Biggest golfing mistake you've ever made?????

[Smiffy]

Many years ago I was playing in a large corporate day at Mere Golf & Country Club. Had not been playing long and was a bit "green" as far as formats were concerned.
It was an individual stableford, played in fours, and a yellow ball competition was incorporated into each groups score.
All I was made aware of was that you had to complete the round with the yellow ball.
By some freak of luck, (Mere is a very tough course), we still had our yellow ball on the 18th, and it was me that was lumbered with it. Tough par 5, I ended up in a greenside bunker but had already played 5 shots, and after taking another 3 to try to get out I knew that I had blobbed the hole. So I deliberately smacked the ball out into the adjacent lake....

Nobody had told me that you actually had to hand the yellow ball in to the scorers at the end of the round. Only three groups actually finished with their yellow ball, we were one of them, and we would have won it had I realised what I had to do.
Needless to say, I wasn't flavour of the month with the other three players in my group, one of them was so pissed off he skipped the prize giving meal and buggered off home... if I remember the prize was pretty good.

 

[Imurg]

I'm honestly struggling to think of one on the scale that would warrant being in this thread..
But the biggest I've seen was at my first club.
Captain's Day and it was 3 weeks since my stint on the committee came to an end.
As the scores came in a member of the new committee did the checks and balances and kept the leader secret.
Once everyone was in the big announcement came - and the winner, with 56 points is...........
56 points.
Once the trophy was handed over and the festivities began I wandered over to have a peek at the cards.
The winner was on top and I could see, instantly, that something was wrong.
1st hole was a par 4, he had 1 shot on it and had managed to score 7 points....
Yep, between him and his marker they'd managed to put his actual scores as his points scores...and the checker hadn't twigged it.
I casually took one of the new committee aside and calmly said " think you'd better check the cards again. I think you've dropped a big one"
He looked and his face went white.
Half an hour later there was an immeasurably embarrassing announcement that a mistake had been made......
I sat there quietly thanking my lucky stars it wasn't me checking the cards...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Not me but similar to Smiffy's really. Played in a Texas scramble many years ago. One of the team members was a work colleague of another player. Half decent but an angry man. On the 3rd hole we were in a bunker and it was his turn to take a shot. He muffed it, swung again, swung again then picked the ball up and threw it into the sea, links course. We just stood there dumbstruck not knowing whether to laugh or be angry as this man imploded.

We played the rest of the round in virtual silence, dq ourselves.

Never made a biggie myself, just the odd daft one ie picking up in individual stableford when you could still have gained a point.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Getting rat-arsed with my best mate and playing partner (in the Scarisbrick hotel) in Southport the night before an important and prestigious company inter-site team competition - 36 holes over Royal Birkdale. Oh dear. Our skipper was not amused when we rocked up very much worse for wear and then later as we traipsied off the morning 18 holes foursomes stableford with 17pts...we were supposed to be his ‘trump card’ pairing.

As it happens that round included my biggest blunder (in context of the status of the round we were playing) when I played our playing companion pair’s ball on one hole - hitting the green for our first green in regulation (something like the 8th) - except it wasn’t ...and another blob on our card - but that’s another story.

His report in the company newspaper of our morning round...”...and the best we can say about Hogie and Mike‘s morning round is that they tried - well at least we think they did...”

once bitten...that may have happened 30yrs ago but a lesson learned and never repeated...

 

[upsidedown]

Playing in the Senior series final at Woodhall in 2019 on the Bracken an it's hosing it down.
Poor front 9 and pretty sure I'm out of the tournament , 3 points behind the guy who's card I was marking so set myself target to beat him. Pulled pulled level with him on the 17th so would beat him on back 9, game plan had been to hit hybrid on the 18th but bravado took over and pulled driver out. Leaked it right so took hydrid for the provisional. Never found the first, thigh deep thistles and nettles.
Made par with provisional, blob and he made par, he's signs for a 33 and me a 31.
Head to scorers table and can see a 33 sitting on top, but we're mid field. Sit down to the lunch and watch the scores come in and you've guessed it his 33 wins.
Hybrid would not have reached the thigh deep thistles, stick to the game plan Ben ???

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Not a mistake by me but I recall a club Stapleford comp when I scored 34 points.
Poor score and two of my PP had scored better. The low handicap section was generally won by 39 to 41 points.
I handed the card in and the following day discovered I had won the competition OCB after a tie with seven other members.
Lots of sorry tales the following Saturday of guys who had scored 34/35 points but did not hand their cards in.
It was a weird result as weather was fine and course condition good.

 

[Smiffy]

Another great one was when a group of us visited a municipal course down Brighton, called Waterhall. It's a bit rough and ready, but when you first start playing, anywhere is good for a game.
There were about twelve of us and we decided to have a 36 hole Stableford competition, going out in leaderboard order in the afternoon. I had a good 18 holes in the morning, so was in the last fourball out after lunch.
1st hole is a short, driveable downhill par 4 so I'm on the tee with my brand new Big Bertha 3 wood waiting for the green to clear. Took a few decent practice swings and without looking up turned 90 degrees and took another. There was an almighty crack as I hit the surrounding chain link fence and I was left holding a graphite shaft that now resembled a palm tree as the head of the club, with about 6 inches of shaft still attached spun it's way towards the clubhouse. My, how my mates laughed ???

 

[jim8flog]

2 biggies
Trading in my first set of irons instead of waiting to see if I got on with the new ones.
Buying a driver based upon how well I got on with the demo one.

 

[Hammertoe]

Winning captains day about 12 years ago my buddy and I preceded to get disgustingly drunk afterwards, now I don't remember the prize giving but the next day I was the proud owner of a thousand pieces of beautiful crystal that apparently used to be one piece of beautiful crystal. My buddy said that I was handed it by the captain and almost immediately dropped it, I was so ashamed of myself.

 

[Deleted member 25172]

Guess you can interpret mistake in different ways.

My biggest golf mistake came on a 4 day golf break in the south of Sweden around 10-12 years ago.

6th hole on the second day. A short par 3 with a massive elevation down to the green. I shanked 2 balls off the tee out in the woods, and subsequently walked straight to the car park, packed the bag in the trunk and started my 4 hour journey back home.

I didn’t touch a golf club for 5 years after that, which is something I regret today. I’ve calmed down a bit since then.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

1. Hitting three poor shots in a row in a county Scratch semi-final in 2019 - I was two up with four to play at the time in the deciding match. One day the other members of the team might even forgive me.
2. Asking Ian Poulter for five minutes at the Valspar in Tampa a few years ago for a feature I was writing. He was a nob. Even Retief Goosen told him to grow up.
3. Asking Homer and his mate to come and play at Pyrford years ago - his mate's behaviour was embarrassing.

 

[clubchamp98]

Pulled a 6 iron instead of a 9 iron and hit the clubhouse picture window.
It was massive piece of glass. Didn’t break thank god.
But a member was standing watching and spilt his Guinness all over himself.
Ball rebounded on to the green and I knocked it in for birdie.
I did leave him one in the pump.

 

[Imurg]

I’ve calmed down a bit since then.

 

[Smiffy]

Asking Homer and his mate to come and play at Pyrford years ago - his mate's behaviour was embarrassing.

Go on.
I'm here all day
???

 

[Deleted member 25172]

View attachment 34170

A bit. Not a lot. ?

 

[williamalex1]

I've had a few but this one springs to mind
Innocently taking an illegal drop out of a bunker at St Andrews New [ 2014 ?] when playing "The King of Kings " nation wide forum comp.
I must've had a premonition of the 2019 rule changes.

 

[IanM]

County Foursomes.....going well. 9th hole at Ogbourne, blind , slopey fairway. Played wrong ball... didn't notice till too late. Took out 2 teams.

...bit of an atmosphere thereafter. Not a mistake you make twice

 

[ScienceBoy]

Cancelling my membership, I had a good chat with the membership guy and they took pity on me. I really wish they hadn't as I actually ended up being able to use it. I couldn't face going back and couldn't afford memberships elsewhere.

I would probably have got to single figures easy if they hadn't...

 

[Captainron]

3. Asking Homer and his mate to come and play at Pyrford years ago - his mate's behaviour was embarrassing.

As a respected journalist, you will have to elaborate on this

 

[Smiffy]

As a respected journalist, you will have to elaborate on this

I agree.. as a nosey bastid