Unusual Sightings During a Round

[Randy Van Sickle]

I'm sure there are many courses where you encounter unusual "sights" during the round.  One in my recent memory is seeing and HEARING the RAF jets doing low flyovers at Royal Dornoch on their way to the target range across the Dornoch Firth (See photo of #16 tee below).  Another is watching the fly fishermen haul in stripers from Pleasant Bay right next to the 7th tee of Eastward Ho!

While these are just a few examples of some cool things I've seen while playing golf (although many of the Dornoch locals would disagree about the flyovers being "cool"), I'm sure there are other courses whose geographical siting lend themselves to interesting sights along the way.

I'd love to hear about other unique experiences like these from around the group.

[Dannp]

At Apache Stronghold in Az we were in the middle of a round when we heard two fighter planes above. Looking up they were doing this downward corkscrew thing and the front plane was sending out chaft and things that looked like Roman Candles. The back plane followed him down, down, down and they pulled out and did it again.. all of this right over the golf course. We stopped and watched this for 30 minutes. The best one I have had was watching Native Americans fish in the river by Blackwolf Run River course. Hole #1 and #2. They ( 20)  were standing shoulder to shoulder in the water and they were catching these big brown trout  with their bare hands and then tossing them like a rugby ball to shore. Found out later that when the fish touched their leg they would grab down and catch them. The best part was watching them pull out tons of fish while the 3 guys from the Orvis catalog were fly fishing around the bend and had no idea this was the way to do it. The 3 guys had the outfits etc.. to look the part. Wish I had a tape of it.

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Randy,
I would defer you to the recent post by Tommy N, in which the plane looked like it was going to hit them.

For me, mainly elk and bears.

[Jeff_McDowell]

I was playing a round at the Northland CC in Duluth with this really rich department store owner. (He was a friend of a friend, I don't know any rich people.) Anyway, we're standing on the 17th green, and this guy drops his pants to his ankles. He's standing there in his boxers trying to tuck in his shirt. Meanwhile there is a foursome of women on the first green, which is really close.

Me and my friend, had to turn our backs and walk off the green, because we were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

I think it was a deliberate detraction ploy, because I finished double bogey, double bogey, and had to pay that rich guy some money.

[Joel_Stewart]

Playing Shadow Creek in Las Vegas which is next door to Nellis Air Force base and the home of the Thunderbirds.  If you catch the right day you can watch them perform as you are playing.

Also when you play Olympic Club in San Francisco you often have hang gliders over your head especially on the Cliffs Course.

[GeoffreyC]

I think I posted this a while back but it deserves a place in this thread.

I was playing down in Orlando at the Disney courses and I think this round was on the Palm on the front nine.  Its a short/mid length par 4 with water on the left and it must face northeast from tee to green.  I hit a 3-wood off the tee and it was a particularly good shot.  My playing companions behind me then said "that's a rocket".  I naturally replied "thanks a lot" to which they said "no you idiot it's really a rocket".  The space shuttle had just blasted off and we could see it rising in the sky!

[David Wigler]

Just had one of my favorites.

Hit a solid tee shot on #9 at Cypress Point.  As I walked to my ball, a rather large Red Fox came out of the brush and started walking to my ball.  He beat me to it, grabbed it in his mouth and started chewing on it.  I have some great photo's of the fox.  Every time I would get close, he would just walk away with my ball.  Finally Don came up with the solution and threw the Fox another ball.  He dropped mine and picked up the new one.  I replaced as best I could and (After getting a ruiling that the teeth marks did not take the ball out of round) finished the hole, laughing the whole way.

[David Tepper]

While I did not see it happen myself, there is a famous story at San Francisco Golf Club about a very small dog (chihuahua?) being snatched by a red tail hawk off the back porch of one of the townhouses to the right of the 1st green.
The hawk swooped down, grapped the dog, flew several hundred feat into the air and then dropped the dog to the ground to kill it and break its bones. At that point the dog's owner came out to see what was going on. Needless to say, she was not pleased! I do not know if the hawk made off with the dog or not.

[Bob_Huntley]

Try playing the Old or New Courses at St. Andrews in mid-September. The Leuchers Air show is in full swing. Teams of the best pilots in the world strut their stuff just a few hundred feet off the ground. The noise is deafening, the colors of the planes brilliant and the aerobatic feats are unbelievable. The golf is generally execrable.

[Scott_Burroughs]

How about Tommy Naccarato with a busted snap and zipper on his pants, unable to continue because he can't keep his pants up?  Luckily we'd played 16 holes already!

(Sorry Tommy.  Had to tell it!)  

[Patrick_Mucci]

Randy,

Seeing a little goosling being dragged under the water,
with its foot in the jaws of a snapping turtle, my playing companions were more than a little shocked when I jumped into the pond on the 17th hole at Atlantic City Country Club to rescue the little fellow.

When I got out, I was covered with mud from toes to shoulders.

I don't think my playing partners and the golfing staff will ever forget that sight, nor will I forget the look on the faces of the golfing staff when I declared that there should be a rule that you shouldn't have to play every ball, no matter where it lands

[A_Clay_Man]

On the sixth at Pebble when two navy hueys came up to stillwater cove, faced each other and after a few minutes 4 f-16's came screaming low and out of the west. When they reached the hueys one of the planes went vertical. It's called the missing man formation, and was being done during the spreading of Alan Sheppard's ashes. On our recent rnd at Shadow Creek, we were told the story of the time G. Bush (41) had the boys at Nellis give him one during the playing of a hole. All from a cell phone call, whereafter, the pres turned to his playing partners and quipped "one of the perks of the job"

[Bob_Huntley]

A late afternoon round at Cypress Point. Crossed the road from the fourteenth hole, through the gate, just to the right there is a tiny sliver of sand surrounded by rocks. I am with the then President of the club, a patrician and somewhat old fashioned gentleman, when we look down and see a couple, half unclothed, getting feverishly to the end of what seemed to be a very enjoyable encounter. My friend, ever the gentleman, averted his eyes but remarked to me that he thought the man's tempo was too 'con brio.'

[lesueur]

While playing a round last year with some new members at a course in the Middle East where I was the Superintendent, a cow came running accross the ninth fairway followed closely by four of my staff in their truck. A concern for myself as cows feet take fairly large divots, however it was the highlight of the greenkeepers week as they made a healthy profit at the local market the next morning.

[Mike Erdmann]

Yeah, I know, not architecture related but I can't pass this one up.  My "unusual sighting" was just this past April when I was chased down the 4th fairway at my home club by a 7 foot tall Emu who had escaped from a neighboring farm.  Here I am sprinting down the fairway trying to somehow get the golf bag off my back so I can drop it while the pursuing Emu is 20 feet behind me and gaining ground.  Don't know if you've seen one of these things up close, but cute and friendly looking they ain't!

[JohnV]

Play Torrey Pines and you get a little of all the above.  From the Navy jets buzzing you as they head west out of Miramar NAS, to the gliders and hang gliders taking off just south of the 12th hole and hovering on the updrafts to the sight as you walk to the edge of the cliffs and look down on Blacks Beach.  Have you ever seen a nude surfer.  Well I have (both sexes).

I think that the RAF purposely located their airbases near all the great courses in Britain so their pilots could play during their off hours.  Then there is the gunnery range next to the 6th at Carnoustie.  Do they still have the signs warning you not to go after balls that are out of bounds because of the live fire?

[Mike_Cirba]

A bunch of fellows from around the country decided to have a golf outing in Myrtle Beach.  On the last day of their trip, they paired evenly in 12 on 12, east versus west matches, based on how well they had played previously during the week.

The two worst players had decided among themselves that their usual verbal intimidation and other gamesmanship methods weren't quite enough, so they decided that they would play their entire 18 hole match linked to each other at the ankle by an 8 foot chain.

I happened to catch this twosome coming up the 18th fairway, and by then their antics had captured enough attention that there was a healthy and boisterous crowd on hand to watch the finale.

You would have thought the last match of the Ryder Cup was proceeding, so effusive was the crowd's enthusiastic interest in the outcome.  

I'm not sure who won, but each was bleeding from the leg.  

[Dave_Miller]

At Charles River CC on fourth of July in 2000, A Stealth Bomber, looking like the Bat Plane does a flyover in preparation for the Fireworks on the Charles River.

Other than that it is Fox, Coyotes and Hawks which have become somewhat commonplace even this close to Downtown Boston.

Cheers,
Dave

[David Kelly]

I was playing Hidden Valley Golf Club in Norco, CA (recently in the news for being busted for having working prostitutes on the course) and we went around a hill on a par 5 only to see a coyote and a hawk (eagle?) fighting over the carcass of a dead jackrabbit.  The coyote had the rabbit in his mouth and the bird would swoop down and grab the other end of the animal and each would pull. That sight was actually an improvement over looking at the course's architecture.

[Paul Richards]

My group has been buzzed by RAF fighter jets at both Muirfield and at Moray GC (Lossiemouth) during various trips to Scotland.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Scott, Paybacks are a bitch!:) (Can anyone imagine THE LACC and barely being able to keep your pants up?)

[M Jamison]

one of my friends was on the UCLA golf team. he was playing bel-air country club in los angeles, and saw jenna jameson shooting a porno scene with two guys on a tee box. he remembers blocking his tee shot way right because he was so distracted.

[Dennis_Harwood]

As a follow up to John V's comments re Torrey(Black's beach, etc), I heard a story this weekend from a novice who played the course a couple of weeks ago--

After hitting his ball into the deep rough he located his ball and started to address it when a voice came from the heavens "DON"T HIT IT! ITS OUT OF BOUNDS"--

 After recoving from the shock that God was really not admonishing him and he must have been hearing things, he approached his ball again--and again, the voice "I TOLD YOU ITS OUT OF BOUNDS. YOU CAN NOT PLAY IT"

 He then looked up and saw the hangglider circling above--

[Evan Fleisher]

Teeing off on one of the holes at Royal Troon a few summers ago, and we hear this huge noise from behind us.  We all whirl around to see the landing gear of a 747 cargo plane staring us in the face...I just about hit the deck as that big bird came in for a landing at Prestwick's airport just past the border of the course.

Great stuff...

[Steve Pozaric]

Last fall I was playing a course in rural southern Illinois relatively early in the morning.  As we were about to tee off, a "V" of geese/ducks flew over.  We all remarked about how good that looked when all of a sudden we heard:  blam! blam! blam! followed by a couple of birds falling to earth.  It was in the season and some hunters were in a nearby field.  With that as a harbinger, my game was not too good that day.

Steve Poz