Is it ever acceptable to hit into someone if they are in your range?

My buddy and I played Bethpage Yellow yesterday and we were paired up with these two other people who only played the front 9.  We teed off at 12 and even though it was a beautiful day for winter golf, we didn't think we'd have a problem getting in the round before the sunset at 4:30 or so.  It was only the second time I had played a course at Bethpage and my buddy rarely plays there.

The guys we were playing with play there regularly and told us that even though they have 5 courses there, slow play is a huge problem there.  They had two courses open yesterday and to the two guys we played with, it wasn't a surprise that the foursome in front of us were slow.

As we approached the 12th hole, we were starting to question whether we'd have enough light to get the round in and while walking up to the tee box, we saw the group all walking towards the bunker on the left side.  Here's a pic of the hole:

It was then that my buddy and I started to get into a discussion as to whether it's ever permissible to hit if the group is within your range.

Is there ever an occasion where you'll hit into the group in front of you?

id like to think there is a time its acceptable but it never is. possibly hurting someone badly just isnt worth it

Only if the group in front of me waves me up, typically on a par 3.  Otherwise too much of a risk that someone could get seriously hurt.

No.

Don't ever hit a golf ball when players from the match in front are in range, unless they've waved you through and all of them are watching the balls being struck by the match behind.

I can think of no exceptions to this.

There are times to hit golf balls at people, like at times of war, or when vagrants are invading your home.  In both cases I recommend a driving iron.

Never , ever acceptable. If your group is pressuring, you, let them break off and play by themselves. A law suit is never worth it.

Safety first, and common sense second is my motto. I know I would not want anyone hitting into me, or my group. Not for any reason. I have a cousin who has a name for folks who hit golf balls at other golfers "Golf Course Terrorists" are a pet peeve of his, and the title name  covers a lot of on course shenanigans. .

No it is never acceptable to knowingly hit into a group or at an individual golfer.

Its never permissible to tee off where players are possible within range where they could be hit... That said there is a certain amount of responsibility of the forward group to be visible and keep the pace of play moving along, ready golf etc.

In the case of hilly courses where hills can often blind the teeing golfer where the forward group is, there are ways to prevent accidents from happening,  like placement of the cart, bag or even a player to show the tee box that they are still within range.

There are a lot of stupid people out there, that just don;t get it on a golf course or in a parking lot

I would have told the marshal to go pack sand. That, or laid up short of those in front of you for that one shot.

This is the only acceptable answer.  To be honest, it really sounds like a stupid question when you say it out loud.

When a course is crowded, I might just make sense for a longer hitter to leave the driver in the bag and play something shorter to keep the course flowing.  If you are the only one in your group who has to wait, then you might consider this.  I've seen log jams created on certain holes because one or two guys can't stand the thought of maybe having to play a par 5 as a 3 shot hole, or play a short par 4 in regulation.  This is fine if the course flow allows for it, otherwise you are at least partially to blame for the slow play problem - for a course getting one of those accordion effect, herky jerky flows that makes it hard to keep a good rhythm.

Sure, I've clubbed down on a few occasions. The problem with what was happening to me yesterday is that the two strangers in my group were hitting too early and were actively saying they were trying to push the group ahead (which was messed up; guys ahead were moving at a fine pace). Now I'm stuck waiting for the correct normal time to tee off (guys ahead are hitting their farther tee shots or moving up to the green), and being made to feel like I'm a prick for doing that. Especially under the circumstances: the course has 3 9s, and was swamped with people trying to play 18, so they told us to play the designated 9 holer twice. First 9 was very loose. Second time around, it got a tad crowded because groups were coming back around for their back 9 and the course was accidentally sending new groups out to just play 9. No big deal, but the guys I was with were taking it as some kind of affront. They insisted on teeing off early (from the closed regular tees, instead of the forward winter ones, no less, which I kept pleading with them was disrespectful to the course) to push the group ahead and then telling me to tee off. I told them to screw after a few times because I'd nearly driven the green with my 3 wood the first time we played the hole that day. I finally just hit a stinger 3 wood to make sure it would roll up to people ahead if I happened to hit it really well, as opposed to flying in, and it was fine, about 50 yards short of the green. But there's no good reason not to just wait another minute for the people to move up.