Laughable shots

[Joe Hancock]

Combining the "architect's humor" and maybe the "impossible shot" thread into one, and probably introducing some new ideas too....what have been the most laughable shots you've ever played or observed? Was it born of an architectural feature, or ineptness, or some other outside agency?

Two examples:

In NC, a friend hit a drive alongside a pond. There was some low hanging tree branches that would affect his follow through. After he hit his shot, the tree branch somehow snagged his Tommy Armour 845 6 iron from his hands and recoiled it about 10 feet out into the pond. The look on my friends face was so funny I was crying.

and,

Last year, on a 170 yard naked par 3, I decided to, as I had been doing throughout the round, call my shot, in full Technicolor. I had described this beautiful low, into the wind drawing 5 iron that I was to intentionally hit very low. What really happened was I hit the ground a good 6 inches behind the ball, the club bounced out of it's initial divot and bonked the ball, which rolled about 25 feet forward, tumbling off the front left corner of the tee. Thank goodness bot my sons and several of my lifelong best friends were there to share in my humiliation. They were crying....

Joe

[Ken Moum]

what have been the most laughable shots you've ever played or observed? Was it born of an architectural feature, or ineptness, or some other outside agency?

Many years ago, playing in a tournament in Crookston Minn., I was teeing off on a par five that had OB down the right side. As my tendency in those days was to lose the tee ball right, I made some kind of over-the-top swing, catching it on the heel and sending it low and left.

Now, it would have been fine, as it was sure to slice back into the fairway, but it hit the ladies tee marker, which was in the form of stacked cubes with flat surfaces @ 90 to one another.

That ball hit one surface, then the other, and came rocketing back toward me, over my head and out of bounds behind the tee.

It was difficult to ignore the humor in that moment.

K

[TEPaul]

Joe, this is a fine question and one to really ponder.

If the contributors on here pick up on it I would hope you don't mind if the discussions wander and range far and wide and perhaps into some of the things in life that humor (laughter) can and does mean in the over-all.

Nothing particularly comes to my mind that way on a golf course at the moment but I'm sure it will.

In the meantime I'd like to tell a few stories about laughter and humor that may seem very off topic but in the end I don't think so. At least one of them may even seem insensitive or hard-hearted but I don't think so either. It's the truth and the fact it ended in humor or laughter may say more than anything else.

The first story on or about humor that has had perhaps the most long-lasting effect on me was from the "Mark Twain" Awards around November of 2001.

The Mark Twain Award is given each year by the nation's comedians to one of their brethren in the business. A very impressive array of the world's comedians seem to come and they tend to roast the recipient.

In 2001 the recipient was Whoopi Goldberg and the awards took place in a beautiful old theater where she sat in the "Queen's Box" in the left wing.

Everybody came on and told stories about her, working with her, and roasted her and it was super hilarious. And then the time came for her to come down and recieve the Mark Twain Award for humor.

She walked on the stage and stood there looking at the audience without a word for quite a while. Then she said she had decided not to come because she was so overwhelmed by the events of 9/11 that anything to do with humor seemed inappropriate.

But then she said she remembered a remark by Mark Twain that went;

"Nothing in the world can WITHSTAND the ONSLAUGHT of HUMOR."

And so she decided to come to the Mark Twain Awards.

It makes one ponder the meaning of it all, including the over-all meaning of humor and laughter, doesn't it?  

[Joe Hancock]

Tom,

Laughter is more healthy than any diet humankind can conjour up.

Joe

[BVince]

Two come to mind:

1.  When I was about 12 years old, I was playing in my first 'big' junior golf tournament.  We were standing on the first tee and a player in my group was approaching his tee shot.  When he took his swing, he was so nervous that he barely hit the ball off the inside of the hozzle, the ball went in between his legs in the middle of two large tree roots directly behind him.  He never even saw it.  Talk about a rough start.

2.  One of my father's friends just purchased an expensive top of the line driver.  He was bragging about it the whole round.  On the 17th tee, he took his swing and on the follow through the club head flys off into the water.  You could see the deflated expression on his face.  We tried not to laugh but it was simply impossible.

[Jordan Wall]

I saw my friend hit my golf coach right where the sun dont shine when he was standing about twenty feet away.  
A complete shank.
A perfect trajectory.
And a perfect result.

Priceless.

He was ok though.

But still, I think my group was on the tee laughing longer than coach was on the ground in pain.
Easily the most funny thing I've ever seen.
Sorry coach.
 

[David Schofield]

In much the same vein as Mr. Wall, just this summer we had a company golf outing (Ironically at the golf course discussed in this month's T+L Golf, New Richmond, WI).  A friend of mine who plays perhaps 4 times per year stepped up to the tee on the Par 4 9th hole and swung as hard as he could.  he nearly missed the ball, but caught the heel of the club, sending the ball screaming through his legs directly perpendicular to the intended line.  Two of our co-workers happened to be standing directly in the ball's path (normally one would assume that location would be safe), but luckily for them it caught the last few inches of the raised tee box and bounced harmlessly over their head.  To add insult to injury, the ball ended up in the greenside bunker for the previous hole.  The group behind us got to enjoy the moment, as they reached the green just in time to see him address the ball in their bunker.

[TEPaul]

Here's a laughable golf story that doesn't exactly have to do with architecture and it's also one I probably put on here at some point in the past (my golf story inventory, perhaps contrary to common belief, is really pretty limited and of necessity needs to be rerun from time to time as appropriate threads and questions pop up ).

Anyway, this happened at Timaquana back in the old days ( I didn't see it but my Dad loved this story).

Dad used to hang around Timaquana in the old days or the early to mid 1950s with a pretty famous group of real characters who were to a man all good or great players and well known.

According to Dad, two of them, the Lafoon brothers who were American Indians, were well known pros and both were trick shot artists and one of them, Ky Lafoon, was one of the best trick shot artists extant at that time.

They all used to play together all the time and bet and drink and carry on but one thing that seemed to be constant was the way they all called some of the shots they were going to hit. That was the common game---eg to call your shot and pull it off perfectly thereby impressing the rest.

Let me back up a moment and tell you how I even heard about this story.

My Dad used to entertain people who didn't know him very well on the range by telling them he had a shot for them that would astound them. He said it was so good they'd have to pay very careful attention or they might not even be able to see it.

He'd tee a ball way up, take out a 2 iron, waggle around and take a big and beautiful swing and hold his finish saying: "Do you see it? Isn't that something?"

These people would be searching the sky high and low wondering what happened and why they couldn't see the shot. Eventually they'd turn back to Dad holding his finish and the golf ball was on the ground directly underneath where he teed it.

So I asked him where he got that from and he told me one time at Timaquana when they were all playing and calling shots and carrying on, Ky Lafoon found his ball sitting up on a large tuft of grass and he announced to everyone there:

"Watch this, you guys are going to see a shot you never saw before."

So, Ky Lafoon takes this big beautiful swing and hits the very underneath of the ball that flies right up and hits him in the chin so hard it cuts his chin and sends him right to the ground.

With this the rest of the guys are on the ground just howling with laughter.

[CHrisB]

I've seen (and did it once myself) the club break at the start of the downswing, and I've seen (and done) the club slipping out of the hands and flying into the woods or the water. When I was a junior, I once double-hit a 3-wood shot out of the rough.

But I have two favorites that come to mind:

1. A friend of mine is hitting his iron approach to a par 4 when, right at the top of his backswing, he breaks wind quite loudly (guess he was relaxed). By the time the clubhead reaches the ball, he is laughing so hard that he hits it about 6 inches fat.

2. A player from a rival high school, playing in summer junior tournament, tees off on a long par 4 with a lake in front of the tee. He pops his drive straight up in the air, and as soon as the ball is in the air he is off running after it, trying to catch it. He runs full speed and takes one last leap out into the lake, stretching out and missing the ball by a matter of inches. As he crawls out of the water he says "Dangit, I got a bad jump on it."

[Joe Hancock]

Twice, I've seen tee shots that were popped up so straight that the offending golfers were able to catch his own tee shot and re-tee it in one easy motion.

Keep 'em coming, I'm enjoying the stories. And, Jordan, just like TV"s AFHV, almost nothing beats a shot to the groin.

 

[Joe Bausch]

Two come to mind immediately:

1.  In a high school match years ago a fellow, uh, how shall I say this politely, passed gas as he was starting his downswing.  He started to laugh simultaneously and he toed his drive perhaps 50 yards right.

2.  Another buddy of mine had a shot that he could have gone high or low over a tree by a green next to the next tee box.  He chose to go low but his ball went a few feet too high, hit a branch, and directly richocheted into a nearby trash can, one of those big 55 gallon drums.  It bounced around in there like a jumpin' bean.

[Roger Tufts]

The one that completely instantly comes to mind is this:

I was playing in a Junior Inter-club match at Ipswich Country Club in Ipswich, MA. The signature (5th? 7th? 8th? Can't remember) hole is a downhill par 3 all carry over water, about 190. The kid I was playing with hit a ball into the water and went "Ah screw this" And started emptying his bag of balls into the water Tin-Cup Style... all crappy shag-balls that have been beat up, but he kept trying to pull the shot off to no avail. I watched, laughing, as he hit 14 balls into the water. Finally he was all out, and asked us for a ball in frustration.

One of my playing partners rolled a ball up near the bottom of his Iron and told him to hit it. The kid took a hefty, anger-induced swing VERY hard. He hit the ball, and it immediately exploded.

It was one of the exploding golf balls, and he literally had NO idea. Usually you can tell because the ball is different, but he was absolutely clueless and so in the moment, being pissed off that he couldn't pull the shot off, that he flung his iron into the massive pond, never to be retrieved again.

I realize this isn't a real shot, but still hilarious nonetheless.

[Andy Troeger]

In a round about 10 years ago the fellow I was playing with clipped a branch of a huge, old, somewhat hollow tree. It was about 100 yards off the tee and I'm guessing maybe 50 feet tall.

Another fellow hit before my turn to tee off and as I was hitting I heard this creaking sound, and the whole dang tree fell over right into the fairway.

I guess that was the last straw...

[Bill Brightly]

Well, this isn't a funny shot story...more like 9 holes of laughter...

For years we went to Myrtle Beach and the entire trip was organized by an ex-CIA agent. This guy was SO straight: no smoking, no drinking, no swearing. Excessive golf was his ONLY vice, and he planned our trips in the most meticulous detail. From the time the limo picked us up, to tee times, to dinner plans, to the time the limo dropped us back at our homes, everything was perfectly planned. If we played 8 courses he had 8 envelopes to tip the bag attendants. The trips ran like clockwork, so we put up with his obsessiveness. He didn't care what we did at night, as long as we made our tee time the next morning...

So after a really late night, 3 foursomes are at Dunes West waiting for Mack, our rich Wall Street friend who is no where to be found. As luck would have it, he is paired with the CIA agent against me and my partner, so we make our foursome tee off last in the hope Mack shows...

5 minutes before we have to tee off, Mack finally shows up, and along with him is Randy...a young lady from Crazy Horse that he has hired to be his caddy! She is gorgeous, and is wearing a tank top, short short cutoff jeans with a section of material cut out of her right rear cheek...What a sight...

Well, the CIA agent just about EXPLODES when Mack introduces his caddy...fearing that we are going to get booted off the course...but Mack says he is not playing unless his caddy comes along...and this would screw up a week's worth of betting...So after a GREAT argument we have 2 minutes to tee time, and our other buddies have already teed off...so we have no choice but to tee off...So the CIA agent barks at Randy: "stay in the cart!" and off we go! She rides and the CIA agent walks the entire 9 holes with STEAM coming out of his ears, he never says another word to Randy, and only goes near the cart to get a club! I laughed so hard every time I looked at him that tears came out of my eyes, which only made him madder, and me laugh harder!

After nine holes, Mack sent Randy up to the group in front of us where her caddying skills might be better appreciated!  

[Phil_the_Author]

For my Georgia brothers...

10th hole of the CC of Roswell. This is a 335 yard par-4, downhill from the tee with the last 40 yards a 90 degree right hand turn to a green perched out in a pond.

No way to drive it really because of the trees along the right and the water, but when did my brain ever get used on a golf course.

A few years ago on as fine a spring day as one could desire, I caught a drive as full as I could. As the fairway plays itself out, it goes up a hillside which is about 320 yards to the top. I carried it to the top with my drive only to see the ball come straight down on top of the cart path. With a bound that Superman would have been proud of, the ball rocketed into the air and now found the blacktop road that leads straight downhill to the electric cart storage area.

For any that know the hole, and my predicament, that area is not technically out-of-bounds and my good buddies forced me to play it from where it lay.

It may have been about an 800 yard drive to where it stopped, but they made me play that 500 yards back up the road...

I took a 12, but it will always remain the longest drive I've ever seen!

[G Jones]

teeing off on the 19th hole sudden death of a Scottish boys matchplay (2nd round) game... after having just hit a perfect open faced lobwedge shot dead on the 18th to complete my comeback from 4 down with 5 to play... i was a little worried due to my growing slice and the wind from the left... and OOB close down the right... and an elevated tee.

Oh and the 100+ people around the tee made it a little nervewracking too. So when I hit the biggest slice in history you can imagine I was more than a little embarrassed. But then, my opponent hit it OOB too! All of a sudden I have the nightmare shot all over again and a lot more to lose if another one goes OOB! I take a 1-iron and smash one down the middle, only for my opponent to hook one left (safe play, he thought) onto the practise ground (which was in bounds).

So we all walk up the hole with the interested crowd (they were probably sensing more blood), only to realise that my opponent can't find his ball amongst the thousands of titleist practise balls all over the practise range! 100 people searched 5 minutes and the ball was never found. I won the match by default and we both walked back to the clubhouse in shame.

That was the day when I realised competitive golf just wasn't for me :-)

[G Jones]

actually, another good one came during a county matchplay team event when I was playing for Angus against the other counties of Scotland.

One of the guys from another county (a 2 handicapper) was announced on the tee (thru the PA system, etc) in front of a large crowd, and he his is tee shot rather low - going straight into a wire-mesh bin at the side of the ladies tee. There then followed 5 minutes of rules officials discussing what he should do next, while he had to stand there with everyone looking on. Priceless!

[Paul_Lorenzen]

Long time lurker and have to contribute to this one. Prevail upon a friend for me and my boss to a round at Merion. 5th tee and I’m thinking long draw up the right side to take advantage of the architecture. Tee the ball up on far left side with tee marker between my feet and the ball. Am totally Rotella’d and can envision a prodigious drive. Proceed to put on a classic outside-in swing. Hit a small portion of the ball and all of the tee marker. Tee marker goes about 30 yards left, ball about 15 yards right, and the driver head about 85 right down the middle. I am now putting on the cloaking device again even though my name is now public.

[Bill Brightly]

The 18th at Lanarch outside of Philadelphia, naturally, leads back to the clubhouse, and the back of the brick clubhouse has a small enclosed porch, open in the front with three brick walls on the sides, with a couple of tables inside...

My buddy Stanbo and I had never played there before and when we came to 18, he hit a wicked slice far to the right. Our host hooked his drive,  so he was off to the left somewhere...


Stanbo was so far off the fairway that there were no marked sprinkler heads, so he "eyeballed" the distance, and hit his 5 iron as pure as he ever had! Only problem was it should have been a 9 iron...

The ball flew right over the pin, RIGHT into the enclosed porch, and we heard it bouncing around off the walls like "bing-bing-bing, Ricochet Rabbit" and then the ball came bounding out of the porch.

Our host yells: "Stanbo, what did you hit?"

Stanbo meekly said,  "5 iron?" and our host moans, "Oh shit, you were only 145 from the hole..."

With that three sweet little old ladys came staggering out from the porch, one with a cane, and they were looking all around, up and down, trying to figure out what had just happened....(they were not hurt) God help me it was really not funny, but.... since I could not laugh out loud I had turn turn away and almost busted a gut trying to stifle my laughter...

Stanbo and I are still waiting for a second invite to Lanarch...

[cary lichtenstein]

My wife and I are playing many years ago at Doral, the week before the tournament. All the fairways are roped off with heavy yellow rope about 4 feet off the ground and makes for a miserable day of riding in the rough and walking to get to your ball regardless of where it is.

On 16, the dogleg left, I hit one far right, so being a wise guy, I decide to ride under the ropes with the cart, I pick the rope up over my head and put it behind me, step on the gas,  and then hear crack, crack, crack as the rope snaps off the heads of my driver, 3 wood and 7 wood.

Lesson learnt + I had to listen to my wife retell the story about a dozen times to her friends.

[Joe Hancock]

Lesson learnt + I had to listen to my wife retell the story about a dozen times to her friends.

You got off easy, that story is easily retellable scores of times!

At Landfall Club, in NC, I was playing with a visiting friend from Michigan. We were on the 18th, and he had a sharp uphill lie on one of the moundy things in the left rough. He hit his shot, and I watch it fly towards the green. When I look back my friend is on the ground about 30 feet downhill from where he hit the shot, laying on the ground. He apparently jumped up (he's short) to see his shot, and come down wrong, twisting his ankle. I missed the tumbling action, damnit. I ended up having to go to the clubhouse and get a bag of ice for his swollen ankle, as he had to drive back home to Michigan the next morning, in his manual shift automobile.

Joe

[Joe Hancock]

Another time, at The Emerald GC in New Bern, NC, I was walking up the slope to the 10th tee after getting a tuna sandwich at the turn. I was carrying my driver and half the sandwich, and my cousin (a PGA pro, and a clown) decides to slip the grip end of his driver between my feet as I'm scaling the hill. It spun me around, and my driver went flying as I fell to the ground....with my sandwich held high and safe.

Joe

[Evan Fleisher]

I've seen (and did it once myself) the club break at the start of the downswing, and I've seen (and done) the club slipping out of the hands and flying into the woods or the water. When I was a junior, I once double-hit a 3-wood shot out of the rough.

But I have two favorites that come to mind:

1. A friend of mine is hitting his iron approach to a par 4 when, right at the top of his backswing, he breaks wind quite loudly (guess he was relaxed). By the time the clubhead reaches the ball, he is laughing so hard that he hits it about 6 inches fat.

2. A player from a rival high school, playing in summer junior tournament, tees off on a long par 4 with a lake in front of the tee. He pops his drive straight up in the air, and as soon as the ball is in the air he is off running after it, trying to catch it. He runs full speed and takes one last leap out into the lake, stretching out and missing the ball by a matter of inches. As he crawls out of the water he says "Dangit, I got a bad jump on it."

Chris...that second one is friggin' hillarious!!!  I'm crying, dude...

[Evan Fleisher]

Playing in a foursome of buddies at a Southside Chicago course several years ago.  One of my playing partners hits his drive attempting to cut the dogleg corner on this par-4 but hits a line-drive screamer at a bunch of bushes about 100 yards in front of us.

Unknown to us is there happens to be a large metal electrical box concealed within these bushes and he hits them dead on...BANG!

We all stand there searching for the ball...we knew it hit this box but never saw where it went.  After what seemed like an eternity we head a THUD on the teebox just behind us.  The ball had sky-rocketed straight up into outerspace and back over our heads landing almost right on our heads...we all fell over dying of laughter but our buddy was not too pleased with his efforts.  

[Tim Bert]

I was playing with two friends, one of whom had just purchased a brand new golf bag and pull cart.  We were playing a hole where it was natural to leave your bag by the path and then walk back 20 yards to the tee with your club of choice.  My buddy made the obligatory comment - something to the effect of "Try not to hit the golf bags."  

My other buddy, who had just purchased the new gear the prior week, stepped up to the tee.  He hits this hard, low liner shot headed right at the bags.  It slams into his brand new pull cart - really hard.  We are cracking up as we walk off the tee.  We get up to the bags and learn that his shot broke the wheel of his new pull cart, bounced up, and cracked the bottom of his brand new bag.

I'm sure if the Mastercard commercials had been out that long ago, we would have come up with some "Priceless" joke rather quickly.  

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