What is Your Oddest Driving Range Experience?

[Uncle Peter]

I'm sure we've all had an odd or weird driving range experience, so feel free to share it here!

Mine was watching my friend put his golf bag down on the ground on the grass tees and then seeing a large rat run out of it and onto the range! He said he hadn't golfed in a long time, but I didn't believe hit until then.

[clearwaterms]

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

I'm sure we've all had an odd or weird driving range experience, so feel free to share it here!

Mine was watching my friend put his golf bag down on the ground on the grass tees and then seeing a large rat run out of it and onto the range! He said he hadn't golfed in a long time, but I didn't believe hit until then.

that would scare the SHIT out of me...  I mean he likely had to carry the golf bag on his shoulder, and it had to sit in his/your car from where, etc.

Mine would probably be when I was a kid and didn't play golf all that seriously.  I went to the range with a friend because we were looking for something to do.  He somehow managed to hit a golf ball backwards into the parking lot.  To this day, I watched him do it.  He had a fairway wood in his hand, and the ball was off the turf.  Somehow he hit the ball aiming down the range, and the ball bounced off the ground (no interaction with a pole or range guard, etc.) and went into the parking lot.  It didn't go screaming into the lot, but I couldn't stop laughing all the same.

The most embarressing experience I ever had at the driving range was after I built my first set of irons.  I purchased a set of club heads online, and ordered true temper shaft pulls off of ebay.  The ebay seller had mislabeled the shaft as a .370 parallel tip, and they were in fact Titleist pulls that were .355 taper.  On like the 3rd swing with my 8 iron, the club head goes tumbling down the range.  with my tail between my legs, I go to the pro shop and explain what happened and they said, no trouble, they would go rescue the club head for me.  Then 5 minutes later I walk back in the pro shop again, and they looked at me puzzled and said "have they not gotten your club head back yet?"  to which I had to say "no, I broke another one"

[geauxforbroke]

I've had people hitting behind me (or to my left, depending on how you look at it) that have hit balls between my legs. Just a few weeks ago, someone did that and their ball hit mine during my backswing, a la Carl Pettersson.

[nevets88]

I guess this isn't that strange but there's this one guy who starts by putting on the mat for 10 minutes. The mat is, I dunno, 5 feet long, max.

Not really odd, but more annoying, are people who walk up right behind your stall directly behind you and watch you swing, without any regard for social mores.

[joshn3]

I went to the range with my best friends and brought my girlfriend along. She was having a hard time making good contact so my friend and I told her to stop and do a slow motion swing barley moving. She proceeded to take a full swing and club me in the side of the head slicing my ear and head lol.. Lets just say the night was a little awkward after that haha

[RPMPIRE]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

I've had people hitting behind me (or to my left, depending on how you look at it) that have hit balls between my legs. Just a few weeks ago, someone did that and their ball hit mine during my backswing, a la Carl Pettersson.

I saw something similar a while back. A guy (obviously new) was hitting an old 3 wood with the ball teed up about 2.5 - 3 inches high two stalls behind/left of me. A poor guy came to occupy the stall between us and after he hit a couple of shots, the teed-high-3-wood-guy gets way under the ball a the ball flies right into the guys head to the stall in front of him. We checked on him cause it looked like he was seeing stars and was wondering if he got a concussion. He seemed okay after a few minutes and continued hitting balls

At the same driving range at the Presidio Golf Club, the stalls are lined up in a crescent shape. I've seen a couple of guys from the left side hit a shank push slice into the stalls on the opposite side.

Here's another weird incident at the same driving range with Terry Rowles

Pretty dangerous driving range.

[KingCobra Rob]

Literally just got back from the range! as i was finishing up this fella is waiting for my bay, and said here lad have a shot of this, and hands me a taylormade 3wood he JUST bought, safe to say i was terrified of fluffing it

Just as well i got a nice connection, got about 175/200 straight (off tee) and walked off dead suave, like the geordie james bond!

[GHIN0011458]

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

I'm sure we've all had an odd or weird driving range experience, so feel free to share it here!

Mine was watching my friend put his golf bag down on the ground on the grass tees and then seeing a large rat run out of it and onto the range! He said he hadn't golfed in a long time, but I didn't believe hit until then.

I was giving a lesson for the first time to this kid, prob 14 years old and he was just learning how to hit a golf ball. Real shy kid. Anyways he hit one of his irons(I think 9) and a bird came and it pretty much blew the bird up like Randy Johnson. Kid didn't want to hit any more balls after that and felt really bad LOL

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by GHIN0011458

I was giving a lesson for the first time to this kid, prob 14 years old and he was just learning how to hit a golf ball.

Did he have a swing that looked EXACTLY like Tiger Woods?

[GHIN0011458]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Did he have a swing that looked EXACTLY like Tiger Woods?

No more like Ray Ramano(sp?)

[PhillyMac]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Did he have a swing that looked EXACTLY like Tiger Woods?

Too Funny! No lessons needed for that kid. He is a 4hdcp and shot a 73 on his 3rd week back from his 5 year hiatus??!!!!! LOL!

[boogielicious]

I've had nothing quite as cool as the "Rat in the Bag" incident.  Years ago I went to the range with my 6'4" friend.  We were hitting my old Ram clubs with wood heads.  He was using my driver.  I was looking down the range and I saw this brown thing flying through the air.  I was the head of my driver.  For some stupid reason, I let him hit my three wood next.  The head of the 3 wood ended up right next to the driver head.  At least his distance was consistent!

[RetroJFrancisco]

Dude in the bay next to me square shanked it into the metal dividing pole, hit him straight in the eye and left him blind in one eye, still speak to him now.. try not to remind him.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by RetroJFrancisco

Dude in the bay next to me square shanked it into the metal dividing pole, hit him straight in the eye and left him blind in one eye, still speak to him now.. try not to remind him.

This reminds me of one.  Playing my first tournament (last November) at a really nice, upscale resort course that doesn't have a driving range.  Instead, they have 4 hitting bays into a net ...each one probably about 10 feet wide or so, with the net being about 10 yards in front of you.  Because there are only 4 bays, and the tournament is going off of both front and back tees, and it is immediately adjacent to the putting green, there a lot of people around.  I stand in line for a few minutes, and then it's finally my turn.  After a few uneventful swings, I pull out my driver and rip one directly into one of the support poles at the end of the bay, it hits perfectly square, makes the loudest gong, careens straight back past me, and all the way through the putting green before finding its new home in the bushes.  The good news is that it didn't hit anybody.  The bad news is that it was one of those "record-scratch-everybody-stop-what-they're-doing-and-look-up" moments.  Nobody within 100 feet of that area didn't hear it either.

Luckily, my solo embarrassment was short-lived, though, because shortly after I was done (which was about 2 swings after that - when I almost hit the pole again) another guy did the same thing.  Misery loves company!

[Jodastra]

oh boy...at every range during peak hours there is Creepy guy. who when done hitting his mini-bucket likes to sit on the bench, sipping water,  and watch everyone else hit. Fortunately when he approached me for reasons unknown...I told him to hop in his Datsun B210 and get the F out of here or he'd be wearing a 9-iron like a necklace. Golf can have it's haunting moments.

[TJBam]

I guess I'd have to say clubheads flying.  Happened two consecutive days and both drivers were brand new Cobras.

And of course there is the sideways shot, the rope hit that jangles the rope all the way down the 50 yd line.

But the best is the angry duffer.  His worst enemy is the ball, and his second worst enemy is himself.  Best I've seen is a guy having three brand new drivers lined up and duffing all of them.  Red faced and furious.

[phan52]

I was on the range one day and the only other person there was a member's wife, who has a rep for being a little loopy. She was hitting balls and releasing her club and throwing it down the range on her followthrough. Since there wasn't a lot of people around, so she was able to walk out and get her club every time she threw it. I finally had to ask her WTF she was doing and she said that she wanted to get the feeling of finishing the shot by releasing the club. I just shook my head and walked away. FAR away.

[Al B Tross]

I was on the range one day and the only other person there was a member's wife, who has a rep for being a little loopy. She was hitting balls and releasing her club and throwing it down the range on her followthrough. Since there wasn't a lot of people around, so she was able to walk out and get her club every time she threw it. I finally had to ask her WTF she was doing and she said that she wanted to get the feeling of finishing the shot by releasing the club. I just shook my head and walked away. FAR away.

Oh my...