Worst Mistakes on a Golf Course

Kevinmarkham

Following some of the poor etiquette and poor knowledge of the rules during the Solheim Cup, I am linking to a recent blog I wrote on the Worst Mistakes I've made on a golf course. I'd be interested to hear of other people's disasters/disgraces - assuming you're prepared to own up.
http://www.theirishgolfblog.com/2013/08/what-are-your-worst-mistakes-on-golf.html

FixdePitchmark

Nice piece Kevin, honest.

Most of my mistakes on a golf course are due to mistakes I made off the course, I know it is not the same as above, but my odd angle on it.

I think my bigest mistake was not getting lessons till I was 35.

It was stubborn , immature and wrong. I don't know how good a golfer I could have been and never will. But, I went from 12 to 8 after lessons and am hoping that I can improve more.

Trying to hit the ball too far for too long, not practicing the short stuff enough and poor course mgmt. But, working hard on this every time I go out now.

Going to the range too much , this resulted in injury after injury. And was just banging balls. I'd never had any real injuries from so many other sports. When your injured in golf you can't play you go mad and a bit grumpy off it. Then she is not happy and your golf, it is in the spotlight then. (lol)

I've had close ones with forgetting to shout "fore", this is from not knowing a course and going over tree lines or deep dunes. I'd also played very little with experienced golfers till 2 or 3 years ago. It is so true, if in doubt "shout".

Not joining a club when I was younger , I guess it is not fully my fault , but it is a regret and time I can't get back.

Losing my patience with a very good friend over slow play, he was only learning and I have unreal patience with learner golfers. The funny thing is, I wanted him to play golf so much. He almost gave up. We sorted it out and he won our last Society outing last month. A close one on losing a life friend and a new golfing friend. We played Old Head to kiss and make up. He loved it and is a golf addict now.

But the older you get , you get wiser (slowly), you can try fix regrets or see a more balanced perspective on them. There is way worse things in life , than golf regrets, but I can use golf to try be at peace with them .

Kevinmarkham

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

But the older you get , you get wiser (slowly)

You can never go back - just like you can't retake a missed 2-foot putt to win the Captain's Prize - and that is always a tough one for golfers. I've played a lot of sports and golf is the one that hurts the most. I guess that's because it is you, a club and a ball. There's no opposition, no team around you to share the blame and the pain.

Like you, I wish I'd taken lessons earlier although a bad experience when I was 10 or 11 didn't help. The thing is, you can play this game until you die and you often hear people talk about a golfer saying 'he's 60 and he's stayed on that six handicap for 40 years'. And that means there's lots of time to improve and a lot of time to enjoy the game.

I'd like to think that I can put all of my mistakes behind me, learn from them and never do them again - but that's highly unlikely. At some point one of them will crop up and undo all of the hard work that came before. I played in the semi-final of our club's father & son tournament two years ago and I dropped a ball incorrectly and was called on it. We lost the hole automatically (where we had a stroke) and finally lost on the 19th. This year we're in the semi-final again and I won't be screwing that one up. And if I do, there's always next year. After all, there's always a reason to come back for more golf.

Wichita Lineman

Casually removing a pile of leaves from around my ball while it was in a green side bunker while playing in Balmoral GC in Belfast a couple of years ago springs to mind as a really embarrassing golf course moment. One of my playing partners stood above me laughing and said 'you cant do that Andy' and it was only then I realised what I had done. It wasnt that I didnt know the rule, I just did it automatically as if it was on the fairway. I was mortified.

kevgaa

Playing in a scramble, Team took my approach shot which was about 5 feet from flag on 16.I was the first person to putt out and just missed the putt. I forgot what I was playing as I was annoyed with the putt and picked up the marker not allowing the other 3 members to have a go. We lost by less than a shot...

Senna

On Sunday, I marked my ball and took my time over a 4ft putt, held the putt then realised it was for a blank:D

From Golfwrx;
Guy reading his putting line while walking up to the pin, finds a coin and putts it in his pocket, it was his playing partners ball marker.

m r c

Back when I was starting out I fresh aired a tee shot in the middle of a very bad round and my mate tells me it counted as a stroke, I fell out with him, didn't talk to him for 5/6 holes and didn't believe him until I read it for myself that evening. Felt the right tosser when I read that lol. At least we weren't in a comp :-)

Oilbeefhooked!

Mine has to be playing a brilliant round at citywest on our society Presidents' Day .
Winning the overall with ease, but being in such a rush to get home and watch 'the british open ' on TV , I forgot to sign my card and was disqualified missing out on the top of the range driver 1st prize. :0(
A mistake you only make once!!

Kevinmarkham

Oilbeefhooked! wrote: »

Mine has to be playing a brilliant round at citywest on our society Presidents' Day .
Winning the overall with ease, but being in such a rush to get home and watch 'the british open ' on TV , I forgot to sign my card and was disqualified missing out on the top of the range driver 1st prize. :0(
A mistake you only make once!!

Now that's painful!
Sometimes the rules can be so frustrating. My dad was playing in a medal, filled in his card correctly and signed it. He 'won' by two shots but was disqualified because his handicap had changed from 16 to 17 a couple of days before. In other words, he should have won by three shots. This was in the days when they didn't use computers so handicap changes were only posted on the noticeboard. As you say, a mistake you only make once.

newport2

I played a great shot from the rough on a long par 4 to about 2 feet once, only to find out it wasn't my ball when I arrived at the green :eek: And then I missed the putt.......:(

Monthly medal, lost by a shot. Still occasionally wake up screaming.

newport2

Kevinmarkham wrote: »

Now that's painful!
Sometimes the rules can be so frustrating. My dad was playing in a medal, filled in his card correctly and signed it. He 'won' by two shots but was disqualified because his handicap had changed from 16 to 17 a couple of days before. In other words, he should have won by three shots. This was in the days when they didn't use computers so handicap changes were only posted on the noticeboard. As you say, a mistake you only make once.

Should only be disqualified if you put down a handicap higher than your correct one. If your Dad should have been playing off 17 and put down 16, his score off 16 stands.

6 • b. Stroke Play
In any round of a handicap competition, the competitor must ensure that his handicap is recorded on his score card before it is returned to the Committee. If no handicap is recorded on his score card before it is returned (Rule 6-6b), or if the recorded handicap is higher than that to which he is entitled and this affects the number of strokes received, he is disqualified from the handicap competition; otherwise, the score stands.

D3PO

Kevinmarkham wrote: »

Now that's painful!
Sometimes the rules can be so frustrating. My dad was playing in a medal, filled in his card correctly and signed it. He 'won' by two shots but was disqualified because his handicap had changed from 16 to 17 a couple of days before. In other words, he should have won by three shots. This was in the days when they didn't use computers so handicap changes were only posted on the noticeboard. As you say, a mistake you only make once.

Sorry don't want to go off topic but that isn't a reason for dq or even a penalty. You cant play off a higher handicap but you can play from a lower one.

Guess the mistake was your dad not sorting it with the competition secretary.

Kevinmarkham

newport2 wrote: »

Should only be disqualified if you put down a handicap higher than your correct one. If your Dad should have been playing off 17 and put down 16, his score off 16 stands.

6 • b. Stroke Play
In any round of a handicap competition, the competitor must ensure that his handicap is recorded on his score card before it is returned to the Committee. If no handicap is recorded on his score card before it is returned (Rule 6-6b), or if the recorded handicap is higher than that to which he is entitled and this affects the number of strokes received, he is disqualified from the handicap competition; otherwise, the score stands.

D3PO wrote: »

Sorry don't want to go off topic but that isn't a reason for dq or even a penalty. You cant play off a higher handicap but you can play from a lower one.

Guess the mistake was your dad not sorting it with the competition secretary.

Interesting! Never looked it up/double checked because you'd expect the club to get it right. You know what, I'm not going to tell my dad: it took him another decade to win his first (and only) Medal, so I don't think he'd appreciate it.
Thanks for the info

scrubber72

220 yards to a front pin over water and i reach for a 4iron.

charlieIRL

My worst mistake is when on a low index hole and picking up my ball thinking i'm out of the hole forgetting about the extra shot I had. Sometimes that one point makes a difference!! Frustrating.

Kevinmarkham

scrubber72 wrote: »

220 yards to a front pin over water and i reach for a 4iron.

Let's not go down this road or we'll be here all day

charlieIRL wrote: »

My worst mistake is when on a low index hole and picking up my ball thinking i'm out of the hole forgetting about the extra shot I had. Sometimes that one point makes a difference!! Frustrating.

Yep, Open Singles, Rathsallagh 11th hole, picked up a ball 6 inches from the cup not realising I had a stroke. Came 2nd by a shot. Still, 12 bottles of wine, so not complaining.

padzer

Society Presidents Prize in Lucan last year, after putting a good 17 holes together i had 150 yards to the green on the par5 18th, didnt want to go left due to the water. Avoided the water alright, but still walked off with a scratch and lost on countback to my mate.

Had i just stuck in the water, took the drop, chipped it on and 2 putted i would have taken the silverware.

razorblunt

The old reliable, grabbed a 6 instead of a 9, went through a patch of doing this almost every round for a month, had to stick the 6 iron in with the drivers to break it up.

Watching my ball blaze high past the hole into the middle of a lake thinking "how in the hell of jasus did I hit my 9iron that far?".

PARlance

razorblunt wrote: »

The old reliable, grabbed a 6 instead of a 9, went through a patch of doing this almost every round for a month, had to stick the 6 iron in with the drivers to break it up.

Watching my ball blaze high past the hole into the middle of a lake thinking "how in the hell of jasus did I hit my 9iron that far?".

It's great when you catch it fat and end up a couple of feet from the hole though :D

Was one foot away from the first pin and I proceeded to putt it 20 feet past the hole over in the direction of my bag earlier this year.
I was out of the hole I thought!!!
Stroke play

Anatom

Played my partner's ball once at the beginning of this summer. Just going up the ninth hole. He played his second (or third, I forget - he was kinda hacking his way up there...) and it hit off mine and we both thought it had bounced on and that mine had stayed pretty much where it was. I walked up to where (I thought) my ball was, and played a beautiful chip on to about ten feet, only to discover when I marked it that it was his. In the meantime, he had played my ball into a greenside bunker. He didn't realise and neither did I until it was too late...

The third guy in the group was singularly unimpressed...

Lesson learned = I will always check my ball in future..!

fullstop

newport2 wrote: »

I played a great shot from the rough on a long par 4 to about 2 feet once, only to find out it wasn't my ball when I arrived at the green :eek: And then I missed the putt.......:(

Monthly medal, lost by a shot. Still occasionally wake up screaming.

But you wouldn't be hitting the putt if it wasn't your ball...as in you'd have to go back and play your own ball under penalty.

GreeBo

fullstop wrote: »

But you wouldn't be hitting the putt if it wasn't your ball...as in you'd have to go back and play your own ball under penalty.

yup, that's a big DQ I'm afraid!

stringy

Father and Son Club final. Foursomes. 2012. All square. 18th hole. Par 5. Dad puts me 110 away, perfect position for 3rd shot approach. PW in hand. "Anywhere on the green" in my head. Swing...

blade it.

OOB.

Game over

newport2

fullstop wrote: »

But you wouldn't be hitting the putt if it wasn't your ball...as in you'd have to go back and play your own ball under penalty.

Yes, you're right, it was fortunate I didn't "win". I had thought at the time if you played the wrong ball, you got a two shot penalty and then the ball you hit became the ball in play.

Benicetomonty

1st tee shot at Lucan in the Smurfit Junior Foursomes back in the day against The Island GC. Topped OB.

Went on to play horrendously poor all day and received a nice walloping, which was made all the more disappointing after a decent showing in the previous round. Dont know which mistake was bigger: every shot I hit or finally snapping that poxy driver walking off the 13th tee. I certainly know which felt better

I'm sure that day built character :-(

TrapperChamonix

Playing in the competition without signing in to the computerised time sheet before starting. Thankfully when I've done it I didn't feature in the result, but I know someone who had won the 4ball only to be disqualified. Both of us had the same excuse, tried to sign in, no money on account, went to the proshop to put money on the account and then got distracted and forgot to go back to sign in.

derra

Picking up in a 2 man rumble when it was two to score on one of the holes. Makes it worse when your the one reminding the other players on the tee that it's two to score.

Too many others to mention.

ForeRight

One recently where as part of a 3 ball we had to walk up a hill to the tee box leaving our bags at the bottom.

One of the lads scuffed his tee shot and it hit the other fellas bag.

The guy who hit the drive immediately says that's a two stroke penalty for you(to the bag owner)
for leaving the bag there. I nearly wet myself laughing before informing him he was mistaken and its actually his penalty.

He still maintained for 3-4 holes he was right.

Plonker!

D Hayes

ForeRight wrote: »

One of the lads scuffed his tee shot and it hit the other fellas bag.

The guy who hit the drive immediately says that's a two stroke penalty for you(to the bag owner) for leaving the bag there. I nearly wet myself laughing before informing him he was mistaken and its actually his penalty.

He still maintained for 3-4 holes he was right.

Plonker!

If he hit an opponent's bag then it's not a penalty. It's a two shot penalty if he hits his own bag though.

ForeRight

buysellswap wrote: »

If he hit an opponent's bag then it's not a penalty. It's a two shot penalty if he hits his own bag though.

Really????

You learn something new everyday so.

So looks like both of us were being plonkers so

ForeRight

I just looked it up and this is rule 19.2

19-2. By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipment
If a player’s ball is accidentally deflected or stopped by himself, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke. The ball must be played as it lies, except when it comes to rest in or on the player’s, his partner’s or either of their caddies’ clothes or equipment, in which case the ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball came to rest in or on the article, but not nearer the hole.


So I was right to penalise the guy???

Paddy1234

ForeRight wrote: »

I just looked it up and this is rule 19.2

19-2. By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipment
If a player’s ball is accidentally deflected or stopped by himself, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke. The ball must be played as it lies, except when it comes to rest in or on the player’s, his partner’s or either of their caddies’ clothes or equipment, in which case the ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball came to rest in or on the article, but not nearer the hole.


So I was right to penalise the guy???

If he was a fellow competitor then no you weren't right to penalise him. A partner means somebody on the same team so if if was a singles comp you were wrong.

ForeRight

Paddy1234 wrote: »

If he was a fellow competitor then no you weren't right to penalise him. A partner means somebody on the same team so if if was a singles comp you were wrong.

Ah I get you now. I was reading it wrong.
Thanks.

Ronney

ForeRight wrote: »

Ah I get you now. I was reading it wrong.
Thanks.

To add on to this learnt this one recently,

If you hit your opponents bag in match play you can retake your shot under no penalty.

SnowDrifts

buysellswap wrote: »

If he hit an opponent's bag then it's not a penalty. It's a two shot penalty if he hits his own bag though.

It used to be 2 stroke penalty but has recently been reduced to only 1.

scrubber72

Woke early today(6am) and couldn't get back to sleep so decided to go play 9 holes as i live next to my club.
Still bleery eyed on the first i tee off into the right rough. Get to the ball sitting up onnicely on a tuft of grass.
Took out six iron and made a sweet contact only for the MUSHROOM to explode. I was 30 yards farther. :-P

SnowDrifts

Now that ^^ would have been funny to watch!!:D

Nemesis

As Hon Sec I forgot to sign my card and would have won competition.
The Slagging I got was unreal.

My friend hit his bag in the 10th Tee and he still blames me for not winning that day.He had same score as the winner and came second.

I didn't know of the change to a one shot penalty and neither did all the 'wise men' we asked on the course that day.


I finished a round with my Dad one day and he asks for his card that I was meant to be marking.
Lucky I had a good memory then !!

Last year I drove into a greenside bunker that had the Lady captain and the lady Hon Sec both in it at the same time.Thankfully I was playing with the Lady Captains Husband at the time.

Played in a Topgolfer event and picked ball up on 3rd only to realise it was strokeplay and ended up with an 8 ..still shot 83 though off 12

TrapperChamonix

Nemesis wrote: »

Last year I drove into a greenside bunker that had the Lady captain and the lady Hon Sec both in it at the same time.Thankfully I was playing with the Lady Captains Husband at the time.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Johnny_Fontane

Famously when I was younger

On the 13th green in Mount Juliet. Flag at the front, mate putting from the fringe at the back, hits it too hard, tells me to stop it from going in the water. With flag in one hand and putter in other, move quickly before tripping (flag between legs) and flying head first into the lake.

Managed to rescue about ten balls from the water while I was in there, before getting a buggy back to the clubhouse. Granted I was 13!

PARlance

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Famously when I was younger

On the 13th green in Mount Juliet. Flag at the front, mate putting from the fringe at the back, hits it too hard, tells me to stop it from going in the water. With flag in one hand and putter in other, move quickly before tripping (flag between legs) and flying head first into the lake.

Managed to rescue about ten balls from the water while I was in there, before getting a buggy back to the clubhouse. Granted I was 13!

You weren't doing a 9 shot challenge were you? (You may have been a year too young for it at the time )

Your post reminded me of this video I seen recently:
A lot of things wrong with this...he grounded his club several times in an hazard for a start

And for the full story of how they got to that point

The shots aren't even full shots...tut tut

Kevinmarkham

ajcurry123 wrote: »

You weren't doing a 9 shot challenge were you? (You may have been a year too young for it at the time )

Your post reminded me of this video I seen recently:
A lot of things wrong with this...he grounded his club several times in an hazard for a start

Now then children, this is why we don't ground our club in a hazard... the golfing gods will always have the last laugh.

Wichita Lineman

I think he grounded more than his club in the hazard!

BraveDonut

Was he drunk when he got dressed that morning too?

mike12

Played with my Brother in a comp and declared i was playing a Pro V1, after 12 holes i'm really upset that i have lost my 3rd ball after having a good line on all of them. Brother ask's me are you sure it was a Pro V1 i say yes, he goes that was a titelist 2 i found. At least i got my 3 balls back.
Mike