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Ever hit anyone (or anything living) with a golf ball?


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I'd be curious to know if a professional teeing off with a driver has ever blasted one into the crowd standing to the right of the tee box at high speed & really hurt someone - pro's are only human - seems like it has to have happened at some point ...

John

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Thankfully i have never hit anybody or anything,my youngest brother practising on local school field unfortunately hit a young lad with a tee shot,he had to go to hospital,the child's mom was not best pleased,even though it was an accident,i'm very careful when children and dogs are around when i practise

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I hit a sheep once back then on a nine hole farm in Ireland. A real screaming hook off the tee that found him right where the sun don't shine. Which taught me two things about sheep, they can really run and they can howl. Never found the ball either.

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I am amazed sometimes at how close the gallery will stand to the intended path of recovery shots. Sometimes it looks like only 10 deg or so to the left and right of the line to 20 or 30 yds downrange. Crazy spectators!

dak4n6

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Originally Posted by dak4n6

I am amazed sometimes at how close the gallery will stand to the intended path of recovery shots. Sometimes it looks like only 10 deg or so to the left and right of the line to 20 or 30 yds downrange. Crazy spectators!

I know it ... people have no idea the damage a golf ball at 140 mph would do you your eye socket, adams apple or mouth if you're unlucky enough to catch it there.     I won't stand to the right of any human being teeing off ... ever.

John

Fav LT Quote ... "you can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen"

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I hit myself about 22 years ago at age 22.  Trying to punch a 2 iron out of the trees on the 9th hole at Tumwater Valley, tagged a tree about 20 yards ahead of me, came back and hit me square in the forehead.  Knocked me on my ass.  I was playing with two buddies and my grandfather.  Of course my buddies were literally rolling on the fairways laughing and my grandfather was pretty worried.  I shook it off and finished my round.  Can't remember what I shot, but I think that's just because of how long ago it was...  I think.

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Last week in league I was teeing off on a par 4 slightly elevated tee box. I hit a low screamer and unknown to me there was a little sparrow that was  right in front of the tee box and the poor little sucker pick the wrong time to try to fly away. You know what happens when you have a swing speed of 110 and you hit a little bird 10 feet off the tee box?  It looks like someone put a grenade up the little suckers arse, nothing but feathers. No literally nothing but feathers left. Pretty bad when I sometimes have trouble hitting a 50 yrs wide fairway but can smoke a bird not much bigger than a golf ball. LOL

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The odds of hitting two living creatures in the head on the same hole on the same day would be astronomical - I'm tempted to call BS on the OP.

I've been hit once, maybe a year after I began playing.  The guy behind yelled fore but it was too late and the ball hit behind me and bounced into my leg.  Left a bit of a bruise but it wasn't too bad.  The guy was really apologetic and said that was the longest drive he had ever hit by around 30 yards.

I hit a friend of mine once.  He was in the group ahead finishing up on the last hole, he had already walked off the green and was halfway toward the clubhouse.  It had just started to rain, very abruptly and hard, so I was in a bit of a hurry to finish, so I didn't bother with a practice swing, just went after the ball.  At 185 yards I was in-between clubs but had been hitting pretty well that day, so I swung extra-hard with a 5-iron and really ripped it.  I look up to see that my friend had run back toward the green (he forgot his wedge on the green) and screamed "fore!" at him, but he never heard it over the rain.  I hit him on the fly right on the shoulder.  He had a welt there for a week.  I felt really, really bad about it, but he was extremely gracious and said that it was as blameless of an accident as one could have on the golf course, with his absent-mindedness leaving his wedge on the green, my hurry because of the rain, and the rain covering up the sound of me yelling fore!

I hit a car square on the roof once, also at the start of a sudden downpour, when I hooked it onto a highway going by the course.  I got a bit nervous that the driver would come to the pro shop and I asked 15 minutes later if anyone had stopped by, but the pro there just laughed and said that he bets someone hits a car on that hole at least once a week and no one has ever pulled off the highway and stopped in to complain.

However, I did have my car hit by a ball once.  I was in the middle of a store parking lot a good 150 yards left and in front of a driving range at a golf course next door, thought I was well-protected by the nets (but noticed that they were a bit low) and was walking up to my car when a ball hit it on the door, denting it.  I went up to the range and there were two people on it, an older right-handed guy on the right side who would have been 225+ yards from my car and I don't think he could possibly have hooked it over the fence (it would have taken a very big hook to go that far left and such a big hook could not have gone high enough.  About 30 yards closer to my car was a tall, gangly left-handed teenager who looked to have a slice, clearly the culprit.  I explained he had hit my car and he got really nervous, but I told him that it would probably be covered by his parent's insurance and I got his info.  Then I went in to the proshop and complained that their net was too low.  The assistant pro told me that no one would be able to hit a left-curving hook that high to get over the fence and I told them to tell it to the lefty-teenager who just did; he got my number and told me the head pro would call me tomorrow.

I called up the kid's dad and politely advised that I would be getting an estimate on Monday, figured it would probably be in the $200-$400 range and asked if he wanted to pay directly or have me deal with his insurer.  He went ballistic on me, yelling at me that I had bullied and terrorized a young boy when I confronted him with false accusations; I had not done so (I was pretty even-keeled with him), the kid was 5" taller than me and since he drove himself to the range, he wasn't so young and tender.  I told him that if he didn't want to resolve it amicably, I would just take him to small claims court.  He hung up on me in a flurry of profanities.  The following morning, this clown of a dad shows up unannounced on my front doorstep waving a diagram of the driving range in my face, yelling at me that his son could not possibly have been the one who hit my car and pointing to all sorts of angles and lines he had drawn in on the diagram and trying to impress me with his knowledge of golf, telling me about trajectories of hooked shots.  When he finally stopped to catch his breath, I told him his son had to have been the one who hit the ball because the old guy couldn't possibly have hit it that far and there was no one else on the range.  I then told him, you understand that your son didn't hook it, he sliced it - a lefty slices to the left, not right like a right-handed golfer.  I then asked if he even knew his son was left-handed.   He got this dumb look on his face and then snarled "Well I'll see you in court!" and stormed off.  Funny thing was, as I was watching him drive away, I noticed he had a couple of political bumper stickers on his car for candidates for that party that likes to talk about "Taking personal responsibility!"  I thought it was pretty ironic.  Ultimately, I never sued him, though.  I was getting married in a few weeks, didn't want any extra hassles in my life and I talked to the head pro from the golf course later that day and we worked out an amicable arrangement that in lieu of a cash settlement, they hosted my pre-wedding golf outing there for free.

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where i golf and every course i have been to it says that they are not responsible for damage done to your vehicle by parking there.

i do not enjoy your story too much, as it sounds like an awful lot of intimidation and threats to people over something that is pretty common in golf parking lots.

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Originally Posted by tiger187126

where i golf and every course i have been to it says that they are not responsible for damage done to your vehicle by parking there.

i do not enjoy your story too much, as it sounds like an awful lot of intimidation and threats to people over something that is pretty common in golf parking lots.

I agree. He dented your door? Who gives a crap? That's not worth 200-400$ or the trouble. If the kid admitted it honestly I wouldn't have done anything, except maybe show him how to strengthen his grip and swing in to out. If he busted a window or something, maybe I'd be interested in getting it replaced, but it's just another knock on the door. If you can't afford a couple hundred to fix the door panel without trouble, you're not rich enough to be entitled to care about what your car looks like.

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Originally Posted by LuciusWooding

I agree. He dented your door? Who gives a crap? That's not worth 200-400$ or the trouble. If the kid admitted it honestly I wouldn't have done anything, except maybe show him how to strengthen his grip and swing in to out. If he busted a window or something, maybe I'd be interested in getting it replaced, but it's just another knock on the door. If you can't afford a couple hundred to fix the door panel without trouble, you're not rich enough to be entitled to care about what your car looks like.

Originally Posted by tiger187126

where i golf and every course i have been to it says that they are not responsible for damage done to your vehicle by parking there.

i do not enjoy your story too much, as it sounds like an awful lot of intimidation and threats to people over something that is pretty common in golf parking lots.

It clearly says that he was in a STORE parking lot that was next to the golf course range.  If there were indeed signs set up at the range stating they weren't responsible for any damage done that would only include their property, not adjacent lots.  Now, I do think he was wrong in going after the kid as he was only a person using the facilities and shouldn't be liable for their poor setup.  I would have informed the pro shop that my vehicle recieved damage from a golf ball hit on your range and I was not on your property and therefore not subject to your denial of responsibility.  If they wouldn't do anything about it, it would probably take a lot of work to garnish payment but it could be done.

The above statement would only be nullified if the adjacent parking lots/businesses had warning/beware signs informing individuals that they were taking risks by parking next to a range and were parking at their own risk.

As for lucious's quote, I find that absolutely ridiculous.  Just because I can afford to pay $200-$400 for my door to be fixed doesn't mean that I should have to do so.  Having my car hit by a random golf ball is similar to being rearended by another driver.  Neither were your fault and both caused cosmetic damage to your car.  If I paid thousands of dollars for a brand new car and took good care to make it look sharp I would not be happy if a golf ball put a big dent in it and I certainly wouldn't want to have to pay to get it fixed.  And a golf ball can put a good sized dent in a car for sure.

On a side not, if I was one of those adjacent stores I would be livid at the course's poor setup and would be encouraging them to raise their nets so my customers weren't at risk.  This particular time it was a car door but what if it had been is head?

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Jeff

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Originally Posted by SloverUT

As for lucious's quote, I find that absolutely ridiculous.  Just because I can afford to pay $200-$400 for my door to be fixed doesn't mean that I should have to do so.  Having my car hit by a random golf ball is similar to being rearended by another driver.  Neither were your fault and both caused cosmetic damage to your car.  If I paid thousands of dollars for a brand new car and took good care to make it look sharp I would not be happy if a golf ball put a big dent in it and I certainly wouldn't want to have to pay to get it fixed.  And a golf ball can put a good sized dent in a car for sure.

I'm saying it's not worth fixing unless you're rich enough to obsess over your car. No one is going to make fun of you for having a 1 inch dent in your door if it's a Civic or something. It's going to get dented, shitted on, etc. Besides, he's saying he's about to get married. He needs to get used to throwing away money.

Being rear ended is different because it messes with your insurance and you need to report it. You're just as likely to get hit by a car door or a shopping cart in that parking lot as a golf ball.

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Adams DHY 24˚, RIP Alpha 89x
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Thank you Slover. I appreciate it when someone actually bothers to read what I wrote.  Tiger187, I hope you are not this careless at your job.

As for the intimidation factor, I forgot to mention something else:  the ball that hit my car was at least the second one that came over the fence - I saw another one bouncing across the parking lot as I walked toward my car. Odds are pretty good that the kid was bombing them into the parking lot on purpose.  If not, he must have seen his last shot go over the fence and didn't give a damn that his next one was heading there also.  So I don't feel guilty at all.

Lucious, just because you roll over, bottoms up, whimpering "Thank you SIR!  May I have another, SIR!?" doesn't mean the the rest of the world would do the same.  Let me hit a golf ball into your car and you can tell me how you'll just smile, shrug your shoulders and saying "Oh, well."

If I had parked my car behind the 18th green or near the driving range net and it got hit, that would be my own damn fault.  But I was in the middle of the store lot, not close to the range and there were no warning signs.  And I had shopped at that store dozens of times previously and never seen a ball in the lot, nor had I seen anyone come close to hitting over the net the half dozen or so times I hit balls from the range.

In my bag: - Ping G20 driver, 10.5 deg. S flex - Ping G20 3W, 15 deg., S flex - Nickent 4dx 3H, 4H - Nike Slingshot 4-PW - Adams Tom Watson 52 deg. GW - Vokey 58 deg. SW -Ping Half Wack-E putter

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Originally Posted by Wisguy

As for the intimidation factor, I forgot to mention something else:  the ball that hit my car was at least the second one that came over the fence - I saw another one bouncing across the parking lot as I walked toward my car. Odds are pretty good that the kid was bombing them into the parking lot on purpose.  If not, he must have seen his last shot go over the fence and didn't give a damn that his next one was heading there also.  So I don't feel guilty at all.

Lucious, just because you roll over, bottoms up, whimpering "Thank you SIR!  May I have another, SIR!?" doesn't mean the the rest of the world would do the same.  Let me hit a golf ball into your car and you can tell me how you'll just smile, shrug your shoulders and saying "Oh, well."

I think you just made that up. You would have mentioned the second ball in your first post. You would have mentioned it to the range pro and to his dad if you thought it weren't an accident. What the hell would he have been doing that on purpose for? He has no motive for that and a pretty big motive not to. You yourself admit to hitting a car once, and you didn't do it on purpose. The kid had a slice, all golfers go through that stage and bigger swingers hit bigger slices.

Nah, you're too vindictive a person to not get back at someone for doing that if it's really on purpose. It's ironic you called BS on the OP, because your story sounds pretty made up at times. For example, you saw the dude's bumper stickers? What, did he park in your driveway backwards, or did you chase him off your property? Or maybe you watched him drive away with binoculars? Sounds like something you made up to characterize the guy as a hypocrite, not something you could see and read from your porch. What about the guy bringing a diagram of the range? Yeah, that sounds like something I'd do if I wanted to go yell at someone.  And I seriously doubt any course is hosting you an outing for FREE. Maybe if you're the pro's brother or something, but it costs a lot more than 200$. And it wasn't their fault so he had no reason to do so.

You really don't need to sue everyone. It doesn't mean you're rolling over and taking it in the ass if you let 200$ go. My brother once drove my car into a cement base of a light pole. Totally his fault, at least a couple hundred to fix. He was broke, so I just accepted it and forgave him. He had a friend's stepdad (a mechanic) use a heat gun to pop the panel back out, now it's a spot with no paint. I could spend a couple hundred just to repaint it, let alone a new panel. Instead I realized accidents happen and dealt with it like a rational person. I don't pick fights and I don't make trouble for people to get even. Doesn't make me a victim. BTW, you couldn't hit my car with a golf ball from 10 feet away. Maybe consider just using the club itself. If you were close enough to hit the side, it would ricochet back at you anyway.

In My Bag:

Adams Super LS 9.5˚ driver, Aldila Phenom NL 65TX
Adams Super LS 15˚ fairway, Kusala black 72x
Adams Super LS 18˚ fairway, Aldila Rip'd NV 75TX
Adams Idea pro VST hybrid, 21˚, RIP Alpha 105x
Adams DHY 24˚, RIP Alpha 89x
5-PW Maltby TE irons, KBS C taper X, soft stepped once 130g
Mizuno T4, 54.9 KBS Wedge X
Mizuno R12 60.5, black nickel, KBS Wedge X
Odyssey Metal X #1 putter 
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Originally Posted by ERLoft

I hit myself about 22 years ago at age 22.  Trying to punch a 2 iron out of the trees on the 9th hole at Tumwater Valley, tagged a tree about 20 yards ahead of me, came back and hit me square in the forehead.  Knocked me on my ass.  I was playing with two buddies and my grandfather.  Of course my buddies were literally rolling on the fairways laughing and my grandfather was pretty worried.  I shook it off and finished my round.  Can't remember what I shot, but I think that's just because of how long ago it was...  I think.

I'd have been with your buddies - probably end up with a 9 on the hole because I'd start laughing in the middle of my swing!

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Just two stories.

I hit a high school teammate in the mouth when I shanked a 3 wood on a par five.  He fell back into a reclaimed city water pond.  You could see the $hit floating in the water.  I dont know which was worse.

My cousin snap hooked a drive off a man's roof and it bounced back onto the green and missed going in the hole by 3 feet.

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I've been lucky enough to never hit anyone or been hit.  But when I was learning to golf in my late teens, my best friend, Matt, who was a few years older refused to go anywhere near a golf course or driving range but I knew from other things he said that he used to play.  The way he would change the subject, I got the impression he didn't want to talk about it further, so I asked his wife one time what his deal was.

When Matt was a teenager, he was sitting in the house one weekend when the phone rang.  The call was for his older brother, who was in the backyard hitting into a net.  Matt went to the back door, opened it, yelled for his brother in the middle of his backswing (yeah...oops) and that's the last detail he remembers (probably a blessing).  The next thing he remembers was waking up from surgery, minus one testicle.

He was still able to have a kid of his own, so it's not as tragic as it could have been.

Guess there's a reason we have two of some things.

- Dave

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