Have You Ever REALLY Lost Your Temper On Course?

[syenkoc]

Removed.

Edited October 11, 2023 by syenkoc

[Gotblades]

I like how some folks like to tell us they've never been that angry on the golf course...because their Dad or Grampa or whomever raised them right etc....

If you say you haven't then not only are you a hothead but you're a liar too. :-) Haaaa!

[HighSpeedScene]

Once threw my putter over a fence into the street. That's pretty bad.

Putter survived. Buddy still tells the story.

Circumstances don't really matter, although I had pretty good reason to be upset at myself. Nothing really justifies that.

[Vindog]

Unfortunately, yes. Completely blew my top.
Did I have a point? Sure I did.
Was it uncalled for? Absolutely.

[taporsnap17]

You have to define "lose your temper". For some a quiet cuss is losing their temper while for some you pretty much have to use language than make sailors blush before proceeding to throw ones bag into the nearest lake.

I don't think I've lost my top, but have definately straddled the line between frustration and anger. I'm not above muttering the odd four letter word or a "Why the <insert appropriate word> did I hit it there?", and physically, the club slam into the ground (not a huge 2 handed tomahawk. No higher than knee height and no damage done as yet).

The worst I've encountered was a guy that, while plesant, would drop a f-bomb so loud I'm sure a few fairways could hear it when he got his shot and another who started throwing his clubs all over the place so much that I had to duck for cover.

[larrybud]

I had one shining moment that I can recall. Invited 3 buddies out to my brother's course (he's the head pro), maybe 10 years ago. Can't remember the hole, maybe 12, pulled a tee shot into the left woods.... maybe findable, maybe not. I call a provisional and pipe one down the middle, once of my best shots of the day.

We get to the area of where my first ball is, and it's some thick junk. I take a cursory glance, and I tell them don't worry about it, and I really don't want to find it anyway. One of my buddies is trampling around still looking for my ball while I'm getting ready to hit my provisional. I tell him 2 or 3 times forget about it, I don't want to find it in there anyway, but he doesn't listen.

Of course, before I get a chance to pull the trigger on my 4th shot, he finds the ball. I let loose a tirade on him. Probably the maddest I've ever been. So now fuming I chip out, and hit my 3rd way right of the green. My buddy says "do you want to find that one?". lol. Looking back it was a great comeback, but now I'm really fuming.

To this day I don't know what got in me. My wife says she can't even imagine me getting angry or even raising my voice. I don't know if I was mad at him, or mad at myself for hitting one into the woods. I felt like a complete tool for a while after that. It was a long drive home, I know that.

I don't think i've been 1/10th as mad as that to this day on the course or anywhere else.

[Steele47]

From age 11 to around 16 I lost it every round. Preferred club slamming a la Pete Townshend, or cussing loudly. Embarrassed just thinking about it.

[robrey85]

Back in 2012 I was put on some anti-depressant/anxiety/anger meds and it really did help over the course of two years. In 2014 soemtime I felt like I was mentally grown to there point where I could come off them, I did with success but not without "the hiccup".

One major side effect of coming off that s*** was extreme irritability and I was having a roller coast of a round that started before the round even began, hitting every red light, cars cutting in front of me, etc...snap hooking s***, inconsistent contact (far more than usual) and on the 13th tee, I lost it. It's a pretty wide open fairway with desert/bush/debris on the right if you miss right side of the cart path and you have to snap hook it pretty bad to lose it left in this big a** trench/ditch/cliff and of course I did exactly that, smashed my 3W on the rocks bashing it and then breathing and then bashing it some more on the sidewalk, lol. It survived and I still use it, but there are some sweet battle scars on it.

To this day, I still think of myself as an a****** and still apologize to my playing partner for that "hiccup", lol.

[nbg352]

Pretty sure I got Larrybud's anger gene.......
Sure wish he'd ask for it back.....

[naj959]

played last week and after missing my tee shot on a par 3 I proceeded to blade 3 chips over the green. After blading a chip on the previous hole and basically all month I snapped. Proceeded to let loose a profanity laced tirade upon myself, beat my bag with a wedge and then toss it into the next fairway. For good measure I gave myself a swift punch to the side of the head for bein so stupid and so inadequate that I could not execute a simple 20ft chip. Luckily I was playing by myself. The game no longer brings me any joy and I am actually quite miserable out on the course. I have imposed a 2 week suspension upon myself and only need to rub the bruise on my temple when I think about playing this Friday. Although I'm not supposed to be on wrx so will se how long that lasts. I can totally relate to Woody Austin and his putter.

[robrey85]

[quote name='nbg352' timestamp='1425427853' post='11071675']
Pretty sure I got Larrybud's anger gene.......
Sure wish he'd ask for it back.....
[/quote]

Could it be worse than Pete Rose and/or John McEnroe? lol.

[Shawn Paul]

I once threw a 9 iron after a crap hit. It took a crazy bounce and ended up on the green making a bit of a mess. I immediately felt horrible because I'm not usually that guy. I fixed her up good though and haven't done anything like that since.

Few years back my buddy hit a bad shot with his fairway and must have forgotten where I was standing. He chucked it towards the cart which is also where I was standing, missed me by a foot. It shattered into a million pieces. I was thankful that he didn't kill me. He picked up the pieces and threw them in the woods. I finished the round by myself.

[juststeve]

I get angry but not so anyone else would know.

Steve

[Pepperturbo]

Golf is just a game, even when the day is not going my way. I just don't see how the worst day on the course merits losing one's temper.

[GodSpeed]

I'll go ahead and admit the following:

Yes, I use to get quite angry on the course. A few years ago, I had a set of Taylormade RAC OS irons. I had played a few rounds in the low 80's consecutively, then all of a sudden started shanking almost every iron shot. Yes, this was a swing flaw, not a club flaw. I was on the 17th par 3 with a pond next to the tee box, and I shanked a ball into the pond with my 8 iron. I threw it in the pond. I went and got my 9 iron, promptly shanked a ball into the pond again. 9 iron went into the drink. In the end, my 6-PW went into the water before I finally hit a shot that wasn't shanked. That was just my last angry outburst. I have other stories that are similar, with equipment being broken/lost in many of them.

And yes, I know I don't play golf for a living. I expect too much out of myself is what I have come to realize. I've broken/thrown/etc my fair share of clubs in my day, which has been very costly. I'm sure I have made some playing partners and friends very uncomfortable during my angry outbursts. I expected perfection in every shot, which is impossible to achieve in golf.

I have done some growing up since I joined this website and read about other peoples experiences, stories, and what not. I've seen swing videos and videos of professionals. I've been to a few golf tournaments as well. I've come to realize that not even professional golfers hit a perfect shot every time. Some can downright hit shots as poorly, or even poorer in some cases, as I do (though not as frequent, of course). If these guys, who play and practice 5-7 days a week, cant be perfect? How can I expect it from myself? That was really the turning point for me.

It was difficult for me to manage those feelings of anger and rage. The same techniques and thoughts I used to quell those feelings on the course, have now helped me deal with them at other times off the course. So in the end, golf has actually made me a better person. On, and off the course. To others with this same type of problem, I am sympathetic. It can be a beast that sometimes can get beyond control.

[leftyfan]

OK, I'll come clean. It happened during the "I'm really broke" college years in the late '70's. We were playing the final hole of one of those scramble events where we were well "hydrated". I snap hooked a three iron shot badly, and launching the club seemed to make sense at the time. My intended line of flight was the center of the fairway, but I snap hooked that too, and the club came to rest high in a pine tree. I couldn't afford to buy a new Browning 440 3 iron, so I decided to retrieve the club from the tree. I needed to use the power cart as a ladder to get on my buddy's shoulders (removed golf shoes first), in order to reach the lowest limb of the tree. I scampered up the tree and knocked the club loose, and all was good until the limb I was standing on broke off, and down I came. I tried wrapping my arms around the tree to slow the descent, and that only bloodied up my forearms on the way down.... no thrown clubs since that day. I still have the 3 iron as a reminder.

[Thrillhouse]

When I was a kid? Yeah, absolutely, I did all the bad stuff you can think of, breaking clubs, throwing clubs, slamming clubs, bashed the crap out of a tee marker or two. It wasn't good and I shake my head at it now but I was a competitive kid and I certainly never had a passive personality.

I'm calm now though, its something you learn with age and maturity I guess.

[jayhawker]

Once, at another player in 13 when I first started playing. My buddy and I shoot the same speed and we were paired up with an older gentleman and we told him to play on after the 1st hole. He said he liked looking better than he was playing with us. Over the next few holes his comments went from sarcastic to rude. On hole 7 my buddy slices it and the guy asked "why the f*&k aren't you to clowns on the range?" I blew a gasket and we exchanged thoughts and my buddy stopped the cart so the other guy could get some distance away from us. I told my buddy "I'm hitting down on that fu^&er on the next par 3. Before we reached the tee box on hole 9, the Ranger said the other player called in and explained what happened then asked "would you like a refund" but more of a statement than a question. I was dumbfounded and asked my buddy if this was the polite way of getting asked to leave. Needless to say, we skipped 9 all together and when I got in the Pro-Shop I made a fool of myself saying this could have been avoided had they just let us play as pair as there open slots before and after our tee-off.. They had already refunded our credit cards and encouraged us to play the remaining 9, which we did. When we finished, one of the boys that wipes the clubs down was smiling and asked, "sir, would you really hit down on that guy on hole 11?" To this day, I have no idea who else heard me say that as the other player must have been 125 yards up the hole when I made that comment.

[Mitchell]

In Myrtle Beach a few years ago, a playing partner inadvertently hit into group ahead on a blind tee shot after group had cleared area and then decided to ride back for a dropped towel. The two guys in cart rode all the way back to the tee and proceeded to yell a stream of obscenities. My partner, who has a naturally calm disposition, apologized politely, however one guy would not let the matter rest and "bowed up". I stepped out from cart and advised the player he could either ride cart up fairway and proceed with round or continue and be transported to hospital and then jail, things then calmed considerably.

[Interpol]

[ckostrewa]

[quote name='Drudersh' timestamp='1422759874' post='10859811']
Started club championships when I was 22 years old with a 2 on the par 4 first hole. Jarred a wedge from 70 yards. Par on the next two holes, 2 under through 3, feeling good. Proceed to go +12 thru the next 10 holes. Get to the 15th hole and 3 jack for another double bogey. There's a pond conveniently located next to the green, just give the putter a couple good loops for momentum and let it fly. Did it so casually my playing partners didn't even notice until I pulled driver to putt on 16. Couple of two putt pars on 16 and 17 and make a 15 footer for birdie on 18. Was DQ'ed for round two after drowning my putter.
[/quote] Why did you get Dq'd?

[ckostrewa]

Buddy of mine told me his dad was putting so poorly one time that he slammed the toe of his putter into the green and started running with it.

Back when we were kids we'd have "Divot Wars" and a few years ago after a poor par-3 tee shot into the water my buddy decided to start one of these "Divot Wars". After a few chunks that got sent flying my way, he accidentally let go of his PW and hurled it into the pond. I laughed my a** off and couldn't even finish out the hole.

[hunter1995]

Never physically lost my temper but once in awhile I will mentally haha..

[TerpFangolfer]

I've never been a club thrower...but have been know the bang the bag - luckily i learned (the hard way) the turn the club around and use the grip end. Did break at least 1 stand bag leg hinge...

but my worst episode, without a doubt, happened at ~age 15. Our Mom used to drop my bro (2 years younger) & me off at the Univ course (she worked at the Univ) 2 or 3 times a week during the summers. Drop us at 8 am and pick us up at 5 - those were awesome days. We would play between 27-45 holes depending on how busy the course was & how tired we got.

Anyway, one day I was I guess having a bad go of it..and on #13 or 14 - after another shank, or skull, or fat shot, or whatever, I said "F this! I am done!"...dumped my bag and proceeded to start to walk in. Now I only had ~9 clubs, but it was July or Aug in the Mid-Atlantic and my little bro ( a future Class A PGA pro) picked up and carried my bag back. Maybe taught him a thing or two about dealing with members in his future.
I felt like crap and bought him a Coke or something - and never did anything like that again.

[Mark1621420]

I don't remember what lead up to it but I do remember about 5 years ago I got up to a par 5 that is straight with a road that runs next to the left side of the hole. I was planning on playing my baby draw off the tee which ended up being more of a pull and just went OB into the ditch next to the road. with rage I threw my cheap driver as far as I could (again thinking it might have a baby draw in air) but it also decided to go left and landed right in the middle of the 45mph road to which a semi promptly ran it over about 10 seconds later. I was just happy I didn't hit a car, didn't care about the driver at the time.

[Forged4ever]

I've had a few

Someone probably got a nice Scotty off of the burm of the PA Turnpike after a 3 putt from 8' after a nice drive & a dart approach shot during an Oakmont swat in 2012.

As we were walkin to the bridge my Caddy said to think about my drive and approach shot-

I did but by the time that I hit the bridge over the turnpike I was thinkin of the 8'er that I slid 6' frickin by

I shoulda gone for the "safe" 2-putt but when You're lookin at 8' anywhere, Ya run it. I just ran it by-

But it was on the "high" side

See Ya

Fairways & Greens My Friends,
Rihard

[Cicero]

I think the worst I did was to slam the head of a 9-iron into the teeing ground hard enough that it was buried up to the shaft. I stood and looked at the shaft sticking out of the ground, shook my head at my own stupidity, and never slammed a club again. I'm still surprised I didn't break the thing.

[nbg352]

[quote name='Cicero' timestamp='1427391974' post='11221371']
I think the worst I did was to slam the head of a 9-iron into the teeing ground hard enough that it was buried up to the shaft. I stood and looked at the shaft sticking out of the ground, shook my head at my own stupidity, and never slammed a club again. I'm still surprised I didn't break the thing.
[/quote]
They are actually pretty resilient as long as you slam or toss them right.
You have to have enough control of your rage so that you can properly plan your attack on an offending golf club without breaking it or losing it........

[nbg352]

A couple of rules of thumb:
Never slam a club head first against your bag. You could kill an innocent club along with the offender.
Never slam a club toe down into the ground in July. Unless July is your wet season.
Never toss a club end over end. They don't like it and they very well may break.
Always toss a club down the fairway. It's easier to follow it then it is to go back for it. And....you won't lose it.
If you follow this simple set of rules, you'll still be able to drag that offensive s.o.b. behind the car once the round is over..........

[MINIGOLFADDICT]

[quote name='Emthree' timestamp='1422896513' post='10868693']
I can remember truly losing it once when I was a junior, I put an iron through the club secretary's window because I had just lost the jnr club championship and tickets to watch the Ryder cup. I lost out due to an asinine ruling and was quite upset, as you can imagine.

My dad was out on the course with my sister and when he got back he beat me so hard with that iron in the car park it snapped. I can still feel it and have never really lost my temper since.
[/quote]

and he didn't get arrested for assault?