"One in a Million" (aka WTF) Moments

I haven't been playing golf (regularly) for very long, so my experience is fairly limited. But today I saw something happen that I'm pretty confident I'll never see again even if I play the rest of my life. And I certainly hope to!

Was practicing this evening on a very empty back nine, hitting two balls off the tee. First drive on the short par 4 11th was a weakish pull cut that ends up pretty much in the middle of the fairway after running on 20 yards or so. Eh, OK I guess. Lob wedge from there. Second is nicely middled, high and straight. Give the club a little twirl (as you do), bend down to pick up the tee, and as I look up again I see the second ball land right on top of the first . The ball that was in flight takes off forward and left pretty much as if it had pitched on a concrete cart path, and the other ball squirts right about 30 feet into a fairway bunker. I'm just standing there with my mouth hanging open thinking "What are the **** are the odds of that?"

Anyone else had any truly bizarre and statistically improbable experiences out there?

My story isn't has cool as yours Stretch but this is the closest thing that I have done that probably won't happen again.

I was at my home course on the 18th green where I creek lines the fairway down the left.  I pulled my driver right towards it but the tee shot is blind so my buddies and I thought I was done for.  I hit my provisional and as I approached the fairway I thought what the heck I will look for it. So I peak down into the creek and there it is!  Sitting on a island of grass no bigger than a dinner plate.  So I grab my club and headed down to see if I had a chance at hitting it.  Well there was a log that was above the water that I had stood on and I had a pretty decent lie on the dinner plate island, minus the little rocks around the ball.  The green is elevated from the fairway to where all you can see is the top of the flagstick.

Anyway I went for it knowing this could be bad.  I had 160 yards to the middle.  I put a great swing on it and I knew it was good.  My buddies didn't see where it and asked if was good, all I said was, "i think so".  We get up the the green and see 3 balls spread out on the green.  and there mine was 5 feet away.  I knocked in the birdie putt for what has to be my best birdie of my life haha.

My buddies and I have pulled many more tee shot into that creek and we always say "lets hope that landed on survivor island"....none of us have since mine.  I think I can safely say that that will never happen again, and if it did a birdie probably wouldn't be the outcome.

Just off the top of my head, I've had a few, but none as crazy as yours. One time on a par three course on back to back holes I lipped out for ace. One time I hit a ball about 10 yards deep into some woods and the ball bounced off a tree to about 3 feet. Another time I hit a perfect drive that hit a sprinkler head in the middle of the fairway and bounced behind a tree. And one time in a high school golf team match, on the last hole I hit another sprinkler head in the middle of the fairway and bounced into a bunker, right behind a huge wall of sod.

If I think of more, I'll post them.

Here's one that happened to a friend of mine yesterday. This is copied from his email:

You do realise that if the creek is a lateral hazrd (and I know you didn't say that it was) you have to play your other ball, don't you?

Yes I do, it wasn't marked as one and when I asked the club he said he didn't know (big help).

The first one in a million I could think of:  Hole #5 Sandpines Golf Links Oregon  Par 3    190yds to middle of the green

Thinned five iron, sent screaming about 6 feet high toward the middle of the green, but doesn't have a chance of clearing all the water..... it's going to land 20 yards short of the green in water, but takes about five skips along the top of the water, ball comes to rest in the middle of the green.  Two putts for par.

About 15 years ago, when I was first leaning to play...I was teeing off on an elevated tee with 2 of my buddies standing off to the left side on the cart path, tops of their heads were right at tee box level.  I wind up, swing and top the ball off the inside near the hozzle.  It shoots straight to the left, hits my first buddy on the side of his head (near his temple) and shoots 40 feet straight up in the air and drops straight down.  My 2nd buddy sticks out his hand to catch the ball and it has so much top spin on it still it spins right out of his hands.  Thankfully my first buddy was ok.  He has a very hard head and the combination/angle of the top spin and angle it hit him in the head, it didn't even leave a mark on him.

Playing with my dad years ago we are teeing off he pulls his drive and it's screaming towards OB... hits a power line that runs along the road shoots back down into the left rough. Outside of that I've seen a balls bounce off sprinkler heads, balls go deep into the wood and bounce back out.

2 shots come to mind, same course but different holes and rounds.  Heron Lakes Great Blue in Portland, Oregon.

1. I was golfing in the winter and it was so cold that the lakes were frozen over.  I hit my 3rd shot on the par-5 2nd hole fat, it hit the lake that comes between the fairway and the back right pin.  It bounces off the frozen lake and onto the green.  Missed the birdie putt, but made an easy par.

2. Hole #9, this time also in the winter, cold but not 'frozen'.  I pulled my drive left into the 'junk'.  I hunt for it and have a horrible lie.  I punch out to the fairway and have 100 yards left to the flag.  The flag is tucked left behind a bunker.  I catch my 3rd shot thin and it screams along the ground, catches the bunker (hard-packed sand), hits the lip and goes about 20-30 ft. in the air and lands in the hole on the fly for a BIRDIE!

One time, about 8 years ago, my dad, younger brother, and I are out playing this par 3 course. My dad and I both hit decent shots and are on the green, when my brother, 9 at the time, tees off. Being young he hits driver off the tee and there is water to the right of the hole. Well the ball heads straight for the water except it hits the drain pipe, pops up towards the green, lands and rolls into the cup.  My dad and I just sat there looking astonished and my brother had no clue what he did. He maybe has played 10 rounds of golf since then, ans it still remains the craziest shot my dad and I have seen in our 40 years combined of playing golf.

the shot i will never forget was on a shortish par 5. teed off and hit a pretty good drive down the right side of the fairway. got to my ball and without thinking pulled out a 3 wood and put probably the best swing i have ever had with that club on the ball. i was watching a shot that was going too long and a little left. a bird flew in from left to right and ran right  into my shot knocking it down and to the right leaving me an easy chip and putt for birdie. the bird actually hit the ground, staggered around, and then flew off.

Why? He played a provisional but found his first ball - first ball is still the one in play.

I assume he's referring to the rule that you do not get a provisional for a ball that is hit into a water hazard.  If you play a "provisional" under those circumstances, it's not a provisional, it's immediately in play and your original ball is abandoned.

While that is true, it only applies if the tee shot could *only* have been lost in the water hazard.  If it is possible that it's lost anywhere outside the hazard, then you are entitled to the provisional and, if you take it and find your ball in the hazard, you would have to abandon the provisional.  Given that it's a blind tee shot, I think it's quite likely that the OP played correctly, though it would depend on details that we don't know.

(one of the above stories reminded me of this)

Some of my friends and I periodically bet during a round;  in particular, on par-3s.  Closest to the pin of those on the green (and involved in the bet) gets $1 from the rest if he makes par, $2 for birdies.   Three of the four of us in this grouping are in on the bet this time, and none of us hit the green.  The fourth is a relative beginner.  We joke with him a little before teeing off about whether he wants in on the bet, but no pressure.  I think we were playing the Navy course in O.C. when this happened (one of Tiger's courses growing up).

When he hits his shot on one of the par-3s, it looks like it's going in the drink.  Instead, it bounces off a rock and onto the green.  He makes par, and would have claimed some money if he'd been in on the bet.

Love those sprinkler heads

When I was first learning the game, a buddy and I used to play as many holes as we could get in after work.  The first hole on the course we played is a short par 4 with water protecting the front of the green.  It is a long iron off the tee unless you can carry 300 or so (which I cannot).  So I tee up a 3I and stripe it.  It is no doubt in the drink after the first hop.  It lands and the second hop hits on the sprinkler head at the end of the fairway and pops up just short of the green.  Chip up and one putt Birdie.

Last season, my playing partner hits his second shot with a 4-iron from the fairway trying to bend around a slight dog leg left; his ball ricochets off a tree about 40 yds up and to the left, and comes back to rest in the divot he just created.  We just looked at each other, and shook our heads.