Club Throwing

I don't condone this act whatsoever but the other day while I was playing in another state I saw a guy helicopter a club over fifty yards! I'd never seen anything like it in my golf career. I was amazed, stunned. What's the wildest club throwing act you've witnessed?

I personally never seen a club thrown. When I was first starting out I had one fly out of my hands. I have seen someone break their club over their knee. All I thought was what an idiot.

This is not a club throwing act but a number of years ago I was grouped with a golfer who was tuning up before a prestigious east coast school reunion that was to include a round of golf. He was playing pretty good but got into trouble at one hole where he hit a couple of bad shots on a par 5 before driving another one that was obviously going OB. Right after he hit it he bellowed out "This is Waterloo!" so loud enough that half the course had to hear him. Being a history enthusiast, especially of military history, I was holding my laugh so hard my eyes felt like they were going to pop out. I guess he was a Francophile. Anyhow for me that par 5 is forever known as the Waterloo hole.

I have had a club slip out of my hands twice. I was swinging a driver in the front yard and I threw it on the roof of my house, and on the course my gap wedge flew out of my hands and got stuck in a tree. I have really sweaty hands :(

I've dropped my club at the top of my swing in disgust at my shot before, never actualy throw it though.

I guess I'll be the first to own up to this charming little activity: I've intentionally broken a driver on a tree by swinging the head against the trunk as hard as I possibly could (I made sure to follow through after contact), I have broken the leg off of a golf bag as though my lob wedge was a light saber (the bag was perfectly still, then teetered, then collapsed after one of the retractable legs was sliced cleanly in half), and I have thrown a driver at least 40 yards down the fairway (the ball never really had much to do with the fairway that day - the throw was my only fairway hit).

I am not proud of this and I do work really hard to not show my emotions much anymore, but sometimes your eleventh straight sliced drive is too much to bear. I can imagine the helicopter throw and I'm shaking my head laughing; he was obviously experienced enough to release early instead of letting the head snap the throw hard to the side.

For what it's worth these releases actually do tend to help me (except for when I actually break something, which I have since sworn to never do again). The comedy and embarrassment of acting like a moron is somehow calming, and the time I broke the driver I was very cognizant of the fact that I was intentionally shattering a driver - it was just an expensive act of controlled aggression (in 2003).

I've improved on this front in recent years and now I value my maturity and equipment enough to control myself (for the most part; the odd gatorade bottle has received the brunt of my frustration since about 2006), but I don't find the throwing surprising: unless you're wired that way it's difficult to understand, but some athletes - I was the same in tennis from when I was 6 to 22 - need these releases. Still, it's a fine line between hilarious and pathetic. I've crossed it enough times to know.

Craziest ever : Sadly, I did not witness this, but a good friend's father - a scratch golfer for over 20 years now - flipped out mid-tournament and broke each club, one by one, over his leg before tossing the carcasses into a greenside lake. Then he threw the bag after them, walked from the 14th hole to his car, and drove home. This has been verified by numerous friends who saw the entire incident. It was, by all accounts, the most epic blowup ever.

This wasn't a feat of strength like your mention but definitely the funiest I have ever seen. I was with a 2 a group of 7 other guys in 2 foursomes at their private course that one of the guys invited me into. I really didnt know hardly any of them but from what I heard after, one guy David, who is generally a pretty good golfer had been going through a period of bad luck.. His business hasnt been doing too good etc.

We were on I believe the 13th hole, he wasnt playing too well for his skill (apparently) they all seemed awesome to me. After a bit he chunked the ball and got pissed and tossed his 4 iron into the nearby pond.

I was a little shocked, the other guys that know him much better started laughing their asses off and giving him shit... So he grabs ANOTHER club out and throws it into the lake. The guys are just HOWLING now, he's not seeing the fun in it and Honest to god is STILL fuming, he grabs another club, busts it on the side of the cart and then throws that in the lake too. Then finally one of the guys yells, before you throw your driver too, can I buy it from you?

It was the biggest shit fit I've ever seen... If they ever drain that lake though there are going to be some nice clubs in there.

Depending on the brand and model of the clubs, I might have been down to my boxers and neck deep in the pond before he had the keys in the ignition.

(No whining about the mental image. You KNOW you loved it! )

I remember one time where after hitting a drive, there was a creek you had to cross, and as I went over the bridge, I saw a driver or wood in the creed bent in the middle of the shaft at a 90° angle.

I too, have been known to give a club some air-time. When I first started, I hit four bad shots in a row with my hybrid. 1 fat then 3 tops. I smoked the 5th one....but it hit a tree and bounced back toward the tee box. I was still at the end of my follow through so just uncoiled and let her rip back towards the tee after my ball. Unfortunately my bag and trundler where directly in the flight path! Lucky it has a graphite shaft...it wrapped itself around the bag in a U shape before flying off and nearly hitting my mate!

I still have a love/hate relationship with that club!



The best one I have seen was two weeks ago. Mate was playing his third into a par 5. He has been having problems with his short game (still trying to play like the scratch golfer he was two years ago when he practiced!) he hit a worm burner with his pitching wedge, straight into the front bunker. The wedge was instantly in the air, out of bounds and stuck in some bushes up a big hill. I was already on the green so went to fetch it for him. Took me 10 minutes! I kept in my bag and then tried to sell it back to him when he needed it on the next hole!



I try not to show much emotion, I certainly wouldn't throw a club in a match, that is basically admitting defeat!

Now I have nice clubs, I would never throw my driver, putter or woods. The most I do is drop an iron from the end of my follow through. Even that is less and less as usually all that happens is I end up with a wet grip (Winter Golf here!)


CPHoya, I am still chuckling from hearing you "light sabre" through the leg of your bag. Sounds like you could play with us!

I remember an old Bobby Jones episode from 'How I Play Golf' where a guy broke all of his clubs in half and threw them into the fireplace. Can't do THAT anymore unless you have a set of antique wooden clubs.

I was not playing in the group but I was lucky enough to be in the club house when this incident happened. Apperently there was a foursome coming down eighteen one of them apperently had not played well and chunk a wedge from about 100 yards right into a lake. Well this guy undid his whole bag and threw it in the lake all intact. So they finish up and come into the clubhouse and this guy is trying his hardest to get out the door and he got to the parking lot and realized that he left his keys in the bag. So by that time everyone had heard about it and when out to see him wade out in the lake to get his keys and laugh. It was the largest gallery I think anyone has had here.

Craziest ever : Sadly, I did not witness this, but a good friend's father - a scratch golfer for over 20 years now - flipped out mid-tournament and broke each club, one by one, over his leg before tossing the carcasses into a greenside lake. Then he threw the bag after them, walked from the 14th hole to his car, and drove home. This has been verified by numerous friends who saw the entire incident. It was, by all accounts, the most epic blowup ever.[/QUOTE]


Thats one of the funniest things i've ever heard.

Best one ive seen is me and my mate were playing at our local course and we were on the seventh, Par 5, hitting his third shot in he's hit a wedge in a went into the bunker, he hadnt been hitting all that well for the first 6 holes and he was extremly frustrated, so he threw his wedge about 50 meters! lol and then he got another wedge out of hid bag and started practice swinging just trying somehow to see what he did wrong, he wasnt happy with his practice swing so he threw that wedge aswell! LOL still laugh about it till this day

I used to be a "club chucker"....was damned good at it too! Broke a few over my knees too. Still not sure why I thought that made any sense....

Now I've narrowed it down to dropping the club after I finish my swing. I decided it was best to get the club out of my hands as soon as possible. But even that is not so often anymore.

I know a guy that threw his entire bag into a pond, took his golf shoes off and threw them off and quit the game completely. Didn't play golf for the next 13 yrs until his doctor told him to take the game up to help his bad back.

There was a local rumor of a good golfer, unhappy over a score in a outing, roping his bag full of clubs 6 feet off his bumper and driving off. Probably a urban legend but ya never know.

I too drop my club at the top of my swing when it isn't going quite how I wanted. I threw clubs when I was a kid (grade school) just for the fun of it. I haven't been fortunate enough to witness any complete melt downs while on the course...

My dad and I have both "quit" by throwing our bags into the lake.