Playing with strangers

[sc13ntific]

A long time ago I was playing by myself very early in the morning on a weekday and the course was empty. Forest Park Golf Course in midtown St. Louis is surrounded by city. The ninth hole runs right along Skinker Blvd, a monster 600 yd par 5. Waiting on the tee was a homeless looking guy, dirty and smelly, and holding an old plaid junior bag with no strap and 3 or 4 clubs sticking way too far out of it.

That's awesome

[kevin.chan]

I think I played one of the best round with strangers , like shooting 73 on the course.

[pup]

I always get the guys that say something like "Yeah I shot a 74 out here yesterday." Then they shoot 102.

[Dubya D]

I usually go out as a single so I play with strangers all the time. Can't say that I've had a bad experience yet but, one round was more interesting than most. I was paired up with a twosome and another single. The twosome was a pair of gentleman age ranging from mid-late 50's. The other single was a younger man around 45...I'll call him Ray. Well, Ray brought his 8yr old son with him. He was slightly apologetic at first because he son had down syndrome and was very energetic. I assured him right off the bat...no worries. I figured this round was going to be an adventure more than anything else. Did I mention the little guy was energetic? We started playing our round and Ray would let his son take a few strokes at a ball while we waited for the group ahead of us. No big deal. It kept the little guy busy and I was hoping it would wear him out a bit.
We get to the 3rd hole. A 191 yard par 3 that has water along the tee box. We are playing the blue tees which are marked by blue painted rock. While we are standing at the tee box waiting for the group ahead, Ray's son picks up the tee markers and starts chucking them in the water! I'm thinking, once we hit on, Ray will fetch the markers out of the water. Nope, he give a chuckle and heads to his cart! I'm looking at the other two guys thinking what the hell and go over to see if I can fish them out. Not a chance...too far out. So this continues on every hole that has water next to the tee.
We get to the 10th hole and the twosome decides to split off and play the front 9 again. I figure why not... I'll stick with Ray and his son. Well since it's just me and his dad, Ray's son it just talking away at me. I don't know if he wasn't comfortable with the two other gentleman or what but, he felt like talking.
Well we get to the 12th hole, a long par 5, and I take my 2nd shot and the young man asks his dad if he can ride with me. I told him I didn't mind so he jumped in. Well as soon as he sat in the cart he stepped on my foot mashing the accelerator pedal so he could race his dad. I'm thinking what did I get myself into...little did I know.
After getting a scolding from me, I drive up to my ball for my 3rd shot. I walk up and as soon as I address the ball, that little son of a gun slides over to the drivers seat and takes off with my cart! I run after him grabbing on to the cart as if I can stop it and he drags me for a couple of feet before I let go. His dad finally got him stopped before he ran the cart into the sand trap. I think Ray thought I would be pissed but, I just laughed it off. However, I did pull the key every time I got out of the cart.
The rest of the round was uneventful. I did get a chance to talk to Ray a bit more. He mentioned that he had grown children and adopted his 8yr old son when the boy was an infant. His wife left him soon afterward. He can't work away from home because he doesn't want anyone watching his son. I can't say I blame him. My wife was able to stay home and raise our children.
I left that round with a lot of respect for Ray even though I had just met him 4 hours earlier. He could have shirked his responsibilities like the mother did but, I could tell he loves his son very much. I also left with a greater appreciation for my own family...a couple of rocks in the water isn't that big a deal.

[matic]

This thread is great. The Canadian and his steaming beer had me cracking up the middle of the night, and Stevie and Ray left me contemplative and appreciative of the different paths we all must take. Keep these coming!

[2bGood]

A long time ago I was playing by myself very early in the morning on a weekday and the course was empty. Forest Park Golf Course in midtown St. Louis is surrounded by city. The ninth hole runs right along Skinker Blvd, a monster 600 yd par 5. Waiting on the tee was a homeless looking guy, dirty and smelly, and holding an old plaid junior bag with no strap and 3 or 4 clubs sticking way too far out of it.

Sounds more like Bagger Vance

[vct33]

One Saturday morning my friend John and I had a tee time at Brookledge Golf Club in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I was friends with the Asst Pro (Brent) and we were hanging around talking before our round.

This wild-haired old man walks in and says, "hey Brent, can I get off today?" Brent replies, "good morning your honor, I'm sorry but we are pretty booked up."

Now the old guy is milling around looking at some clubs and what not and Brent tells me he is Judge Pike of the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court. I was a young college kid who thought it might be good to have a judge buddy so I told Brent his honor could play along with us.

We are on the 1st tee and the judge asks John & I who the better player was. This was pre-wife & kids so I was playing at about a 5. John says, "Vince is quite a bit better than me." So the judge asked if I want to "make things interesting". I laughed thinking he was joking but he was dead serious. He asked me how $5.00 a hole sounded. I said, "what the heck." I figured he'd have to be really good for me to lose more than 10 or 15 bucks.

So we get going and I'm up something like 4 holes after 6. John and I are walking and his honor is riding. We start noticing him leaning out of his cart and scooting his drives further to try to keep up with us. The last thing we wanted to do was embarrass him so we let it go but we were laughing our asses off. He went to do this again on around the 15th hole and just when he leaned over he saw us watching him and he literally fell out of the cart and did a little tuck and roll for a bout 5 yards. We acted like it was a innocent accident and made sure he was alright.

Finally we are on the 18th tee. The judge owes me something like $50. We all hit our tee shots. The judge hit his ball and got in his cart and started driving. However, instead of driving to his ball down the right rough, he drives down the middle of the fairway where my ball is. He actually scoops up my ball and kept driving right to the parking lot. He threw his clubs in the trunk and took off. It was the wildest thing I've ever seen.

[devilsadvocado]

I met my current wife when we were paired up together at my local club. Of course, she is also the person who got me addicted to crystal meth, so not sure if it was such a good thing. She gets out in three months and I haven't made up my mind yet as to whether or not I will let her back into my life.

[wailtd]

Another Forest Park Golf Course story. I don't know if this is politically correct but its still a good story. I was 18 and had a summer job that didn't require me to be at work until 10am. I got into the habit of walking out on Forest Park's 18 hole course at the crack of dawn and usually I could get most if not all of a round done and still get to work. Since it was weekdays, the course was usually empty. I'd pay my $10 when I got back to the house because they weren't even open when I hit off the first tee. The proprietors were cool with that and since I was doing it 3 or 4 mornings a week, I got to know the folks there.
For a few weeks that summer I started golfing with an Italian Baker from the Hill who worked up the road and was getting off at 5:30am. He'd be in his white uniform and he liked to play right after work. He said it helped him sleep when he got home. I'd met Tony at one of my early morning golf vigils and we hit it right off. He was older than me and he was fearless and talked like a foul-mouthed sailor on leave, but he was very funny and became a good early morning golf partner.
One morning we were the first ones out and there's not another soul around. We get to the 4th hole, a dog-leg right par 5 that goes up a hill, leaving you with a blind approach to a green that sits on top of a ridge. Tony and I both hit our tee shots into the valley and then we hit our approaches up the hill. Tony skyed his 3 wood but I blistered mine so I'm thinking I'm either on the green in two or right up next to it. We started to walk up the hill to see how our approaches turned out. The 4th hole's green sits next to Art Museum Road, one of Forest Park's windey roads that run throughout the park. Next to the green was an old masonry building that was probably used as a snack shack or something in the Park's heyday, but was boarded up and not used at the time. That spot and the woods across the street were notorious as the homo-men hookup place. You'd see them all the time, men walking back into the woods or coming out of the woods one then another. Usually they did their thing and the golfers played golf. There was generally no interaction between the two groups. However, that morning we get up to the ridge and our mouths dropped as we saw a couple of young men naked on the 4th's green doggie-stlyin' it on a blanket. My ball was 20' from the pin and right behind them. They had their backs to us so I guess their passion kept them from noticing us. I looked at Tony and motioned him toward the 5th tee. I figured we'd just go around and leave them alone. I was willing to lose my ball not to have to pay them any more attention. I looked at Tony and he turned toward me with a glint in his eye and a big smile on his face and said, "Hell, man, we've got golf clubs and they don't." He reached into his bag and pulled out 3 or 4 balls and his 3 iron and starts hitting worm-burners at them. He's yellin between shots, "...you f#*() homos, get the f#&(

[dv7834]

One Saturday morning my friend John and I had a tee time at Brookledge Golf Club in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I was friends with the Asst Pro (Brent) and we were hanging around talking before our round.

And he was a judge? What a wild story.

[mjtoal]

While on business in San Diego about 4 years ago, I pitched up at a local course for a midweek game. Pro said I could play with a guy on the practice range. I met him at the first tee and asked him what handicap he played off. He told me he was a Nationwide Tour pro, hoping to get his PGA Tour card soon, so we played off the black tees. it was Robert Garrigus. We had a great game. He was a lovely bloke and put on a display of prodigious driving and iron play, and I have been following his career ever since, and hope he gets that first PGA Tour win soon.

[colin007]

A long time ago I was playing by myself very early in the morning on a weekday and the course was empty. Forest Park Golf Course in midtown St. Louis is surrounded by city. The ninth hole runs right along Skinker Blvd, a monster 600 yd par 5. Waiting on the tee was a homeless looking guy, dirty and smelly, and holding an old plaid junior bag with no strap and 3 or 4 clubs sticking way too far out of it.

wow, thats really incredible.

Another Forest Park Golf Course story. I don't know if this is politically correct but its still a good story. I was 18 and had a summer job that didn't require me to be at work until 10am. I got into the habit of walking out on Forest Park's 18 hole course at the crack of dawn and usually I could get most if not all of a round done and still get to work. Since it was weekdays, the course was usually empty. I'd pay my $10 when I got back to the house because they weren't even open when I hit off the first tee. The proprietors were cool with that and since I was doing it 3 or 4 mornings a week, I got to know the folks there.

that is unreal...

[Shagbag]

I've never had any really bad experiences with strangers I've been grouped with. But used to get together with guys from another golf forum for get togethers now and then. I met this one guy from the golf forum who was a "gourmet chef." We'd get together now and then. When I retired, I moved back to my home state of Oregon and never really thought about this guy again. However, I was still a member of the golf forum and one day I received a private message from him saying he was a taking a trip to Oregon to visit some friends and do some fishing. He wanted to know if I wanted to meet up and play a round with him. I figured...what the heck and replied I'd be happy to join him for a round and offered to let him spend the night at my house when he came through. To make a long story short, he did show up and we played a rather uneventful round. He offered to cook a "gourmet meal" to show his appreciation for letting him stay the night. I thought that was a nice touch...until

1. We went to the store to purchase the required ingredients and I paid for everything...still not really a big deal.
2. He cooked his meal using my wife's $600 set of cookware using metal utensils which completely ruined the finish
3. The meal wasn't really anything special and it ended up costing me a new set of cookware, about $100 at the store, and a very irritated wife.

Fortunately, I haven't seen this guy since.

[26point2]

Got paired up with two guys...one of them had only one leg (Pretty decent swing for one leg)...any, one leg guy pisses off his friend in the middle of the fairway. Two leg guy drives away and leaves one leg guy in the middle of the fairway. Since I was walking...all I could do was make small talk as one leg guy hopped down the fairway to the green. Happened two more times during the round.

[pup]

Another Forest Park Golf Course story. I don't know if this is politically correct but its still a good story. I was 18 and had a summer job that didn't require me to be at work until 10am. I got into the habit of walking out on Forest Park's 18 hole course at the crack of dawn and usually I could get most if not all of a round done and still get to work. Since it was weekdays, the course was usually empty. I'd pay my $10 when I got back to the house because they weren't even open when I hit off the first tee. The proprietors were cool with that and since I was doing it 3 or 4 mornings a week, I got to know the folks there.

That is the craziest thing I have heard in my whole damn life. Wow. How funny/disgusting/awkward.

[homerun79]

Loved the story about Stevie the homeless guy, thanks for sharing!

Just thought of a memorable "hole" a few weeks back, I was playing solo after dinner and through about 11 holes I'd be shanking shots and getting frustrated ready to throw my clubs in the lake and take up another sport lol...I detour to the 18th and see these 2 guys on the white tee box, I walk up and they say hey play with us if you want to...One of them has Adolf Hitlers slicked hair and exact mini moustache, pretty creepy at first glance...Dressed like he invented golf, brown wool pants down to the knees, tucked into black socks :) His friend is dressed like one of the Barenaked Ladies band members with a huge Amish style beard...lol

So of course, I've got my "who cares it's not a full round, I won't keep this score" attitude, smoke a Driver perfect over the corner of the dogleg par 5...9 iron to the island green, 10 feet for eagle. These guys are over 10 strokes each, finally putting...I hit the putt, it goes in the side door, super slomo Tiger style they are jumping around like they just won the Masters "wow so that's what an eagle looks like!"

Fun hole haha, and yes of course I changed my mind and fell in love with the game again on the drive home. :)

[vct33]

And he was a judge? What a wild story.

Yep, he spent something like 30+ years on the bench. I told everyone I knew that story. I told all the people that I was in the Chamber of Commerce with. I told anybody who would listen. I guarantee that it eventually got back to him. I wanted him to feel like an a-hole for doing that.

[markpf189]

Played with a guy once who would drop a ball out of his pocket while looking for his lost ball and say "got it." I just thought it was hilarious.