Accidentally hitting into people...

[Jeremie Boop]

3 minutes ago, Strandly said:

What can I say, I'm a beast.

Anyway, 1.) I said AROUND 100 yards. and 2.)  this is basically after the group has moved on from their second shot which isn't unreasonable at all because they're still gonna be putting or hitting their approach shots by the time I'm ready to hit.

You sound like one of these people who likes to hurry up and wait.

No, I'm just a person who likes to stay in position. Which happens to be right behind the group in front of me. Though I do always give as much room as I can while still maintaining my position. Most times I won't hit my tee shot on a par 4 unless the group is on the green or even off depending on the length of the hole and wind conditions. I rarely hit my second shot on a par 5 until the green is clear unless I'm at least 300 out. I don't, however, think that I need to give some unreasonable yardage buffer before I hit a shot. All that said, I don't "rush" anyone or act like I'm in a hurry. I hit my shot, drive up to it, then sit in my cart and relax until I can hit again. Usually I'll be scrolling through facebook or something to pass the time. If/when I catch up to the group on the next tee and they mention something about me having to wait I'll always say it's not a big deal because it's not. I'm just happy to be out on the course enjoying being outdoors.

[dave s]

I have a different and probably unpopular take on this.  I don't think it's possible to 'accidentally hit into the group in front of you.'

Did you 'accidentally' swing the club that hit the shot the hit into the people in front of you?  No, you intentionally lined up and hit a shot toward the group in front of you.  That's no accident.  You willingly struck a shot that hit into the group in front of you.

Also, if you're paying attention to the pace of groups in front and behind you, you'll know when the group in front of you is in the woods looking for errant tee shots or down in a gully hitting a 2nd shot.  They didn't magically pick up a hole on your group; they're still in front of you.

If you don't immediately see the group you've been following for 6 holes already and can easily reason that they probably haven't finished the hole and moved on, (even though you can't SEE them) and decide to hit ANYWAY, you're making a conscious decision to hit into the group in front of you.  Wouldn't be an accident in my book, but a poor decision to hit without being 100% clear of the group in front of you.

dave

[Slice of Life]

7 minutes ago, dave s said:

I have a different and probably unpopular take on this.  I don't think it's possible to 'accidentally hit into the group in front of you.'

Did you 'accidentally' swing the club that hit the shot the hit into the people in front of you?  No, you intentionally lined up and hit a shot toward the group in front of you.  That's no accident.  You willingly struck a shot that hit into the group in front of you.

Also, if you're paying attention to the pace of groups in front and behind you, you'll know when the group in front of you is in the woods looking for errant tee shots or down in a gully hitting a 2nd shot.  They didn't magically pick up a hole on your group; they're still in front of you.

If you don't immediately see the group you've been following for 6 holes already and can easily reason that they probably haven't finished the hole and moved on, (even though you can't SEE them) and decide to hit ANYWAY, you're making a conscious decision to hit into the group in front of you.  Wouldn't be an accident in my book, but a poor decision to hit without being 100% clear of the group in front of you.

dave

It's not so much that you have a different or unpopular take, it's that you're just taking liberties with the English language.

You're talking about accidentally hitting the ball toward the hole...aka playing golf, which is clearly not what this is about. If we're taking liberties, every shot you take on the golf course is towards the next group when you factor in the path of the course lol

This is about your ball ending up near another player or group of players with no intent. When I played my 5 iron, I intended to hit my shot toward the green, sure. I did not intend to be on the green, as I didn't even think a career best shot could come within 40 yards. That's where the accident word comes into play.

[jkelley9]

On 7/11/2016 at 0:40 PM, Shooting29 said:

I bet everyone in the wait camp cries about slow play too.

Unless I'm missing something here, hitting into someone will speed up play by zero. And that's even assuming it were the norm, nobody would ever get hurt (magic land!)

You're still taking the same number of shots... the only difference is you could fit more people on the course. But it doesn't speed up play..........?

[goatbot]

I thought of another time. And this one I only take half credit.  Par five, second shot, 280 out. I decide to hit a 5 iron which should leave me 100 - 115 out. The two carts of the group in front are at the green so I take a couple practice swings, line up, and hit. It starts a little right and is fading right, but I'm sure it'll be ok, only into the rough.  That's when I see a cart pretty much in line with my ball. It lands maybe 15 yards from them and the 'FORE' was yelled about the same time it landed.

One of the guys, for some reason had driven backward was playing a ball, I don't recall if all four had hit and then drove to the green, I had just looked and they were all parked greenside. He waved his arms at me, he was upset.  I dropped my partner at his ball and drove to them to say sorry but they didn't wait. They saw me coming but took off towards the green.  This was on 18 and they were already gone to the lot when we wrapped up.  I felt bad, but I still think it wasn't totally my fault.

[Joe92385]

I've done it on occasion, though it's usually just because I catch a long roll.  Never had anybody get mad about it, though I always apologize.  It's typically the people in the next fairway who are in more danger from me...

I did have a friend who holed a 200+ yard approach shot by bouncing it off the foot of someone on a putting green (after it bounced off of a cart path) for an eagle.  They were more impressed than anything.

On the other side, I did get annoyed at some guys this past weekend.  We were playing with a first-timer, and none of us are particularly good, but that's also why we picked a tee-shirt / jeans, good-luck-finishing-in-five-hours kind of course.  The whole round we were keeping pace with the group in front of us, yet there were at least five balls that landed (not rolled, landed) within ten yards of one of us without even the courtesy of a fore or an apology after the fact.  That's in addition to a lot of loud swearing - not that I'm offended by the language, but they were all totally oblivious to other people teeing off.

So yeah - somewhere between those two stories is the line between "it happens" and "you have to be kidding."

[parman]

Rule of thumb has always been to tee off then the last group leaves the green.  That eliminates any chance of hitting someone, or landing too close. It's just common sense. 

[Papa Steve 55]

When in doubt, don't hit.  A rolling ball will not cause any injury, nor will somebody coughing in your back swing. You wouldn't dream of clearing your throat when somebody is starting a swing, make sure your ball is not rolling around their feet then also..

[Brian W]

I have actually been hit with a golf ball!!  I was enjoying a round with my late stepfather and there were 4 of us.  There was a twosome in front of us and another foursome in front of them so we were not going anywhere.  The people behind us were being complete A-holes and kept shouting at us to hurry up.  They caught up to us at one tee box and were saying things about rate of play etc.  I went back and explained the situation and they were all fake smiles.  I can hit the ball a little ways with my 4 wood and was waiting on a par 5 to not hit the guys in front of us as they were on the green and I was still a good 240 out.  They must have gotten pissed off and just decided to shoot.  I do not remember hearing any warning and was sitting in the cart (facing the tee box because my stepdad always pulled the cart that way for whatever reason.  I heard a whizzing noise and then a ball hit me right between my shoulder and my nipple.  I didn't even realize what it wsa at the moment of impact but then when I saw my stepfather running towards the other tee box I put two and two together.  I hate a purple bruise for weeks afterwards and it was bigger than the size of a softball.  I know the other two people playing with us held me back and it was such a crazy few seconds that I do not know what ended up happening.  The marshal escorted the offenders off the course and that was the end of it.  I am as much of a rate of play snob as anyone but I would never do anything like that.

Now for the other side.  I have on a few occasions hit a ball really well or really far to a side where I thought it came close to some other golfers and I have always yelled a warning.  I do not remember an occasion where it was greeted with hostility.

[CyboNinja]

4 minutes ago, Brian W said:

I have actually been hit with a golf ball!!  I was enjoying a round with my late stepfather and there were 4 of us.  There was a twosome in front of us and another foursome in front of them so we were not going anywhere.  The people behind us were being complete A-holes and kept shouting at us to hurry up.  They caught up to us at one tee box and were saying things about rate of play etc.  I went back and explained the situation and they were all fake smiles.  I can hit the ball a little ways with my 4 wood and was waiting on a par 5 to not hit the guys in front of us as they were on the green and I was still a good 240 out.  They must have gotten pissed off and just decided to shoot.  I do not remember hearing any warning and was sitting in the cart (facing the tee box because my stepdad always pulled the cart that way for whatever reason.  I heard a whizzing noise and then a ball hit me right between my shoulder and my nipple.  I didn't even realize what it wsa at the moment of impact but then when I saw my stepfather running towards the other tee box I put two and two together.  I hate a purple bruise for weeks afterwards and it was bigger than the size of a softball.  I know the other two people playing with us held me back and it was such a crazy few seconds that I do not know what ended up happening.  The marshal escorted the offenders off the course and that was the end of it.  I am as much of a rate of play snob as anyone but I would never do anything like that.

Now for the other side.  I have on a few occasions hit a ball really well or really far to a side where I thought it came close to some other golfers and I have always yelled a warning.  I do not remember an occasion where it was greeted with hostility.

Ya that's crazy! I would probably get myself arrested if someone were to do that to me. I doubt I would be able to exhibit the same amount of restraint you did. 

[awmgolfer]

I was out playing today with a kid that is really coming along quickly in his skills so I decided to take him to a course in the area that is really nice. I usually play it 3-4 times a year and we had been playing along at a nice pace, only a few people were out playing. No one was in front of us as I do pay attention by looking ahead. We were in the middle holes of the front nine and came to a par 5 that is a long dog-leg to the right and the elevation also dips down so you can't see anything beyond about 200 yards out. As I have been looking ahead by a few holes and saw no one we just tee'd off and as we got up to our shots there was a 3-some of older gentlemen that my ball went flying over. 

I apologized profusely as I pride myself on really being careful, especially since I coach I like to set the example. They were so good about it and actually apolized and said they had been hitting multiple shots and looking for balls in the woods that I had no way to know they were even ahead of us. Still felt bad but sometimes even the most careful still run into hitting into people. Just a part of the game and all you can do is to be as careful and cautious as possible.

[jkelley9]

1 hour ago, CyboNinja said:

Ya that's crazy! I would probably get myself arrested if someone were to do that to me. I doubt I would be able to exhibit the same amount of restraint you did. 

I'm not one to jump on the suing bandwagon but if someone did that to me they would be hearing from my lawyer, aggressively. Not just a scare. It's one thing for it to be an accident, it's another to be intentional, visibly, and verbally making the decision to compromise my safety. I would be beyond irate to be physically harmed (and it sounds like it was really bad!) by those clowns. They would pay, period.

[Brian W]

10 hours ago, jkelley9 said:

I'm not one to jump on the suing bandwagon but if someone did that to me they would be hearing from my lawyer, aggressively. Not just a scare. It's one thing for it to be an accident, it's another to be intentional, visibly, and verbally making the decision to compromise my safety. I would be beyond irate to be physically harmed (and it sounds like it was really bad!) by those clowns. They would pay, period.

Maybe I should have but I was only 21 (which I forgot to mention that it was my 21st birthday).  I was pretty mad but I didn't think the guys deliberately tried to hit me.  What they did had the possibility of that happening and they should be responsible for the reckless behavior.

[uitar9]

I've had one incident. 18th hole slight dog leg left. I was way left in the first cut and waited for the green to clear before going to my ball. I couldn't see the green from there, but hit my shot . Got back out to see the ball land close to the pin just as a guy from that last groups coming back on the green to look for something. He have us the look but we are too far apart to communicate. It didn't hit him. There has to be some responsibility on both sides

[imsys0042]

Years ago someone in front of me dropped several balls on a tee box and just started hitting into a slow group in front of him.   He was good enough to land them near the next group, unfortunately his golfing ability far outstripped his human decency.

[DaveP043]

6 minutes ago, imsys0042 said:

Years ago someone in front of me dropped several balls on a tee box and just started hitting into a slow group in front of him.   He was good enough to land them near the next group, unfortunately his golfing ability far outstripped his human decency.

Let's all remember, the original post was about accidentally hitting into someone.  I think most of us have agreed that it happens occasionally, even to the most cautious players.  Intentionally hitting into someone puts them in serious danger of injury, and can never be tolerated, but that should be a separate thread.

[Groucho Valentine]

Ive never flown a ball into another group. But I've rolled one up several times. It happens.  Especially on courses that have a lot elevation changes. Its usually no big deal. Anyone who gets pissed off because you accdientially roll up a ball on them is just an asshole that probably doesn't deserve an apology to begin with IMO. 

[Natural Patrick]

15 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

When in doubt, don't hit.  A rolling ball will not cause any injury, nor will somebody coughing in your back swing. You wouldn't dream of clearing your throat when somebody is starting a swing, make sure your ball is not rolling around their feet then also..

1991 Ryder Cup. Seve  Ballesteros  did not have to dream of clearing his throat during a players swing. He did it on more than one occasion.