HIT INTO...What would you have done???

[MS256]

When I first started playing golf I was behind a foursome of young guys (maybe 19 to 21 years old). In front of them was a single that was obviously a beginner (and slow).

As I pulled up to a tee box on a drivable par 4 the single was down on the green and the foursome were hitting at him. As soon as they would hit they would yell "Fore" and the guy on the green would run to the side under a tree. When he would come back out to putt they would hit at him again and he would run under the tree again.

None of it was any of my business but I couldn't resist telling them that it was a good thing that wasn't me down there on that green.

He said "We have golf clubs to take care of him if he wants to fight."

I said yeah, and he just might have something in his car just a little more powerful than a golf club.

One of them said "Yeah that might be right" and they stopped hitting at him.

Funny thing was that I didn't know any of those kids but I do now. They are all excellent golfers and really nice guys.

If I didn't know I would think they would have never done anything like that when they were younger because it would be totally out of character for them now.

BTW. I honestly don't know what I would have done in the OP's situation. Just depends on what I thought the intent was.

[Lihu]

. . .

BTW. I honestly don't know what I would have done in the OP's situation. Just depends on what I thought the intent was.

Usually, most people don't know how far something is on a fairway, especially around or over 250 yards. There is rarely ever any intention to hit into people. There is always a judgement error. On the one hand you don't want to make the people behind you wait, on the other you don't want to put someone in the hospital.

Tuesday, that was put to the test as the grounds keeper was kind of pushing me to make my tee shot as the seniors were already far enough "out of range". I told him that on a good shot I could still reach them. He looked at me with the "eye", as he was waiting on me to hit before proceeding to do his work. I hit, and it was another freakishly long kind of drive down a hill. It probably would have hit them, as it landed in line and past the where their carts were positioned. After this the grounds keeper didn't ebb me on any more.

The bottom line is if someone hits into me or my group, I usually instinctively want to let them pass. It would make for a more pleasant round for everyone (or at least me). I would rather give up a few minutes of my time rather than "keep my place" and possibly get me or someone in my party get injured.

If you're on the other side, just wait. It won't kill the people behind you to wait a few minutes.

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

Old guys playing from the tips ruining the game... now that is funny. We play the course as it should be played. Par 4's reached in 2 then putt for your birdie... Par 5's reached in 3 (occasionally in 2) then make your putt for eagle or par all while walking and finishing in well under 4 hours. Seeing how poorly they played the Par 3's made it clear their game was Drive for Show. I still feel there is no defense for playing tees far too easy for you. Call me old fashion but I even think 4 guys in their 20's might want to consider WALKING rather than riding. And expecting groups in front of you to step aside is silly. The only reason they ever waited for us was because they were playing half of the Par 4's as Par 3's. There are plenty of courses I should & would play from the white tees but our course is not one of them. They should have know by the first Par 5 (5th hole)  they were playing the course too easy.

[MS256]

Usually, most people don't know how far something is on a fairway, especially around or over 250 yards. There is rarely ever any intention to hit into people. There is always a judgement error. On the one hand you don't want to make the people behind you wait, on the other you don't want to put someone in the hospital.

Tuesday, that was put to the test as the grounds keeper was kind of pushing me to make my tee shot as the seniors were already far enough "out of range". I told him that on a good shot I could still reach them. He looked at me with the "eye", as he was waiting on me to hit before proceeding to do his work. I hit, and it was another freakishly long kind of drive down a hill. It probably would have hit them, as it landed in line and past the where their carts were positioned. After this the grounds keeper didn't ebb me on any more.

The bottom line is if someone hits into me or my group, I usually instinctively want to let them pass. It would make for a more pleasant round for everyone (or at least me). I would rather give up a few minutes of my time rather than "keep my place" and possibly get me or someone in my party get injured.

If you're on the other side, just wait. It won't kill the people behind you to wait a few minutes.

Yeah when I think somebody is right on the borderline of my range is when I am guaranteed to hit my longest shots...So if in doubt I wait.

Admittedly it sometimes looks a little stupid if I wait and then hit a terrible shot but I would rather look stupid than to hit somebody.

[Pretzel]

Yeah when I think somebody is right on the borderline of my range is when I am guaranteed to hit my longest shots...So if in doubt I wait.

Admittedly it sometimes looks a little stupid if I wait and then hit a terrible shot but I would rather look stupid than to hit somebody.

I've found just the opposite. When I'm out on the course during the week, it's usually around the times they do things like mow the fairways or fix sprinklerheads etc. since it's not during prime golfing times. Since I work part-time in maintenance, they all know me and some of them will stop and wave me through them while they duck behind the machine. Just knowing they're out there I end up with a disproportionately large number of duck-hooks compared to a wide open fairway. I suppose it's better than hitting into them, unless they're short and left of my usual landing area.

[whatwoodtigerdo]

Old guys playing from the tips ruining the game... now that is funny. We play the course as it should be played. Par 4's reached in 2 then putt for your birdie... Par 5's reached in 3 (occasionally in 2) then make your putt for eagle or par all while walking and finishing in well under 4 hours. Seeing how poorly they played the Par 3's made it clear their game was Drive for Show. I still feel there is no defense for playing tees far too easy for you. Call me old fashion but I even think 4 guys in their 20's might want to consider WALKING rather than riding. And expecting groups in front of you to step aside is silly. The only reason they ever waited for us was because they were playing half of the Par 4's as Par 3's. There are plenty of courses I should & would play from the white tees but our course is not one of them. They should have know by the first Par 5 (5th hole)  they were playing the course too easy.

You're an 11 handicap and this is how you play from 6650. I guess you are horrible on par 3s or a real bad putter. It's not really cool to hit into someone but if you had the same number of golfers as them and you refused to let them play through because of pride even though you are walking I would've eventually hit a warning shot into you. Just close enough for you to hear the bounce. Most people catch the drift. Maybe they tried that but y'all couldn't hear it and didn't say anything so they just went with it. It's wrong what they did but on the other side you probably deserved what those whippersnappers did.

[ditchparrot19]

Quote:

Quote:

You're an 11 handicap and this is how you play from 6650. I guess you are horrible on par 3s or a real bad putter. It's not really cool to hit into someone but if you had the same number of golfers as them and you refused to let them play through because of pride even though you are walking I would've eventually hit a warning shot into you. Just close enough for you to hear the bounce. Most people catch the drift. Maybe they tried that but y'all couldn't hear it and didn't say anything so they just went with it. It's wrong what they did but on the other side you probably deserved what those whippersnappers did.

You're an 11 handicap yourself, yet you can do exactly what you intend to do with a driver from long range (i.e. hit balls close enough so the group in front hears them bounce, but not put anybody in physical danger in any way)? You can do this sort of thing at will, just to make a point?

You're either stretching the truth here or you're a big-league sandbagger.

[atxpkrgolf]

I don't care who was walking or riding or how old the players in each group were or if u thought they were playing the wrong tees. You could also be playing the wrong tees. The only thing that matters is if u are directly behind the group ahead of u. If u are then they have no reason to fire into u but if u were slow then I don't mind a warning shot or 2 as someone said

[isukgolf]

Can not really add much ... But one thing popped in to my head instantly, based on a recent thread The young fellows are apparently not members here, and have not read the concealed weapon on a golf course thread ... :-)

[dkolo]

Can not really add much ... But one thing popped in to my head instantly, based on a recent thread The young fellows are apparently not members here, and have not read the concealed weapon on a golf course thread ... :-)

Yeah, sounds like they made no effort to conceal their guns.

[DeadMan]

I have unfortunately hit into people before. Never actually hit anybody, thank god, but I've come close. But every single time it's been an accident. Very few people hit into others on purpose (and people that do should not be playing golf). Here's what you do - after it happens, talk to them about it. It's possible they haven't played the course before and had no idea. The course yardages are also likely mismarked. I've stood on holes the scorecard claims are 330 yards long and then nearly drove the green because they were actually 280 yards. So if you just talk to them, calmly, and tell them to be careful, that should take care of the problem. If they hit into you again, then call the pro shop and get them removed from the course. Throwing their balls away is childish. Talk to them like a mature adult. If they aren't going to be mature about it, get the course to deal with it. Also, it's none of anybody's business what tees people decide to play from in a casual round, as long as they keep up with the group in front of them. Not relevant at all here.

[RonTheSavage]

Im not proud of this but I've had a guy hit into me before and I just placed his ball in my pocket and continued my round. Looking back that was definitely an A-Hole thing to do and I would hope I'd be better going forward.

[Moppy]

Putting the balls in the hole would have been pretty funny. But probably talking to them might have been better.  My course has a few blind shots, and it is pretty hard to actually wait long enough for the fairway to clear when you can't see what is going on ahead and there are people behind you. Sometimes we send a scout.

I would have let them play through though. It is always an option.

[phan52]

I played later in the day today and ended up playing in front of young yahoos. My course is not overly long (6650 yds)  but is a challenge do to blind shots, doglegs, and the putting. My group of 60 year old's walked and played from the blues as we always do. The young yahoos rode in carts and played from the white tees. It was clear from the first hole they should not have been playing from the white tees. While on the 1st green their tee shots nearly reached the green... at 280 yards! On some of the holes the white tees are 50 to 90 yards shorter than the blue tees. WHY would 20 something year old's with obvious driving ability choose to play tees too easy for them. Our entire round we had to constantly be aware of incoming shots, especially on blind shots or doglegs. On the 16th hole two of the players drove the green from the 290 yard white tees. We played the Par 4 at 365 yards with large oak trees forcing a dogleg. One of the young guys made the putt for an eagle! Since we walked past the green from the elevated tee on Hole 17 I offered my congratulations on the Eagle made. All seemed fine... BUT on the 18th hole things got uglier. The players again playing from white tees (nearly 75 yards shorter than the blue tees) drove the green while we were putting. The balls hit the green in the air... these were not roll ups. I hit both balls off the green into an area where they would not be found... I expected a parking lot confrontation but none developed. Our grouped finished in just under 3 1/2 hours often waiting for groups in front of us. Letting the yahoos through was never a real option... where would they have gone?  Now that I look back at my decision to hit their balls off the final green I wish I had considered hitting them into a bunker or placing both in the hole! I am sure this has happened to others... What are some other options that might have offered a "lesson" to our young yahoos?

You are a better man than I am. I would have taken them to task for their inconsideration and their unsafe playing. How will they ever learn? And letting them play through just makes them feel entitled.

At the very least I would have told the golf staff about it and let them tell the miscreants how to behave on a golf course.

[Spyder]

I definitely would not let them play through without saying anything to them. They will then think that they can do it again to another group since it worked in the past. I'm going to wait on the green and wave them over to show them their ball and where I am standing and explain the obvious to them, which is that it had the chance of really hurting someone. In that case, you shouldn't necessarily go overboard and start cussing and waving your arms around right off the bat though. It's a crappy situation but there's no point in going to jail by escalating it. Throw them a condescending "C'mon guys, really?" and point out the obvious to them and move along. Definitely don't reward them by waving them through. Moving their ball isn't really necessary either. If they're human, they'll feel more shame/embarrassment and guilt by hovering over their putt.

[Lihu]

You are a better man than I am. I would have taken them to task for their inconsideration and their unsafe playing. How will they ever learn? And letting them play through just makes them feel entitled.

At the very least I would have told the golf staff about it and let them tell the miscreants how to behave on a golf course.

This is a tough call, but it is not up to me to punish them. It makes for a miserable round for two groups, so, I would just assume let them play through. Let someone else teach them the "lesson".

[David in FL]

You are a better man than I am. I would have taken them to task for their inconsideration and their unsafe playing. How will they ever learn? And letting them play through just makes them feel entitled.

As a general rule, faster groups are entitled to play through slower groups. Let em through, and have a polite, but firm chat with them as you do.....

[3putter]

I agree with those who say to let them play through and/or say something to them. However, I also have absolutely zero tolerance for shenanigans like that, so I probably would have pulled a bigger A-hole move.