Human Backboards

[MSB256]

Following golf more closely this year than I ever have, I'm noticing how often the gallery actually helps players. Maybe it's because I'm watching golf so much now, but a lot of times, a stray ball is kept closer to the green or the fairway by bouncing off of a spectator.

Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe off the fairway the rough would slow it down anyway, but around the green I bet hitting a fan keeps the ball 10 or so yards closer than it would have been, sometimes maybe more.

Also makes me realize that when you are lining a fairway you have got to pay attention to the guy teeing off and try to track the ball to keep yourself from getting hit.

Just wondering if anyone else has observed this?

[microcrayfish]

Yeah I've noticed it a bit, especially at The Masters this week with the huge crowds around each green. It might not always be a big help though because the grass where people have been walking and sitting might be trampled which could make for some nasty lies.

[clubhousehero]

Yep. Whenever i lose a ball in the rough i always think how lucky the pros are to have people all along the fairways watching their ball. How often pros lose a ball, not in the water, that wasn't at least found? I know it happens but not as often as when i play by myself.

This is exactly what i thought when i read the thread by the guy who hit his drive down the middle of the fairway and couldn't find b/c it plugged. On the PGA tour, that ball would have been found.

[JCDot33]

... This is exactly what i thought when i read the thread by the guy who hit his drive down the middle of the fairway and couldn't find b/c it plugged. On the PGA tour, that ball would have been found.

I wrote that thread, and I though the exact same thing too ... not only is the gallery helpful in that aspect, but don't they pros also get spotters too?

[billysandy]

I was watching the masters yestersay when tiger hit thru the back and it hit a guy's chair he was sitting in. He didn't move till tiger got there, he just wanted to meet him!