Angry Golfers???

[Inebriated]

I've never broken a club, but I've buried a 5 Iron about 8 inches into wet rough. Came up as just a clump of mud. I've also thrown my putter a solid 40 yards. And of course there's the obligatory "****!" as loud as can be.

These don't happen often, but when they do I feel better after whatever release I choose. I try to not do it when other groups are around.

[JeffreyD]

I use to have a super bad temper on the course. I think I have broken 3, maybe 4 clubs getting angry. That was in high school though when I expected way too much out of myself. It's probably what led to me basically quit golf 2008-2010 (graduated May '07). I got serious again this year and have only gotten angry a few times. I cuss....a lot. I also toss a wedge or an iron on occasion. I will never break clubs again though. It's stupid and get's costly. Anger on the golf course leads you in the wrong direction anyway. I don't think I have ever scored well in a round where I got pissed off to the point of throwing a club. Just not worth it.

[carpediem4300]

i once pulled a drive into a lake and ballsed up what was going to be my best round ever, i didnt really flip but i just casually dropped my driver and went to volley it back towards my bag,

there was no aggresion or force involved, just disappointment, but my brand new ping G5 driver snapped clean in half

[newbgolfer]

to be honest, i'm not good enough to get mad at myself/the club/course when I don't perform well. If I hit a bad shot/miss a putt, I just think to myself "...meh, thats about right"

[lumpuckeroo]

I would never break a club, I spend way to much money on my clubs and would never want to put someone I'm playing with thru that kind of behavior.

[paulg]

When I was younger, around 14/15, I slammed down my SW on the edge of the bunker after a duffed shot, snapped clean in half. I haven't broken a club since.

[parbreaker]

Personally, I have never intentionally broken a club.

When I was in high school i had a bad temper. I would cuss, get depressed, and occasionally slam a clubhead into the ground. I would be lying if I said the thought of throwing a club never crossed my mind, but I was brought up playing golf with a father who was very strict about etiquitte on the golf course. It somehow always managed to restrain me. I certainly witnessed my share of broken clubs from opponents and team mates though.

Today, the worst I due is cuss under my breath, or let the club go after my swing is done (it just drops to the ground behind me). I have become much more reserved and level headed, though the drive to perfection is still there underneath. I think that changes with most people with age. Teenagers are apt to lose their tempers. If an older person has a habit of breaking clubs, it is probably a sign of some other issues.

In addition to that, I worked a lot of hours to afford my clubs. I couldn't imagine blowing all that hard work with one swift motion....

[1par2win]

I admit I have snapped a club in anger. A couple of years ago coming off the 17th tee I wasn't in a good mental place and my Titleist 906 3 wood caught the brunt of it. I walked off the tee and down the stairs just keeping myself composed and as I got to the last stair I decapitated that 3 wood by hitting the edge of the stair just above the hosel. Snapped the head off clean as can be. Didn't yell or scream, just "calmly" snapped the club. Regretted it immediately but I had a 909 in mind anyway but still no excuse. But like Ben said the "evil" just got to me that day and that is what happened!

On a side note I grew up cadding for a couple of different clubs and maybe my memory isn't the best but I seem to recall meltdowns such as the ones being discussed here were more commonplace 25 years ago. Like I said it might be my perception but I don't see the breaking of clubs that often anymore.

[bluecollar01]

At the ripe old age of 31, I recently took up the game (May '11).

The gentleman that introduced me to the game and has graciously provided his 25+ years of insight on how to get started is a mild mannered giant (6'5" and easily 275lbs).  We were playing an all par 3 18 hole course the other day when we came to a 120 yard hole that had water surrounding 3 sides of the green.  After I promptly put my first shot in the water, I teed up again and put the ball on the green.  My playing partner stepped up and quickly dropped 3 balls in the drink.  Many four letter words and lots of club swinging ensued, one of which took out his bag.  After gathering his composure he picked up the bag and placed it on the pull cart and we headed around the water to the green.  The sharp turn and down-slope near the water caused his pull cart to overturn, spilling his bag and clubs on the ground.  The pull cart never stood a chance.  My hulk like friend picked up the pull cart and smashed it into the ground, snapping the welds in the middle of the cart.

Following the carnage we sat the pull cart to the side and continued with our round.  Personally, I think it's ridiculous for someone to get so upset over a game we play to "relax" but on another level I have to admit it is one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed.

[Jonnydanger81]

I've bent 1 clubs over my whole golfing life and it wasn't over my knee or anything crazy.  Just shoving it into my bag at a horrible angle and slightly bending it.  I'd pay to see someone go through their whole set and break each one though.  I'd think after 2 or 3 clubs you'd realize how stupid you're acting.  I used to play with a guy that carried this beat up as hell 4-iron.  That was his beating club.  Bad shot, he'd take out the 4 iron and slam it around a bit.  I guess it's better than slamming every club, but it's still embarassing when you're playing with someone and they start wailing away on a tree or the ground.

[RayG]

Intentionally? no, I haven't broken a club that way. Only once did I bend a shaft after a particularly bad shot. I pounded the ground, not terribly hard- with the head of the club. Or at least I thought I was going to. Didn't notice the tree stump. doink... I play with a friend who has a fairly short fuse and has been known to flip clubs and have a tantrum of some kind. I kept telling him, "We're suppose to be having FUN! You're going to go too far and I'll walk back to the clubhouse and wait for you". He always laughed and that would seem to calm him down. Until one day, 2 chili dips and a thinned wedge was the ignition for the fuse. He wound up and helicoptered the club... except not where he was aiming (nothing new there, btw). It flew *just* over my head and dug into the green on the adjoining hole. Fortunately, nobody was there. I walked up to our green, picked up my ball, grabbed my clubs off the cart and started walking back to the clubhouse. Didn't say a word. I could hear the "WTF is he doing? screw him, etc... ". After a few minutes, I was at the green of the next hole and I think he had a minute or two to realize what a pr*ck he was. I think my other buddy had a word with him to say that it wasn't me that was in the wrong- HE was the problem. He finally came up behind me and apologized profusely and he didn't mean to do it, etc... I reminded him that this was exactly what I told him I would do if he got carried away- he just never thought I would follow through. I asked if he fixed the green he just damaged. He hadn't. Told him to go back and fix it and we'll pick up our round on the next tee when he got back. (without holding anyone up, I will add. fortunately there weren't many folks out) He did (my other buddy checked on it), and they came back and we went. I also told him if it happened again, he wouldn't play with me ever again. He got very lucky we were the only ones who saw what happened- If an employee of the course had been there, he would have been kicked off. He has since tempered down a LOT, although he will still flip a club and spout a tirade. Although the volume of the tirade and velocity of the flips are fairly restrained. He won't go out as a single because he knows his temper can be a bit distracting, so he's behaving himself a bit better. We are the only people he goes with so if I stop, his options are severely limited.

[rdwoody]

I'm a pretty calm guy, so I've never broken a club. I have slammed one down and kicked a cart tire a few times, but I never go over the top. I've actually never even played with anybody that broke a club. Although, I have seen some pretty interesting things done out of anger.

In high school, me and three teammates were playing a practice round before a match. This particular hole had a narrow bridge over a creek leading to the 6th green and away from the next hole, so we usually left our bags sitting there in our path to the next tee box. One of my buddies hit a greenside bunker and took off across the bridge with only his wedge. After he got it up on the green, he noticed he left his putter, so he just borrowed one of ours. He missed his putt and then spun and threw the putter, narrowly missing the guy he borrowed it from. We all got a good laugh out of it, but I was glad no one was around to see that.

During a separate round with that same guy, we were on the green and he was once again faced with a short putt. He lipped it out and I could see the anger building up already. After his tap-in, he rared back and took a full swing with his putter. That isn't so out of the ordinary, plenty of people have done that. But, he swung a little low and hit the inside edge of the hole and tore up about a 5" x 5" piece of green.

During another round with the same fella, yet again, we headed across the same old bridge to the green on the 6th hole. Once again, he had wedge in hand to chip one up on the green. Usually, if we had to take a wedge over there, we would just lay it in our path back to the bridge, but after a poor shot, he decided he wanted that club as far away from him as possible. So, he gave it a little toss back toward the bridge. The club landed straight up and down and began to cartwheel... right into the creek. He went in, shoes and all, after it.

One more time, I'll tell you about good old hole #6 (maybe they should make this thing a little easier, eh?). I was playing with a buddy that was just getting into golf and he was getting ready to hit one across the creek to the green. He rared back and chunked it into the creek. He dropped another and chunked it into the creek. Then, he dropped a third and chunked it into the creek and that set him off. He commenced to hacking at the ground with his club until he had dug a hole about 7 or 8 inches deep. The funny thing was, he was a maintenance guy at the course.

[Topper]

My wife and I were playing 9 holes at a local links-style course about a month ago.  There was a foursome ahead of us and one poor guy was constantly in the rough (waist-high sage grass) or woods looking for his ball.  Every single hole.  We pull up to the tee box on the 5th or 6th hole, and we see him in the weeds again.  He walks out and slams his club into the ground with every step.  Then after about 30 yards of that, we watch him hurl his club across the fairway in the general direction of the golf cart where his buddies were waiting for him further up the fairway.  My wife just looked at me and said that if I ever did that she'd never golf with me again.

Anyway, the guy continued his ongoing forays in the left side rough for the remain 3 or 4 holes when we finished our 9 and left the course.

[bfn18]

Little update for my angry friend. Has nothing to do with golf but last night he broke his softball bat after we lost the championship game. I do not even want to play golf or really any sport with him but the problem is he is one of my best friends and do not know how to tell him I will not be golfing with him anymore.

Ohh yea, he just got g15's and no he does not have the money t just keeping buying new clubs afer he breaks his old ones.

[mgolfer167]

Never broken a club on purpose. An old sand wedge of mine broke when I played in 40 degree weather on near-frozen turf. Clubs are so expensive, way too expensive to break over one shot! Why someone could get that worked up over one shot is a testament to not only the frustration the game can bring, but also the rage it can bring out.

[Spyder]

I have only broken 2 clubs - both accidentally. I had accidentally left a 7i laying in the fairway after I laid it down when I was almost hit by another group's drive off the tee. They were creeping up very close behind us. I got in my cart to go back and exchange words with them and let them know that they were 2 feet away from hitting one of three of us. When I drove back to find my club, I found it with the wheel of the cart! =(

The other time I broke my club was sheer stupidity on my part when I was trying to play a 4i from the trees. I did the Tiger Woods approach (search it on YouTube) and snapped the shaft clear in half. It was a stand-out shot though as it crept up a few feet from the hole! Really dumb shot though and should never even be considered so I assume all responsibility (or lack thereof) on that one.

Breaking a club out of anger is just crazy. No matter the expense of the club, it just doesn't show etiquette or self-control.

[wmiller]

Only once have I had the misfortune to play with someone who couldn't control his temper. After the second outbreak, I told him to go on ahead, as my friend and I were no longer interested in playing with him. He started mouthing off and my friend told him to just go ahead and leave. When the idiot started walking towards my friend with a club in hand, he calmly pulled his off-duty piece and badge and (in so many words) told him to take a hike.

The idiot left, yelling and throwing clubs (not in our direction) as he walked. Amazing. I am glad we didn't have to shoot him though.

I think I'll stick to playing with old guys and couples on Sunday morning. Doesn't mean I'll go unarmed though...  ;)

[johnclayton1982]

Only time I lost my temper - My best score ever at the time was in the high-90s, and I came to the Par 5 14th with a chance to break 90.  I hit a good drive, then a hybrid fat, then another hybrid fat, then had to lay up in front of water with a pitching wedge.  Now hitting my fifth shot, what should have been an easy 7 iron, i hit it fat again and put in the water.  Before I could control myself, I threw the club end over end into the water hazard.  Luckily, it stuck in clubhead first and I was able to get it back with a ball retriever.  Never again.