What a stupid I am!

[Fairway_CY]

So, I was feeling pretty good heading into my Week 3 matchup in our club.  I had been striking the ball really well at the driving range and felt pretty confident that I was going to have a good round.  My opponent was struggling and he had all but given up prior to the match because he was feeling a little ill as well.

Fast forward to Sunday... right off the bat, I struggled.  I dribbled my opening tee shot about 75 yards into the rough, pulled a hybrid out of there into a fairway bunker, pushed a 6 iron into a greenside bunker and then needed a chip and 2 putts for a triple bogey to open.  Then it got worse as I pulled the tee shot out of bounds on the 2nd hole, topped the reload so badly that I could have reached my hand out and caught it after it popped up from driving it directly into the ground.  It was just an ugly day.  On the plus side, my partner was playing well... so we were doing okay in doubles... but my singles match was getting out of control early.

I settled down a little bit and started, coupled with my opponent struggling, I started to bring the match back closer.  We made the turn and I was 1 down.  I then choked away the 10th hole with another ball poked OB and went back to 2 down.  I won the 11th hole to get it back to 1 down and then we halved the 12th.

Heading to the 13th tee, I knew I had a good shot if I could get through the 13th hole.  It's a murderous par 5 that's really no fun at all if you are struggling.  OB right, lateral hazard all down the left side, another hazard crossing the fairway 100 yards in front of the green.  Just a mess of a hole if you aren't playing well.

My tee shot was struck pretty well, but just missed the fairway to the right.  When I got up to where I thought the tee shot landed... there was a ball there, but it seemed to be about 15-20 yards short of where my typical drive would land.  I knew I toed it a little bit but... it was a Titleist... just like my ball.  It had a very similar mark to mine on it (I use the initials TLC to mark my ball and the marking on this ball, without picking it up to identify it, was very similar).  So... I hit the ball.  Put it in the fairway about 150 yards from the hole.  I went to pick my partner up (carts are required in our club) and started to drive back to the cart path when I noticed another ball in the rough about 20 yards up from where I'd just hit "my ball".  Well, when I looked at this ball... my heart sank.  It was my ball that I used on the tee shot.

I looked at my partner and told him what I'd done.  He gave me a look that all but said "shut up and don't say anything'.  My opponent was about 150 yards up in the fairway, but I knew I couldn't do that.  I'd never forgive myself if it made a difference in the match.  So, I looked up the penalty.  We play 3 formats every week.  Low net, singles match play and doubles match play.  The penalty for hitting the wrong ball is 2 strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play.  I played my ball from there and ended up, after the 2 stroke penalty, with an 8.  The strokes didn't bother me because I'd been playing so poorly, there was no way I was going to win low net.  But the loss of the hole in singles and doubles was huge.

Luckily, we managed to eek out the win in doubles on the 18th hole.  But, I ended up losing on the 17th hole by a final count of 2 & 1.  The worst part about it is that if I hadn't taken the loss of hole penalty, I would have ended up winning the singles match on the 18th hole as well.

Instead... I'm 1-2-0 in singles now and 2 full games behind the leaders who are 3-0-0 so far.

"What a stupid I am!"

Lesson learned.  Always, ALWAYS, check the ball properly and don't just assume it's your ball.

CY

[Tomboys]

Stupid?  Naw.  Careless?  Maybe.  Mistakes happen.  You played the game with honesty and integrity.  To me, that makes you a "winner".

[kevin.chan]

Saw this in front of my eyes in a tournament last year...pretty painful !

[Kieran123]

At least you did the right thing. A lot of guys wouldn't - and sometimes you can be on the wrong end of that stick, so if it ever happens to you, hope that they;re just as honest as yourself

[ghalfaire]

No need for remorse.  You made a mistake in hitting the wrong ball so just learn from it.  You did the right thing in declaring a penalty and showed integrity which makes you one of the good guys in my opinion.

[dwayne12508]

P.S. being an honest golfer will make your career much longer and builds better relationships with others.

[Clambake]

I was going to say kudos for doing the right thing, but then thought that none of us should have to be congratulated for simply playing the game by the rules.    But it is nice to hear your tale, reaffirming that there are those that play the game with integrity.

Speaking of integrity, I personally would look for a different partner in future events as it appears you partner was willing to compromise his simply to look better in a little club match.    If he was willing to cheat in this instance, it is very likely that he has in the past and will do so in the future, and you run the risk of getting painted with the same brush one day when he's discovered.

[walk18]

Don't worry about it, you can hold your head high with integrity, and that's always a great feeling. I think you'll have karma on your side in the near future.

[Double Bogey]

While I dont know if you pick your partner or not, if you do I too would look for a new one.  If he is a friend he will understand why you chose to "release" him.  If he is just a club acquaintance he will again understand why you "released" him.  The is no place in golf for " 'shut up and don't say anything'.  My opponent was about 150 yards up in the fairway."

[Fairway_CY]

Hey guys... thanks for the responses.  I wasn't posting the story seeking back-patting for playing by the rules.  Someone above mentioned that nobody should be congratulated for actually following rules... and they're right.  It was more of a post venting that I didn't pay attention and it ended up costing me the match.

Regarding my partner... he never actually said not to say anything.  It was just what I interpreted from the look he gave me when I told him about it.  He's a very good guy, a very good golfer and about as honest a member as we have in the club.  Ultimately, it didn't cost our team anything... so it ended up being a 'no harm - no foul' situation.  If we'd lost the match... I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have said anything about playing by the rules.

At the end of the day... I played the wrong ball, I took the penalties, and I learned from the experience.  Nothing more I can do about it at this point.

Just have to make sure I'm checking the ball on every shot now.

CY

[ejimsmith]

Originally Posted by Fairway_CY

Hey guys... thanks for the responses.  I wasn't posting the story seeking back-patting for playing by the rules.  Someone above mentioned that nobody should be congratulated for actually following rules... and they're right.  It was more of a post venting that I didn't pay attention and it ended up costing me the match.

Regarding my partner... he never actually said not to say anything.  It was just what I interpreted from the look he gave me when I told him about it.  He's a very good guy, a very good golfer and about as honest a member as we have in the club.  Ultimately, it didn't cost our team anything... so it ended up being a 'no harm - no foul' situation.  If we'd lost the match... I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have said anything about playing by the rules.

At the end of the day... I played the wrong ball, I took the penalties, and I learned from the experience.  Nothing more I can do about it at this point.

Just have to make sure I'm checking the ball on every shot now.

CY

i got DQ'd for a tourney recently because i lost my tee shot and didn't go back to replay it.  i thought we were playing "match-play" rules, and just told the rest of the 4-some that i'd take 1 shot above the highest score and let myself lose the hole (the group behind us was already teeing off, and i felt a bit uncomfortable walking back and teeing off again and holding everyone up).  i found out *after* the tourney that we weren't playing match but stroke play, and the rest of my 4-some DQ'd me.  i was a bit peeved that they didn't say anything before... like "hey, if you don't re-tee, you'll be DQ'd".   but whatever, i've learned that tourney situation require a bit more attention to the details of the rules.  i know there's people on this forum that think of the rule book as an immovable object, and that tourney and non-tourney play should be held to the same standard, but that's not me.   sooo... while i agree that you were correct taking the penalty for hitting the wrong ball, if i were playing in a non-tourney game, i'd just go and hit the correct ball and forget about the extra "practice" shot.