Golf or Die

[Kalen Braley]

  After he swung, it slipped out and went in the lake.

Leaves ones’ imagination to run wild.....

Ha ha,


Joe I shoulda figured you'd be the one to interpret things a bit differently... 


P.S.  To this day, my buddy still can't believe that caddy did that.  It was spring time and the lake was still damn cold from the winter...

[Ruediger Meyer]

Lahinch 18th when you cross the Klondyke

[Tom_Doak]

At Old Head, when we looked at the project years ago, I actually saw a rock climber hammered in to what is now the 4th green, rappelling down the cliff face toward the ocean.  You wouldn't want to fall there.


At Cape Kidnappers, the 15th fairway and 16th tee are the two spots where you could fall to your death [and you would have several seconds to think about it before you went splat].  Neither one is very obvious as you approach them; in fact, other spots LOOK more dangerous but there is another ledge below so you wouldn't have a problem.  Of the two, the 15th hole concerned me more, because golf carts are loose in the fairway and a lapse in attention could get you in trouble faster that way.  We did not want to put up a fence and spoil the view, but wound up deciding to put in a three-wire sheep fence, which is adequate to stop people while disappearing visually in photos etc.


Another factor at Cape Kidnappers is that it's an earthquake zone, so even standing close to the edge may one day be a case of very bad timing.


At one club where we consult, there were some trees up near the clubhouse, that one of the members didn't want us to cut down.  But then another member mentioned that was where a member had been killed before when a tree limb fell on him in a windstorm!  I was horrified that they hadn't taken down all of the trees around there, and got them to do so.


However, the three biggest causes of death on a golf course are not due to spectacular location.  I don't know statistically what order they're in:


1.  Lightning strikes
2.  Trees falling (as documented above, and many other examples)
3.  Getting hit by a ball in play


In the third category, due to a discussion here two or three years back, I did a quick Google search to try and figure out how often it happens, figuring most such instances would make the newspaper.  I found about 1-2 examples per year.  On the vast majority of them, the deceased was either (a) in the same group as the player who hit the shot, just wandering obliviously ahead, or (b) a maintenance worker who was close to the player but far enough off line that the player went ahead without thinking.  [The Pasatiempo example, of a player being killed from a shot hit 150 yards away, is extremely rare because the ball speed is much less by that point.]  Please, everyone, keep those two in mind when you play golf.

[Mike_Young]

Golf cars kill more than you think.  And even when they don't kill they mame.  There are so many knees and hips torn just by guys driving with the ball of their left foot hanging out of the cart.  One bump from a post or a curb and it will take a driver completely out of a cart.

[Jonathan Mallard]

I was physically uncomfortable on the 4th and 12th tees at Old Head. I was very conscious of my position relative to the distance of the rocks below me and the lack of any barrier between.


I was also very conscious of each step on the walk from the 12th tee to the fairway.

[Wade Whitehead]

I guess skin cancer could be golf's greatest hazard, but I'm really talking about dangerous places (like Jonathan mentions) when I raise the question.
WW

[John McCarthy]

In high school I noticed the governor's in golf carts were run off the transmission.  Pop it into neutral and away you go.  Flipped a cart off of the big hill at Big Run, luckily both of us were thrown clear.

[archie_struthers]

 


Interesting that deer kill more of us than any other animal!


However , back in the early eighties when Bonita Bay was first built I had an encounter with an alligator looking for a wayward shot . Hit it straight lads 😅

[Mark Kiely]

In 2007 a guy died at Pala Mesa in Fallbrook, a course I play semi-regularly. He seemingly lost control of his cart and drove off a 75-foot cliff.


http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-man-drives-golf-cart-off-cliff-at-pala-mesa-resort-2007may23-story.html

[RJ_Daley]

I played Cruit Island in Ireland a few years ago in 100km/hr and holes with cliffs a few steps off tee boxes, back of greens are 3,4,5,6,7 and 9 at one point or another either off fw roughs or tees and green sites.  I definitely did not go within a few long paces of anywhere close to edges.  100km can blow you off you pace.  I saw Conan O'brien do a bit at Old Head in similar wind, and wind blew him rolling sideways down a hill.  AS for tiger snakes, I know a guy that claims his hit his ball in intermediate rough at Barnbougle and one about 5ft long was nearly on top of his ball as he approach to find it.  Needless to say, he waited that one out. As eluded to above, maybe not deaths, but  some very long term sick golfers from Lyme's disease on deer infested courses.  Our pro had it.

[Pete_Pittock]

Tee shots at 14,15,16 at Bully Pulpit, ND

[Edward Glidewell]

I once had to jump out of a golf cart at a course in the mountains of NC. I'm 95% sure it was Olde Beau, but it was almost 20 years ago and we quit the round because we were so shaken. I've never been back, so I don't remember the course clearly.


The course seemed wet, but they told us it was 90 degrees and there should be no issues driving on the fairways. We were playing a hole that had a significant drop off on one side. Our cart was parked in the fairway (nowhere near the ledge -- probably 100+ feet away). Suddenly the cart started sliding sideways on the slick grass and we tried to stop it, but it turned fully towards the ledge and even with the brakes on began to pick up speed. We were in the cart to try to stop it, but eventually had to jump out and roll because it was moving 15-20 mph towards the ledge -- luckily neither of us were hurt. We expected to see our clubs and the cart drop out of sight, but thankfully it slid around sideways again and stopped about 5 feet from the ledge. Headed back to the clubhouse after that.

[Matthew Rose]

18th hole on The Ridge at Castle Pines North. The back tee is a little circle only large enough for one person to be standing on at a time, and it is surrounded on three sides by a pretty steep vertical drop. There's a ring of maybe 2-3 feet of rough and then oblivion.

I got vertigo standing on it and had to gather myself a couple of times before hitting my drive.

[Matt_Cohn]

The USGA posted this shot of a player on #8 at Pebble today.

[Matthew Petersen]

18th hole on The Ridge at Castle Pines North. The back tee is a little circle only large enough for one person to be standing on at a time, and it is surrounded on three sides by a pretty steep vertical drop. There's a ring of maybe 2-3 feet of rough and then oblivion.

I got vertigo standing on it and had to gather myself a couple of times before hitting my drive.

I remember that tee. It didn't bother me as much as others, but I am often bothered by tees placed close to the front of the box on severe drop shot par 3s. It's not like I typically lose my balance and fall forward when I swing, but I never feel comfortable making a my downswing when my forward foot is within a few feet of a severe drop off.

[George Pazin]

Wolf Creek in Mesquite, NV. Steep cart paths on an unwalkable course. May have been been a death there before guard rails were installed. Here's a "blast from the past" thread:


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,23586.75.html

Damn, fun to reread that thread. Unlike many other old threads I peruse, I don't think I'd change a word I posted... A little sad to see how many posters have turned to guests, though.