Accidentally hitting into people...

[IndianaDundee]

After reading all these stories of how rarely it has happened to you guys I feel like an absolute menace on the golf course.  

First time I ever hit into a group in front of me it was a blind approach into the green.  I drove my cart to the top of the hill to get a line on the flag.  One guy was getting his ball out of the hole and another guy was carrying the flag back to the hole.  I figured that by the time I got back to my ball they would be gone.  I lined up my shot, took several practice swings, checked my line again, and then blasted a beautiful, high, straight shot over the hill, right on line at the flag.  Pulled back up the hill and saw they were still putting.  Went up to apologise, and they congratulated me on a great shot.  He said it clipped the brim of his hat as he was tapping in and checked up a foot from the cup.  They also insisted that I play thru.

Second time I did it on that course I sliced my drive two fairways over and hit into a cart on the move up the cart path. It rattled around in the cart and they both dove out of the cart for cover.

Happened a few times on my home course too.  Several holes have blind drives and approaches due to all the hills in East Tennessee.  When play is slow you inevitably catch someone in a blind spot.  I got stuck behind a slow group one day and had to wait for ever shot from the 4th hole on.  By the 6th a young twosome had caught up to my group because of the slow play in front of us.  By the back nine they started getting impatient and driving onto us.  On hole 14 the preferred shot is to hit 170-200 yard layup from the tee to leave a 130-160 yard uphill shot into a blind green.  I was about 150 yards out waiting on the green to clear when they teed off.  Their ball rolled right up to my feet.  I turned around angry and hit their ball right back at them.  I was so ticked I blasted my 150 yard club at least 200 yards back at them flying over their head and into the woods behind the tees.  Didn't see them anymore that day.

[Let it Fly]

We almost had a major incident in a scramble this past weekend with accidentally hitting into the group in front of us.  I apologize in advance for the lengthy post as it's a bit of a vent-session since I'm still running kinda hot.

Began on the 5th hole when our bomber just destroyed a ball on a medium length, blind dog leg par 4...wound up 10 yards short of the fringe.  We had not seen a group in front of us at all to that point, but saw a cart drive around the dog leg and wave...shoot, our bad.  We drove up immediately to apologize and they laughed, said no worries, and gave our guy a fist bump for such a great shot.  At this point, we slowed down so as not to be on their tail.

Didn't see them again until the drivable par-4 13th.  They were clearing the green as we reached the tee box, let them get completely out of the area and we fired away...no problems.  By the par-3 14th, they were gone...having already tee'd off the 15th.  We finally get to 15, a blind up & down & up par 4.  Having not seen them in at least 20 minutes, we played away.  I hit 3rd in our group and piped a beauty right down the middle only to hear top-of-your-lungs screaming coming from out in front of us.  Apparently they were still at the bottom of the hill pitching up onto the green.  One guy drove his cart back to the top of the hill and just let out some sort of tirade that we could barely understand, which is when we realized how hammered they were.  Couldn't believe they were still down there, but waited a good 10 mins before our 4th played.  They were still on the green as we finally drove over the hill to my ball.  Before we could even attempt an apology to say we had no clue they were anywhere near us (given the previous few holes), two of their guys were hollering every four letter word and name-call possible at us...claiming it's the 3rd F-ing time (which was BS) etc etc.  Of course we hollered back sorry, twice, and when they continued to berate us from the top of the hill we snapped right back at them.

Ultimately they drove off to the next tee screaming "we'll see you M-Fers again" yada yada.  We calmed down, but played the last 3 holes right on their tail.  The next few holes visually confirmed how drunk they were...happy gilmore shots, falling down from swinging, taking extra shots in a no-mulligan scramble.  We wound up being the first group to finish, and decided to just leave altogether rather than stay for the dinner.  We knew there was no way nothing would be said and/or started when they came in and decided to diffuse the situation entirely.  Talked to the person running the tourney (whom we know fairly well), let him know why we're leaving early...and he really appreciated the mature decision.  Sounds like this was a group who no one really knew, and was clearly enjoying the swing lube.

All said and done, I suppose we should have driven out 200 yards from that tee to check the bottom of the hill...there aren't any bells to ring to signal all clear.  I felt awful having been the one to hit the shot and was ready to offer them all rounds at the bar after, but that faded fairly quickly after experiencing their drunken behavior, reaction, etc when we tried to clear the air and explain how it occurred from our vantage point.  We're all avid golfers and would never intentionally hit into someone for any reason whatsoever.  We were bummed to skip the dinner, but all agreed it was a very good decision.  Just an unfortunate end to what was an overall good day.  

[Dave2512]

I saw it happen three times yesterday, on the same hole with successive drives. On a 372 all three in the group ahead of me hit drives inside the signs pointing the carts back to the path near the green. They did yell fore and after following them for the rest of the front it was evident those drives were atypical for them. These were monster drives even cutting the corner, landed where the group ahead had hit their second shots and were chipping. On the very next driver hole the guy that nearly poked it on the green hit his first shot OB and his second drive was a pop up short of the fairway and left. Have never seen anything like it.

[mcanadiens]

1 hour ago, Dave2512 said:

it was evident those drives were atypical for them

And for a newbie or a hack that's a big part of it

I was a beginner just a few years ago. Remembering all the chunky and thin shots as I ambled my way down a fairway, taking time to wait for someone 200 yards away seemed silly. Just when you think you'll never hit another decent shot, you actually connect and give yourself and the unlucky guy in front of you a good scare.

 

 

[Dave2512]

58 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

And for a newbie or a hack that's a big part of it

I was a beginner just a few years ago. Remembering all the chunky and thin shots as I ambled my way down a fairway, taking time to wait for someone 200 yards away seemed silly. Just when you think you'll never hit another decent shot, you actually connect and give yourself and the unlucky guy in front of you a good scare.

 

 

These weren't noobs, I'd guess two are probably sub 15 handicap, one closer to 10. The guy that really bombed it was very inconsistent from the tee but he recovered every time I watched him. On one hole he followed a very poor drive with a fairway that put him near the green pitching right next to the other two that hit much better drives. He had to wait for the green to clear from 270 out on a par 4.

[MS84]

My theory is that you should wait for the people infront to finish the hole. I would not be happy if a ball landed near me.

That being said, I was out last week on my own (im 32), there were 2 older men infront of me - I would say 70ish. One player wasnt too bad, the other was pretty poor. Instead of allowing me to play through, they held me up on every hole so on a long hole (the course was all par 3s) I waited until they were on the green and I took my shot. It was a good 50 yards shy of them (and the best driver shot i have had by far). I finished the hole just a they had tee'd off and the gits still never let me play through.

[The Hook Meister]

You did the correct thing going up and saying how sorry you were. If you run into a  hot head you just have to stay as calm as pssilbe, which isn't alwways that easy to do, Good job and nice shot.