The Top Ten List Of Things About Golf That Bug Me:

[Stephen_Peszel]

1. Courses that put too many people out, I can't stand getting to a tee box to find we are the third group in line waiting to tee off.
2. People who spend too much time hunting for golf balls, unless it's me hunting for my Vision ball.
3. People who take too many warm up swings then many practice strokes; play ready golf! I want to scream: “just hit the ball” but I don't, I hope.
4. Golf tips that stick in my head and don't work for me but get in the way of my "game".
5. The cost of range balls.
6. Golf clubs that I really want but can't afford.
7. Ridiculous claims that I know can't be true but deep inside I want to try.
8. Poorly maintained or designed tee boxes; I play a couple of courses with crowned tee boxes = ball below or above your feet!
9. People, I won't call them golfers, who do not replace divots or repair ball marks.
10. The idiot who swings my clubs; why can't he hit pure shots every time?

Well, those are mine, what are yours? Even one item would be good to share.

[Justin66]

1. People who can't fix pitch marks or repair greens. All-time #1 pet peeve.

2. Unavailability of LH gear... especially from places like Golfsmith and Golfworks

3. Slow play, or those that play slow, but aren't curteous enough to let someone play through

4. People who pretend to be Tiger Woods: they act all serious (sorry, I mean focused), scowl when they miss a 3-footer for triple bogey and shoot a 110. We aren't playing for $1 million, why act like it?

5. People who count your strokes for you, but somehow manage to misplace 1-3 per hole of their own

6. All the hype and BS the OEMs feed... I could go on and on, but I won't.

7. the saying "the shaft is the engine of the club". No, it isn't. It's important, but not anywhere NEAR as important as a properly fit head and grip and solid fundamentals. It's more akin to the transmission. The golfer is the engine.

8. The USGA's effort to "grow the game" in China and India. No offense to those countries, but the USGA is just following the same example they set here. Resort-style ourses that are too long and too expensive, when the average worker doesn't break the $10,000 mark per year. The OEMs are on board, as well, because they can push their overpriced product there without all the scrutiny they get here. They're going to ride the hype wave as long as they can. I think they're doing those people an injustice and are bold-face lying about their objectives.

9. Tiger Woods. His attitude stinks. Winners don't have to act like @ssholes. Why not sign some autographs for kids? This scandal has made him have to change his ways, but what happens when he feels he's "rehabilitated"? Does he go back to being jack@ss Tiger?

10. The fair-weather Tiger fans (not golf fans who are also Tiger fans... big difference). You want to be a fan of Tiger? Cool. But try to learn some of these other guys' names. Furyk, D. Johnson, Chopra, MacDowell, Singh... come on. Not only that, but why does it seem like mainstream golf media is more about making those people happy? Because they're extra eyes on the TV? Blah.

[Matt Saternus]

My peeves are like my children, I can't pick a favorite. They're all #1 to me.

 

1) People who lie about the scores they shoot and the distance that they hit their drives. WHY?!?!?!?! I can see your 70 MPH swing speed on the computer screen. Unless you can defy physics, you do NOT hit the ball "250, sometimes 275 or 300."

 

1) Unsolicited golf advice, especially on the course.

 

1) Courses that have people mowing the greens/fairways/etc while people are playing.

 

That's probably all I can think of right now. I will add something that I just can't believe: the volume of ProV1's that are sold. I know that it's the #1 selling ball, but to see cases, literally cases, flying off the shelves while other equally good, better fitting (for the average golfer), and CHEAPER balls go untouched is jarring. We restock the ProV1 shelf EVERY DAY. We restock other balls on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Crazy.

[SargeDesign]

#1. Cost of range balls (though at my home course the price is pretty good ($15 a month for unlimited)

 

#2. People who take their wives/girlfriends/buddies who have never played golf out and let them play every shot to the hole. Causing a 6 hour round for everyone behind them.

 

#3. People who buy a whole new set of clubs every year (or season) and say "Hey check out my 2010 bag!" My God, how much money do you have!? I can understand if a club breaks or you like to collect unique putters...but come on. Give some money to charity or something. $2000 a year on clubs is stupid.

 

#4. "I only play ProV1's because they are the best." Thats cool, Mr. 20-handicap.

 

#5. "I am learning that Stack and Tilt thing." But you're 57 and cant even bend over to pick up your ball...

 

#6. (Person talking to me) "You can't drive the ball 300 yards, not even Tiger Woods can do THAT every time!". I'm 21 and I workout almost everyday, been playing golf since I was 14 with a 115mph SS...how can I NOT drive the ball 300?

 

#7. Divot-ditchers (people who dont fix divots)

 

#8. That group in front of you that is apparently jumping on the cup like its a trampoline

 

#9. Guys that hit their driver as high as I hit a 56* SW and continue to buy 11.5* drivers

 

#10. Not finishing the hole ("Thats a gimme", etc)

[cheymike]

wow!

[Stephen_Peszel]

My peeves are like my children, I can't pick a favorite. They're all #1 to me.

 

...We restock the ProV1 shelf EVERY DAY. We restock other balls on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Crazy.

Never underestimate the power of Hype!

I play the ProV1, prefer the ProV1x and I do not buy them, walking the local course with my dog guarantees me enough to play for years.

They work well for me but are probably not the best for me I am sure.

I must have 400+ of other balls that I will work my way through or give away.

The Callaways always get lost first, the higher priced one the fastest.

 

When I lose a ball I spend little time hunting, I take my licks and play on.

[Justin66]

 

When I lose a ball I spend little time hunting, I take my licks and play on.

 

I've read articles from different sports psychologists that recommend that; keeps all the bad vibes away, supposedly. But if I'm paying $4/ball- I'm doing all I can to find it... short of wading through the poison ivy and going for a swim LOL.

 

 

Can I add an eleventh that I just remembered? People who spit in the cup. It wasn't cool when Sergio did it... what makes you think it's going to be any different for "you"?

[Stephen_Peszel]

I've read articles from different sports psychologists that recommend that; keeps all the bad vibes away, supposedly. But if I'm paying $4/ball- I'm doing all I can to find it... short of wading through the poison ivy and going for a swim LOL.

Ha! Scenario:

Lady loses ball into water hazard.

Hero can see the ball and decides to retrieve it, balancing on a rock.

Lady, "oh be careful".

Hero, "it's ok, I know what I am doing."

Splash!

Stupid game.

[Justin66]

Ha! Scenario:

Lady loses ball into water hazard.

Hero can see the ball and decides to retrieve it, balancing on a rock.

Lady, "oh be careful".

Hero, "it's ok, I know what I am doing."

Splash!

Stupid game.

 

 

LOL!

[Super Tuna]

1: Pretentious snobbery. Just because I don't use blades, doesn't automatically make me a cretin. Further more, the fact that you drive a Masurati doesn't make you a good golf player

 

2: Players who take more then 10 practice swings to whack the ball ten yards. I too whacked the ball ten yards, but managed to do it with one practice swing.

 

3: People screaming at you to hurry up, while you're still waiting to tee off because there's 3 groups ahead of you. Seriously, do you think I want to sit here and wait?

 

4: People who hit the ball when you're still in range. Maybe it's just West Van but, in my 5 rounds there this year, I've been hit 4 times with 2 more near misses.

 

5: People who play super fast to get up to you, asked if they would like to play through since they're obviously faster, who immediately proceed to slow to a crawl. It's like the jerk who speeds past you on the high way, pulls in front then jams on the breaks just because they "need" to be in front of you.

[HillWilliam]

1)Following a regular foursome that walks to each others ball and watches them swing and THEN go to their bag to decide which club they will use on their shot 10-15 yards away.

2)People who finish a hole and then sit in their carts, chat and fill out their score cards while they sit in your landing area.

3)The guy who thinks he has a shot with the cart girl half his age and chats her up in the middle of a hole (doesn't he know she wants ME!)

4)The fact that most women hit the ball half as far but manage to move faster than the men. Hit it and git it, gentlemen!

5)ANYONE who throws a club. We ALL get frustrated. That's why God has a) alcohol and the previously mentioned cart girl. The fact that 90% of all the clubs thrown are by guys with 15 plus handicaps baffles me. We have bad shots. Get over it and quit ruining the day for everyone else.

6) The fact that I either have the time to play or the funds to play but the two rarely coincide.

[Stephen_Peszel]

...

 

4: People who hit the ball when you're still in range. Maybe it's just West Van but, in my 5 rounds there this year, I've been hit 4 times with 2 more near misses....

Oh, I love that one, balls that get too close to me end up plugged, funny how that happens.

[Justin66]

 

5)ANYONE who throws a club. We ALL get frustrated. That's why God has a) alcohol and the previously mentioned cart girl. The fact that 90% of all the clubs thrown are by guys with 15 plus handicaps baffles me. We have bad shots. Get over it and quit ruining the day for everyone else.

 

GOOD ONE!!! Quick story: I had a really good buddy years back. We hung out, drank, watched movies... lot of stuff together. Never golfed together, though. Our one round out and by the 5th hole he's fuming: bogey, double, quad, bogey (he was supposed to be VERY good; I was still a novice). He tees off and pull-slices it into a long row of oak trees (no, not at Oakmont LOL- that'd be ironic, though). He gets M. A. D. MAD. Throws his driver which lands accross the street that ran about 30 yards away and parallel to the tee box. He looks at me and all I can think to say is "I'm not getting that". We played the rest of the round like we just witnessed our parents having a knockdown drag-out at the dinner table... 13 holes in uncomfortable silence. I wanted to walk away, but I also didn't like the thought of wasting $35. Needless to say, that was our only round together. It didn't take long after that for us to drift apart. It was at that moment that I vowed to NEVER act that way... at the time, I wasn't sure where that fell within the Rules or with proper ettiquette (like I said I was still really green and had never seen anything like that before) but it didn't sit well with me.

[Super Tuna]

5)ANYONE who throws a club.

 

I was guilty of that once, but it wasn't my club. In one of the aforementioned being hit with a ball incidents I did the time honoured tradition of plugging said ball. I gather he wasn't a fan of time honoured traditions as he charged at me waving his club around like a weapon. I managed to take said club from him where a nice toss deposited it in a pond. The rest of my group decided this was one of the times that club throwing was acceptable...

[Justin66]

I was guilty of that once, but it wasn't my club. In one of the aforementioned being hit with a ball incidents I did the time honoured tradition of plugging said ball. I gather he wasn't a fan of time honoured traditions as he charged at me waving his club around like a weapon. I managed to take said club from him where a nice toss deposited it in a pond. The rest of my group decided this was one of the times that club throwing was acceptable...

 

OK, I can soften my stance a bit for something that extreme. That's another thing (fortunately) that I've never personally witnessed. That had to be a tad scary.

[daves81]

What about the guys that scream when they miss a putt or mishit a shot and they are 6 holes away,and it sounds like they are right next to you Loud and obnoxious thats what gets me. You guys pretty much summed everything up ,

[Matt Saternus]

What about the guys that scream when they miss a putt or mishit a shot and they are 6 holes away,and it sounds like they are right next to you Loud and obnoxious thats what gets me. You guys pretty much summed everything up ,

 

This is a great one. One of my most recent rounds was played on a course with a couple guys who thought that their group was the only one out there. "HEY LARRY!! THIS YOUR BALL?!?!?" Very very annoying.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Having range sessions not transfer to the course.

 

Playing a charity scramble with no free beer or shot holes, wtf.

 

 

Most of all, that M_F-ing Ballooning driver slice that ALWAYS comes back just when I feel confident with the club

[Addicted2Golf]

#3. People who buy a whole new set of clubs every year (or season) and say "Hey check out my 2010 bag!" My God, how much money do you have!? I can understand if a club breaks or you like to collect unique putters...but come on. Give some money to charity or something. $2000 a year on clubs is stupid.

 

This one hit a little too close to home... LOL.

 

Things that Bug Me (but not 10 because I'm lazy):

 

#1 Courses that let you book tee times without informing you ahead of time that they are aerating their greens

 

#2 Senior citizens that take 15 minutes to check you in for a tee time. Lady, can you type any faster?!#

 

#3 Crowned tee boxes pointing the wrong direction

 

#4 Hard greens that won't hold a golf ball (a real problem here in the Midwest this time of year)

 

#5 Golfers that are better and younger than me (e.g. MSaternus)

[JBones]

What about the guys that scream when they miss a putt or mishit a shot and they are 6 holes away,and it sounds like they are right next to you Loud and obnoxious thats what gets me. You guys pretty much summed everything up ,

I have a friend that is like this. He is a 1-2 handi, plays all the time, plays in tournaments all the time, yet he has absolutely no course etiquette. He screams, throws clubs, and will walk up and putt his marked 6 footer, just as you are about to hit your 20 footer. Drives me crazy.

 

I also cant stand the guy that tells everybody how much better he is at golf than you, even though you beat him badly 9 out of 10 rounds, but the one round you lost was my no more than 2 strokes.

 

I can't stand the guys behind you, doubting what you are capable of. I was playing a while back and it was backed up on the 340yd first hole. I was waiting on the green to clear and the guy behind me says "what the hell are you waiting on? It's 340yds to the green", to which I responded "actually it's 340 to the center, only 330 to the front". As soon as the group leaves, I hit my ball, it landed on the front and rolled up 12' right of the pin; I turned around and said "any more questions?".

 

Besides that, pretty much everything else that was mentioned on here.

[Addicted2Golf]

I can't stand the guys behind you, doubting what you are capable of. I was playing a while back and it was backed up on the 340yd first hole. I was waiting on the green to clear and the guy behind me says "what the hell are you waiting on? It's 340yds to the green", to which I responded "actually it's 340 to the center, only 330 to the front". As soon as the group leaves, I hit my ball, it landed on the front and rolled up 12' right of the pin; I turned around and said "any more questions?".

 

 

Actually Bones, I might have been that guy. That kind of stuff impacts pace of play 99% of the time. I'm assuming the wind or course design helped you there because the longest driver on the PGA tour right now is Robert Garrigus averaging 315.9 yards.

 

Regardless, it's pretty reasonable for the group behind you to question that because they'd be on the money most of the time. So, you can be pissed if you want but I'd cut them a break.

[JBones]

Actually Bones, I might have been that guy. That kind of stuff impacts pace of play 99% of the time. I'm assuming the wind or course design helped you there because the longest driver on the PGA tour right now is Robert Garrigus averaging 315.9 yards.

 

Regardless, it's pretty reasonable for the group behind you to question that because they'd be on the money most of the time. So, you can be pissed if you want but I'd cut them a break.

No wind, no bends on the hole, just dead straight. Garrigus averages 315; I've hit a couple 390+ drives and several 350+, but I wouldn't say I average 300+. Do I hit the ball over 300 on a regular basis? Yes, but I also hit a lot off the toe in the 270 range too. Going by hitting 25 balls into a screen with my current driver, I have an average of 294 (longest 327, shortest 268).

 

Normally I don't get pissy with people acting like that, but normally they aren't jerks like this guy was. Usually on the course mentioned, if it is backed up I'll hit 5 iron off the first tee, so I don't catch any crap. On this particular day, it was my practice round for qualifying for the city tournament, so I was playing each hole how I planned to play it during qualifying.

[Addicted2Golf]

No wind, no bends on the hole, just dead straight. Garrigus averages 315; I've hit a couple 390+ drives and several 350+, but I wouldn't say I average 300+. Do I hit the ball over 300 on a regular basis? Yes, but I also hit a lot off the toe in the 270 range too. Going by hitting 25 balls into a screen with my current driver, I have an average of 294 (longest 327, shortest 268).

 

Normally I don't get pissy with people acting like that, but normally they aren't jerks like this guy was. Usually on the course mentioned, if it is backed up I'll hit 5 iron off the first tee, so I don't catch any crap. On this particular day, it was my practice round for qualifying for the city tournament, so I was playing each hole how I planned to play it during qualifying.

 

Fair enough. And if the guy was being a tool about it, then you should let him have both barrels.