Pet Peeves

[andycook]

Yes.  I rarely see a ball found after the first few moments of looking.

Quote:

A moment or two?  I understand being upset by super long search parties (especially those that last beyond what the rules allow), but only a moment or two?  I can't tell you the number of times I've found one after about 30 seconds.  I'll bet those extra few moments saved at least a few minutes worth of marching back to the tee, hitting, and getting back.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by saevel25

1. People who think they have a right to push into the people infront of them because they think those people are slow play

Originally Posted by saevel25

Sorry but, i will spend as much time as i think i need to find a ball. If that means a few more minutes, deal with it and enjoy the day . . .

About the flagstick thing, usually the first guy gets it, but i tend to place my wedges on the flagstick so i don't forget them, and i usually just take the position of picking up the flagstick most of the time if i chip. Other than that, if someone beats me to it, then they can put the flag back in.

I learned early to play ready golf, that is decide your shot while others are hitting. Though its tough for me since i am usually the last one hitting due to how far i hit it. So on most occassions i can't cross over to my ball because i would be in the way of someone hitting. Another consideration before lashing out for slow play.

I don't mind practicing putting while others are teeing off, as long as there not waiting on there 2nd shot, i don't mind spending an extra few on the green. Most of the time your waiting at the next tee anyways, so its not like your going to go faster.

Most people will give you a pass the first time, and maybe even the second time, but if you get in the habit of taking the full 5 minutes to find your wild tee shots, you'd better get in the habit of letting group behind you play through. Or don't complain when they go around you without asking.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Shindig

A moment or two?  I understand being upset by super long search parties (especially those that last beyond what the rules allow), but only a moment or two?  I can't tell you the number of times I've found one after about 30 seconds.  I'll bet those extra few moments saved at least a few minutes worth of marching back to the tee, hitting, and getting back.

Do you mean in a tournament you'd look for 5 minutes then march back to the tee and rehit or is that something that would happen in a regular round?

I haven't seen anyone do that in a casual round in 25 years of playing. Is this a regional phenomenon?

[bplewis24]

To be honest, if people regularly did that in casual rounds, that would definitely be a pet peeve of mine.

Just hit a provisional and save us that time.

Brandon

[Shindig]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Do you mean in a tournament you'd look for 5 minutes then march back to the tee and rehit or is that something that would happen in a regular round?

I haven't seen anyone do that in a casual round in 25 years of playing. Is this a regional phenomenon?

Well, in any sort of play, I'd hit a provisional if I don't know where mine is.  But in a tournament, I'll keep looking until 5 minutes are up or until I don't think I have a chance of finding it anymore.   In casual play for other people, I don't know.

[Elvisliveson]

Originally Posted by Shindig

Well, in any sort of play, I'd hit a provisional if I don't know where mine is.  But in a tournament, I'll keep looking until 5 minutes are up or until I don't think I have a chance of finding it anymore.   In casual play for other people, I don't know.

If I'm playing  a casual round on a crowded muni and I didn''t hit a provisional when I was back at the tee originally, I'll just drop and record the maximum score my handicap allows for that hole.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Elvisliveson

If I'm playing  a casual round on a crowded muni and I didn''t hit a provisional when I was back at the tee originally, I'll just drop and record the maximum score my handicap allows for that hole.

Exactly. And I'm pretty sure you're allowed to hit provisionals in tournaments too - as many as you want.

[B-Con]

In order: 1) I hate playing with drunk players more than anything else. When they get loud, pushy, and reek of alcohol, it detracts from my enjoyment of my environment. I don't mind funny, talkative, or goofy, but drunk and annoying is not fun. 2) I hate partners who don't always verify their ball before they hit it. I always, always check the ball before I hit it to make sure it's mine, even if I'm playing alone. I hate watching someone go up to a ball and hit with hardly a second glance at it. I've had my ball hit more than once. 3) People behind you who get fed up with the pace of play and jump one or two holes ahead of you just to find out it's not any faster up there, causing you to wait on them. We may be a half hole behind the group ahead, but that doesn't mean you can sandwich yourself ahead of us, because then we just have to wait on you in turn. 4) Reading greens in late twilight hours. I'm not good at green reading to begin with, but reading greens with dim lighting and shadows cast on them makes a hard job almost impossible. When I play until it's dark, the green reading on the last 3 or so holes is usually guesswork. This is fixable by playing earlier in the day, but I don't always have that option. 5) Partners who smoke. It stinks and I'd rather not share a cart with you. I respect your right to smoke, but I don't like to be near it. 6) Partners who pick up your "gimmes". Please, please let me putt out. I live for the sound of the ball hitting plastic. At least this can be cured by talking to them, though, so they won't do it. Some do it just to speed up the pace of play, but putting out from 1 or 2 feet only takes an extra 20 seconds at most, and that's with a long walk and setup. 7) Mud bars in front of greens. I don't like chipping out of mud, or walking through mud just to get to the green. 8) Strong dogleg par-5s. Pulling a wood or hybrid on a par-5 teebox feels wrong. I'll probably have to pull it for the second shot as well. 9) Range ball spillover onto the fairway. Which of those 20 balls in the left rough is mine? Have fun! I didn't think I had such a long list, but I think that's literally everything that detracts from the golfing experience for me. (Aside from poor play, of course. :-P )

[bplewis24]

B-con, good list.  I can relate to a few of those.

Brandon

[Higgins1991]

I really hate when people are just inconsiderate to the golfers they are holding up. For example, I was playing a round at my club, and a four ball in front took roughly 5 minutes to vacate the 18th  green after they had all sank their putts, due to them chatting and marking down their scores, even though it was obvious that my friend and I were only about 120 out ready to hit our approach shots. It's only manners to notice that they were holding people up and could have easily moved on

[MiniBlueDragon]

• When areas of course have rocks/stones in them that are not visible until your club chucks out sparks behind a shot and you know there's a chunk taken out of your wedge bounce because of it.
• Kids stealing your ball from the green and running off with a 180yard advantage on you. There's no way you can catch them or even identify them to the pro shop. You're then forced to take the penalty shots and you're down the price of the ball.
• Groups who come up and ask you (as a single) if they can play through. If you stop and think for a second, is it really likely that me as a single is playing slower than you as a threesome? No, it's not. It's far more likely that I'm having to wait behind another group and there's no point in me asking if I can play through them because there's another group in front of that.
• Members bounces. If you hit it badly you should get just as punished as I do when I hit it badly.
• Litter. If you want to walk around drinking coca cola, beer etc then keep your empty in your bag and chuck it out in a litter bin/back at the clubhouse/at home, not on the course.
• Backseat drivers. If I tee off and balloon it or I hit a wicked hook and I say "Woah! No idea what happened there!" then by all means give me some tips you think are pertinent. Don't though try and gived me tips on every shot I take. "Your ball was too far back in your stance", "You were aiming too far left", "roll your wrists over more to create a draw" etc does not help my game in the slightest, it only serves to irritate me because you're saying it and then irritate you when I ignore you.

[nevets88]

People who steal clubs. Yeah, it's my own fault for forgetting a club and leaving it behind. Especially in big metro areas. I've lost all my clubs in the NYC metro area.

People who have been playing for years, but still don't know how to play efficiently - never ready to play their ball, no anticipation skills. I found these people mostly to be poor managers in their job as well -late to meetings, disorganized, always reacting, missing deadlines.

[brightonrock]

A couple my buddies do:

• Stepping on my line when I putt. ESPECIALLY in the winter/when the greens are wet. It's not a difficult thing to remember, but one mate in particular does it on EVERY. SINGLE. GREEN. No matter how many times we tell him. In fact, when we remind him, he gets a bit arsey about it and says "it's not like we're on the PGA tour". No, you're right. But I also have zero % chance of getting good enough to be on the PGA tour if every putt I hit bobbles through your spike marks and shoots off at an angle.
• Perfectionism. Another mate of mine has a tendency to drop his club, especially off the tee, if he feels the contract isn't quite perfect. He's one of the better players I play with and it's very, very annoying as a higher handicapper when you've just sent your tee shot boring into the woods like an exocet missile, when he hits a 3 wood down the middle and drops his club because "it felt a bit thin". Pipe down, you're in the fairway. I'm pretty sure, however thin you hit it, you wouldn't want to swap position with me now.
• Jingling of keys/clubs in the bag when I'm addressing the ball. I don't need absolute silence across the county when I hit, but at least from my 3 or 4 ball, it'd be nice if guys just stopped what they were doing for at most 10 seconds whilst I step up to the ball and hit it. Not rocket science.
• "Free" drops. Again from the school of "we're not on the PGA tour", getting a free drop when you don't like the lie, are up against a tree or in deep rough, is not in the rules. Either take the drop with a penalty, play it where it lies, or do what you want and we won't count. But don't expect me to congratulate you in the clubhouse on your best ever round when you've given yourself half a dozen free drops or lie improvements because otherwise it would've hurt your scorecard. The excitement of a great round is that you've not been in those positions, you've beaten the course bvy shooting it straight all day. Not playing as badly as you want and manufacturing your score to declare an 85, when it's really a 98. That's just pure fiction. How about I'll just write down 1 on every hole? Look guys, I shot 18 today!

And some others do:

• Don't get right up behind me, shooting into me or standing 140 back huffing and puffing with a hand on your hip, if I'm clearly being held up by the group in front of me. I don't play slowly - me and a buddy finished 36 holes in 5 3/4 hours the other day, quite a reasonable speed. Get it into your head, if you're on the tee and I'm in the fairway 250 yards in front of you, and I'm waiting for the group in front to putt out, it's not my fault. I don't have golf insurance. I'm not going to bankrupt myself, let alone the moral implications, by hitting into a green when there's someone on it.
• People who arbitrarily throw around 'bandit' accusations. Just because I hit one good shot does not mean I hit them all well. That's why I, or my buddies, are mid-high handicappers. I teed off first, in the first fourball, in a recent 40-man competition. My legs were like jelly, there were some very accomplished players in the tourney, and I banged a drive 280 up the middle, laser straight. Cue mumblings of why I declared 26 handicap. Well, because I ended up shooting 97.
• Old guys who bitch and moan and try to give you a lesson on etiquette, but have no idea of it themselves. I watched a fourball of snooty members, all 60+, hitting simultaneously, talking, playing out of turn, failing to rake bunkers, and then DEMANDING, not politely requesting, that our group let them through because we were "all over the place" and how they "dreaded to think who taught us etiquette". We were being held up ourselves by another fourball in front of us, and fair enough, none of us were playing particularly well, it was a bit wayward, but they were no better themselves. It was just the look on their faces at seeing four twenty-something guys in front of them that they didn't recognise. We're not members, no. But we're just as entitled to play here as you, we're following the rules, and we're not downright rude, unlike you.
• People who just walk up and hit the nearest ball they find. What is the mentality there? That's the FIRST thing I do, check whether the ball is even mine. But the other day I was playing a course where the par 4 I was on with my group runs parallel to a dogleg left down the right hand side of that hole. These two guys hit banana-slices and walked into our fairway and just hit the first thing they saw, both of them, which happened to be mine and my buddy's balls. I mean, c'mon. I can't get into my head where the logic is there. "That's a ball, it must be mine!" NO, it's mine, it's in our fairway for a start!
• Lady members - I'm no sexist and play in a mixed group fairly often, so I don't know if it's just the clubs I play at, but when you're on a 150 yard par 3 hitting driver and not making the green, understand that I can hit it further than you and you need to let us through. I would do the same if there's a group catching up, right on our tail behind me. So just extend the courtesy of knowing your own limitations and letting quicker groups play through. It's not a speed of play thing necessarily, it's a politeness thing.
• The one guy who, last weekend, ran onto a fairway I'd hit into, FULLY NAKED, grabbed my ball, and ran off into the woods doing cartwheels. I don't know who you are, but I can assure you, you're not funny. If I'd've been close enough I'd've teed another one up and given you a fright. You're not in Jackass. You just ARE a jackass.

[RichWW2]

Biggest pet peeve of mine is when people take my golf ball when I (frequently) hit it into the wrong fairway.  Happened when I played this past weekend and it drove me nuts.

I teed off on a hole and pushed it into the fairway to the left of our hole. Lucky for me some guy comes rolling down the fairway on that hole, sees my ball, gets out of his cart, hits my ball, and drives off.  What the fudge?! I'm not going to chase anyone down to get my golf ball back, but it would be nice if people checked what ball they are playing and looked around for others before just assuming its their ball.

Also...

"The one guy who, last weekend, ran onto a fairway I'd hit into, FULLY NAKED, grabbed my ball, and ran off into the woods doing cartwheels. I don't know who you are, but I can assure you, you're not funny. If I'd've been close enough I'd've teed another one up and given you a fright. You're not in Jackass. You just ARE a jackass."

I wouldn't be mad, confused more than anything. Just have to chalk up that lost golf ball to "not catching the breaks" when you needed them.

[sacm3bill]

Originally Posted by MiniBlueDragon

Kids stealing your ball from the green and running off with a 180yard advantage on you. There's no way you can catch them or even identify them to the pro shop. You're then forced to take the penalty shots and you're down the price of the ball.

FYI, that's "ball moved by outside agency" - replace ball, no penalty.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by sacm3bill

FYI, that's "ball moved by outside agency" - replace ball, no penalty.

I love you.

Seriously.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by planopops

More Pet Peeves: Players with rabbit ears who get upset by someone talking on another hole. They expect everyone in the same zip code to freeze and be absolutely quite.

The flip side of that is the loudmouths that you can hear all over the course.

[Ringworld]

Some personal pet peeves of mine.

• Golf courses aerate the greens and don't tell you when you ask.  Like its some bloody secret.  It shouldn't and I respect a course more if they are up front about the course conditions instead of me drawing that information out of them.
• Rounds of golf longer than 5 1/2 hours is more work than play.  Unlikely in LA but one can dream or play weekday golf.
• Another golfer picks up my golf ball and walks off with it.  LOL happens more times than I care to admit.  I know it's nice and new but guess what, it isn't your ball.  I have written "Not your ball" on my golf ball with a nice red Sharpie and they still pick it up and pocket it.
• Chatterboxes.  I enjoy the sound of your voice too, just not all the time.
• Conference Golf.  No need to consult with other golfers about your shot.  No need for a gallery when you're playing with friends.  Play ready golf.  In fact if you ask their opinion isn't that a stroke penalty?
• Agro golfers.  You know who you are.  This is a game.  It's supposed to be fun.  It is not fun if I have to guess the trajectory of your flung club thrown in my direction. Hold it in and make your next shot count.
• Slow golfers.  We have other places we want to be especially if the round is not fairing well for us.  Why prolong the agony, keep up with the group ahead.  If no group ahead at least create enough space with the group behind that it gives the impression you are playing fast.
• And finally, snobbish golfers.  I know you're a regular at this golf course, but this is a public course.  That means it's open to the public.  I don't know you and you certainly do not know me.  Before you prejudge me watch me hit a few balls first and see how I play this game we all enjoy and THEN make up your mind.