Drive of the day inturrupted by lady in a golf cart

It was slower than usual on the course yesterday, and we were fighting daylight. The foursome in front of us were taking their sweet time: hacking, reloading and hacking again. We spent a lot of time waiting, but patiently played along.

The ninth hole is a dog leg right after about a 270 yard straight fairway. I consider it a good shot for me if I can roll it up to the turn. The foursome in front of us were on about their fourth or fifth shot when they finally made the turn and started heading for the green. After waiting a good 10-15 minutes for them to get out of range, I finally teed up my ball. I was aiming at the center of the fairway, which was clear, and hit the ball. I pushed it to the right, straight towards one of the foursome's cart, which had stopped unexpectedly. However, they were so far beyond my normal range I didn't even occur to me that I might hit them. I lost the ball in flight and was just picking up my tee when I heard a distant "Owwww, you hit me!" I thought, what the F......??

I Immediately apologized profusely, not knowing what else to do. She was at least 280 yards away, and we were all in disbelief that the ball carried that far.

The lady was not happy, and I don't blame her. I've been hit by balls before, and it's not pleasant, but it's one of the hazards of the sport.

They drove off and left for the clubhouse, and we finished the hole. Of course, she was waiting for me at the turn. She steps in front of us and says "Who hit that Ball!". I told her that I did, apologized again, and tried to explain that it was an errant shot that surprised me as much as it did her. She was not satisfied with any amount of remorse on my part, and wanted to let me know how she felt in no uncertain terms.

I stood there as she vented her spleen, lifted up her shirt to show us the impact zone (slight redness), and tried to be as sympathetic and polite as I could. There came a point though when enough was enough. I politely excused myself and headed to the tenth tee as her verbal onslaught faded into the distance.

I wasn't as though we had been hitting up on them either. We were polite and patient the whole time, even as this lady kept hitting her shots in the pond, out of bounds and off to the side of the tee on the previous hole.

Nevertheless, she just couldn't accept that accidents happen occasionally. I didn't even bring up the fact that she cost me another 20-30 yards on that drive she stopped, but then I'm forgiving by nature. I managed to par the hole anyway.

It was slower than usual on the course yesterday, and we were fighting daylight. The foursome in front of us were taking their sweet time: hacking, reloading and hacking again. We spent a lot of time waiting, but patiently played along.

The ninth hole is a dog leg right after about a 270 yard straight fairway. I consider it a good shot for me if I can roll it up to the turn. The foursome in front of us were on about their fourth or fifth shot when they finally made the turn and started heading for the green. After waiting a good 10-15 minutes for them to get out of range, I finally teed up my ball. I was aiming at the center of the fairway, which was clear, and hit the ball. I pushed it to the right, straight towards one of the foursome's cart, which had stopped unexpectedly. However, they were so far beyond my normal range I didn't even occur to me that I might hit them. I lost the ball in flight and was just picking up my tee when I heard a distant "Owwww, you hit me!" I thought, what the F......??

I Immediately apologized profusely, not knowing what else to do. She was at least 280 yards away, and we were all in disbelief that the ball carried that far.

The lady was not happy, and I don't blame her. I've been hit by balls before, and it's not pleasant, but it's one of the hazards of the sport.

They drove off and left for the clubhouse, and we finished the hole. Of course, she was waiting for me at the turn. She steps in front of us and says "Who hit that Ball!". I told her that I did, apologized again, and tried to explain that it was an errant shot that surprised me as much as it did her. She was not satisfied with any amount of remorse on my part, and wanted to let me know how she felt in no uncertain terms.

I stood there as she vented her spleen, lifted up her shirt to show us the impact zone (slight redness), and tried to be as sympathetic and polite as I could. There came a point though when enough was enough. I politely excused myself and headed to the tenth tee as her verbal onslaught faded into the distance.

I wasn't as though we had been hitting up on them either. We were polite and patient the whole time, even as this lady kept hitting her shots in the pond, out of bounds and off to the side of the tee on the previous hole.

Nevertheless, she just couldn't accept that accidents happen occasionally. I didn't even bring up the fact that she cost me another 20-30 yards on that drive she stopped, but then I'm forgiving by nature. I managed to par the hole anyway.

How come people that hit into other people always blame the people in front of them? Hey I understand if you hit some one 2 fairways over.  Bad shots happen. Or if some one pops out of the woods.  Unexpected things happen.  Hitting someone in the fairway  because you can't wait 15s for them to drive out of range is the type of behavior that should get you banned from a course.

Hey, I damn near hit a group of guys yesterday when I blasted a mis-hit off the tee. It rolled right passed their feet as they were teeing off on an adjacent hole. The nerve of those guys... just standing around the tee box... I'm trying to golf here!

That's not what he's saying.  Mishits happen.  Heck, I've nearly taken some guys out on an adjacent green before.

He's talking about someone in front of you on the same hole.  And he's right, there really is no excuse.  If they're in-range, they're in range.  Wait until you see them definitely out-of-range before you hit.  If you're not sure, go get your rangefinder, or just wait until they're clearly at the green or hitting their 3rd shot.

Now, with that said, he is being ridiculous by saying someone should be banned.

The situation that can happen is on a blind hole where you're sure nobody is in range, and then all of a sudden someone pops out of the woods or over a hill right where you didn't expect them and couldn't see them.  But, the point remains - if you're unsure, wait longer, or if in carts, send someone up in a cart to check if it's clear.

You can argue all you want about what the people in front of you should have done, but the reality is, you don't have a leg to stand on.  It was your fault.

How come people that hit into other people always blame the people in front of them? Hey I understand if you hit some one 2 fairways over.  Bad shots happen. Or if some one pops out of the woods.  Unexpected things happen.  Hitting someone in the fairway  because you can't wait 15s for them to drive out of range is the type of behavior that should get you banned from a course.

It is a tough game at times... I had a similar situation occur earlier this year.  A course minutes up the road from me... I decided one afternoon when it was slow at work to get a twilight tee time as a single.

I get to the course, and it was very open - not many people were there.  I pay, and the guy working in the shop confirmed the course was fairly wide open and didn't think I would have any issue getting at least 9 holes in before dark.  Basically I went down to the first tee box, a par 5, and I see two ladies down by the green of the par 5.  Well out of reach as the hole is over 500yds.  I tee off... Then get to my approach shot (I'm walking) and the ladies are still on the green.  I was too far out to get home in two, so I went ahead and hit my 2nd shot.  And came up about 20yds short of the green.  As I'm walking up to my ball, the ladies finally are leaving the green on the first hole. Basically I walked 450+yds - hit two golf shots before they even got off the green. 

I go up, hit my wedge and 2 putt for par.  Kind of rushing, because I was hoping they would let me play through on the next tee box, a short par 3.  I get up to the 2nd hole, and the ladies had just finished hitting their tee shots.  I figured they would turn around and ask me to play through.  Nope.  They didn't even look at me.  So I'm sitting there on the tee - waiting for easily 15 minutes for them to hole out on the par 3.  They walk off, and get into their cart.  I hit a 7i and it was a decent shot leaving myself with a chance for birdie.  Missed the putt, and tapped in for 3.  

Again, I kind of rushed the 2nd hole, hoping they would let me play through... On the third tee.  This time, I walk up onto the men's tee box, on the 3rd hole which is ~ 40 yards behind the ladies box.  I start taking practice swings, just waiting for them to ask me to play through.  Nothing.  They hit their tee shots, and ignored me again.  I'm thinking, what is the deal here... Am I invisible?  Now, I was starting to get frustrated, and kicking myself for not stepping up and just asking if I could play through.  The thing with the 3rd hole is that it is a short par 4, with a tight fairway - and the cart path runs very close to a landing area that I find myself in frequently.  I usually play the hole aggressively, and hit a driver - as I can hit a draw and leave myself with a sand wedge in for a good look at birdie.  

Here is where it got painful... The ladies were taking what seemed like even longer to get out of their cart to hit their shots.  There was a period of time where I was wondering if they were waiting for me to hit through - or what?  I sat there on the tee for what seemed like 15 minutes waiting for them.  They were very slow, almost deliberate.  Finally, after the last lady hit her approach shot and got into the cart, which was 270yds+ on the cart path to the right of the fairway... I went ahead and started to go through my setup and get ready to pull the trigger on my drive.  I figured by the time I actually hit the ball - and the ball landed, even if they were in range, they would have pulled away by the time the ball landed.  WRONG.

I hit the ball - instead of it drawing - it goes dead straight - the line of flight directly at their cart.  I'm watching it fly through the air - and just thinking - ok step on the peddal and pull away, go lady, go!  The ball hits right into their golf cart.  The ladies never moved... They left the cart there - and my ball flew into their cart. Now I'm carrying my bag and walking up and just thinking I'm going to see some lady injured... I was concerned because the one lady got out and was looking at me as I walked up the cart path - but the other wasn't moving - just sitting there.

As I get closer, I see it was a teenage girl and her mother.  The girl was crying and her mother starts to scream at me.  I apologize and asked if I hit either of them.  She said no, but you scared my daughter!  I apologized again.  I asked them if I could just play through, and they agreed.

I hit my shot, putt out and go to the 4th tee... I'm in no mood to be playing golf now.  Pretty much ready to just walk off the course.  But I decided to keep playing.  After I hit my tee shot on the 4th, I see the Pro from the pro shop driving up in his cart.  He pulls up and ask me for my side of the story... The lady called the pro shop and reported me.  I explained to him the situation, and he was cool.  He said he had to come out to comfort the lady as she was still steaming.  

The lesson I learned is that I'm going to ask to play through immediately.  I'm not waiting next time - as that just builds up anxiety and gets you frustrated.  Plus I was hurrying my putts trying to get up to the next tee - to have the opportunity to play through.

How come people that hit into other people always blame the people in front of them? Hey I understand if you hit some one 2 fairways over.  Bad shots happen. Or if some one pops out of the woods.  Unexpected things happen.  Hitting someone in the fairway  because you can't wait 15s for them to drive out of range is the type of behavior that should get you banned from a course.

That seems sort of nuts. I'm trying to figure out how you can be so traumatized by a golf ball hitting a cart that you're riding in. I guess it must be the hormones at that age, or something like that. I personally just pick up any ball that hits me, unless it was an obviously good shot, a ball from a different hole, a freakish coincident, or there's nobody in front of me and me/my group is moving somewhat slow. If I'm waiting behind someone on the green though, and you hit a tee shot into me, I find that picking up the golf ball stops the behavior faster than if you were to call the pro shop, and I still give them the ball after the round or on the next tee if they catch up to me.

I think it scared her due to the noise of the impact? The cart has a canopy on it - and it flew into their cart.  She wasn't like hysterically crying... But she was emotional and was sitting there teary eyed as her mother was screaming at me.  Perhaps it was a combination of things?  Bad play, PO'd mom, guy hitting into them? I have no idea... But it definitely caused me to think about what I did.  And I don't think I'll be teeing off like that again without knowing for sure they are out of reach.