Head-shaking - your strangest experience on course?

[backtees]

This summer I made a very strange experience on course when I was playing a fun round: one guy in our foursome measured every single putt with his laser….!

 

After three holes we asked him to leave the laser in his bag to speed up - what he did, rather unwillingly.

 

Measuring a putt with the laser, holy moley – what was your strangest experience on course?

[MattTheTaff]

A plane landed in the fairway, stoped, turned around and took off again

[Shallowface]

Many years ago while on vacation in Florida, my wife and I were paired with another couple.

The ladies tee was quite a bit in front of the white tee, but the man in the other couple called "ladies first" so off they went.

My wife is a very good player, and based on her first tee shot his wife was too as both girls hit good drives.

I offered the fellow honors and he took them.

This hole was a par 5 with condos and OB right, but plenty of room to the left.

He teed up, took a mighty swing and popped one off the toe onto someone's roof.

The second effort was a virtual replay of the first.

Well we've all done that or something like it, but I've never seen before or since what happened next.

He said to me (and this is a verbatim quote because I never forgot it), "my wife intimidated me. I don't have it today," and they jumped in the cart and left, leaving me, my wife, the starter, and everyone else around the tee with our jaws on the ground.

I've experienced a lot of strange things on the course over 40 plus years, but that still tops the list.

[vbb]

Me and a buddy got randomly paired up with a guy who seemed nice enough off through the first hole. The only mildly strange thing is that he had a 2-liter of diet Dr. Pepper in his bag and was swilling it directly from the bottle (we never detected an odor of alcohol, so I don't think it was spiked with anything). By the 2nd hole, naturally he had to take a whiz, and he did so in the woods right to the side of the tee box. No big deal. Well, every other hole after that, his bladder issues flared up and he had to go. What was weird was that while the first time he was semi-discreet about it, by the 8th hole he was actually taking a piss right in the middle of the fairway. Granted, there weren't many people around, but seriously, this guy would just unzip his pants and start pissing right where he stood. In the lake next to a hole. In the fairway near the 150 pole. Off the side of the green in the brush. Pretty much everywhere but into a sand trap.

And he kept right on drinking that diet Dr. Pepper and carrying on as if there was nothing at all weird about what he was doing.

[pingeye]

Was playing last Friday with 3 friends. We were the 4th group out due to frost delay. 2 some went first followed by 2 3 somes, then our group of 4. The group behind us was a 3 some. We kept up with the group in front until around the 6th hole and the 3 some behind us had to start waiting for us even though we were on pace with time.

After 9, we headed to the bar to grab some food and told the 3 some behind us to play through if they wanted and they thanked us and went to the 10 hole. No one was behind them.

We tee off on 10 and head to our balls. We're spread out across the fairway. The new group behind us just gets to the 10th tee box.
A couple of guys in my group have already hit up to the green and as I'm getting ready to hit I hear a cart coming up behind me.
I turn around and two of the guys are driving up the fairway towards me. I'm thinking someone in our group left a club behind or something.

Now the strange part.

Driver pulls cart up to me and says, "I don't want to be a d*ck but we have 4 groups here and you jumped in between us"
I said, I'm happy for you and hope you guys are having a good time. we let you're buddies in front play through since they were pushing us and we didn't want to hold them up.
Driver says, "oh, they were pushing you?
I said, Yes, so we let them play through.
Driver turns his cart around and heads back to the 10th tee without saying another word.
I'm standing there shaking my head thinking "thanks for being a d*ck" I guess he was expected us to let all four groups play through so they could keep their merry little band together.

We kept playing and never saw the group behind us again.

[jimwgt26]

I played with a guy who had a swaztika tattoo on his face. Every time one of my buddies or I missed a putt we said, "Oy Vay." I don't think swaztika guy got it.

[OrangeCrush]

Back in the mid 90's I was down in Marietta GA playing at this COW pasture course called Cumberland Creek. Some of the holes were carved into a subdivision so you drove between homes to get to tee boxes. Well my friend and I are on the tee box and there is the make shift "tent" but it's more like a garden wrap...only on the side and no top. Its clear plastic and you can see someone is laying down inside. The guy is like 18-20 feet away.

Well as we approach the tee markers he stands up. The dude is NAKED sunbathing! He was old, wrinkly and just ALL SORTS OF WRONG. So we have a good laugh. Well I go to tee off, I hear a radio broadcast (no radio on before) and JUST as I swing "And the pitch........... from a Phil Rizzuto broadcast". I totally duff the shot from laughing. I mean he timed it PERFECTLY.

[rsj1360]

[quote name='Shallowface' timestamp='1388497206' post='8373171']
Many years ago while on vacation in Florida, my wife and I were paired with another couple.

The ladies tee was quite a bit in front of the white tee, but the man in the other couple called "ladies first" so off they went.

My wife is a very good player, and based on her first tee shot his wife was too as both girls hit good drives.

I offered the fellow honors and he took them.

This hole was a par 5 with condos and OB right, but plenty of room to the left.

He teed up, took a mighty swing and popped one off the toe onto someone's roof.

The second effort was a virtual replay of the first.

Well we've all done that or something like it, but I've never seen before or since what happened next.

He said to me (and this is a verbatim quote because I never forgot it), "my wife intimidated me. I don't have it today," and they jumped in the cart and left, leaving me, my wife, the starter, and everyone else around the tee with our jaws on the ground.

I've experienced a lot of strange things on the course over 40 plus years, but that still tops the list.
[/quote]

I think the "ladies first" is the strangest thing about that story.

[rsj1360]

[quote name='backtees' timestamp='1388495617' post='8373083']
This summer I made a very strange experience on course when I was playing a fun round: one guy in our foursome measured every single putt with his laser….!

After three holes we asked him to leave the laser in his bag to speed up - what he did, rather unwillingly.

Measuring a putt with the laser, holy moley – what was your strangest experience on course?
[/quote]

Yes, this is very strange behavior.

[JDW3]

Nothing near as strange as the posts above but I was playing alone one day. I caught a threesome around the fourth or fifth hole and they wouldn't let me play thru or join them. After the ninth they even complained to the starter (a friend of mine) that I was playing alone. I have no idea why it matters to others who I decide to play with or not to play with.

[Cuja444]

Not sure how odd this is but it was strange to me. I was playing a course along the ohio river when all the sudden i see a pirate ship sailing down the river. This thing looked like it came straight out of the movies.

[HiSpeed48]

Last year I got paired with 2 randoms, one in a cart, and the other walking with me. We would all tee off together on each hole but the guy in the cart wasn't really playing with us. What I mean is he would rush up to his ball and hit his second shot, rush to the green and putt out, and then stand and wait for us to finish the hole. It was like he was trying to finish the hole as fast as he could, but there were several foursomes ahead of us so he had nowhere to go. It didn't seem like he was even having fun, he wasn't reading the putts or anything, just 3-putting every hole.

[ctmason_98]

[quote name='HiSpeed48' timestamp='1388508404' post='8374055']
Last year I got paired with 2 randoms, one in a cart, and the other walking with me. We would all tee off together on each hole but the guy in the cart wasn't really playing with us. What I mean is he would rush up to his ball and hit his second shot, rush to the green and putt out, and then stand and wait for us to finish the hole. It was like he was trying to finish the hole as fast as he could, but there were several foursomes ahead of us so he had nowhere to go. [b]It didn't seem like he was even having fun[/b], he wasn't reading the putts or anything, just 3-putting every hole.
[/quote]

Irrelevant...he was KEEPING PACE....that's the key to growing the game.

[agray94]

25 years ago in college on spring break we got tee times at Doral. When we arrived, we found we were paired with another twosome. We were scheduled to play with the "McCarty" twosome. As we drove to the tee, we met up with the pair- which happened to be Andrew McCarthy and his manager. It was a very cool round, and they were both very nice and outgoing. Even got us a beer at the turn! We did not ask for any autographs or anything( I didn't want to bother him on vacation), but he did give is a each a ball at the end of the round-which I gave to my sister ,who was a huge fan.

[rsj1360]

[quote name='ctmason_98' timestamp='1388508499' post='8374069']
[quote name='HiSpeed48' timestamp='1388508404' post='8374055']
Last year I got paired with 2 randoms, one in a cart, and the other walking with me. We would all tee off together on each hole but the guy in the cart wasn't really playing with us. What I mean is he would rush up to his ball and hit his second shot, rush to the green and putt out, and then stand and wait for us to finish the hole. It was like he was trying to finish the hole as fast as he could, but there were several foursomes ahead of us so he had nowhere to go. [b]It didn't seem like he was even having fun[/b], he wasn't reading the putts or anything, just 3-putting every hole.
[/quote]

Irrelevant...he was KEEPING PACE....that's the key to growing the game.
[/quote]

And he probably went home and bitched to anyone who would listen about the "slow players" he got paired with.

[rsj1360]

[quote name='agray94' timestamp='1388508774' post='8374097']
25 years ago in college on spring break we got tee times at Doral. When we arrived, we found we were paired with another twosome. We were scheduled to play with the "McCarty" twosome. As we drove to the tee, we met up with the pair- which happened to be Andrew McCarthy and his manager. It was a very cool round, and they were both very nice and outgoing. Even got us a beer at the turn! We did not ask for any autographs or anything( I didn't want to bother him on vacation), but he did give is a each a ball at the end of the round-which I gave to my sister ,who was a huge fan.
[/quote]

I had to google this [color=#282828]Andrew McCarthy guy. I don't believe I have ever seen anything he has ever been in.[/color]

[blink3665]

I may be the person that is odd in my story (actually... I AM the odd person in my story). In college my buddy and I did a road trip to hit as many skateparks as we could from Portland to Whistler. By the time we got to Whistler we had run out of money for lodging. Luckily for us we had brought our sleeping bags. We ended up bunking down under a huge tree to the side of one of the fairways at Whistler Golf Club. The tree was big and shaggy enough that people could walk right by and not see us. We woke up around 8 and you should have seen the look on the golfer's faces as we crawled out from inside that tree. Priceless. I'm sure they thought the same thing. That was 10+ years ago and WAY before i started golfing...

[sharkiesj]

1. Go out as a single and meet the threesome (early 40's guys) I'm joining on the 1rst tee. Intro's and handshakes all around. While waiting to tee off, "Hank" wanders off the side of the tee box and lays down on the ground on his back. He pulls his legs up and starts air cycling his legs really fast. He then puts his hands under his hips, elevates his torso even more and then starts cycling even faster. He changes to horizontal air splits with his legs then interchanges to vertical splits over his head. I'm observing him while chatting up the guys, I wanna laugh but none of his buddies are or saying anything so I keep a straight face. Hank then starts furiously thrusting his arms, air punching as fast as he can. I have to turn away now and am about to explode in sheer laughter however his buddies are all acting normal and not saying anything so I'd have to assume this is nothing new to them. Hank then gets up off the ground and joins us while we're getting ready to hit, grass all over his back. Never seen a grown man do air splits and air punching on the first tee before. Weird and awkward. Hank had an open seat in the cart but I decided to walk.

[PapaJohick]

[quote name='MattTheTaff' timestamp='1388496600' post='8373139']
A plane landed in the fairway, stoped, turned around and took off again
[/quote]
[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1388501225' post='8373469']
I played with a guy who has a swaztika tattooed on his face. Every time one of my buddies or I missed a putt we said, "Oy Vay." I don't think swaztika guy got it.
[/quote]
[quote name='OrangeCrush' timestamp='1388502090' post='8373527']
Back in the mid 90's I was down in Marietta GA playing at this COW pasture course called Cumberland Creek. Some of the holes were carved into a subdivision so you drove between homes to get to tee boxes. Well my friend and I are on the tee box and there is the make shift "tent" but it's more like a garden wrap...only on the side and no top. Its clear plastic and you can see someone is laying down inside. The guy is like 18-20 feet away.

Well as we approach the tee markers he stands up. The dude is NAKED sunbathing! He was old, wrinkly and just ALL SORTS OF WRONG. So we have a good laugh. Well I go to tee off, I hear a radio broadcast (no radio on before) and JUST as I swing "And the pitch........... from a Phil Rizzuto broadcast". I totally duff the shot from laughing. I mean he timed it PERFECTLY.
[/quote]
[quote name='HiSpeed48' timestamp='1388508404' post='8374055']
Last year I got paired with 2 randoms, one in a cart, and the other walking with me. We would all tee off together on each hole but the guy in the cart wasn't really playing with us. What I mean is he would rush up to his ball and hit his second shot, rush to the green and putt out, and then stand and wait for us to finish the hole. It was like he was trying to finish the hole as fast as he could, but there were several foursomes ahead of us so he had nowhere to go. It didn't seem like he was even having fun, he wasn't reading the putts or anything, just 3-putting every hole.
[/quote]
[quote name='blink3665' timestamp='1388509544' post='8374169']
I may be the person that is odd in my story (actually... I AM the odd person in my story). In college my buddy and I did a road trip to hit as many skateparks as we could from Portland to Whistler. By the time we got to Whistler we had run out of money for lodging. Luckily for us we had brought our sleeping bags. We ended up bunking down under a huge tree to the side of one of the fairways at Whistler Golf Club. The tree was big and shaggy enough that people could walk right by and not see us. We woke up around 8 and you should have seen the look on the golfer's faces as we crawled out from inside that tree. Priceless. I'm sure they thought the same thing. That was 10+ years ago and WAY before i started golfing...
[/quote]

These WIN!!!!! hahaha awesome

[thug the bunny]

[quote name='ctmason_98' timestamp='1388508499' post='8374069']
[quote name='HiSpeed48' timestamp='1388508404' post='8374055']
Last year I got paired with 2 randoms, one in a cart, and the other walking with me. We would all tee off together on each hole but the guy in the cart wasn't really playing with us. What I mean is he would rush up to his ball and hit his second shot, rush to the green and putt out, and then stand and wait for us to finish the hole. It was like he was trying to finish the hole as fast as he could, but there were several foursomes ahead of us so he had nowhere to go. [b]It didn't seem like he was even having fun[/b], he wasn't reading the putts or anything, just 3-putting every hole.
[/quote]

Irrelevant...he was KEEPING PACE....that's the key to growing the game.
[/quote]

So, wait, that's how we're supposed to play? Rushing ahead of others in your group even when they are away, and making them wait for you because you're on their target line? I've been doing it all wrong for 25 yrs apparently.

[robnplunder]

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1388507164' post='8373935']
Back in the 80's I was working in the proshop one weekend evening. A patron comes in and says we need to go to the 6th tee to see what's going on there. He was pretty vague, but insistent that we check it out. Off I zoom in a cart arriving at the 6th tee to find a tent off to the side of the box, campfire burning. Two young girls (hitch-hiking across the country) had set up camp for the night and were getting ready to cook supper as the golfers went by.

Sadly, I was too young and stupid to think that this might pose an opportunity.
[/quote]

I had something similar. On a par 4 hole of a muni course we played, a young couple were making out just off of fairway. They had a blanket, and even a picnic basket (I think). We made sure out tee shots were in their direction.

[Tipsy McHooker]

I have two stories and both involve bees. Funniest: Guy disturbed a bee/hornet nest looking for a ball in an O.B. area of woods on our course. Had to have been stung 20 times....was running full speed screaming and flailing arms ran in front of our tee and promptly dove into water hazard. We hated to laugh and give him a standing Ovation but did. We all got him out of water and made sure he was ok. When we determined he was alright i said "Boy i hope that was a Pro-V and not a Top-Flite you were going after there!" He laughed his balls off and flipped me the bird. Unfunniest: My group heard a commotion and horrific/screaming yelling by a different tee. we got in carts and drove across 2 fairways. Two guys in a cart playing together. The guy in passenger seat was drinking a Coke and a bee had flown into the can. He went to take a swig and got stung on the tongue. He was extremely allergic and had never been stung before i.e. no epi-pen(guy was probably forty years old). His throat closed immediately and he died right there on course in 3 mins. time. A medic was playing on course and was there in about 5 mins, tried to give him a tracheotomy but he was already gone. with sting being so close to throat, and his extreme allergic reaction, the medic said he never had a chance. Sad as hell.

[teejaywhy]

[quote name='backtees' timestamp='1388495617' post='8373083']
... one guy in our foursome measured every single putt with his laser….!
After three holes we asked him to leave the laser in his bag to speed up - what he did, rather unwillingly.

[/quote]

Thank you for politely giving him direction. Some folks need mentoring.

Maybe the weirdest thing that happened to me - We were playing the Pima GC in Scottsdale and arrived to tee of a par 3. We could see a member of the maintenance crew waiting by the green in a cart. We all hit our tee shots then watched as he walked onto the green and proceeded to cut a new hole and move the pin to a new location. It would have been quite bizarre had any of us hacks actually put a ball on the putting surface but since everyone had totally missed the green, we all just laughed. Pretty weird though!

[robnplunder]

I had a few (after 750 rounds or so).

- This pair started drinking hard liqueor from the 1st tee. Started offering their bottle to me (which I refuse) and the group behind. Got drunk by 3rd hole. At 10th hole, they start to smoke joint. For some reason or another, they didn't offer their joint to others.

- In our local course, we had a pair of ducks that didn't migrate. One of the pairs had a broken wing and could not fly. With no place to go, the ducks were making a living by handouts from golfers. The male duck had an "afro" on top of his head and became very famous to the locals. Many golfers would take pictures of the "afro" duck. This went on for 4 - 5 months and as winter approached (less golfers), I can see that ducks were getting more aggresive to get handouts. One day, only the afro duck shows up. We figured the female one finally flew off but no such luck. We find the female duck dead in middle of a fairway - only a few feathers and bones remained. Several weeks later when my wife was looking for her lost ball near pond, she screams. The afro duck was floating in the pond, quite dead from the looks of it. Our conclusion was that they both starved to death. A heartbreaking, tragic love story ....

- More stories to come ....

[JDW3]

[quote name='teejaywhy' timestamp='1388513117' post='8374439']
[quote name='backtees' timestamp='1388495617' post='8373083']
... one guy in our foursome measured every single putt with his laser….!
After three holes we asked him to leave the laser in his bag to speed up - what he did, rather unwillingly.

[/quote]

Thank you for politely giving him direction. Some folks need mentoring.

Maybe the weirdest thing that happened to me - We were playing the Pima GC in Scottsdale and arrived to tee of a par 3. We could see a member of the maintenance crew waiting by the green in a cart. We all hit our tee shots then watched as he walked onto the green and proceeded to cut a new hole and move the pin to a new location. It would have been quite bizarre had any of us hacks actually put a ball on the putting surface but since everyone had totally missed the green, we all just laughed. Pretty weird though!
[/quote]

That has happened to me as well.

[robnplunder]

[quote name='Tipsy McHooker' timestamp='1388512879' post='8374425']
The guy in passenger seat was drinking a Coke and a bee had flown into the can. He went to take a swig and got stung on the tongue. He was extremely allergic and had never been stung before i.e. no epi-pen(guy was probably forty years old). His throat closed immediately and he died right there on course in 3 mins. time. A medic was playing on course and was there in about 5 mins, tried to give him a tracheotomy but he was already gone. with sting being so close to throat, and his extreme allergic reaction, the medic said he never had a chance. Sad as hell.
[/quote]

Wow, just wow. I've heard of fellow soccer players dying in field (heart failure) but wasn't there to witness. This sudden death must have been traumatic to everyone around, and to his family members. My course has rattlesnakes and I am a ball chaser. Something to think about the next time my ball goes into deep grass ....

[Show-Me-Spinner]

I was playing in a junior tournament and a small tornado formed and left pretty fast. It was crazy.

[RJRJRJ]

Not strange, but funny. My friend went to jump in the cart, and hit his head really bad on the roof. I mean bad, as in concussion bad. We was wobbly, slight blackout etc. I was dying of laughter, and he was like "man, I really need to sit down for a minute..." So he walks over to a tree and sits down next to it. Next thing I see, he jumps up yelling and flailing his arms. He sat against a tree with a huge ant nest on it and he was covered in ants. LOL

[lumberman2462]

I hit a way-off-the-planet tee shot at a course in Florida and was wandering through the pine trees looking for my ball when I notice a golf course maintanence truck on a little road along the edge of the property. Fairly dense pine trees. As I'm walking up I see a the driver sitting in the truck and just as I get about even with the driver's side window a head pops up out of the lap of the dude driving. The head that popped up was a dude too.....The look on their faces was priceless. I just kinda tried to give them the acknowledging nod and keep going without break down laughing.

By the time I could get back to the fairway to tell my buddies that truck was hitting NASCAR speeds getting out of there.

[Splitter]

Hawaii, 10 years ago +/-. Not playing, but sitting at a restaurant overlooking a PAR3 & the Ocean.

We sit down and notice 3 locals about 30' off the green enjoying the ocean view. A dad and two sons. Kids look between 5-8

A group pulls up to the tee. First guy hits a nice shot within 15 feet.

Local kid jumps up, runs across the green, baseball slides to the golf ball, grabs it and runs back to his dad. Golfers are all giving each other the WTF look.

Second guy steps up and hits. Another nice shot but a little closer. Local kid jumps up, runs across the green, baseball slides to the second golf ball, grabs it and runs back to his dad.

Golfers are now yelling.

Third guy puts his on the green as well. Local kid jumps up, runs across the green, baseball slides to the third golf ball, grabs it and runs back to his dad.

The golfers are going ape$hit.

At this point I am laughing so hard I have beer coming out of my nose. I asked my wife "didn't they learn after the second shot? That kid owns the green." It was all so surreal, I felt like there had to be cameras somewhere.

Golfers all pile into their carts and race to the green.

As they get close, Local Dad stands up with the kids and meets the golfers between the path and green. He politely hands all the golf balls back to the first guy he gets to, says something and he and the kids walk away down the path. They're walking like it's just a day at the beach. No laughs or anything, just chillin'.

The golfers all just stand there for a minute looking at each other. They looked pretty dumbfounded. It still makes me laugh when I think about it.

I've posted this a couple of times and am still waiting for someone to say "Hey, I was one of those golfers!"