What's the closest call you've had on a golf course?

[blue3715]

And I'm not talking about your wife catching you playing with your girlfriend. And I'm not talking about a golf ball rolling past you, or being hit over your head, or stupidly playing in a thunderstorm... I'm talking about seeing your life pass before your eyes.

It's amazing we don't get killed out there... my history, 4 episodes.
2 in one day:
1990, caddying at 18 yrs old. In the rough (stupidly 40 yds in front) of a player who is hitting back to the fwy. The ball rockets up in the air, hits a tree branch and passes through my legs at about 100 mph. I learned my lesson that day.

Waiting at edge of fwy forecaddying for the teebox. A group comes up the adjacent hole and the player doesn't bother telling me he's about to hit. He hit a wood from about 40 yds away, in the rough, and it nails my golf bag. That was the last day I caddied.

1991, playing at a public course . The group on a parallel (but opposite direction) hole is playing. As I am walking off the tee a player hooks his drive over the trees to us. He doesn't yell fore. All I saw was the ball land, and bounce (still going 80mph or more) and literally just by a hair nick my nose as it zips by. It actually left a micro scratch. Millimeters from disaster.

This last month , marshalling at the Barclays PGA (the one where Sergio lost to Vijay in overtime). Kevin Sutherland is the 3rd to last group hitting off the 18th tee. It's a dogleg right over trees. I can see his ball going right towards the trees and the large gallery where I'm standing. I yell "fore right!".. as I turn 90 degrees to my left to look for the ball to land it zips within an inch past my chest (I felt the wind) at about 100 mph. Had I not turned literally 1 second before, it would have hit me smack in the middle of my chest.

Man what a dangerous sport!

[ZaPPPa]

On a putting green adjacent left to the first tee. I'm practicing putting on the green with my back turned to the tee. Someone tees off and shanks his driver badly. His ball flies between my legs, slams into my putter shaft then careens off into my leg. No damage to my leg, but the putter shaft now has a dent in it.

Wish they'd install a little 6 feet fence or so... In any case, I have not ventured to that part of the putting green since.

[Dent]

I was trying to punch out hard from trees, I had a good 40 yards to punch out. I hit a tree infront of me and came rocketing back right at my head really fast.

I had fast reflexes and ducked just in time. I laughed.

[T.J.K.]

I don't really think anything on the golf course could kill you unless you stood right in front of Bubba Watson and let him tee off at your head.

[Dent]

I don't really think anything on the golf course could kill you unless you stood right in front of Bubba Watson and let him tee off at your head.

I beg to differ, take a look:

http://www.thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17752

[T.J.K.]

I beg to differ, take a look:

Okay, I should have said, I don't think you can really die from the game of golf unless you are pure moron.

The only one that is really golfing related is the broken shaft to the groin. Other than that....stupidity.

[kfowler]

I guess the closest I've had is being caught on the course during a lightning storm in Florida. The group I was with wanted to go on and I was getting really uncomfortable. We finally headed in. I thought how incredibly stupid that was.

BTW, I have a friend whose brother hit a bad shot. He yelled fore and a girl turned around just after he yelled. It hit her right in the eye and she ended up losing it.

[Zeph]

Okay, I should have said, I don't think you can really die from the game of golf unless you are pure moron.

You'll have to be extremely unlucky to die from a golf ball, but it's still possible, and has happened.

[T.J.K.]

You'll have to be extremely unlucky to die from a golf ball, but it's still possible, and has happened.

I know it could happen, but the question was asked if my life has flashed before my eyes.

I am saying since the chances of actually getting killed by a golf ball are extremely rare, I say that most would say it has never happened. Have I almost been hit? Sure.... In the head? Sure.... Did I come close to being killed? Not so much.

[Smallville]

Two weekends ago, we were on a green, where I just made a bidie putt. Waiting for my wife to putt out for her par, I hear a thump noise behind me and turn (first instinct, bad move) to look and a ball goes by my face so fast I feel the wind (or the ball, it happened so fast) on my eyelashes. No "fore" or "watch out" that I heard. I look over where it came from and two guys are walking down their fairway like nothing ever happened. We putt out and walking to the next tee I proceed to bury his ball as far into the ground as I could with the heel of my shoe! I know, but I was P-O'd. I wanted to hit it back at them but I refrained from it.

A couple holes later I saw them again and let them know I appreciated nearly getting blinded by one of their tee shots. One acted like he had no clue what I was talking about, the other said he yelled fore. So I figure since they didn't get their stories straight, he did not yell fore or the other guy would have known what I was talking about! Anyway, I told him he never found his ball because he stayed away from our green and never even looked for it and that he would have had trouble finding it anyway because it was buried in the ground! He might have found it the next hole he played because that was the hole I was on. Closest call for me.

[mikelz]

Taking a one hop tee shot right in the shoulder blade.
Ouch.
No fore, no nothin'.

Yes I walked back up the fairway to "calmly discuss" the event with the anal pore .
I should have just broken his nose.
Instead he just got an angry confrontation.
(I'm very good at that.)

[Chief Broom]

When I was a kid in the Summer my parents used to drop me and a friend off in the morning at the local muni and pick us up in the early evening. We'd usually get in 36 walking. Anyway one day we're out there playing and the wind begins to kick up pretty strong and the sky clouds over dark ominous. Being fairly intelligent kids we decide it's time to head back to the club house/snack bar. On the way back in the wind just keeps getting stronger and stronger. I was sporting my big old Hot Z cart bag that day (still have it 30 yrs later) and the wind got so strong that we're both trudging along at a crazy angle into the wind. I'm holding onto my bag and it's stretched out behind me in the wind! I look up and the clouds right above out head are swirling around in a circle. I yell at my friend and point up and we both start running as fast as we can, dumping our bags in the process. We made it to the clubhouse. No tornado touched down, but it was pretty darn close to being one right on top of us. After a while we went back out and found our stuff and finished out the day. I laugh about it now but it was pretty scary at the time.

[case31]

I have two: When I was 12 or 13 I was hitting golf balls in a large field with my older brother and a friend. My friend was big for his age and could generate ridiculous swing speed. I hit a ball off the tee and went to retrieve my tee that had flown about 10 yards ahead. Trying to be smart about things, I said "Hold up, I want to get that tee." Without taking a second to see if anyone heard me, I run out to get the tee. As soon as I pick it up and turn to run back to where we were hitting...WHAM!!! I get crushed in the chest by one of my friend's hellacious swings. As much as it hurt and as big of a welt it left, I'm lucky it got me in the chest and not the head.
The second close call was weather-related. My dad and I are out on our local course walking. The course is out in the country, and we are pretty much at the point furthest from safety when a sky that was blue and clear just 10 minutes earlier had turned an ominous deep navy blue. The wind comes up and it is pouring rain. We run like hell to the proshop. After about 50 yards of running a bolt of lightning comes down right by us. The crack of thunder was as loud as any explosion I've ever heard, and I could feel the sizzle. SCARY!

[Richie3Jack]

I've never had real close calls myself, but I've witnessed two of them.

One time me, a buddy, and some stranger were playing on a par 3. Adjascent to it was a par 5, but the hole was tree lined. Still a dangerous hole because if you hit a hook it goes in the other fairway, landing about where every hits their driver on the other hole.

My buddy gets up, his a slight draw, but with a little pull. We didn't even yell four since we figured it probably hit the tree and then fell down. The stranger gets up, his a big pull hook and we yell four which is customary. Anyway, we go to our balls and as we are walking we see a guy lying on the ground from the other hole. It was my next door neighbor and somehow my buddy's ball (the one that had a slight pull hook) hit him. Not in a million years did I think my buddy's ball would've hit somebody, if anybody I would've thought the stranger's shot would've hit and hurt somebody. Hit my next door neighbor on the corner of the eye and remarkably he was hurt, but didn't suffer any injury to his eye...much less get killed.


The other instance was actually a funny one. We were playing on the high school team for practice and one friend named Artie was in the bunker and as he was about to hit the shot, my other friend Pat was walking up to the pin as he was going to wait for Artie to hit the bunker shot on the green and he would then take the pin out.

Artie duffs once. And by then Pat has walked up to the pin and is holding the pin, waiting for Artie to get on the green so he can pull the flag. Artie duffs again. And again. And again. Then Pat says "c'mon Artie" and Artie gets really pissed and does a Happy Gilmore in the sand and I hear Pat yell "ARTIE!" The ball comes out a SCREAMING line drive headed right for Pat's nether regions and Pat is saved by the flagstick as the ball hits the flagstick and careens away. All of us fell down laughing so hard, but Pat was extremely, extremely lucky.






YAKUZA

[imtomtomim]

I was with my friend walking to the next shot and we hear a driver ping. We both whip around only to watch my buddy's hat get taken off. Freakin william tell behind us.

[michaeljames92]

I heard more people die from being hit on the head by someone swinging a club, than an actual golf ball hitting someone.

Anyway, my closest call was yesterday. I was readying to hit my ball to the green and a guy yells fore right before the ball comes. I jump out the way and the ball comes flying exactly where I was standing. Wasn't that close, but still kinda pissed me off that the guy hit.

[deronsizemore]

Never had any close calls myself, but I have been hit before. I was just a youngster playing in a scramble and we came up upon the group ahead of us who was teeing off. We were probably 50 yards ahead of them as the cart path from the previous hole sort of takes you out in front and to the side of the next tee box. We stop there to wait for the group to hit and we all get behind some trees for cover (just in case). I guess I wasn't as covered as I thought I was because one of the golfers in front rockets a 3 wood right at me and it catches me in the right arm just below my deltoid muscle. It litterally knocked me over and I had a huge welt on my arm the rest of the round. Hurt like hell but I finished the scrammble!

I still think about it sometimes and if it had been a foot higher I wouldn't be here today... or at least here in some functioning form.

[hamletsdead]

Two weeks ago I was walking up to a narrow tee box and my buddy unloaded a pull-hook right at me from 30 yards away. Luckily I was looking right at him as he swung and I dove for cover as I saw the ball rocket towards me. I landed on my ass in the woods, and was fine, but narrowly missed having my wife cash in my life insurance policy.