Ouch

[muttleee]

The main point imho is "are you actually injured?" If you had sustained a broken bone or a head injury etc which could leave you having to take time off work etc, then I don't think anyone could fault you for claiming for lost income etc. If the only thing bruised was your ego, I wouldn't take go to the law. Maybe report the guy for driving into you (in case he makes a habit of it but noone ever says anything) but no more than that.

 

[DriveForShow]

What would you be suing him for? You don't say that you have incurred medical bills or loss of earnings. Are you just trying to turn an accident into a nice little earner and screw over some other golfer?

Face it, golf is always going to be slightly dangerous, people firing small missiles off without total control. I think we all have to accept that when we play.

How much use is shouting fore anyway? All it does is make the person look up (if he even realises the shout is directed at him) and get face on to the ball - potentially more serious. It more a matter of manners, shouting fore, than accident prevention.

I am surprised that his ball hit you hard three feet off the ground from "280" away (I presume you mean 280 yards?). That suggests one heck of a drive!

 

[birdieman]

How much use is shouting fore anyway? All it does is make the person look up (if he even realises the shout is directed at him) and get face on to the ball

Wow driveforshow, the very last thing I would do upon hearing 'fore' is look up, I turn my back to the shout direction and assume a squatting position with hands over head.
I think you should practice this move or you could soon be without teeth!

 

[USER1999]

I just ignore shouts of fore, since if you get hit you are desperately unlucky, and if you are unlucky, then you will get hit anyway. Panicking about just isn't my thing. Most of the time the incoming ball is miles short anyway.

 

[madandra]

Wow driveforshow, the very last thing I would do upon hearing 'fore' is look up, I turn my back to the shout direction and assume a squatting position with hands over head.

To hell with that, I grab a junior and use the wee bugger as a human shield.

 

[USER1999]

Which brings up another point. Should you shout fore if the ball is clearly going to be close to someone, but not actually going to hit anyone. If it is going to miss, then if the 'target' group duck and dive about, they may well move into the path of the ball and get hurt. People get annoyed if you don't shout, comments like 'that only just missed me, why didn't you shout', but the reality is, it missed. If fore had been shouted, it may have been a different story. Why get annoyed when no warning is given, if no one gets hit?

 

[lefty74]

hi buddy, hope your'e feeling better, can i ask you do you really want to claim compensation from this guy he probarly feels bad enough at what happened imagine if the shoe was on the other foot, the whole world is going compo crazy lets not bring it into our great game

 

[madandra]

I shout FORE if it is going to be close and potential direct hits. The shout of FORE is a warning that you should get behind over or under anything that can give you protection. I shouted fore on sunday and my playing partner almost ran into the ball.

It was comical.

I was shouting

"FORE" ........

"STOP RUNNIN' YA W*****" ....

"STAY THERE YOU C***"

 

[AceOfClubs]

How much use is shouting fore anyway? All it does is make the person look up (if he even realises the shout is directed at him) and get face on to the ball

Wow driveforshow, the very last thing I would do upon hearing 'fore' is look up, I turn my back to the shout direction and assume a squatting position with hands over head.
I think you should practice this move or you could soon be without teeth!

Personally I look to see where the ball is going and get out the way. I think you should practice this move Birdieman!

Squatting in the line of fire merely gets your head lower to the ground and makes it more likely your head will be hit. Its rare a mishit shot goes past you 6ft in the air. Homer was hit in the lower back while standing up - if he had been squatting as you recommend Birdieman he would have been his head that was hit. Altogether more serious.

 

[lefty74]

just get on with it do not bring compensation into our great game, these things happen the guy didn't mean too hit you he probarly feels bad enough!!!

 

[lefty74]

liked the story buddy would have loved too see it happen first hand!!!

 

[madandra]

I hvae neevr hared scuh nosnecne in my lfie. I got wkached on the eye and my voisin is fnie.





Read the sentence above very quickly and be amazed

 

[birdieman]

How much use is shouting fore anyway? All it does is make the person look up (if he even realises the shout is directed at him) and get face on to the ball

Wow driveforshow, the very last thing I would do upon hearing 'fore' is look up, I turn my back to the shout direction and assume a squatting position with hands over head.
I think you should practice this move or you could soon be without teeth!

Personally I look to see where the ball is going and get out the way. I think you should practice this move Birdieman!

Squatting in the line of fire merely gets your head lower to the ground and makes it more likely your head will be hit. Its rare a mishit shot goes past you 6ft in the air. Homer was hit in the lower back while standing up - if he had been squatting as you recommend Birdieman he would have been his head that was hit. Altogether more serious.

Not sure you'd last long in the army! You reckon when you hear fore you can scan the sky for a little white ball = unlikely.
Make yourself as small as possible and you are a smaller target = less chance of being hit. A ball can come past at 6",1',5' with equal chance.
I don't think a Nobel science prize will be winging it's way to you anytime soon!

 

[AceOfClubs]

Birdieman - do you actually play golf???? If so, to use a quote from Jack Nicklaus about Seve "you play a game with which I am unfamiliar".

 

[lefty74]

these things happen on golf courses people get hit by balls, why must we bring the compensation culture into the game of golf, the guy probarly feels like s**t for doing this, lets all take a reality check!!!

 

[AliB]

As a point of principle you should letter the committee and get then to bring the guilty party up in front of them to explain WHY he hit when you were in range, WHY he didn't shout FORE and if he did shout WHY nobody heard him? The very thought of being up before the golfing beaks will have him shouting clearly in future.

I agree. a lot of people wait the bare minimum of time or deliberately hit off to move the group in front along. The incident should be made as public as poss within the club so that everyone gets the message. There may also be an issue over tee placement, warning signs etc. I think litigation would be a pity, though.
Homer - I have a lot of sympathy. Was hit on the leg from close range when I was a kid - I could barely walk and the bruise was amazing!
AliB

 

[lefty74]

how come i can read this is ma heed messed up or what!!!

 

[John_Findlay]

After 27 years of playing I've learned to adopt the birdieman position too (ooh, I hope that doesn't catch on for his sake).

Back to target, both hands and arms over my head like a nuclear weapon has just gone off. Those who think they'll see the ball are deluded. Most golfers only shout fore at the last minute when it's approaching their "target" and you have a split second to see the ball. At least that way you'll not lose an eye and the chances of a head shot are slim to none, so you won't die! A nasty bruise is likely to be the worst you'll get.

Made the mistake of looking towards a "fore" the other day only to jump INTO the path of the ball after it's first bounce. Scared the willies out of me but luckily it missed my face by inches. That'll teach me.

 

[ForeThought]

I am surprised that his ball hit you hard three feet off the ground from "280" away (I presume you mean 280 yards?).

Me too. In my experience most shouts of fore are from the group behind when one of them misjudges the distance to the group in front, and the ball is bounding or probably dribbbling along the deck by the time it gets to the group in front - or more likely it peters out short of them.

I disagree with Birdieman's view that you are as likely to have a shout of fore against you from a ball which will pass you 6ft up in the air as 1 inch off the ground. I have been playing for several decades on all kinds of courses with all standards of golfers in many different countries and, off hand, I can only remember one case of ball whizzing past my head - when someone in my own group was hacking out of a bunker. That hardly needed a cry of fore! as I was watching him anyway - and I canna remember if he even called it.

If a chap hit you from 280 yards away hard in the back and you were standing upright on the fairway (and had not ducked or dived into it a la Birdieman) then clearly it was dangerous play - no way should the ball have had that height and pace when it got to you from someone playing in the group behind you on the same hole. I would definately have a word with him about how come he made such a gross misjudgement. Depending on his attitude, I would then consider taking it up with the committee. But to sue him... Yuck!

 

[birdieman]

Birdieman - do you actually play golf???? If so, to use a quote from Jack Nicklaus about Seve "you play a game with which I am unfamiliar".

Yes I've played golf on and off (mainly off) for 20 years now and have never been hit so maybe my evasive action technique ain't so daft as you reckon?

Oh, if you're going to use quotes at least attribute them to the right people...It was Bobby Jones talking about Jack Nicklaus, not Jack talking about Seve!!!