Playing Etiquette?

[Boyder]

OK - maybe this is a dumb question, but in the realm of golf etiquette, how long must one wait on the tee box before one hit's their drive on a par 4 or 5 when there other players ahead? Is it necessary to wait until they are on the green in the case of a par 4?
I ask because today I was playing behind a group playing painfully slow (more interested in hailing the cart girl than pace of play). They made no gesture to allow me to play thru, but I was in no hurry anyway so that was no big deal. On a shortish par 4, dog leg left the group made the corner (finally) giving me the chance to hit my tee shot - 200 yards to the corner. I hit a soft 3 wood right past the corner. Next thing I know, one of the guys in the group ahead walks 20 paces back from where he was in the fairway to my ball and proceeds to knock it into the woods, then he just walked back to his cart and headed for the green.
I was so in shock I did not know how to react ....
I stayed back, played even slower and tried hard not to let it ruin the rest of my round .... but the damage was done and I could not wait to get in my truck and get out of there after the round.
Did I hit too soon? My ball landed at least 15 to 20 yards behind them.

[alomar123]

Id say so. You werent going anywhere so why not just wait. That drive could of easily gone an extra 20 yards. It happens though, you arent a bad person for it.lol

[Mrd19abhs]

I personaly would say 15 to 20 yrds is a little close for comfort. I always try to make sure the person is @ least what i feel is 50 yrds past my normal shot just to be safe i dont catch one good.

[bwdial]

That might have been a little close, but it's no excuse to be that big of an a-hole about it by hitting your ball into the woods.

[Boyder]

Thanks ... I honestly don't think they were ever in danger, but I will be more patient in the future.

[Carts]

I felt bad once for hitting a bad hook and it landed on the other fairway That I though was empty. Turns out it landed about 20-30 yards from a group of young teens. But then the kid yelled a f*** you and flipt me the bird and he hit my ball (nearer to my green) and I was like really?

Edit: I just remembered one time on a 3 par course 2 old ladies shot while me and my friend were around the green (we were going on a good pace). The lady shot and it landed 10 feet from me and rolled to my feet.

[Montezumasdaddy]

Thats crap, you never hit another guys ball. Obviously you should have waited a little bit but he could have said something to you or waited and talked to you. If that happened to a couple of the guys I golf with there probably would have been a fight. I'm not saying thats right, but hitting his ball is definetely not.

[sbooker]

The first thing I would do is try to see if there was a group in front of that group. The goal of this would be to ensure that the group in front of you was the one holding you up.

Assuming the group in front of you was the problem, I would have ran or drove up and actually asked them if I could play through before hitting into them. They may have just had too many and the first thing that goes is etiquette. Hitting your ball in the woods was pretty cruddy.

[clubchamp]

I would say you're in the right and he's a-hole for hitting your ball in the woods. I mean should you have waited a little longer... probably but that stuff happens and it's not like it landed in the middle of their group. If you were doing it to them the whole round that's one thing but if it happens once no biggie. I will say this if he would have hit my ball into the woods I would have been sharing words with him real quick. Don't sweat it...

[NI4NI]

To answer your ask, it's based on distance, and not time. Faster groups could be on the green, and the pokes will be on their second shot in the same time. If in doubt, I will drive up to see (when in a cart); else, I'll just wait a few more minutes. The new carts at my course have warnings for players in the fairway so you don't run the risk of this situation.

The guy acted like a turd, and I would have approached him for a chat. If I was in his position, the first infraction would get a pass, unless someone was hit. The second infraction needs a response so that there's not a third.

[zeg]

Agree, 20 yards is a bit too short -- it's in the realm of a career shot reaching them, and especially if you're going to wait on the next shot, there's no reason to hit until it's clearly absurd to imagine ever reaching them. However, first off, anyone who'd ever hit someone else's ball intentionally is acting like a moron, and second off, even if you're going to do that, you're acting like an over the top jerkoff moron if you do it the first time they hit close. People make mistakes and hit closer than they intended, and that guy is asking for a fight (not that he should get one, but it's a foreseeable outcome of his actions).

[newtogolf]

20 yards may have been close. I would have made sure my 2nd shot was even closer after he hit my ball in the woods (Joking). I would have said something referring to how good my mallet putter would look shoved in his #@!.

[Paradox]

  newtogolf said:

20 yards may have been close. I would have made sure my 2nd shot was even closer after he hit my ball in the woods (Joking). I would have said something referring to how good my mallet putter would look shoved in his #@!.

two wrongs don't make a right ;)

Anyway, on a par 4, I and everyone I play with will wait until the group ahead is either on the green(hopefully they are this group of guys) or at least playing around the green. If there is no one behind us then we might even wait and let the group ahead get about a hole length ahead of us so that they don't feel pressured and we're not just waiting constantly. On a par 5, after a group plays their second shots and we make a second check for any duffed shots that will still be in range..we'll tee off. If the next shot is blind, we'll either go up and see where the group is and/or wait a few minutes just to be safe.