Annoying Things Golfers Say and Do on the Course

[DoGolf Jonathan]

I personally HATE it when a golfer who doesn't know the rule walks ALL OVER your line on the green when he is trying to get to his ball.  This is a great pet peeve!

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by DoGolf Jonathan

I personally HATE it when a golfer who doesn't know the rule walks ALL OVER your line on the green when he is trying to get to his ball.  This is a great pet peeve!

If he didn't see your mark, maybe be can be given some slack.  Otherwise, I'd say : "Hey, you're walking on my line."

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by DoGolf Jonathan

I personally HATE it when a golfer who doesn't know the rule walks ALL OVER your line on the green when he is trying to get to his ball.  This is a great pet peeve!

That is etiquette, not a rue of golf.

[Golfs-for-Fun]

Originally Posted by Lag Rag

Here's another thing:  If you play the same 130yd par 3 four times a week, please do not take out that range finder again...unless your trying to look at the cart girl!!!  Thanks.

Ive wondered about that.

Im pretty much a newbie and even I can dial in the distances well enough to hit a  green from 150 out. I cant figure out why good player even need these gadgets.

[JP1111]

A pet peeve I have just become aware of is golfers who tell you how good they used to be. Ocassionally I tee it up with a guy who has to tell everybody we come in contact with, on the course, how good he used to be, 20 years ago. He sucked then, he sucks now, let your game do the talking.

He told me he got paired up with some other guys the other day who constantly out drove him by 20-30 yards. Decided he needed to play some better balls so he could drive it further......he bought some Noodles!

In all fairness if you cant afford/ dont want to buy premium balls Noodles are just about as good as you are going to get in my opinion. I played with a guy the other day who said "well you made good contact" every time I hit a wayward shot. Yes I did but unfortunately my ball in now under 6 feet of water.

[dagolfer18]

I’m gonna start this up again. I’m generally slow to anger, so there’s not much that annoys me on the golf course (apart from slow play of course), but there is something that has happened, and got under my skin. I absolutely hate it when someone I’m playing with who knows absolutely nothing about my game questions me about decisions I make. Here’s what I’m talking about:

A few months ago, I’m playing with a friend at my home course, and he’s brought one of his other friends with him, who I’ve played with, albeit only nine holes a few weeks before. So we roll up to the fairway on the par-5 fourth hole, and I’m sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway. Shot context: I’m sitting about 260 out, so there’s no realistic chance I’m hitting the green, even with a purely struck 3W. Left is dead, and right is trees until the 100-yard marker.

So I pull my 6I. The ball of my friend’s friend is just a few paces from mine, and right before I start my swing, he asks me, “Why aren’t you hitting 3W?” I didn’t reply, but I wanted to say something like, “Why SHOULD I hit 3W?” But it really ticked me off that he asked me the question right before I swung.

[Bonvivant]

1 hour ago, dagolfer18 said:

I’m gonna start this up again. I’m generally slow to anger, so there’s not much that annoys me on the golf course (apart from slow play of course), but there is something that has happened, and got under my skin. I absolutely hate it when someone I’m playing with who knows absolutely nothing about my game questions me about decisions I make. Here’s what I’m talking about:

A few months ago, I’m playing with a friend at my home course, and he’s brought one of his other friends with him, who I’ve played with, albeit only nine holes a few weeks before. So we roll up to the fairway on the par-5 fourth hole, and I’m sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway. Shot context: I’m sitting about 260 out, so there’s no realistic chance I’m hitting the green, even with a purely struck 3W. Left is dead, and right is trees until the 100-yard marker.

So I pull my 6I. The ball of my friend’s friend is just a few paces from mine, and right before I start my swing, he asks me, “Why aren’t you hitting 3W?” I didn’t reply, but I wanted to say something like, “Why SHOULD I hit 3W?” But it really ticked me off that he asked me the question right before I swung.

To be fair, you should probably hit 3W here. The only exceptions are if you have a tendency to miss way (I'm talking 50+ yards) left, or you don't hit your 3W more than 160 yards. You could have had a chance for an up and down birdie from (guessing here) under 60 yards, but instead you chose to have a longer shot.

I don't think It was right for him to say anything while you already have a club out and are down on the ball, but your logic for leaving a longer shot just because you can't reach it is flawed. Anyone that talks when you are in setup is just being rude though. He could have said "I like turtles" at that same moment and he would be equally as guilty in my mind.

I had a situation today (playing alone), where I had a 245 yard approach on a par 5 after a nice drive. Now the hole isn't the same of course, but the idea is. Advance your ball as far as you can, safely. I ended up with a 15 yard shot for my third, albeit over a bunker, and made one of the easiest pars ever, and my 12 foot putt almost got me a birdie. Just curious what you made on that hole?

[mcanadiens]

7 hours ago, dagolfer18 said:

“Why aren’t you hitting 3W?” I didn’t reply, but I wanted to say something like, “Why SHOULD I hit 3W?” But it really ticked me off that he asked me the question right before I swung.

Was he second-guessing you or was he merely interested in your reasoning?

During a casual round, some guys like to pick the brain of the guys they are playing with and learn something.

If a round means nothing in particular, I'll ask guys what they hit on a particular shot. Normally I wouldn't bother with the commentary.

[DaveP043]

19 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

Was he second-guessing you or was he merely interested in your reasoning?

During a casual round, some guys like to pick the brain of the guys they are playing with and learn something.

If a round means nothing in particular, I'll ask guys what they hit on a particular shot. Normally I wouldn't bother with the commentary.

I agree, but in @dagolfer18's case, the question came before he hit the shot.  I wouldn't have a problem if it was after, but asking before I made the swing would bother me a bit too.  Considering that the other guy's ball was just a few paces away, I'd suggest that it could constitute asking for advice.  Perhaps he was asking whether there was some factor that influenced the decision that he wasn't aware of, a hidden pond or something similar.  Even so, even in a casual round with friends, he asked at the wrong time.

[CarlSpackler]

Sounds to me like this guy was trying to get in @dagolfer18's head. Not that I would EVER do anything like that... 👼

Honestly, it's a bit odd since it was a friend of a friend questioning your game. It's not quite as bad as a total stranger doing it since you had played at least once before. It's still not appropriate to ask at that point in time.

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Just curious what you made on that hole?

I am curious as well.

[mcanadiens]

33 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Even so, even in a casual round with friends, he asked at the wrong time.

You're right. After the shot and definitely not before. 

My guess is the friend of a friend is a newb and just doesn't know any better.

@dagolfer18, tell your friend to keep his other friend on a tighter leash next time and school him up a bit.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by mcanadiens

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, mcanadiens said:

You're right. After the shot and definitely not before. 

My guess is the friend of a friend is a newb and just doesn't know any better.

@dagolfer18, tell your friend to keep his other friend on a tighter leash next time and school him up a bit.

Or at the end of the round, when you're all calm, tell him that you'd prefer that he doesn't ask any questions until after you've hit a shot.  In that way he might learn something about decision-making while avoiding the irritation he caused.  

Oh, another thing, kudos to @dagolfer18 for searching  the files and re-starting an old thread on exactly the same subject, instead of starting a brand new one.    (I was going to use the beer-toasting smiley, but didn't think that was quite appropriate)

[dagolfer18]

8 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

To be fair, you should probably hit 3W here. The only exceptions are if you have a tendency to miss way (I'm talking 50+ yards) left, or you don't hit your 3W more than 160 yards. 

Just curious what you made on that hole?

I don’t think 3W was the play for me at the time. The second shot on this particular hole is where there is the least margin for error. OB is about twenty feet off the fairway on the left until the 100-yard marker, but even if you hit a shot left that got past the 100, there’s a chance it’ll kick off the slope and finish OB, especially as dry as it’s been my past few rounds.

A solid 6I for me from the lie I described in my post would’ve given me about 100 yards into the green, which was, and still is, a shot I’m comfortable with. I didn’t have as much confidence with the 40-50 yard shots, which is where a solid 3W would finish. That was also back in a time where I didn’t trust my 3W near as much as I do now. I now hit 3W almost all the time on my second shot on that hole because I can now hit it a lot straighter.

About what I made on the hole...I actually don’t remember. I do remember this however: the poor timing with his comment/question shook me out of my concentration bubble. I promptly hooked my 6I OB.

1 hour ago, CarlSpackler said:

Sounds to me like this guy was trying to get in @dagolfer18's head. Not that I would EVER do anything like that... 👼

Hmmm...that’s a very good possibility. My other friend who invited him always talks trash and tries to get into my head. Maybe he was just following suit!

But last time my friend tried to get into my head, which was actually the last time we played, it didn’t work. I had just shot 50 on the front nine, and we (my brother and I) ran into him as we were making the turn. He asked how we played, and I told him I shot 50. He then said to my brother, “Don’t beat him up too bad on the back.”, which he says literally every time we see him. I don’t really mind that, because we’ve been friends for a long time. I went and shot a 44 on the back, tying my low score on that nine. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by dagolfer18

[CarlSpackler]

2 minutes ago, dagolfer18 said:

His tricks don’t work on me anymore.

So perhaps he knew this and employed a third party to get in your head. 🤔

[rvanculin]

I absolutely cannot stand unsolicited advice on the golf course. I used to regularly play a  weekly 9-hole scramble at my club. I'm usually the A player, and I try to be encouraging, which usually leads to people being comfortable enough to "help" me with my swing. On the 9th hole, we were trying to drive a par 4 hitting over trees. After saying I struggle hitting the ball high, my D player suggests I could hit it higher if I got a lower lofted driver! Haha, he was dead serious.

[iacas]

13 hours ago, dagolfer18 said:

I’m generally slow to anger, … But it really ticked me off that he asked me the question right before I swung.

You're slow to anger but a guy asking a question "ticked you off"?

Why not just back off from the shot and re-compose yourself, or say "nice try buddy!," take a few extra waggles, and hit your shot?

3 hours ago, dagolfer18 said:

I don’t think 3W was the play for me at the time. The second shot on this particular hole is where there is the least margin for error. OB is about twenty feet off the fairway on the left until the 100-yard marker, but even if you hit a shot left that got past the 100, there’s a chance it’ll kick off the slope and finish OB, especially as dry as it’s been my past few rounds.

A solid 6I for me from the lie I described in my post would’ve given me about 100 yards into the green, which was, and still is, a shot I’m comfortable with.

If not a 3W, you should have probably at least hit a 6I.

You've said both the trees and the OB are tighter to the fairway until the 100-yard marker, then you played a club that when hit well would get to the 100-yard marker. Why not play even a 5I, or a 4H, to get past the "corner" of the OB and trees?

The people with the "LSW" badge know what I'm getting at here, but I might have asked you the very same question your friend asked you. I would have done it much sooner, OR after you played, but honestly his question was probably a good one.

P.S. My question is not to derail the topic. We have others for this. Just to give you something to think about.

[Darkfrog]

Since this thread got a bump I've got a few.

Meaningless swing advice, like "swing nice and smooth"

"Nice shot", when I just hit a heeled / pull slice that happened to land in the fairway.

When someone tells me that I hit it where I was aiming, after I hit a ball 30 yards offline of the target. It usually takes me about 2 seconds to figure that out without help.

Being asked if I want to take breakfast ball after a bad shot. I try to get as many rounds to count toward my handicap as possible, because I like to use this as a metric for my improvement. Not their fault, because it's common thing to do, but it still bugs me.

[CarlSpackler]

15 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

Being asked if I want to take breakfast ball after a bad shot. I try to get as many rounds to count toward my handicap as possible, because I like to use this as a metric for my improvement. Not their fault, because it's common thing to do, but it still bugs me.

Dude I played with last weekend kept inviting me to hit another one. I politely declined. I think he finally caught on after the 5th time I turned him down.

16 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

"Nice shot", when I just hit a heeled / pull slice that happened to land in the fairway.

They're being polite.