I am such a stupid

[phan52]

Our club had their annual shootout today. You have all year to qualify for it. They take a combination of low gross and low net scores to qualify. I qualified back in July with my best round, which translated into a net 66.

We started on our 13th hole with 15 players. I got off to a hot start and birdied the first hole. Wasn't close to necessary, as a net 5 on the par 4 qualified to move on, and we eliminated three guys.

There is a water hazard to the right on the next hole and I bailed out way left (on purpose; I know the object on each hole, especially in the beginning, is to just advance). Surprisingly, with all the people hitting shots, I was the only player over there. I went over and found a ball in the deep rough, hit a solid shot onto the fairway about 75 yds short of the green, and chipped up to about 15 feet, putting for par. I was going to advance easily, as a lot of guys were hitting it all over the place. I marked my ball, picked it up, and realized that IT WAS NOT MY F'ING BALL!!

I probably coud have gone back and played my ball with the requisite penalty shots and possibly got into a chip off to advance, but I was so pissed I just declared myself out and left. Total bummer.

[newtogolf]

With all the threads and posts on ball marking here I'm kind of surprised you didn't check the ball better before you hit it.  I guess it's one of those things that only happens once to a golfer, especially after such a costly outcome.

[phan52]

With all the threads and posts on ball marking here I'm kind of surprised you didn't check the ball better before you hit it.  I guess it's one of those things that only happens once to a golfer, especially after such a costly outcome.

Like I said, I am a stupid. Never did it before. I always mark my ball very clearly but I didn't look. I was in significant rough and there was nobody else around me or playing the adjacent hole. Just a random Titleist left there by somebody. No excuses. Really dumb.

[Lihu]

Unless you mark the ball, uniquely, on six symmetrically placed locations on the golf ball, it is really hard to tell. Especially from the rough. I think I mentioned that I picked up 4 extra balls, during one round, marked with my two dot pattern around the Logo. They were a Costco balls, and I lost 2 and found 6. Didn't notice until the 16th hole that I had lots more balls, my partners were also picking them up guessing they were mine. There was probably a party playing the same balls with my "unique" ball marking pattern. :-P People hit my balls when they go off their fairway or visa versa all the time, so it's not surprising to me that you hit the wrong ball.

[PirateJim]

Bummer! Not much to say beyond that. It is a good reminder for us all to double check those ball marks and make sure our balls are marked in a way we can recognize our ball even in the rough.

[Golfingdad]

Like I said, I am a stupid. Never did it before. I always mark my ball very clearly but I didn't look. I was in significant rough and there was nobody else around me or playing the adjacent hole. Just a random Titleist left there by somebody. No excuses. Really dumb.

We all do dumb stuff sometimes! Shake it off and move on. Somewhat understandable when you know your ball is the only one in the rough over there, so no reason to suspect the one you find isn't yours. Oh well. ;)

[MS256]

I did a similar thing (only worse because it wasn't in the rough) one time when I hit my tee shot in the fairway and we went to my playing partners ball first and then drove across the fairway to my ball (or so I thought).

I hit a 3W to just short of the green but just as I was getting ready to hit my chip shot I saw a cart coming down the fairway toward me with a person holding a golf ball out the side.

As soon as I saw it I knew...They said I had hit their ball. I looked down and sure enough it wasn't my ball. They had hit it across the tree line from another fairway. They said my ball was a little further down the fairway. I don't know why I didn't see it. Just wasn't paying attention and was sure the one I saw was my ball.

I just declared myself out of that hole for the team score.

The way I mark my ball now stands out like a sore thumb and I doubt if that will happen again.

[David in FL]

Ugh..... Wish I could say I've never done anything that dumb, but it just wouldn't be true!

[newtogolf]

Like I said, I am a stupid. Never did it before. I always mark my ball very clearly but I didn't look. I was in significant rough and there was nobody else around me or playing the adjacent hole. Just a random Titleist left there by somebody. No excuses. Really dumb.

I wasn't trying to pile on or say you're stupid, I was just surprised because of the recent threads.  Sorry if it came off that way.

Believe me I do plenty of stupid things on the course, but usually things recently discussed here are fresh in my mind so I'm less likely to do them.

[BuckeyeNut]

I probably coud have gone back and played my ball with the requisite penalty shots and possibly got into a chip off to advance, but I was so pissed I just declared myself out and left. Total bummer.

Shame on you for not marking your ball well enough......to all those guys who use a dainty dot or two to mark a ball...........that's not always good enough.

I don't have that problem...

I know it's my GD ball when I see it..............from a distance!  LOL....maybe you should reconsider your mark!   Make a mark that is undeniable...

[Golfingdad]

Shame on you for not marking your ball well enough......to all those guys who use a dainty dot or two to mark a ball...........that's not always good enough.

I don't have that problem...

I know it's my GD ball when I see it..............from a distance!  LOL....maybe you should reconsider your mark!   Make a mark that is undeniable...

I don't know ... I have a pretty obvous mark (3 initials in a triangle around the logo - both sides of the ball) and there are occasions when its sitting in the rough just right where it's tough to see.  Especially after a couple of holes where those letters have started to fade a little.

I have, on numerous occasions, seen where my ball went, and then walked up to it and hit it again without identifying it because I saw it land there so I "know" its mine.  In phan's case here, I think it's more of a fluke/oops, and nothing really more than that.

[rustyredcab]

Bummer. If we play enough golf, we will all do it at least once.

Another reason I'm so glad I love yellow balls. Still mark them but yellow is rare enough where I play that it eliminates most cases of mistaken identity.

Your sad tale is also the reason I have modified my policy of picking up found balls. I used to leave them all even when there was no way someone still playing was going to come looking for it. Since I play courses that sometimes have scramble format outings, a lot of people abandon their balls. If there is no way the ball is in play for someone (no hole coming the other way or no players on other holes), I pick it up. I think it speeds up play (people think it is their ball and stop looking, then discover it is not and start searching again) and avoids the problem you had.