Hit into a group - I guess I need to pay more attention

[dubbelbogey]

I was recently playing a course I've not played in about 15 years, so I wasn't familiar with all of its hidden or blind corners. We had been keeping up well with the group in front, but had no complaints at all about the pace of play.

 

I was on the tee box and saw a set of golfers up on the green, so I proceeded to tee off. I managed to pull it into the trees, and I did hear it hit some branches. I figured the ball was likely lost, so I teed up another.

 

After my playing partners finished teeing off, a single guy in a cart comes driving out of what appeared to me to be straight out the woods on the left. It turns out there was more fairway tucked behind that stand of woods and he was there when I hit my tee shot. I had no idea he was there, was certainly not visible, and of course my ball came uncomfortably close to him. He had a few words for us for hitting into him. I don't honestly blame him, but I was fooled by two things: 1) him not being visible in that tucked away corner of the fairway behind the woods and 2) his partners already being up on the green and putting so I assumed they were all up there. I guess I should've counted golfers and recognized that they were not all up on the green.

 

Oh well. Just glad I didn't actually hit the guy.

[Lord Helmet]

Cant say I would have done anything different in that situation. Par4?

[Dfwgolfdude]

I played a course up in Vancouver BC recently with an extremely downhill tee shot. There's a sign that says watch for the players on this really tall mirror before you play....The problem is that I was playing from the back tees and there was no mirror and I saw 3 people of the green so I hit. They played up and left their buddy 100 yards behind them because he lost his tee shot and he was catching up. Supposedly, I nearly pegged him and he had some choice words for me.

 

I thought it was BS and the marshal also had some choice words for me. The whole thing got blown out of proportion so I apologized before I got kicked off the course.

[leopoldstotch]

I played a course up in Vancouver BC recently with an extremely downhill tee shot. There's a sign that says watch for the players on this really tall mirror before you play....The problem is that I was playing from the back tees and there was no mirror and I saw 3 people of the green so I hit. They played up and left their buddy 100 yards behind them because he lost his tee shot and he was catching up. Supposedly, I nearly pegged him and he had some choice words for me.

 

I thought it was BS and the marshal also had some choice words for me. The whole thing got blown out of proportion so I apologized before I got kicked off the course.

 

What course was that? Wasn't Furry Creek was it?

 

Honestly OP, this type of thing happens a lot to me.

I guess since i'm a hacker, and play with hackers, we go to hacker golf courses and people appear in and out of trees all the time.

 

If you didn't notice they were a foursome before you hit the tee shot, it's hard to say

[FootWedge16]

Had a guy hit into our group three times in one round. The last two drives actually sailed over our heads. I'm an extremely patient guy when it comes to this type of stuff, but he stopped after my playing partner teed his ball up and hit it into the woods.

[duffer987]

I played a course up in Vancouver BC recently with an extremely downhill tee shot. There's a sign that says watch for the players on this really tall mirror before you play....The problem is that I was playing from the back tees and there was no mirror and I saw 3 people of the green so I hit. They played up and left their buddy 100 yards behind them because he lost his tee shot and he was catching up. Supposedly, I nearly pegged him and he had some choice words for me.

 

I thought it was BS and the marshal also had some choice words for me. The whole thing got blown out of proportion so I apologized before I got kicked off the course.

 

What course was that? Wasn't Furry Creek was it?

 

Honestly OP, this type of thing happens a lot to me.

I guess since i'm a hacker, and play with hackers, we go to hacker golf courses and people appear in and out of trees all the time.

 

If you didn't notice they were a foursome before you hit the tee shot, it's hard to say

Sounds like #10 on Northlands IIRC?

If you ever nearly peg someone with your teeball, I think it's understandable people would be peeved. Also if you have been following this group throughout the round, then you know they are a foursome and need to count to 4 before hitting.

 

Honest mistakes happen and a simple apology is definitely the way to go. Hope you enjoyed your time in BC :)

[Dfwgolfdude]

I played a course up in Vancouver BC recently with an extremely downhill tee shot. There's a sign that says watch for the players on this really tall mirror before you play....The problem is that I was playing from the back tees and there was no mirror and I saw 3 people of the green so I hit. They played up and left their buddy 100 yards behind them because he lost his tee shot and he was catching up. Supposedly, I nearly pegged him and he had some choice words for me.

 

I thought it was BS and the marshal also had some choice words for me. The whole thing got blown out of proportion so I apologized before I got kicked off the course.

 

What course was that? Wasn't Furry Creek was it?

 

Honestly OP, this type of thing happens a lot to me.

I guess since i'm a hacker, and play with hackers, we go to hacker golf courses and people appear in and out of trees all the time.

 

If you didn't notice they were a foursome before you hit the tee shot, it's hard to say

 

Nope, Northlands. I think it was #10 if memory serves.

 

Great course, but that entire exchange was insanity.

[Dfwgolfdude]

I played a course up in Vancouver BC recently with an extremely downhill tee shot. There's a sign that says watch for the players on this really tall mirror before you play....The problem is that I was playing from the back tees and there was no mirror and I saw 3 people of the green so I hit. They played up and left their buddy 100 yards behind them because he lost his tee shot and he was catching up. Supposedly, I nearly pegged him and he had some choice words for me.

 

I thought it was BS and the marshal also had some choice words for me. The whole thing got blown out of proportion so I apologized before I got kicked off the course.

 

What course was that? Wasn't Furry Creek was it?

 

Honestly OP, this type of thing happens a lot to me.

I guess since i'm a hacker, and play with hackers, we go to hacker golf courses and people appear in and out of trees all the time.

 

If you didn't notice they were a foursome before you hit the tee shot, it's hard to say

Sounds like #10 on Northlands IIRC?

If you ever nearly peg someone with your teeball, I think it's understandable people would be peeved. Also if you have been following this group throughout the round, then you know they are a foursome and need to count to 4 before hitting.

 

Honest mistakes happen and a simple apology is definitely the way to go. Hope you enjoyed your time in BC :)

 

Which would make sense, but it was a pretty late tee time and that was the first hole we caught up to them because they stopped to get drinks or something at the turn.

 

I suspected there were 4, but everyone in my group suggested I hit so I did.

[jimb6golf]

Playing a shorter dogleg left which I normally hit a hybrid off. Hit the best, longest hybrid with a slight draw I've ever hit and it was heading directly for the group in front of me. After yelling 'fore' I started walking up to my ball. Keep in mind it was a 1 in a 100 good shot. Ball was sitting perfectly in the fairway and I played out the hole. Got to the next tee and the group in front of us was still waiting so I apologized for hitting into them but they said my ball actually landed in the basket of the person's cart and that they were so impressed they gave me a good lie on the fairway. Couldn't believe it and they were actually happy I hit a good shot, and that no one got hit too. It was really pretty strange and I'm glad I didn't hit anyone too.

 

On another occasion in a corporate event one of my playing partners sculled an iron shot on an elevated par 3 and sailed his shot over the green, onto the next tee box and through the waiting group's cart. Sailed right under the noses of the guys in front who happened to work with this person. Good for some laughs after the initial Holy Sh** moment.

[larrybud]

1) him not being visible in that tucked away corner of the fairway behind the woods and 2) his partners already being up on the green and putting so I assumed they were all up there. I guess I should've counted golfers and recognized that they were not all up on the green.

 

His fault and/or his playing partner's, not yours. C'mon, his partner is on the green, and he's invisible? How long are you supposed to wait? Obviously his playing partner was sick of this guy looking for balls too.

[Bonneville85308]

I've accidentally hit into someone in the exact scenario the OP describes. It's usually because one guy refuses to give up on searching for a lost ball in a section of woods off to the side with poor visibility from the tee. The rest of his group gets tired of waiting and plays up to the green while he is still looking, I then see 3 of the 4 on the green and figure the landing area is clear, I hit, then the ball hawk gets all ticked off at me because my ball lands near him when he finally gives up and drops a ball to play up to the green.

[dubbelbogey]

Yeah - I get that what I did is "understandable" and that the circumstances conspired to make this situation happen. No, I don't feel like it's completely my fault, and the guy should've recognized the situation he was in contributed to the issue and he probably shouldn't have gotten so irritated.

 

That said, it's not fun for anybody and I'll definitely try to pay more attention to what is actually going on ahead of me. I've been playing golf for a long time and this is the first time this has ever happened to me, so I don't think I have a history of inattention.

 

(On a related note, I tend to not get irritated when the rare ball gets hit into my group. I play mostly public courses and there's a good chance of running into inexperienced players, who may not exactly know what they're doing. Of course, I've never actually been hit, either... :-) )

[ArtMBgolf]

When someone is invisible in the woods or over a hill waiting for a green to clear, they should leave their cart visible, if they have it or

their stand bag. And when we are the guy who fooled the group behind us, we need to be understanding.

[llewol007]

Sounds about as right an accident happens will happen. The main thing with things like that and believe me, if I saw the group on the green would imagine that all players were on the green as well is to give it a little more time to make sure you see everybody. There have been a couple of occasions where a cart pulls out of a blind are right after I hit a drive. Luckily this time, you missed the guy. Next time, it could be a guy with his lawyer information. We laugh it off butt I have been hit by a ball and believe me, it does do some damage and the golf course will side with the player who got hit almost 100% of the time.

[Swisstrader98]

Happens to all of us at some stage. Don’t beat yourself up for an honest mistake.

[HackerD]

When someone is invisible in the woods or over a hill waiting for a green to clear, they should leave their cart visible, if they have it or

their stand bag. And when we are the guy who fooled the group behind us, we need to be understanding.

This is a good practice. Golf course awareness.

[Simp]

Lesson learned on both parts. You, to make sure all players are accounted for and him, to hurry his a** up and let the Top Flight go.

[Truman]

I was recently playing a course I've not played in about 15 years, so I wasn't familiar with all of its hidden or blind corners. We had been keeping up well with the group in front, but had no complaints at all about the pace of play.

 

I was on the tee box and saw a set of golfers up on the green, so I proceeded to tee off. I managed to pull it into the trees, and I did hear it hit some branches. I figured the ball was likely lost, so I teed up another.

 

After my playing partners finished teeing off, a single guy in a cart comes driving out of what appeared to me to be straight out the woods on the left. It turns out there was more fairway tucked behind that stand of woods and he was there when I hit my tee shot. I had no idea he was there, was certainly not visible, and of course my ball came uncomfortably close to him. He had a few words for us for hitting into him. I don't honestly blame him, but I was fooled by two things: 1) him not being visible in that tucked away corner of the fairway behind the woods and 2) his partners already being up on the green and putting so I assumed they were all up there. I guess I should've counted golfers and recognized that they were not all up on the green.

 

Oh well. Just glad I didn't actually hit the guy.

you knew they were up there

[BlackDiamondPar5]

I was recently playing a course I've not played in about 15 years, so I wasn't familiar with all of its hidden or blind corners. We had been keeping up well with the group in front, but had no complaints at all about the pace of play.

 

I was on the tee box and saw a set of golfers up on the green, so I proceeded to tee off. I managed to pull it into the trees, and I did hear it hit some branches. I figured the ball was likely lost, so I teed up another.

 

After my playing partners finished teeing off, a single guy in a cart comes driving out of what appeared to me to be straight out the woods on the left. It turns out there was more fairway tucked behind that stand of woods and he was there when I hit my tee shot. I had no idea he was there, was certainly not visible, and of course my ball came uncomfortably close to him. He had a few words for us for hitting into him. I don't honestly blame him, but I was fooled by two things: 1) him not being visible in that tucked away corner of the fairway behind the woods and 2) his partners already being up on the green and putting so I assumed they were all up there. I guess I should've counted golfers and recognized that they were not all up on the green.

 

Oh well. Just glad I didn't actually hit the guy.

you knew they were up there

Yes he did know they were up there and out of range, which is why he hit. He did not know, and from the sounds of it, could not know, that a guy from their group was lurking in the woods in range.

[Golfer4Life]

Just admitted, you were giving them a wakeup call, lol....

[caniac6]

I have never hit into anyone on purpose, until this morning. I am trying to get a quick 9 in this morning before the hurricane gets here. It is very windy with light showers. I am playing the back, and get to 17, and there is a guy playing, not golfing, with two dogs in the middle of 17 fairway. I am standing on the tee, it's raining, and I am hollering at the top of my lungs for this guy to get out of the way, and this moron just waves and keeps playing. I finally just go ahead, and hit one over his head. He looks at me, and says he didn't think I could hit it that far. I just shake my head, and say that was why I kept yelling. Looking back, I shouldn't have hit, but I would have felt worse if I had hit one of his dogs rather than him.

[Golfnuck]

Our #6 hole is 600 yards long and for the first 300 yards is relative flat then it drops off sharply downhill.

 

If someone hits a 250 yard drive there is no way they can see what is 200 yards further down the fairway on their 2nd shot.

 

When ever someone in our group is looking for their ball just over the crest of the hill one of us will always stand at the top of the fairway until they have hit.

 

We know that we have a responsibility to ensure that group behind us know that we are there.

 

In the OP's case I feel the golfer in the woods should have left some sign on the fairway that he is still there especially when the other members of his group are at the green.

 

He has just as much responsibility to make sure he is visible.

[kozubs]

I played a course up in Vancouver BC recently with an extremely downhill tee shot. There's a sign that says watch for the players on this really tall mirror before you play....The problem is that I was playing from the back tees and there was no mirror and I saw 3 people of the green so I hit. They played up and left their buddy 100 yards behind them because he lost his tee shot and he was catching up. Supposedly, I nearly pegged him and he had some choice words for me.

 

I thought it was BS and the marshal also had some choice words for me. The whole thing got blown out of proportion so I apologized before I got kicked off the course.

Similar thing just happened to me in at Stewart Creek in Canmore which I had never played before. I was playing the back tees. There were four women in front of us. They were over a hill but I could see their heads and they were about 270 out. Once they played and drove away I teed off and hit a great ball down the middle over the hill. We pulled up to the red tees for my wife but when we past the blue tees, there was a sign saying to wait for a bell. The tips were back and the sign was blocked by trees so we didn't see it. Sure enough, one lady in the cart drives back up to the top of the hill to show they were still there. We waited till the bell for my wife to tee off then drove up to the green to apologize. My ball landed well back from them but rolled right through them to the end of the fairway. The ladies were fine with it and complimented me on my drive.

 

I don't know why signs like this or mirrors are placed in a spot where they're non functional from certain tees.

[bladehunter]

In my mind commmon sense says to leave the cart or your bag in view of the box while you go off into the forest. If you don’t its your fault. People are too lazy to walk the extra 20 yards. They have to drive the cart into the woods to look.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

In my mind commmon sense says to leave the cart or your bag in view of the box while you go off into the forest. If you don’t its your fault. People are too lazy to walk the extra 20 yards. They have to drive the cart into the woods to look.

No truer words spoken.

[Pulledabill]

It happens. I hit in to someone on my home course on one particular hole about twice a month. Hard dog leg right and tree lined right. Just cant always see when they are tucked in there.