Two-day, members tourney this weekend. Saturday, you play tee times with whomever you want. You MUST play with another that is in the tourney, so score cards can be swapped and attested to.
Saturday, our regular group showed and we had a fivesome. All five were signed up for the tourney. First group off... played solidly... carded an 80. The course has me listed as a 10, so the 80 was within reason. Kept the ball in play... made some great putts. All five shot fairly well. Fun was had by all!!
Sunday is an 8:30 a.m. shotgun. Everyone is flighted and it is rare to play with someone from your regular group. Course management "mixes it up" so you have a chance to meet new members and have a little different "experience". And... today was quite an experience!!
I've played in the members tourney about 6 consecutive years. Entry fee has always been the same, $35.00. For that grand fee of $35, you get entered into the tourney... a shirt with the course logo... free cart rental for the two rounds... an outdoor barbecue on Saturday night and a lunch after the Sunday round. Best deal in the world!! And, most generally, we have a really good time.
One of the four, today, had his 5-year old kid with him. Yes, tournament... everyone trying to play fairly serious golf... and a hyperactive 5-year old is in the group. He's running around the tee box and running around the greens. He's climbing on top of the cart and under the cart. And, dad spends 18 holes screaming obscenities at the kid. Heard more "f" words from one mouth, today, than I hear in a week on a construction site. And, all those words were directed at this child.
Needless to say, this idiot and his kid ruined the round for the other three of us. Certainly, in retrospect, one of us should have called the clubhouse and asked for a member of management to come out and visit with him. Or, the three of us should have offered to kick his butt if he didn't keep the kid in the cart... or leave! Instead, we all talked amongst ourselves... upset and angry that we were being taken advantage of by this dolt. It's a game... It's not to be taken too seriously... It's not worth having someone go postal because you tried to get him tossed off the course... We sucked it up and, all three, played horrendous rounds. I struggled in with an 87, after the 80 yesterday. And, most of those strokes were pure frustration after a kid runs circles around the hole, over everyone's putting line.
Adding insult to injury, we were playing the next to last hole for our day. Three of us were tired and frustrated. We're playing a par 4 that is a slight dogleg left, uphill. Mr. Dad cranks one over into the waste area right of the fairway. From there, he hits driver off the dirt and sails one over the back of the green. Putts from gunch that anyone with common sense would have tried to chip out of. Putter makes contact with back of ball and ball shoots straight up into the air as if it was hit with a 64 degree wedge. Ball hits the green going 90 mph... hits the stick and drops into the hole for a bird. We three just looked at each other and shook our heads. No congrats... nothing... just utter disgust!
At least the weather was nice!!!!!
Two of us have scheduled a meeting with course management Friday, when we're off. Okay... how would you guys have handled the situation?????