Embarrassing Tourney Moments

[dfeldss]

Let's share our misery boys.

 

This past weekend i played the first meaningful/tourney rounds of golf in my life (my club champ).

 

What did I do on my opening tee shot? Topped my (usually strong) driver into the water.

 

What did i do on my retee? Nuked one OB. Made a great 8 after that en route to a 99-92 for last place in the gross division. 

 

I knew i wasn't going to win, mostly just an excuse to go play 2 rounds of golf, but still very disappointing. What are some embarrassing stories from your tourney rounds?  

[bcjim]

The harsh realities of stroke play has burned everyone.  I shot something like 101-83 in a 2 day event once. I was probably an 8- 9 HC.

 

This year I took a 9 on a par 4 because I somehow forgot that I could just replay a shot. The drop left me with no option..

 

Worst was I in frustration,  slapped a missed putt off the lip, (and off the green) then had to go play it of course. 

[jvincent]

16 minutes ago, bcjim said:

Worst was I in frustration,  slapped a missed putt off the lip, (and off the green) then had to go play it of course. 

 

Always remember that in that situation you can declare an unplayable and putt again from the original location. Usually a better option than playing it where it lies.

 

Of course you'll probably be too mad to think of this at the time.

 

My worst was a 9 (two balls OB) in our CC a few years ago. I was doing OK at the time and then proceeded to hit two massive push-slices.

[zdtallan]

31 minutes ago, bcjim said:

The harsh realities of stroke play has burned everyone. 

This is the absolute truth!  When every shot counts things always get a little funny/tough.  The first state qualifier I played in I started on a par 5, hit an absolute nuke of a drive (adrenaline) and had 190 to the pin, a bit downhill, cold topped a 7-iron maybe yards for my second.

 

Qualifier earlier this year, I was E thru 7 and made a 9 on a par 5: First tee ball never found, re-tee and second tee shot ends up OB by two yards, third tee shot gets it done.  Nightmare fuel.

[jvincent]

I should have posted this one.

 

Not me, but a guy in the group in front of me. First tee and dude hits his first tee shot into the waist high fescue. He then proceeds to do that same thing with 3 provisional balls. After the third one he just says "I'll find one of those." and walks off the tee.

 

Not what you want to see before you hit your first tee shot of the day.

[GHIN n Juice]

I went 72-92 a few years back.  I was leading day 1 and out of the money after day 2.  

[Ifelloffladder]

1 hour ago, jvincent said:

I should have posted this one.

 

Not me, but a guy in the group in front of me. First tee and dude hits his first tee shot into the waist high fescue. He then proceeds to do that same thing with 3 provisional balls. After the third one he just says "I'll find one of those." and walks off the tee.

 

Not what you want to see before you hit your first tee shot of the day.

Sounds like a typical weekend outing for me.

[RmoorePE]

Regional tournament. Backed up tee box on a tough par 4. Two groups behind waiting for us. Hit my tee shot in the direction of a swampy area and my playing partners all agreed I would find it. 
 

Couldn’t find it in 3 mins and had to walk back up the hill to hit. Because I was walking up the hill the groups behind thought we had moved to the green , two balls over my head on the trek up. I come around the corner of the hill right before the next guy hits. He backs off and I run up to hit my shot. 
 

Hit it even further into the swamp . Then I got the ultimate in humiliation when I had to ask for a ball from the groups waiting there. I announced “Does anyone have a ball I can borrow? No guarantees you will see it again” Topped that one into play and eventually got the ball on the green for I believe a 10. 

[daegyu]

1 hour ago, RmoorePE said:

Regional tournament. Backed up tee box on a tough par 4. Two groups behind waiting for us. Hit my tee shot in the direction of a swampy area and my playing partners all agreed I would find it. 
 

Couldn’t find it in 3 mins and had to walk back up the hill to hit. Because I was walking up the hill the groups behind thought we had moved to the green , two balls over my head on the trek up. I come around the corner of the hill right before the next guy hits. He backs off and I run up to hit my shot. 
 

Hit it even further into the swamp . Then I got the ultimate in humiliation when I had to ask for a ball from the groups waiting there. I announced “Does anyone have a ball I can borrow? No guarantees you will see it again” Topped that one into play and eventually got the ball on the green for I believe a 10. 

When did they change the rules to allow borrowing balls? I remember reading an article about Tiger being down to his last ball on 18 and almost being DQ'd from the 2000 US Open. 

[dcmidnight]

One of my worst was the first year I tried a belly putter, I was not used to the heaviness/balance of it just yet. On the second hole of a tournament, I reached across the hole to tap in the ball - honestly it was one inch from the hole, not even a ball width - and I essentially just dropped the putter behind the ball, completely missed it.

 

Been playing mostly tournaments/cash matches for 10+ years now though - trust me, it gets better but no matter how many you play you will STILL have these shots from time to time.

[DoughBack18]

Triple bogied the 18th hole of a 2 day club championship to lose a 3 shot lead. Then bogied the first to lose a playoff. Think that probably qualifies!

 

I’ve pumped opening tee shots OB, topped them, you name it. It happens to the best of us!

 

One bad one that turned out well… Leading a different years club championship, nervous as hell. 3rd hole i hit a duck hook up against a gazebo that is barely on the course I was so off line. Guy I’m playing with makes a smart Word not allowed comment about how i’m definitely not going to win… Pro gives me relief from the gazebo, play my next shot into another fairway, then hit it to 2 feet from 150yds and make par. And then I went on to win the tournament.

 

Keep working, no way to get better at competitive golf than playing competitive golf. And definitely no reason to be embarrassed, everyone who has played golf has had their share!

[ND2005]

3 M/Gs in a row, me and my buddies have been in the hunt (1st through 3rd in our flight) after day one. Proceed to party too much at the dinners/parties. Last place in our flight after the second day. 

 

Every time I tell myself I will pace myself...

 

In terms of actual embarrassment: A work friend of mine scored an invite to a top 100 rated private club for 2 people and asked me to join. Well we show up and turns out the invite was not just for a round, but for a spot in the clubs big weekend money game of about 30 members. My friend has a complete vanity cap, I've tried talking to him about it many times but usually it doesn't affect me directly. Well he proceeds to go drop a 93 off a 4 index. Needless to say our host was not too pleased, our team finished dead last. I doubt we will be getting a return invite. I was pretty embarrassed just by association. 

[RmoorePE]

15 hours ago, daegyu said:

When did they change the rules to allow borrowing balls? I remember reading an article about Tiger being down to his last ball on 18 and almost being DQ'd from the 2000 US Open. 

Pretty sure that rule is optional if chosen by the tournament committee. I don't think I am good enough to play in a tournament where you have to finish with the same kind of ball you started with.

[golfandfishing]

About 25 years ago in a pretty notable local tournament I was medalist with a 67 that included zero missed greens and maybe 1 or 2 missed fairway by less than a yard each. The next day in the first round of match play I got bounced 6&5 and was lucky it wasn’t worse as I hit it all over the place and really had zero idea what was happening. 

[ChipNRun]

Reality check and sympathy.

1. Unless you're a single-digit HDCP, don't expect to burn up a course the first time you play it. It takes a round or two to see what you're looking at. In our local amateur circuit, we have a rota of about 12 courses we play, choosing six each year for the one-day events. About the third time I play a course, I start to get a home-course advantage.
2. To play well in tournaments, you need experience. Just the process can be unnerving:
   • You have 80 golfers show up for the event, and the driving range only has 12 hitting positions.
   • The tournament preview harshly bans outside food and beverages, but you arrive and find the snack bar is closed. (A danger on Mondays at private clubs.)
   • You get paired with the guy who snap-hooks a ball OB, and then glares at you because it was somehow "your fault."
   • You are a mile from the  supposed course entrance, and the road is torn up from highway construction. And, you're in a cell phone dead zone so you can't get Mapquest to find an alternate route.

Note: The four bullet items above are not farfetched tales. I have endured all of them at least once.

 

One last point: If you will be playing at a private club, call and make sure they accept cash or credit card. Some ritzy places expect you to just charge it back to your home club, which can be difficult if you are a peasant without a home course account. (My semi-private club told me to just go ahead and sign for it, and they can run plastic on charges next time I play.)

Edited March 1, 2023 by ChipNRun
Grammar.

[SteelieD]

Blading a chip over waaaaay the green while the other 3 players are waiting putt. 
 

Walking (quickly) to the ball while the other 3 players are waiting putt. 

 

Blading the next chip back over the green while the other 3 players are waiting putt. 
 

Walking (quickly) to the ball while the other 3 players are waiting putt. 

 

Chunking the third one on while the other 3 players are waiting putt. 

 

Three putting. 
 

I’ve never felt so alone in my entire life. 

 

 

[rgk5]

In 1974 I shot 70 in my home course invitation which usually loses to a 68 or 69.  My best friend and I drank most of a 40 oz of Canadian Club that afternoon at his place and then I got the phone call to appear for a playoff at 6:30 PM. On the first hole I hit a 3W and PW to 12 feet and missed the putt while my opponent chipped from the rear of the green, hit the flag hard, stopped two feet away, and putted out to tie.

On the second hole, a long par dog leg left four into the setting sun. I tried to hit a power draw as my head was swimming, topped it about 80 yards into the trees,  proceeded to chop up the rest of the hole, while my opponent made a shakey par to win.

[eddiebigeddie]

I’ve topped drives, skulled bunker shots, and hit into people on opposing fairways. Even seen a buddy miss a 3” putt because he walked up to tap it and almost completely missed the ball…literally moved the ball 1”.

 

The worst for me though was one year playing a tourney and had a good round going…+4 at the turn and +1 through first 4 of the back.  Playing partner older guy (wasn’t remotely in contention) realizes I’m playing well…”hey you’re playing well your gonna win this, I’m rooting for you” and starts talking like crazy and giving advice (um I was playing well not him but whatever), proceed to go double, triple, double, bogey, par and miss placing by 1 shot. Bogeys on those first 3 holes would have won it for me. Needless to say I didn’t speak to the man after the round. 

[ColinKelvin]

Got right back into golf in my 30s having not really picked up a club in my 20s after enjoying golf as a teenager.  Managed to get down to single figures after moving to a rural location and joining the local club - short but tight course.  Said club was hosting the district scratch team championships and due to a lack of low men, I was #5 on the 5 man team.  Practiced hard for weeks, game feeling good, home course...

 

On the day of the event, things were a bit chaotic and for reasons I can't remember, my tee time was pushed back half an hour (giving me more time to think). When my 3-some did finally tee off, the heavens had opened and a heavy, heavy downpour drenched us.  The only tee shot I disliked on that course from the back tees (I've now moved clubs...) was the first hole, as there is no bail out either side.  In the pouring rain I teed up, and hit a huge carve - OB right.  Reached for my bag to get another ball, realised my hands were shaking.  Teed it up, another carve, OB right.  Third ball, low hook left into a ditch. A drop, two duffs, a pitch and a 3 putt to round things off later and I carded a 12.  The worst scores I had ever had on that hole in 2-3 years before (or indeed since) were a 7, once, and a few 6s. Once the tee shot is in play it's an easy 4.  Considered walking in, but plodded round in the high 80s, nerves shot, hitting lots of dreadful golf shots while my partners looked on with pity.  A terrible experience.

[RSinSG]

My high school freshman grandson is a pretty good casual player. Loves to outdrive his dad with the occasional 290+ shot. He has good iron control and I told him once he figured out chipping and putting he would see some nice scores. We used several of his shots last year in a scramble, and when he played with his dad he had a lot of mid-40’s nine holes so he started thinking he was figuring the game out. 
 

What he wasn’t considering was all the gimmies and bumped lies his dad gave him, and even though I told him he should start playing the ball down I don’t think he realized how different it was.

 

That became clear to him last week at his first match now that he is on his schools golf team. He described getting to the first tee being very nervous,  especially when there was a large group and he was the first one to hit. He said his hands were shaking as his mighty swing almost whiffed, but instead clipped the ball and rocketed into the starters shed. Luckily the ball made it to where he had a shot that he topped enroute to a 66 (9 holes.)

 

He called me and said “You were right Grandpa. It’s a totally different game playing this way.” 

[ctvols11]

Not a story about me but guy I was playing with.

 

Joined my club about two months ago and played in our invitational for my first competitive individual stroke play event ever. Second day, guy I was paired with was having an ok day. We both shot 86 the day before playing off an 8 and were a little frustrated going into the day because we knew we could have done better. I played better on the second day, shooting an 80 and jumping from 10th in our flight to start the day and finishing 4th in gross score. He was hovering around another 86 or so going into 18, and pulls the ball left of the trees on 18 into our chipping area. He then proceeds to chunk his shot from there and it ends up short of a small pond with about 50 yards into the green. He goes on to chunk that shot into the water, yells "IM DONE", and almost throws his club into the water. Decided at that point it would just be better to slam it into his cart. He then decides he is going to finish out so he chips onto the green. Misses about a 15 footer from there with about a foot and a half putt left to finish. Proceeds to lip out on that putt, picks his ball up and says "I withdraw, I'm not turning in a card". Hands me my card to sign and turn in and goes to his car and leaves after WD'ing with a 6 inch putt left on the 36th hole of the tournament. I was speechless. 

[Tyrus Webb]

Playing in a state amateur match play championship back in the late 90s, my opponent blocked his drive on the 10th hole out into a wooded area.  Lots of tall pines and straw, but generally a place you're going to find the ball.  We arrive and the ball's not obviously visible anywhere so we begin to hunt.  A minute passes, then two, then three...silence from him.  Four minutes comes and goes and, right around the 4:50 mark I hear "I've got it over here!"

 

What the heck was I supposed to say when I knew his original ball was in my pocket?