If It Wasn't for Bad Luck…

[Club Rat]

Rub of the green, we've all had unusual experiences. State any occurrence while playing golf lately, where it seems "If it wasn't for BAD LUCK, you probably wouldn't have any LUCK !!!

Like Tiger's shot which hit the flagstick at Augusta and the ball rebounded into the water.

All you can do is laugh and shake it off.

I'll start with my occurrence this past week, I had a similar situation as Tiger. On a par five, my 50 yard approach shot to a front pin, the green is guarded by a LH/creek, the ball hits the right edge of the cup on the fly, then bounces off the side of the stick as I watch in dis-belief the ball slowly rolls back off the front of the green 20 feet into the hazard....

Club Rat

 

 

[inthehole]

Yeah, there's always bad luck, but I've had my share of good luck ... pull hooked or sliced drives hitting tree's & bouncing back into the fairway - happened yesterday in fact.

 

NOTE:  For the record, getting screwed is called ...  "man, I got JACKED on that one".

Getting an unbelievably lucky break is called "holy cow, I got UN-JACKED on that one"

Edited October 30, 2015 by inthehole

[saevel25]

I don't worry about it. For every bad bounce I get I get a good one. In the end I think people tend to focus too much on the negative and realize it's just part of the game. 

I don't think I've had a bad break in a long time. I just don't see it that often. Maybe it's gotten to the point I just don't even think of them as bad breaks anymore. 

I guess the closest was last night. I was putting for par, about 10 Ft from the hole. As the putt was going, I knew it was going in. Then I saw a leaf blow round in front of my ball. I thought my ball actually ran over it. It must have missed that leaf by a millisecond. The ball continued on into the hole for a par. 

 

[DaveP043]

I had one a couple of weeks back.  I was in some heavy rough, just in front of our second green.  In order to try to maintain good clubhead speed through the tall grass, yet hit the ball a relatively short distance, I played it something like a bunker shot, open clubface, open stance, basically a short flop.  I hit it just right, high and soft, and the ball actually went directly into the hole, hit the bottom of the cup liner, and bounced straight back out.  I couldn't believe my eyes, but my buddies confirmed that it actually went in and back out.  Ah well, there's some comfort in pulling off the shot, even if it didn't stay in.

[Gator Hazard]

I had one a couple of weeks back.  I was in some heavy rough, just in front of our second green.  In order to try to maintain good clubhead speed through the tall grass, yet hit the ball a relatively short distance, I played it something like a bunker shot, open clubface, open stance, basically a short flop.  I hit it just right, high and soft, and the ball actually went directly into the hole, hit the bottom of the cup liner, and bounced straight back out.  I couldn't believe my eyes, but my buddies confirmed that it actually went in and back out.  Ah well, there's some comfort in pulling off the shot, even if it didn't stay in.

That happened to my playing partner on #10 at Northdale a few weeks ago.  Sucked for him but still a pretty awesome shot.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Gator Hazard

[Club Rat]

I guess the closest was last night. I was putting for par, about 10 Ft from the hole. As the putt was going, I knew it was going in. Then I saw a leaf blow round in front of my ball. I thought my ball actually ran over it. It must have missed that leaf by a millisecond. The ball continued on into the hole for a par. 

I had the opposite with a leaf yesterday.  The ball was 8" from going dead in for bird, a leaf flew into the ball and knocked it off line.

Like I've declared, if it was for bad luck, who knows.... 

[inthehole]

I had one a couple of weeks back.  I was in some heavy rough, just in front of our second green.  In order to try to maintain good clubhead speed through the tall grass, yet hit the ball a relatively short distance, I played it something like a bunker shot, open clubface, open stance, basically a short flop.  I hit it just right, high and soft, and the ball actually went directly into the hole, hit the bottom of the cup liner, and bounced straight back out.  I couldn't believe my eyes, but my buddies confirmed that it actually went in and back out.  Ah well, there's some comfort in pulling off the shot, even if it didn't stay in.

wow - that's about the worst luck I've ever heard of !   

 

As long as we're talking bad luck ... my all time worst luck shot was I put myself under a tree about 190 yds out, but had a perfect line at the pin straight down the fairway - just had to keep it really low to clear the tree.    I played the ball way back in my stance, hit a PURE 4 iron - knew it had a chance to run right up like I envisioned ... then WHACK ... I heard this super loud crack  ... for a split second I freaked and thought I hit a cart or someone that I didn't see ... it hit the 4" PVC pipe 150 yard marker right in the middle of the fairway & bounced directly left OB.       JACKED !!!!!!!!!!!  from myself and 3 buddies simultaneously rang out and was heard around the course ... still talk about that epic Jacked that still reigns as the worst luck any of us have seen on a golf course

Edited October 30, 2015 by inthehole

[bkuehn1952]

As has been said before, good & bad luck tend to cancel each other out.  Still, we all recall those instances when something particularly good or bad happens at the wrong time.

This goes back years & years.  I was playing the 17th hole at a course I often visited.  I had eagled or birdied every hole over my time playing there save the 17th.  I am on the 17th green in regulation, a relatively rare occurrence, about 12-15 feet away from the hole with a straight & slightly uphill putt.  I stroke the putt and it rolls straight into the center of the hole ... and then bounces straight back at me.  The guy that cut the hole had installed the cup liner too shallow (or it got pulled up).  In that split second starting with the ball descending into the hole and rebounding back out, I experienced emotional whiplash; great joy & relief smashed to a pulp.

Fortunately for me, what sometimes is snatched away is often given back.  I birdied the hole fairly soon after the crushing disaster so it did not take that long to stitch up the earlier mental wound.

[DrvFrShow]

Then on the 9th hole in a tournament I pushed my approach shot directly at a green-side tree and was swearing at it under my breath and then slammed my club when I heard it hit the tree - typically this would deflect into the 1st hole fairway or drop on the other side of the tree, but instead deflected to the center of the green and an 18 foot putt which I lagged up to where I parred.

I've only had the ball bounce out of the hole on the practice green where they typically cut the holes too shallow, but never on the course.

As has been said before, good & bad luck tend to cancel each other out.  Still, we all recall those instances when something particularly good or bad happens at the wrong time.

This goes back years & years.  I was playing the 17th hole at a course I often visited.  I had eagled or birdied every hole over my time playing there save the 17th.  I am on the 17th green in regulation, a relatively rare occurrence, about 12-15 feet away from the hole with a straight & slightly uphill putt.  I stroke the putt and it rolls straight into the center of the hole ... and then bounces straight back at me.  The guy that cut the hole had installed the cup liner too shallow (or it got pulled up).  In that split second starting with the ball descending into the hole and rebounding back out, I experienced emotional whiplash; great joy & relief smashed to a pulp.

Fortunately for me, what sometimes is snatched away is often given back.  I birdied the hole fairly soon after the crushing disaster so it did not take that long to stitch up the earlier mental wound.

I would have given you the putt.

[rkim291968]

I only remember bad lucks.  Good lucks are there, I am sure, but I probably con myself to believe that it was my skill.

 

[Gator Hazard]

I only remember bad lucks.  Good lucks are there, I am sure, but I probably con myself to believe that it was my skill.

 

The human brain is designed to do that, part of evolution in the fight or flight programming where genes get passed on by people who recognize a danger and run.  We are programmed to remember negative consequences more easily.  

I can say that on several occasions a tree has saved me an OB shot.  May have taken 30-40 yards off the distance but I was swinging from the fairway instead of out of the really tall stuff and over or through the trees.  I get plenty of practice on those shots as well.

[Fairway_CY]

I'm in the camp that says it evens out.  Unfortunately, it usually isn't in the same round.  

I had a round late in the season where EVERYTHING went my way.  Balls that I was SURE were gone were found, and I was able to play them.  "Impossible" shots out of the woods made it through without touching anything.  Every recovery shot I had to hit turned into gold for that day.  I still didn't score well, but... it kept me close enough to the eventual winner to earn a 5th place finish.  

A few weeks later, while in Hilton Head, I was playing the second round of a three round tournament.  NOTHING went right for me that day.  If a ball could POSSIBLY find a hazard... it did.  There was no 50/50 on anything that was headed in the general direction of a hazard... by the middle of the round, I just knew that I was going to find my ball in the hazards, and I played horribly throughout.  There were times that I was POSITIVE that I was 20-30 yards away from the hazard, but when we'd eventually locate the ball... it had somehow gone 30 yards beyond my target.

It's very rare that I'll have a bad break and a good break in the same round.  But, I'm also very realistic about my game and, if I hit a poor shot... I expect to be penalized for it, so... I don't consider TOO many things to be bad breaks.  I've had some weird bounces here and there... but, very few and far between.  By comparison... I've had my fair share of shots that have hit a tree and kicked back into the fairway or kept my ball from going out of bounds.

Luckily, I've never had a ball bounce OUT of a cup on me.  I'm pretty sure I'd curl up at the back of the green and cry.  That's just brutal!

CY

[Lihu]

It's pretty rare for me to actually have a bad luck situation, but here's two that I remember. . .I hit a perfect drive, and it landed on a sprinkler head and bounced OB. Another time, I hit the middle of the green knocking my partners ball off to the side of the green and mine went in another direction into deep rough. He was able to pick it up and put it back, but unfortunately I needed to play it where it lay in deep rough.

[rkim291968]

Do others believe what my wife and I believe after watching so many golf tournaments on TV?   Our theory is, the eventual winner always seem to have more luck than the rest in that particular tournament.   In fact, we believe "being lucky" is big part of the winning formula. 

[Lihu]

Do others believe what my wife and I believe after watching so many golf tournaments on TV?   Our theory is, the eventual winner always seem to have more luck than the rest in that particular tournament.   In fact, we believe "being lucky" is big part of the winning formula. 

At that skill level, it seems like that's possible?

[Big C]

Interestingly, mulling on this topic for a minute has made me realize that I don't really encounter that many bad breaks when it comes to golf. Although golfers tend to be notoriously pessimistic at times, I think that the good breaks actually outweigh the bad by quite a large margin for most of us. 

Think about it. When you hit a good shot down the fairway, or a nice approach to the green, there really isn't THAT much that go wrong. Sure, you might find your tee shot in an un-repaired divot or something, but even then you still have a decent chance to get your next shot on the green. Most of the things that feel like bad luck (getting stuck behind a tree, a cart path kick O.B., etc.)  are really just born of bad shots. 

Of course, there are a few exceptions. A ball that hits a sprinkler head on the fringe and shoots 20 yards over the green would be bad luck. Ditto for a scenario as described by @Club Rat where a good approach hits the flag stick and rolls backwards into a hazard. But something truly unfortunate like that happens probably once every 40-50 rounds. 

Conversely, I can remember at least one or two good breaks that happen to me almost every round that I play. A hooked drive that hits a tree branch before it sails O.B., a bad tee shot that caroms into the fairway, a thin approach shot that hops and skips perfectly over a 5 foot wide creek in front of the green - those are all actual examples of good breaks I have encountered during my last several rounds.

[rkim291968]

Is it just me that I consider all < 3ft putt misses as bad luck?  

[Lihu]

Is it just me that I consider all < 3ft putt misses as bad luck?  

It's just you, I'm not that unlucky.