What is your golf oriented "pet peeve"

[MiniMoe]

yes, yes, yes, to all of them on one day or another. Most of the time I can handle it with mild irritation, but the one that will ruin a good round is SLOW PLAY. I get that it takes a little time to decide on a shot, or figure out a break on a hard put, or even line a putt up, but really, is every shot that difficult? Besides, most slow play is caused by people piddling and not paying attention to the task at hand, which is hit the freaking ball.

Tournaments are the worst because the shots actually mean something. You have 150 guys that believe its OK to take 5 minutes over a two footer because they can't decide if it breaks 1/4 of an inch or 1/8 of an inch. 6 hr rounds are common. When I mention that our group is out of position and I don't want to be penalized, I have had guys actually respond with, "I don't care about a penalty, I will not hit until I am ready". Good Lord, what happens if the idiot can't pull the trigger? Will we wait all day?

You don't have to play good, but be ready when it is your turn.

Now I feel better.

[schapman]

My new pet peeve is my swing thoughts!

Just hit the ball and make minor adjustments one at a time!

[atrapasuenos]

15 handicappers who hit 2 decent shots in a row and suddenly feel qualified to offer swing advice to anyone

I really hate this... I mean, I'm not a low handicapper, but I really don't care about the other guys swing, because I believe that is respect. But when a guy, like you describe above, tells me something about my swing, when I didn't ask for it, it really bothers me a lot.

Greetings!

[Teeitup]

My pet peeve is the golf cart. I understand if you need to ride for medical reasons, but just about everybody rides and I believe the golf cart destroys the sociality of golf. Walking down the fairway catching up with old friends or getting to know new ones is what golf is truly about.

It's the mandatory use of golf carts that irritates me. They throw off my feel, cause damage to the course, are noisy, they stink (the gas ones), and I have to pay for them! Not cool.

[microcrayfish]

My pet peeve is the golf cart. I understand if you need to ride for medical reasons, but just about everybody rides and I believe the golf cart destroys the sociality of golf. Walking down the fairway catching up with old friends or getting to know new ones is what golf is truly about.

A actually agree with this. Hired a couple of carts between four for the first time last Saturday and noticed that apart from on the green I hardly spoke to the two guys in the other cart, the social aspect of the game was pretty much taken out.

As for all the rest of it... Lighten the hell up! Golf is a sport, it's a game, It's supposed to be FUN. You'll probably all enjoy your game a lot more if you just let it go. As they say 'don't sweat the small stuff'. Bitching and moaning about it isn't going to make things magically better. You're privileged to be able to play golf and be outdoors with your friends in the first place, perhaps being thankful that you're able to spend time doing something you love and enjoy would be a better thing to be thinking about rather than the fact someone's taking a few too many practice swings.

[kfowler]

Bitching and moaning about it isn't going to make things magically better.

I though that was the purpose of this thread?

[mako224]

My pet peeve is slow play.

In particular my biggest pet peeve by far is the mixed group.....often oldsters.....who insists on playing split tees even though the men in the group absolutely suck.

Lets face it there are alot of elderly people playing the game, more power to them, but if you can't advance the ball a reasonable distance (forward, not sideways) you have no business playing the middle or back tees while the lady's in your group play the fronts. Play from the fronts guys and speed it up.....better yet let people play thru and cut the attitude when people ask to play thru.

[Fraser]

Not as many as I have about other things. On a frequent flyer messageboard there was an 'other passengers pet peeves' thread and I came up with about 100 things pretty easily!

-Slow play and the ignoring of faster groups behind.
-The 36 handicappers that wait for the group ahead to be 350yrds away, then top the ball...and do it for the rest of the round.
-The playing partners that compliment every shot no matter how good or bad I think it was. Admittedly most of the people I've been paired up with lately have been coy about their handicaps so I'm not sure whether they are playing horribly or not...
-Spitters. A foul, foul habit wherever it is.
-People who don't replace divots or pitchmarks. I played in a few tournaments in my younger years where you were fined (a donation to charity) if you didn't have a pitchmark repairer.
-People who believe that to be any good at golf you need to switch out your equipment every five minutes. I seem to remember when I first joined this site there was a teenage guy who seemed to constantly switch everything around.

[Prodigy]

i dont have any really not on the course anyways. The only thing that bothers me is when non golfers dont appreciate how golf is the hardest game in the world no jokes about it.

[azgreg]

Slow play and people who won't let a single play through. However the worst thing is when there is a player who I am punishing and then he/she has a couple of decent holes and then they start giving me unsolicited swing tips.

[PEZGolf]

My pet peeve that is golf oriented is posting on golf forums where people are allowed to respond with personal attacks or talk with other posters as if the forum is a "chat room". Neither of these negative activities occur on this forum and the owner is to be complimented for that. My remarks DO APPLY to "The Golf Channel Discussion Board" and the forum on ESPN. If a golf forum is to encourage good commentary and information, it needs to be properly moderated and this one is.

[Sherlockian]

My newest pet peeve(I am dismissing the others as slight annoyances) are golf carts and those that insist upon driving instead of walking, not just the Nascar drivers of them, but all sit-in golf carts and people who obviously could use the exercise. The past couple of weeks, I have played a few "municipal/public" courses and have realized why I don't play them more often; too damn many people ride instead of walk. I really love the great stand/carry bags(Ogio, Sun, BagBoy) that these guys have, yet they sit on the back of a damnation to the game. The worst part of dealing with these carts/golfers/courses is the belief that a walking foursome are guilty of slowplay, so they complain to the ranger. This bastard then proceeds to chew us out and requires us to let the lazy bastards play through. This is not one isolated incident, it has happened three times to me at three different courses with three different foursomes. Needless to say, I will not return to these courses. After speaking with the managers and shopkeepers, I realized they also are not fond of walkers. Why? They don't make that extra $20-$30each off of us. Thankfully, I have 3 local courses(all semi-public) that have starters and rangers, that respect everyone on the course.

I had to let out a little steam...................Golf Carts SUCK

[ks8829]

my pet peeve is slow play, and the golfer will leave their golf bag in front of the green so they have to walk back and hold up play for the golfer behind waiting to hit up.

The other pet peeve is a golfer who can't reach the group on the green but elect to wait and when they finally hit and miss hits the ball.

[mako224]

My golf oriented pet peeve is golf websites where people post their handicaps. It seems just about everyone is a low handicapper. The I read some of the posts by these "low handicappers" and think to myself there is no way a 5.6 handicap would be asking this stupid question I am reading because a 5.6 handicap wouldn't need to ask such a question. Please post some swing video to go with your handicap or better yet please post the link to your local section of the PGA where your OFFICIAL handicap is posted along with your scores. If you don't have an official handicap you shouldn't even try to guess at it. I could rant about this for half an hour but its thanksgiving so I will play nice.

[ECT]

Playing golf with folks who constantly complain... just shuddap and golf!

I haven't enjoyed golfing with a particular woman at our club for two seasons now. Every weekend I dreaded playing golf with her because of her constant complaining....really makes golf not fun. She complains about everything/one. Complains about the golf course, folks who work there, folks who golf there, women who she golfs with on the 18-hole golf league and even wives (who don't golf) of the men who golf there. She complains about women I enjoy golfing with which leads me to believe that she probably complains about me behind my back. I did talk to her about this matter in the calmest, nicest way and she's still a mad person to golf with so I stopped golfing with her altogether.

The smartest thing I did at the beginning of last season was to join two other ladies golf leagues at other courses. It was the best thing for me and my game and I made some new friends who share the same view of golf as I do!

[GaijinGolfer]

Mine is littering. There is no excuse for throwing your beer cans, beer bottles, candybar wrappers and whatever else all over the course where they are trashcans at every tee.
Another one is people who cant pick up their broken tees and throw them in the trashcan, especially consider that its only a few feet away.
Its as if people think that just because they pay their greens fees that its their right to trash the course...

[Par Fore]

Slow play.....it just wears me down.....golf is a great sport and should be enjoyed by all, but I just do not support a golf course allowing a 5.5 hour round....

I love being on the course, enjoy playing as a single, appreciate new and strang people, don't mind people getting a little huffy after a bad shot, and all that other stuff......lucky that most folks I play with have been fun and enjoyed many rounds with different personalities....but excessive rounds do bother me and I can't help it....

[photoballmarker]

Sunflower Seed Shells and every kind of Butt on the green.