Golf or Die

[Wade Whitehead]

During a casual conversation this week with Tommy Williamsen, I wondered: What spots on notable golf courses are so dangerous that one could, quite literally, face death?

In particular, I was remembering the 17th tee box at Redlands Mesa.  When I played there, I wondered if anyone had slipped off the edge, even just backing out of another player's eye, as folks tend to do.  See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCiIioVIT10


Gary Player's Raven course at Snowshoe (WV) has a similar spot, immediately next to a green, with no markings at all, and which falls dozens of feet straight down.  I've always wondered about the danger of someone stepping back to read a putt.

I'm not necessarily talking about vistas, where the player is generally well aware of a precipitous drop.  I can't see someone falling off the edge at Pebble, for example.

Architects, you must consider this when designing/building, no?  Has there ever been a significant change to a feature because of this sort of liability?

I would assume an increase in liability (and insurance costs) associated with this kind of thing.

WW

[Greg Smith]

I am thinking Cape Kidnappers.  I remember seeing warning signs on the pictures of that place -- and it's not like there are guardrails on the cliffs.   I bet Tom Doak can answer what liability issues may have been considered during the planning of that course.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Interesting topic.


The only real danger I have faced on a golf course, aside from obvious precipitous elevation drops, is from wildlife.
In the late 90's I was in the Banff, Alberta area playing a course called Silvertips (or something...it was pretty, but unremarkable. Certainly not even close to Banff Springs.)


While cart-balling along in an outing...;-)...we encountered a significant delay on hole #4 as a black bear was on the tee box happily gnawing on a cob of corn. The bear did not let us play through.


My best friend here in Chicago recently played Mike Devries' Cape Wickham and he describes having the "shit scared out of him" upon seeing a Tiger snake from about 10-15 yards away. Apparently one small bite can be rather lethal and would require immediate evacuation to a hospital as death is 3 hours from contact.

[Kalen Braley]

Hmmm lets see.


Cliff edges, getting hit in the head by a ball, snake bites, wild animals, heat stroke, golfers fighting with each other.....golf is super dangerous! 


P.S.  i'm guessing cliff edges would be the most likely culprit and Cabot Cliffs appears to have some lethal ones near the action...

[JLahrman]

Depends on how you define it...many courses have hills significant enough that it's possible to flip a cart if someone takes a route that he/she shouldn't. I thought the roofs on carts were for sun protection, but maybe they have a dual purpose as rollbars. Seems like a lot more carts didn't have tops 30 years ago.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

15th hole of Eastmoreland in Portland Oregon. Borders an industrial area and a railroad track, vagrants and drug addicts all over. Fastest hole I walk during every round there.

[Ed Brzezowski]

I was told by a friend there are a few holes on Old Head where when the fog rolls in you just sit down and wait it out. He claims folks have wandered off and over the cliffs.

[Pete_Pittock]

The Duel Hole at SFGC.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Come on...where's the "Lightning and the 1-iron" joke...?..;-)

[Kalen Braley]

Maybe the title of this thread should be changed to "Golf AND Die"


P.S.  And I haven't seen the threat of the wife beating you into submission cause you golf too much!

[Pete_Pittock]

16th tee (elevated) at Lookout Mountain, GA.


Alligators,  steep, twisty cart paths, steep twisty cart paths with alcohol.

[Cal Seifert]

Didn’t someone once get hit in the head by a ball on a green at pasatiempo from an errant tee shot and pass away?

[Ian Mackenzie]

Didn’t someone once get hit in the head by a ball on a green at pasatiempo from an errant tee shot and pass away?

In all seriousness, and the Judge will know this for sure, some poor guy was killed at Dunes Club a few years ago when a tree fell on him.


http://www.harborcountry-news.com/news/tree-felled-by-wind-kills-golfer-at-dunes-club/article_5330998a-0118-5805-866e-4357fde2dba5.html

[Steve_ Shaffer]

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

[Peter Pallotta]

Wade - just to say: great subject line/thread title!
With a revised theme & wider topic, it could serve wonderfully well as the title of a new book -- well, as *part* of a title, since book titles have gotten very long and descriptive these days:

GOLF OR DIE
Give Me Freedom or Give Me Death 
A Study on the 21st Century Renaissance in Golf Course Architecture and
How it Saved the Game, Revolutionized the Industry, and Helped us Better Understand what it Means to Be Alive
     
 

[Greg Gilson]

Pretty much any fairway on TOC

[mike_beene]

Years ago I was at Peston Trail when the Nelson was there and a tree by the fourth hole had a. branch break and fall on a guy and killed him. I heard it from the 5 th but didn't see it. Not a windy day. Just freak

[Tommy Williamsen]

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

I thought about Wolf Creek as well. After playing it, if forced to play it again, I'd choose death.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Of course there is the famous Henry Longhurst quote, who on seeing Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, remarked, "What a lovely place to die."

[SL_Solow]

I know some fellows who drove a cart over the precipice on #8 at Pebble.  They jumped in time but the cart and clubs were lost.  At Oak Park, we heard an ancient oak creaking in a breeze near a tee.  @ hours later it came down across the tee.  Fortunately, no one was on the tee.

[Jim Tang]

I took this photo at Cabot Cliffs in July of 2016.  Most devoted caddie, ever?

[James Brown]

Most of the holes at Old Head. 


8 at Pebble. I believe several actually have. 

[mike_beene]

The Pasatiempo reference above is to the par 3 green either 7 or 8. I think there is a screen there now.

[Kalen Braley]

My buddy was playing the Island green at Couer D Alene years ago in the rain.  After he swung, it slipped out and went in the lake.  Without skipping a beat, the caddie stripped to his skivvies and jumped in after it, despite my buddy protesting.  After diving down several times, and staying under water for what seemed like forever, he couldn't find it.


A week later, he got a package in the mail, his club.... 

[Joe Hancock]

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

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