OH !@#$!!!!

[eclark53520]

SO....Played 9 last night at decatur...get on the 14th tee...its a pretty wide open shorter par four, almost my favorite hole on the back nine i haev pared this hole several times and almost always put it on the fairway with the driver...

I set up like normal, took a normal swing, caught the ball on the heel of the club and it came off HOT LEFT and i knew exactly what was going to happen...CRACK right off the side of a very nice, large brick house. Its probably a good thing it was brick because that ball was MOVING and any other material would have been destroyed.

I put the club back in the bag and drop my g/f off at the ladies tee and told her to tee off while i go talk to the home owner...well, he happend to be coming out onto the back porch as i was walking through their back yard on my way to the front door....i apologized as i felt really bad for hitting his house. He was VERY good about it, he goes, it happens, as long as there is no glass breakage its cool. And then he asked how my round was going besides that particular shot and commented on how nice of a day it was.

I hate the thought of hitting peoples property or worse it going through a window and hitting someone inside...thats exactly why i dont play several different courses around here as there is ZERO room for error because the houses are damn near ON the fairway....

I am glad he was so gracious about it, any of you hit houses?

 

[Eracer]

SO....Played 9 last night at decatur...get on the 14th tee...its a pretty wide open shorter par four, almost my favorite hole on the back nine i haev pared this hole several times and almost always put it on the fairway with the driver...

I set up like normal, took a normal swing, caught the ball on the heel of the club and it came off HOT LEFT and i knew exactly what was going to happen...CRACK right off the side of a very nice, large brick house. Its probably a good thing it was brick because that ball was MOVING and any other material would have been destroyed.

I put the club back in the bag and drop my g/f off at the ladies tee and told her to tee off while i go talk to the home owner...well, he happend to be coming out onto the back porch as i was walking through their back yard on my way to the front door....i apologized as i felt really bad for hitting his house. He was VERY good about it, he goes, it happens, as long as there is no glass breakage its cool. And then he asked how my round was going besides that particular shot and commented on how nice of a day it was.

I hate the thought of hitting peoples property or worse it going through a window and hitting someone inside...thats exactly why i dont play several different courses around here as there is ZERO room for error because the houses are damn near ON the fairway....

I am glad he was so gracious about it, any of you hit houses?

I just love the signs that read "Golfers are responsible for any damage they might cause."

Bull$hit! I had a guy so foamy once I thought he was going to stroke out right there on the spot. I hit the side of his house, and did what you describe - I walked up to check it out and the guy was waiting for me, screaming that he was going sue me for the damage if I didn't give him $100 to fix the (tiny) dent in his 100% gen-you-ine aluminum siding. I told him "tough luck" and he went ballistic, wanting my driver's license info, etc. I hopped in the cart and drove on. You park your house next to a fairway, you better expect to take a few hits.

 

[chemboy2]

It's great to hear stories where two adults act like, well, adults.

I alwas get a kick out of folks that buy homes along a fairway and then bitch (go ballistic) when balls hit their house or land on their property. I mean, really, they didn't see it coming?!

 

[eclark53520]

Personally, i think this could be handeled in two ways...

If the golf course originally owned the property OR still does, and they sold it for homes, they sould have to cover the cost of any damage caused by its golfers. OR the buyers should have to sign a waver saying the will NOT sue or otherwise go after a golfer for hitting their house.

-OR-

If a house is within X feet of a golf course they need to have some sort of insurance policy to cover "golf related incidents".

It was their choice to put a house there, or buy that particular house so deal with the concequences. If you think EVERY SINGLE shot on a golf course goes where the golfer wants it you are NUTS. If that were true, there would be no golf courses as the game wouldnt be any fun. This is almost as bad as people that buy houses right next to railroad tracks and then complain about the noise of trains...its not like the tracks werent there when you bought the house...

Now, with that being said, i still feel bad about hitting the house but i thank god he wasnt one of the fruitcakes that get pissy when someone hits their house.

 

[warbirdlover]

Used to own a house accross the (narrow) street from the clubhouse right even with the 9th hole (short par 4) coming up along the road. We had a HUGE oak tree in the back yard that would catch every sliced drive and they would trickle nicely down to the ground by the tree trunk. The house never got it. We also had a high fence along the road and a few balls would trickle under the fence. My daughter was 12 at that time and made a fortune cleaning these balls up and selling them back to the golfers. :laugh:

 

[SiberianDVM]

The first time I played Aiken Golf Club, I was apalled to see the houses that were just a few feet from one of the tees on the back nine. All of the homeowners had erected large chain link fences along the property line. This course was built in 1912 and some of the fences looked about that old.

Normally my bad shot with the driver is a push fade/slice. Since all of these fences were on the left side, naturally that's where my negative thought went (DON'T HIT IT LEFT!!), and sure enough, I pull-hooked 3 balls into the fences.

I finally just went out to the fairway and dropped one.

 

[MCDavis]

Since I can't hit the broad side of a barn anyway, I aim for the houses...wind up in the fairway.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

You park your house next to a fairway, you better expect to take a few hits.

We live in a golf course community and when we looked we told the realtor that if the house was off of a fairway we didn't want the home. For the houses on the course, I usually don't even bother going down there. If I see someone when I go buy, I would apologize and move on. If I heard glass break, I would likely go check. Quite simply though, I have seen homeowners throw tantrums with people, and I just figure you buy a house on a course and don't expect to find golf balls around your home you are just a world class idiot and deserve what you get. If you had the home first, then in all likelihood you either made a ton of money on the land, didn't fight hard enough, or are just one unlucky bastard.

It happened just last night. Sliced one off in the trees by a guys house. It bounced out in the fairway. When I got up there I saw a guy raking his yard just away from the tree I hit. I got out and apologized for not yelling fore as I did not see him until we pulled up. He said no problem. Had he said anything further, I would have just moved on. Had he still pushed it, I would have told him that if you don't want to be disturbed by golfers then sell your home and move elsewhere.

To me a home or person in his yard is no different than any other golfer. If I accidentally hit a ball their way, I yell fore. If I didn't see them, I apologize. That is pretty much all you can do. If they expect me to feel like an intruder for play a course simply because they have a home off the fairway, it is not gonna happen. If I don't set foot on their property, they have little gripe. In the same sense I am not going to go bang on their door and tell them they had their trash blow on my golf course should that happen, or their kid threw a football that went on our course. They made the decision to be on a golf course in the same way I have when someone accidentally hits into me on the course. Fortunately I believe I have only hit one home I can remember. Although for whatever reason anytime they build new homes I go from hitting on the other side of the fairway to hitting a few balls in the foundation. They are like magnets. Last time the guy I played with said he saw my ball and would go get it, I told him to leave it there to let the guy know what to expect next time he comes around.

 

[mddubya]

I live in a Golfing Community also, but here the property owners of the complex, Townhouse with a golf course surrounding them, pay for windows and such. However, my trucks windshield was shattered the other day by someones errant shot. I didn't see it or hear it, but hey, I knew I was moving beside a golf course, $hit happens. And yes, I have taken out a window. I walked over, asked if everyone was ok, and was told by the Lady of the house that no one was any worse for wear and moved on. Of course this was after she had calmed down and quit screaming about how much my ball had scared her. :laugh:

 

[Strider]

was that fenwicks house? if it was, you should of taken out a few windows.:laugh:

 

[eclark53520]

was that fenwicks house? if it was, you should of taken out a few windows.:laugh:

lol, i am not sure who lives in the house...if it would have went through a window it would have probably embeded itself into drywall easily....or someones head....

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Another interesting part is that I play with a guy regularly that owns the home that I likely hit closest too the most. His yard line is OB, and likely the place I have had more OB's than any other. He has what is almost an invisible net in the woods between his house and the prior. I've probably hit 20 balls into his net, a couple under his porch, maybe 20 in his yard. Although he has likely done more, I just tell him to turn his back when I tee off. The standing joke because he calls his wife when we reach the tee is that when we play and his ball pops out is that his wife sits on the upper deck and throws the golf ball out and is getting a pretty good arm.

Played against his son in a tournament, hit one off the roof of the house that bounced out on the green. We decided they have a home field advantage. He just laughs at the whole thing and is happy on how much money the net has saved him. Figures it is kinda hard to be mad at someone for hitting towards his home when he has likely done it more than anyone else.

The same hole, my wife hit a tree on the right, bounced across the fairway and up on a guys deck on the left side. He saw the whole thing and came out and threw the ball back. So it is to be said that there are also alot that just understand those kind of things happen, and no harm no foul. My friend just looks at it that the net has likely saved him around 20k.

 

[Sandpiper3]

If someone wants to buy a house next to a fairway, it is their responsibility, plain and simple. I hit 3 houses this past weekend:laugh:, only saw 1 of the owners and apologized and he gladly tossed my ball back to me saying "no problem, im the one who bought the house here, im just glad to be able to sneak out and play a few holes every now and then".

Thats all it is, they bought the house there, thats up to them. Im guna buy a house on a fw without a doubt, cuz i want to be able to sneak out and practise every day. But Im guna try and find one 325 off the tee and to the right. After all, who can hit a 300 yard slice?:laugh:

 

[Strider]

this takes me back to my college days. i was playing with a friend of mine at this new course. the first hole is a dogleg right and on the inside corner of the dogleg is this brand new home. my friend tees off and slices it at the house and whacks it. we go down to see if we can find his ball and a guy comes out screaming. my friend trys to apologize but the guy keeps screaming at him and saying that he was trying to cut the corner. finally i asked the guy, what do you expect, you live on a golf course. he didn't like that and called me a smart ass, but i reminded him that he was idiot for building on a golf course.

i didn't want to be a jerk to him, but he was out of line. most of the golfing population is right handed and slice the ball. i am sure his house is still being pelted today.

 

[niblick]

I've never understood the decision to purchase a house on the right side of a par 4 fairway 200 yards from the middle tees.