[Joey Smith]

Two golfers died yesterday as a result of wind.  A tree fell on their golf cart.  It happened at Hermitage Golf Course (General's Retreat), here in Nashville.

See story attached.

http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=9006849  or 

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080915/NEWS01/809150354/1001/NEWS

Joey

[John Moore II]

Dumb asses shouldn't have been on the course during a tropical storm. Darwinism in action here, my friends.

[TX Golf]

Well I am sure many people were thinking that... I didn't think anyone would actually say it. 

[John Moore II]

Well I am sure many people were thinking that... I didn't think anyone would actually say it. 

Well, I don't hold back on whats the truth. I just call a spade a spade.

[TX Golf]

I didn't say I had a problem with it... why anybody would be on a golf course during that storm is beyond me. Especially under a tree.

[John Moore II]

Robert--I didn't figure you had any problem with it. I just like to be up front with the fact that I don't hold back too much on my commentary.

[TX Golf]

Sounds good!!!

[John Kavanaugh]

First of all, if it is 9am and they were killed on 16, we lost a couple of the good ones.  I played yesterday 2.5 hours north of Nashville in wind gusts estimated between 60 and 70 mph.  There was no doubt that we put our lives at risk.  It was a full five club wind at the least point and unswingable at the worst.  Best shot of the day was when my partner hit a flop from down in a holler to an elevated green that hit a gust and blew back over his head into a hazard.  We took proper precautions to stay away from trees, wear eye protection and did not encounter a drop of rain.  For the dedicated golfer it truly was a day to die for.

Not a day goes by I don't do something that knowingly may shorten my life and it is rare the return is so great.

[Adam Clayman]

On a tree less golf course they'd have been fine.

JK, Did you walk or ride?

[John Kavanaugh]

On a tree less golf course they'd have been fine.

JK, Did you walk or ride?

We rode because I felt that it would rain and can make an easier escape.  I asked the pro to put a cover on the cart and on the first hole it blew off.  During the most severe points of the day it would have been impossible to walk and carry.

[John Kavanaugh]

Even on a tree less golf course you are in danger.  One of our walking bridges detached and ran up on the bank.  Eye injury was also a great risk as on the third hole a whirly-bird hit me just below the eye drawing blood.  You know you are having a great day when the clubhouse loses power at the turn.  The course was closed at the conclusion of our round.

[Criss Titschinger]

For the dedicated golfer it truly was a day to die for.

I was thinking that myself here in Cincinnati, until I saw all the downed power lines and looked in my backyard to see a 40ft limb collapse.  I heard 800,000+ people lost power in the Nati and mine was off for 26 hours.

A few of my buddies played and they made it through 15, when on the 15th green, a neighboring house's garbage can littered the 15th green.  And as branches fell around them in the fairway, that was their hint to leave.

But what I would have given to hit 6 iron from 100 yards.

[Kalen Braley]

Can't believe all the negative comments...can't it be just as simple as a couple of guys in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

By far and away the most dangerous thing you do on a daily basis is jumping in the car and driving to work.

[Andy Troeger]

Certainly a tragic situation in any case, regardless of their judgement they certainly had worse luck than any number of other folks out golfing that day. Their judgment certainly can't be questioned any more than the thousands of folks who stayed in Galveston with the storm approaching. One can only hope the casualty numbers stay relatively low all things considered.

Regarding some of your comments about playing in the wind, you should plan a trip to Albuquerque in April. The wind howls regularly, with some nice dust storms to boot. You'd probably love it. If you do come, I'll meet you for dinner so you can tell me how it goes!

[Tom_Doak]

I remember a few days after Hurricane Hugo in Myrtle Beach, the superintendent at Debordieu was telling us that the flood waters had washed a refrigerator full of fish sticks onto the second green, and our client's son Danny Young said "Hey, that's my refrigerator!" 

My prayers go out to all of the people in Texas who have lost much more than fish sticks.

[John Burzynski]

How many of us have played golf in 30, 40 or 50 MPH winds?  I hazard to guess that nearly all of us have played golf in these winds at some time in our lives, on courses with trees or other objects that can go flying in the wind.  Just bad luck that this tree fell when it did.

"There but for the grace of God go I."

[Andy Troeger]

I played a round (John B.--you will know of Morris Park CC in South Bend) at an old classic course when a playing partner knicked the branch of a huge old tree lining the 3rd fairway off the tee. I hit my tee shot and another guy was getting ready to play when we heard this creaking sound followed by the same 80 foot tree crashing down into the middle of the fairway--most of the way to the trees on the other side. A couple minutes longer and we could have been walking underneath it. There was no wind.

Different situation, but sometimes things just happen.

[Steve Lang]

  No game of golf is worth a life or limb, etc.. 

With that said, I retire when its more than a three-club wind. 

[Tim Bert]

Dumb asses shouldn't have been on the course during a tropical storm. Darwinism in action here, my friends.

In some instances people do some pretty silly or irresonsible things, but I think it is harsh to call these guys dumb asses for playing golf that morning.

I live in the Nashville area and there was nothing about the wind that morning that suggested anything but "I bet it would be great fun to get out and play in this weather.  You don't get to experience the course in this kind of wind very often around here."  It wasn't blowing at 70 mph here, or even 50mph.  Maybe there was a gust or two that strong, but the winds at my place were more like the nice, strong 30mph wind we all look forward to in Bandon or Scotland.

If I hadn't decided to spend some QT with the family because I had just returned from a 5-day golf trip, then I probably would have been out there too.

To imply that this was Darwinism driven by two blubbering idiots doing something they had no business doing just isn't a fair reflection of the situation.

I, for one, am sorry to hear about this.

[John Kavanaugh]

Tim.

Could you go by the course where this happened and take a picture of any memorials that have been laid at the spot.  Do you think the club will plant a remembrance tree for the guys?

[Richard Choi]

Did you folks know that more people die while playing golf than any other sport (Including motorsports, boxing, etc)?

[JLahrman]

I live in Dayton OH and still don't have power at my home.  There are all kinds of trees down.

I played Sunday morning starting at dawn.  The weather called for a front to come in with cooler temperatures but certainly not the levels of wind that we saw.  For the first four holes the day was calm.  Then it started to pick up.  By the final six holes it was a 3-4 club wind.  It was fun, but once I got home later in the day it certainly wasn't as the wind continued to pick up speed.  To be out on the course later in the day wouldn't have been smart.  I suppose a limb could have fallen on us while we played, but at the time it didn't seem like we were in any danger.

[Joel Zuckerman]

Did you folks know that more people die while playing golf than any other sport (Including motorsports, boxing, etc)?

No I didn't know that, though if it's true, it's not that surprising.  Given the somewhat sedentary nature of most golfers (cart-riders, specifically) and the preponderance of older players, IE--retirees, I think it makes sense.  Heatstroke, sunstroke, heart attacks, even an on-course stroke (as has happened to a good golf buddy of mine) are all possibilities.  About five years ago here in Savannah, a guy got bit by a rattlesnake while looking for a lost ball in the rough, though he managed to survive the incident.

[Ian_L]

There are also a lot more people golfing on a given day than motocross racers and boxers...

[Kalen Braley]

There are also a lot more people golfing on a given day than motocross racers and boxers...

Thats what I was thinking Ian,

I want to see a per capita analysis on this.   

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