Petty and childish reaction?

[woody69]

Had an interesting one yesterday. We were playing in a captain / pro comp in Greensomes format.

On the tee on one of our shorter par 4's and one of the guys in the other pair hit a hybrid and absolutely nailed it. It looked like it was possibly rolling up to the group in front who were close to walking up on to the green after taking their 2nd shots, but none of us were in anyway concerned they were in danger or felt the need to shout fore. Next thing we see is one of the group walks over to where he has just hit his ball and proceeds to hit it back towards us!

As we finish our tee shots and walk up the group in front are walking off the green and have to walk almost back past and a confrontation occurs asking why he hit the ball. The guy who had hit it felt aggrieved as apparently he said the ball rolled past him at pace. A bit of f'ing and blinding went on, with some saying he should have a 2 shot penalty for playing the wrong ball etc before it was all broken up and we played on. My partner and I could see where his ball had been hit from as a divot was facing the wrong way down the fairway so said we were happy for him to place it there, but he decided to play his partners ball rather than replace and play his as he said he couldn't be sure it was the right spot. Meant they were further back and you could see he was rattled as they ended up doubling the hole.

Was a very childish thing to occur. I mean if I was in a group and I felt someone behind had come close to hitting me with their ball and no shout was coming I would have a word with them, but I certainly wouldn't hit the offending ball back at them (which is ludicrous) or even into the rough etc. It's not as if the guy hitting the ball is aiming for them. Just one of those things.

Anyone on here reacted in such a way and think it was justified?

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Depends really....was it the first time that a ball had been played up close behind them? How close was it to actually hitting someone?

To be totally honest I've had rounds where people start firing shots into the green as I've been walking off.....and then playing balls up behind us but I've never reacted. I've always wanted to get their ball and smash it off the fairway for that kind of behaviour.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Sounds like an obnoxious person. Some people enjoy confrontation. If it had happened 2 or 3 times and it was starting to get silly or dangerous then I understand the temptation to do what they did but as a first time incident it was uncalled for. Idiots are all over unfortunately.

 

[garyinderry]

If a ball is on the way towards people a shout of fore is key. Even if its going to roll up to them, an early shout and a hand up in apology usually defuses any misgivings.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Why didn't the guy who hit the tee shot wait until the group in front were out of range? All very well saying he nailed it etc but that is the intention of every player on every tee shot.

He should have waited, hitting someone with a golf ball can be extremely dangerous.

 

[User20205]

Mistakes happen. A quick shout would have covered it, especially if it's rolling and its a one off.

Everyone knows the appropriate course of action isn't to hit it back, but to write knob on the ball, preferably in green sharpie.

 

[Tongo]

Sounds a right tool! Yes, in an ideal world he probably should have shouted fore but if a ball is rolling on the fairway then one could question how dangerous it is going to be. And, as the OP said, none in the group felt the shot was remotely dangerous. If it was me, i'd have been impressed with the shot!

Smacking a ball back down the fairway really is childish.

 

[chillicon]

Like has already been said, the guy should have waited until they were out of range, and then should have shouted fore and then should have hand gesture apologised etc.

The blokes reaction, whilst by the sounds of it a big over reaction in the circumstances, is one which a lot of golfers would probably like to do once in their lives.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Everyone knows the appropriate course of action isn't to hit it back, but to write knob on the ball, preferably in green sharpie.

Surely nobody would ever do that??

 

[chillicon]

Surely nobody would ever do that??

I am putting a green sharpie in the bag just in case.

 

[guest100718]

You should have waited until the group in front were well out of range, Having a ball thud down behind you is not good.

 

[Slab]

Assuming the group in front were also playing greensome then I think its loss of hole for a practice stroke during a round & not a 2 two stroke pen for playing wrong ball (he doesn't have a ball in play)

But is it the hole he's just played or the one he's about to play?

 

[londonlewis]

I think the guy in the group in front over-reacted. I imagine him smirking in the club house later when he shares his story about how he 'almost got knocked out by some to*$er in the group behind'.

I was playing golf in Richmond Park a couple of years ago in a four-ball. We waited for the green to clear. One chap was stood to the right hand side of the green marking his scorecard. My mate's second bounces a long way before this chap who has watched this ball all the way. It continues to roll for a number of seconds before toddling past him by a mere 6 inches. He waited for us before saying 'that ball almost hit me', to which I replied, 'it only just rolled past your shoe and you were watching it all the way. Also, can you kindly refrain from marking your scorecard until you get to the next tee box' ...

I am convinced that some people are just out for a fight.

 

[GB72]

Not sure either party is without a bit of fault here. If I hit a ball and it is heading nearish to someone I should 'fore'. It is not always a call to warn people to get out of the way but rather meant as a 'sorry, that one was a bit closer than I intended' that and a raised hand to show that I was apologetic for hitting a bit sooner than I should tends to keep everyone calm. That said, there is no excuse for hitting the ball back either. Have a word when you pass but don't be petty about it.

Sometimes I think that golfers are worse than a bunch of schoolkids.

 

[garyinderry]

He lost the moral high ground when he hit the ball away I am afraid. Two wrongs and all that.

 

[woody69]

Depends really....was it the first time that a ball had been played up close behind them? How close was it to actually hitting someone?

To be totally honest I've had rounds where people start firing shots into the green as I've been walking off.....and then playing balls up behind us but I've never reacted. I've always wanted to get their ball and smash it off the fairway for that kind of behaviour.

Yes, it was the 1st time.

If a ball is on the way towards people a shout of fore is key. Even if its going to roll up to them, an early shout and a hand up in apology usually defuses any misgivings.

Really? If I hit a ball that is rolling up to someone on the deck I wouldn't shout fore. I would raise an apologetic hand if they looked around.

Why didn't the guy who hit the tee shot wait until the group in front were out of range? All very well saying he nailed it etc but that is the intention of every player on every tee shot.

He should have waited, hitting someone with a golf ball can be extremely dangerous.

You should have waited until the group in front were well out of range, Having a ball thud down behind you is not good.

Agreed and only the guy hitting it can explain why he took the shot on. I would guess his answer would be that he thought they were out of range. Perhaps he thought they were further away than they were, perhaps he just didn't see them. No idea, I didn't hit it.

 

[FairwayDodger]

While it's frustrating waiting around I never understand why people hit before the group in front is out of range. Just wait a few seconds longer.

I was recently walking off a green after holing out when a cry of "fore" went up; guy behind just missed me with his approach. I was walking briskly to the next tee, ten seconds and I would have been well clear.

 

[garyinderry]

There are different levels of fore shout. Yes I would calmly call fore when I hit a ball that old roll up to or past someone. Out of common courtesy.

This goes up to the four man bellow fore shout that reverberates around the course.

 

[londonlewis]

I don't think people do it intentionally.

A few years ago I was at Lingfield park on a par 5. There was a 4-ball on the green and I was playing my second shot form the rough, uphill, from over 240 yards out. In my mind there was no chance I was getting there. Not in a million years. I took my 3 wood and hit it flush.
It ended up rolling straight between them and stopped on the green about 12 feet from the cup.

I rushed straight on to the next tee to apologise, feeling pretty bad about it all. One of the chaps turned to me and said 'it didn't hit us mate, did you sink the eagle putt?'. I apologised again and said I hadn't putt out yet. They were still there after we had finished out the hole and the same guy turned to us again 'so, did you make it?', 'No' I replied.

That group then played on, wished us well and walked away.

This is exactly the approach that I take with golf as well. If it happened more than once or I believed that someone was trying to hit me, I would have a word.

 

[FairwayDodger]

There are different levels of fore shout. Yes I would calmly call fore when I hit a ball that old roll up to or past someone. Out of common courtesy.

This goes up to the four man bellow fore shout that reverberates around the course.

Yes, I think I'd rather receive an unnecessary shout than no shout when one should have been given.

One that amazes me is how often players cack a drive miles wide, out of sight, towards another fairway and don't shout fore. I was livid at one guy who did that and missed me by only a couple of feet. When challenged his response was "I didn't shout because I didn't know you were there".