

[Abh159]

I've only broken a club out of anger once. It was when I was 13 and I slammed an 8 iron into a wooden tee marker after a bad shot snapping the shaft right at the hosel. My dad refused to pay to get it repaired to I had to go without that club for about a month (including in tournaments) until I saved up enough from cutting yards to pay for the repairs myself.

 

That was a valuable life lesson.

[darkhelmet]

Never broken one myself in anger, just a SW that hit a small tree on a follow-through when I was punching out from the sh!t.  Needed to pop it out over some bushes, and I felt the shaft bounce off of a sapling to my left after I hit the ball.  Felt like a gentle tap at the time, but then I looked at my club and found it bent at about a 60 degree angle.  Silver lining was that in re-shafting I discovered I needed my irons about 1/2" over standard length -- had only been playing for a couple years, and never even knew that was a thing!  Up to that point, I just assumed that I needed to feel uncomfortable crouching down a bit more on my short irons.

 

Did see a guy lose it on the tee once.  On an annual golf weekend trip with a big group from work, one of the guys who was about a 40-handicap, twice-a-year player had bought himself a $500 Cobra driver (in the late 90's).  Topped and hooked a tee shot into the woods, proceeded to slam his driver against the tee marker, which he quickly discovered was made of concrete.  Snapped the head off the driver, picked it up and chucked it over a chain link fence near the tee box.  Was about to drive off and leave it there, until one of his buddies asked him, "Didn't you just pay like $500 yesterday for that thing?"  At which point he cooled down a bit, and then, huffing and puffing, climbed the fence to go retrieve the head.

[alittleoverpar]

I did once break a club in regular play several years ago.  I had hit my tee shot near a tree that was in the right rough.  I was barely in the rough and was probably 10-15 feet from the tree.  I had hit balls before from that general area without incident.  I swung my sand wedge to hit my second shot and immediately after hitting the ball my club just stopped.  I looked down and the shaft looked like a pretzel.  I had hit a root that was just under the surface.  Fortunately, I didn't injure myself, but that sand wedge definitely needed a new shaft after that shot.

 

 

[DLeightonReid]

I have never broken a club in a fit of anger, but I did have my driver shaft break at impact and the Ping G head failed to carry a water hazard.  I figured I was going to have to take a swim to retrieve the head, but it floated like a little ship and the breeze blew it to the bank.  

[dfeldss]

Teeing off on a short 90 degree dogleg par 4 with a 6 iron. I take my swing, head flies off after contact straight into a bush in these people's yard to the left of the teebox. Looked for it for about 10 minutes and never found it, probably buried under some leaves still there years later

[trilerian]

I have never broke a club in anger, they are too expensive...  I have had the head fly off of 4 though, all broke right above the hosel.  3 irons and 1 3w.  I have also cracked the face on a TM 5w and 3w, and cracked the carbon bottom on a Sim 2 driver.  Again, I don't go slamming my clubs into the ground or throw them.  Well, I do slam them into the ground, but only due to the effects of my swing.  

[NJBigFish22]

Never broken a club on the course by my own doing.  In college was playing in a fraternity golf outing, leaned my club up against a cart since ground was wet, a friend in another group was drunk and pissed off and tried to scare someone and drove cart right over my club.

[SE Gamer]

In my junior days I may have slammed a club or two. But never broke one.

 

Had a teammate who was a real hothead. He wasn't particularly good. But could hit the ball a mile. I'm playing with him in one match. He's holding it together. Last hole is a short par 4. Straight away with no real trouble. He loads up and tries to send one for the green. Top hooks it into a ditch that absolutely shouldn't be in play. Proceeds to treat his driver like a sledgehammer. Just bashing it around and eventually snapping it. 

 

He ends up making a big number on the hole that ruined his score for the day. To add insult to injury, our coach had witnessed his meltdown tantrum on the tee. And awards him a two-stroke penalty for the behavior. 

One other one I recall was pretty funny. Same coach let the school borrow his brand new Callaway driver for our high school's field day. One of the events was where you had to spin around with your head on the butt of the club, then wack a tennis ball. One kid gets up to complete the task. And puts so much pressure on the shaft when spinning around that it snaps in half. Coach didn't find it nearly as funny as the rest of us. 

[bcjim]

Took a baseball swing at my ball that I tosed in the air as I walked off a green. Caught it flush and the putter head snapped off at the hosel.

 

 

[sprcoop]

The only club I've broken was my buddies Ping G10 8i with a graphite shaft.  It was not on purpose and I blame him.

 

He parked the cart forward and left of the tee box for some reason.  I wanted to play a low fade (windy) and it came off a little lower and left than I intended so it nails his 8i sticking out of his bag on the back of the cart taking the head off at the hosel.  My ball goes straight left into the desert never to be seen again so I re-tee. 

 

I hit the same shot missing the cart by about 5 yards and the ball ends up center right in the fairway.  I know my first shot would have ended up at worst left edge of fairway if he had not parked that cart there.

 

I offered to pay for the repair but he refused.

[sethdavidsdad]

My buddy shanked his PW threw it in the pond and it stuck. For weeks it was sticking up. Haha

[Augster]

One time I was on a golf trip in Texas over the winter. I kept blading my SW chips across the green. We didn’t really have any time to practice before, after, or between rounds as we’d play from sunup to sundown. 
 

After the 3rd blade, I knew I didn’t want to use that club for chipping the rest of the trip. Since I knew I WOULD use it again if I had it, I just casually snapped it over my knee and chipped with my PW. No anger. Just matter of fact. 
 

When I was doing a lot of club building, I’d break clubs all the time. An iron shaft was like $12 to replace. Sometimes it was worth the $12 to teach that club a lesson. 🙂

[rogolf]

12 hours ago, sethdavidsdad said:

My buddy shanked his PW threw it in the pond and it stuck. For weeks it was sticking up. Haha

They sit like that because of the air in the shaft.  Nice reminder for constraint!

[North Butte]

I was on a golf trip with a large group of guys and on one hole I teed off and hit an awful shot into a water hazard right in front of the green. I was going to wait for everyone else to hit before teeing up my second ball after the stroke and distance penalty. So I absent mindedly leaned my driver up against my bag on the push cart while I was getting another ball.

 

The driver slid off the edge of the bag, dropped down onto on the legs of the push cart and I heard a cracking noise. Sure enough the graphite shaft had broken where it landed on metal support for the push cart wheel. Had to play the rest of the round without a driver.

 

By the time the weekend was done, that story had been passed around like a game of "Telephone" until I heard someone saying that I'd hit a ball in the water then helicoptered my driver 30 yards and broke it across a tree. That's a cool story and I guess in retrospect maybe I'd have gotten more satisfaction out of that than I did from a stupid freak accident costing me a driver. 

[dugue4]

I have helicoptered my fair share of clubs, but as of yet, none have broken.  I have slowed my club throwing down a lot as I've grown older and wiser, but sometimes it just... happens.

[Mizunoid]

I've smashed loads. Hit a crap drive and let go of the driver as it was swinging round my neck after impact, it landed on its head and the head snapped off.

 

Wrapped a TM wedge round a tree, which is the best place for a TM wedge because they suck.

 

Threw a 7 iron at my bag, next time i got the putter out i noticed it was weird but thought nothing of it. A few holes later i noticed i'd dented the putter shaft.

 

Stepped on the hosel of a 6 iron about 8 weeks ago and just left the head next to a bush.

 

I mostly now just attack the ground/thin air since my clubs are now too expensive to break.

[dannyhorn]

58 minutes ago, dugue4 said:

I have helicoptered my fair share of clubs, but as of yet, none have broken.  I have slowed my club throwing down a lot as I've grown older and wiser, but sometimes it just... happens.

thats when the last two of mine landed awkwardly and snapped.... one was heli'd one was a toss..... either way, expensive mistake

[david.c.w]

Not me, but a friend whacked his bag with a club.  He definitely bought a new range finder the following week.

 

[imkirby34]

Speaking of hitting your golf bag with a club, I did that out of frustration with a wedge about 20 years ago.  I didn't think anything of it until I got to the green, pulled out my putter, and saw the shaft was bent.  I putted with my Tour Spoon for the remaining 4 holes.  

 

I still have the upper portion of the shaft with the grip on it around here somewhere.  I know it was an Odyssey putter of some sort.  Funny thing is, I don't remember what I did with the putter head.

[Mr. Bean]

How are these (fairly entertaining) stories related to Rules & Etiquette..? 

[hammersia]

On 9/3/2022 at 5:02 AM, Augster said:

One time I was on a golf trip in Texas over the winter. I kept blading my SW chips across the green. We didn’t really have any time to practice before, after, or between rounds as we’d play from sunup to sundown. 
 

After the 3rd blade, I knew I didn’t want to use that club for chipping the rest of the trip. Since I knew I WOULD use it again if I had it, I just casually snapped it over my knee and chipped with my PW. No anger. Just matter of fact. 
 

When I was doing a lot of club building, I’d break clubs all the time. An iron shaft was like $12 to replace. Sometimes it was worth the $12 to teach that club a lesson. 🙂

Kind of similar, the only one I can remember breaking in anger was a mizuno rescue which I couldn't hit for toffee, launched it down the fairway at the Belfry (with great secondary axis tilt) and it snapped. Don't regret it.

[hammersia]

On 9/10/2022 at 7:04 AM, Mr. Bean said:

How are these (fairly entertaining) stories related to Rules & Etiquette..? 

Because it's not Tour Talk.

[jdl]

Only club I've broken was leaning too hard on a hybrid while waiting for the group in the fairway to clear.

[jc4birdie]

On 9/2/2022 at 10:33 AM, dannyhorn said:

not that I am proud of my behavior the other day but I'm sure there is a good story amongst us......  bladed an 8 iron approach from the middle of the fairway super thin this week, and already having a rough day outside of golf, I threw it forward about 7 feet, honestly not far and not that hard. The club hits the most awkward angle and snaps in half, while all of my buddies are cracking up. the ball then rolls up to the green and sits 3 feet for a birdie putt, and I make 3.  one expensive birdie and a pathetic learning lesson. Would love to hear some of them... intentional and accidental!

Basically did exactly what you did, just w/ a 5 iron instead, and I dropkicked it instead of blading it.  Ground was apparently so hard from drought that the ball just rolled the the incline of the green, nestling to a stop about 4 inches from the cup.  Thing is, I never saw it travel up to the hole, until I walked up.  I was so pissed that I turned away and threw the club about 50 yards, upon impact snapping the shaft in half.  

 

Imagine how foolish I felt when I walked up onto the green and saw my ball.  I was in disbelief, and embarrassed.