Confrontation - great way to spoil a fun round.

My playing partner and I arrive for our 1:52 PM Sunday tee time and play the first hole. I'm most pleased with my starting performance. 400-yd slight dog right par 4. I drive it 250-yd drive so close to the 150 marker than I had to pull it out of the ground to address the ball for my next shot. My 7-iron drops the ball on the left side of the green leaving a beautiful pitchmark in its wake. I putt to within 2 feet and tap in for par. What a great round this is going to be.

The round proceeds pretty slowly, but I'm playing better than I've ever played. Course is PAINFULLY slow, but I'm having a great time. We're on #7, which is a 405-yd sharp dogleg left. I've never hit a draw in my life, much less with a driver, so I hit a 3-iron and hope to put myself in decent position for a second shot, which I do. We drive up to my ball and wait for the green to clear... and wait... and wait... and wait... I hear someone whistle from behind me and look over to the tee. One guy's got both arms up in the air and is yelling "COME ON." I don't know where exactly he expects me to go, so I ignore him and turn back around.

About a minute later I see a ball land 20 yards in front and to the left of us. I look over to the right figuring that someone sliced into us from #8. Then another ball lands. My playing partner says that the group behind us is teeing off. I turn around in time to see the 3rd one hit his tee shot. I follow his ball in the air and have to move myself and my partner over for fear that we'd be hit - the ball landed no more than 10 feet from where we were standing.

I was BEYOND PISSED.

I stomped over to his ball, grabbed it, and threw it back at the tee. I yelled "FORE" for good measure while the ball was still in the air. It landed way short of the tee (obviously), but I felt I got my point across. I'm still waiting to hit my approach shot, so I kill time by calling the pro shop and asking them to send a ranger out.

I hit my approach shot and land a few yards left of the green. As my partner's getting ready to hit his shot, the last jerk who hit into us drives up to me. He's by himself.

Him: "Why'd you pick up and throw my ball?"

Me: "Because you hit into us intentionally and almost hit us."

Him: "Oh come on! I was watching it! It was nowhere near you! You need to keep up with the pace of play. You're slowing down the game!"

Me: "WHAT? That ball was 10 feet from us and we're NOT slowing down the game. It's the threesome in front of us."

Him: "GIVE ME A BREAK! You could have hit 5 minutes ago! Are you going to hit the green from here?!?!"

Me: "YES, I AM! IT'S ONLY 200 YARDS. GET LOST AND DON'T HIT INTO US AGAIN!"

We turn, get in our cart, and drive off.

While we're on the green, the ranger arrives and parks on the path next to the green. We finish putting and I walk over. I say good afternoon, shake his hand, and explain the problem... we're patiently waiting behind a slow group in front and the four jerks behind us hit into us. I ask him to please say/do whatever he needs to do to insure that I don't have to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of the round. He says OK and leaves.

We tee off on #8 and he comes back after talking to the group behind. He says he explained to them that we're not the slow group and we can't do anything about the group in front of us, but tells me that they said we skipped ahead of them. I tell him that they're mistaken and that's not true. He said "well, that's what they said."

I point to the strip of paper stapled to our cart which says our tee time, 1:52 and ask him to check theirs. I then show him our scorecard showing that we have a score on all 7 previous holes. "How did we skip them and still manage to play every hole?" He says "OK I believe you" and drives back to the other group. We're headed for the green and hear one of them yelling "that's a bunch of bull crap" when the ranger tells them we didn't skip them. I don't really care anymore at that point, so we keep playing and don't hear from them for the rest of the round.

The group in front of us left the course after the 14th hole (I guess they were headed to a Superbowl party or something) and we finish the 4.5 hour round at least a hole and a half ahead of the group behind us. Who's playing slow now?

So what was your final score? Hopefully you continued to play well.

As for the jerks behind you - they must have turned red when the ranger said you guys scored all holes - thus proving you did not skip ahead.

lol good job buddy i would have done the same thing but kept there ball or hit a driver back and say how do you like it. i hate people like that once i was playing and this group kepts hitting up on us i was playing in the jr champs and they were public and i i full yelled at them they wiated on every shot and never said any thing to us for the rest of the round i dont normaly yell at people on the golf club but this pisses me right off

I've had the police called on me when someone hit my friend while being impatient and driving into us...

Misdemeanor assault on a golf course can ruin a round... trust me...

That round wound up costing me $175... $15 for the round and $160 to get out of jail for the week...

I enjoy a speedy round just as much as the next guy. that being said I would never drive or hit into the group in front. that's just plain lack of respect and the very least dangerous. I believe the ranger had the evidence in hand to escort those a*#wipes off of the course. good for you at (mostly) keeping your temper in check that's definitely a situation that could have gotten out of hand real quick.

Thats a great story. i hate people who don't understand the game's etiquette.

i always make an effort, when its busy, to try and call up the guys behind. but that is just ridiculous. i've told many a person to 'f_ck off' as ive heard a ball fizz past my head. last year i pulled out my 2 iron and drilled it back at some guys who hit my stand bag, 5 ft from me.

Once when I was exiting a par 3 (slow day... log jam... not me that's holding them up) someone landed one in the rough between me and my bag... missing the green by a good amount. I promptly threw his ball in the water, a nice new pro V1. They had already hit into us on a par 5 while I was waiting for the green to clear (all 3 of them). The rest of them waited to tee off... hmmm... guess they got the point. After the round I approached them in the parking lot to tell them they were a$$holes.

I play at a public course most of the time. It seems last summer was the summer of confrontation. Mainly from the rangers. I'm a fast player and I don't take a practice swing most of the time. I only have so many swings in the bag (ruptured disc in my neck) beside chipping and putting or an odd lie I never take a practice swing.

One of my favorite places to play all of the sudden put clocks out on every 3 holes. So we get out on the third hole..on time, I have my ball teed up and we are waiting for the group in front of us to hit into the green and the ranger comes up and says "come on guys, what are you waiting for...hit" I'm thinking "what the hell" I said "we cant, the group in front of us is right there" they where about 260 to 270 out. Ranger shakes his head and says an expletive and drives off. We all started laughing and wondered what his problem was.

Two holes later, we are about ten minutes behind now. I'm standing at my ball 120 yards out, I have my wedge in my hand and I'm waiting for the green to clear and the ranger pulls up about 10 or 12 feet behind me and parks..I turn around and look at him, he didn't say anything, I look back at the green. One guy is putting the flag in, they start walking off and the ranger says "go ahead" That was it...I blew my top! The first thing I said was "what the &*@# is your problem"? then it was "your out of your mind if you think I'm going to hit with people on the green"! I told him he was HARRASING the wrong group! needless to say we didn't see him the rest of the day. It took me about a hole and a half to calm down. Talk about spoiling your fun!

For $46.00 to walk and the harassment, I won't be back.

My friend and I were playing behind a foursome, two older couples, who were playing painfully slow. I mean, they just plodded along, took forever on greens, we've all seen people like them. I can't remember if there was room in front, probably not, so we just plodded along behind them. This one hole, a funky par 4 that goes way down off the tee, then back up to a crest, then downhill sharply again, to a pond in front of the green. My buddy could easily drive it into the pond if he catches that downslope, so we both waited until they were beyond the hill. My friend mashes his 3-wood, which apparently caught the opposite side of the hill and rolled near/to them (can't see over the hill).

We walk up (I'm on the other side, so I couldn't really hear, but this is what he told me) and the guy says to my friend, "you know, we can't play any faster." First off, that's a lie! Second off, I'm sure my friend was flattered that this guy thinks he can hit on-command 280-yd 3-woods, but he didn't do it as a 'warning shot.' I see them walk away from each other, and I walk over as fast as I could to find out what happened. My friend tells me the above, and I just kinda go, "oh..." but then my friend adds, "at least I got a good "shut your f**king mouth" in. I was, like, WHOA, good for you!

I hate people like that, I would have actually hit his ball with a club back at them to try and hit them, but that is just who i am.

i was playing with my dad and one of his friends, and we were behind a very slow 4 some. it was a nice day, so it wasn't really an issue. this group was on the green of a short par 4, only about 290 from where we were playing. my dad went to use the restroom by the tee box, and my dads friend said, "are you hitting driver?" i wasn't, so i whipped my 4 hybrid out there, leaving my self about an 80 yard shot. he hit like a 4 iron to the same spot. my dad drives the green (after the group has left) and we all make par. on the next tee (a long par four, #1 handicap) this joker has hit his tee shot 150 yards into the tall rough, has atleast 270 left to the hole, and is waiting for the group to clear the green.....we kind of get angry when he hits it into the middle of the fairway. we tell the ranger, and he goes and talks to this group. this guy tells the ranger that me and my dads friend attemped to drive the green on this par four, while his group was on it. we told the ranger, no we hit irons and hybrids. the ranger tells the gut this, and he almost had a stroke. in the parking lot after the round my dad was tying his shoe on the other side of the car, and this dude comes up to me yelling at me to wait to hit, you little effing b@$s@rd. my dad dragged him into the pro's office, and now whenever i see this guy on the range or the course, he doesn't make eye contact with me.

There's deliberate hitting into you and there's accidental hitting into you. This is plainly the first type. As far as I'm concerned, that ball is his gift to you: take it, but get rid of it lest you get accused of stealing a ball. Put it in the water, the trash can, or a ball washer. I wouldn't suggest hitting it back to him, largely for legal concerns. Calling the ranger was the right move.

I personally give everyone one chance. I have hit with people well out of my range and gotten lucky here and there and have been a bit too close to them. Second time it happens their ball get hit into the woods - which has only happened a couple of times. Then they usually realize the course is just jammed and its not us slowing them up.

I give people one, two chances if I'm in a good mood - sure, there's accidents, and I hit into the slow foursome ahead every so often (sometimes as a warning shot, other times it's genuinely an accident). I'll make it clear I have their attention and they know what they've done. The second time, forget it - I'm probably going to toss their ball in the lake or stomp on it, or something. I haven't hit one back lately - there's a lot of liability involved should you actually hit them.

Join a private course and you wont have this problem :)

i've always been more of the non confrontational type. i never play slow but sometimes you can't really do anything about it. Everyone always gets their first freebie. After that, I'm simply collecting whatever you're hitting as a donation for having to put up with you.

Usually I'll schedule tee times so that this is never a problem anyway. Take a day off, play early mornings, whatever. Its more enjoyable to play at your own pace and have a course to yourself than fight off the hordes of a$$holes all day.

One thing I will say that I hate more than people hitting into me is people slicing from the next hole and mistakenly hitting my ball after a long drive. There is nothing more upsetting after nailing the crap out of a ball only to find that the perfect shot was just taken from you by some hacker who can't tell the difference.

oh yes you will

I've never hit into anyone intentionally, or been hit into that I know of. People sometimes get a little close but not on purpose (again that I know of), and it doesn’t bother me at all, unless I have my kids with me.

If I do get close to the group in front I will always apologize, that being said I expect the same in return.