Absolutely stupid display of stupidity (rant)

Looks like HE needs to be suspended from the course, not you. You were nice to ask him to play with you, and he said all that? What a *****.

What a tool.

Noticed you're from Middleton.

Haven't played there before. Then again, I haven't played many of the Madison area courses. Me and a friend of mine have been planning to get out to the Bergamont all summer but haven't got around to it yet.

There is no excuse for bad manners either on the course or off the course. If the fellow you describe took issue with slow play, or any other on course activities, his recourse was to discuss his opinion with the marshall, the pro and, if he received no satisfactory response from those fellows, the club board of directors. The behavior that you witnessed is unacceptable and his destructive act on the green should have resulted in disciplinary action. You were not only correct in reporting what you saw, it was your responsibility to do so. Well done.

I've played with people who have a very short fuse when they hit bad shots (cursing, helicoptering clubs, etc.), but I've only seen actual damage done to the course twice:

1) Was playing in a foursome of singles who one-by-one had caught up to each other. (Was kind of interesting in fact, in that we had one person playing from each of the four tees...) I was having a great round and was waiting to putt for birdie. The woman in the group putts ahead of me and leaves it an inch short. In disgust she tries to whack the ball backwards with her putter (i.e., instead of putting out or just picking up), and tops it, leaving a depression right next to the cup, halfway in my line. I menatally swear at her and hit my putt. It was going to miss right but at the last second it falls left into the depression she'd made and subsequently into the cup.

2) Was playing in a foursome of buddies. One guy I'd known for a while but only played golf with him once before. He's known for his antics and clowning around, particularly when it's his turn to hit, and particularly once he's had a few beers. That was a little annoying, but not so much that I'd say anything, or not golf with him again, since he's a good bud. Well this second time I played with him, I was standing over a 3-foot putt for bogie. We were on the 12th hole and I hadn't made worse than bogie yet, which was a big deal for someone with my handicap. Before I could putt he says "Here, let me help you" and takes his finger and as hard as he can he draws a line in the very soft green from my ball to the hole - and I mean, he left a definite track in the putting surface. I was speechless. I missed my putt, and I can't say for sure whether the line he drew affected it or not but that of course is not the point - the fact that he would purposely damage the green like that, right around the cup, was intolerable to me. I pulled him aside before the next tee box since I didn't want to make a scene in front of the other 2 guys and told him "Hey, you can mess with my head all you want, but please don't mess with the conditions of the course. I know you're out here just to have fun and I am too, but the way I have fun is to try and shoot the lowest score possible." (I didn't mention it, but obviously he also caused problems for all the golfers behind us and whoever was responsible for maintaining the greens.) Since he was a little buzzed, and probably feeling a little guilty, he got very defensive and we got into a bit of a quarrel. For the sake of the friendship, we don't golf together anymore.

- Bill

yeah, he wanted me suspended for "showing a lack of respect to my elders"

If you woulda known that this would happen, maybe you SHOULD OF thrown him in the lake!