Worst Experience on the Course?

I played in a tournament last year to benefit the HS baseball team. I know several of the boys and one of their fathers asked me to play. It was $125 to play a course I don't ever play for more than $45, but that's not really relevant.

Tournament day rolled around and it was cold and windy. A few minutes into the round, it began to rain, and continued to rain and pour and rain through the hole round. Living in Las Vegas, I don't have much rain gear, and I was soon soaked and freezing. If it weren't for the fact that it was a tournament, I would have left as soon as I was chilled to the bone, but instead I played 15 more holes of terrible, freezing, wet, expensive and crappy golf.
 
Big tournament in Scottsdale, white shorts, burst hemorrhoid... yeah that was the worst.

A friend of mine just witnessed that same unfortunate incident the other day- the guy had to leave.
 
The one that comes to mind was a time I was playing in the Member Guest at my buddy's club. After 27 holes we were clearly in contention for our flight. After a decent front 9 I took the tee on the 10th, a par 3 over a ravine with OB right. Shank, OB. Shank, OB. Shank, OB. Pick up. I had the Shanks the entire back 9. I literally could not hit a ball that wasn't S-worded. My buddy is very competitive and started to get mad at me as we faded from contention. I was very frustrated and embarrassed. That wasn't fun.
 
My worst experiences on the course have all been during weekend trips where we’re playing multiple rounds a day for multiple days and it’s hot outside. It sucks having a terrible round on the morning of day two and knowing you have to do it again that afternoon in 100+ degree heat.
 
That's easy...

I was on the guys golf trip a few years ago playing in the Birch Bay area of Washington state.
Since I was the best player in the group of 12, I was paired with the worst player as a teammate.
He is in the bunker and takes 3 swipes at it and never gets it out, so his score won't be used and he picks up the ball.
I'm already on the green and have a 3 foot par putt so I am tending the flag for the other teams putts.
The next thing I know, I am flat on my back and looking up at the other twosome playing with us and they are asking if I am alright.
My idiot teammate had decided he wanted 1 more crack at the bunker without letting me know he was going to try.
He was only 15 feet from me and bladed the ball while I was holding the flag for the other guys.
The ball hit me right behind the left ear and knocked me out for a few seconds.
Now I used to box and fight full contact karate against some pretty big guys in the past and have been hit pretty hard in doing so, but never had I been close to being knocked out. It's amazing what a little ball can do when it hits you in the right spot at the right speed.
I recovered quickly and went on with the round, but I had to listen to my partner apologize about 10 times on every hole after that.
The headache that ensued and his constant apologies ruined the round for me.
 
A friend of mine just witnessed that same unfortunate incident the other day- the guy had to leave.
I would have crawled into a ditch if I could have! I just turned my white shorts mostly pink with lots of water, untucked my shirt and went on about the round! hahaha

It was mortifying though...
 
I detailed my worst on-course experience elsewhere here. I won't go into it again other than to say the starters and course manager allowed a few outing groups to stay too long at a liquid lunch at the turn, and when the outing groups demanded we step aside to let them through after we had teed off on 10, an especially drunk guy starts teeing off ball after ball on the 10th tee, with our group 75 yards away playing a topped tee shot. I'm not sure whether he was deliberately trying to hit us or scare us off, but when we sought help, the marshall asked US to leave, and the course manager refused to apologize. I know it is one of @ddec 's favorite courses, but I haven't been back in seven years, and I doubt I ever will.
 
Worst experience I’ve had was a pace of play issue. My group was first tee time on a Saturday morning (course also allows back 9 play for the first opening hour). My group makes the turn in about an hour and half, and then on hole 11 we catch up to the last group of the back 9 play. For the last 8 holes we were stuck behind 4 very senior ladies (who refused to let us play through) and completed our round in almost 5 hours total time (as compared to the 3 hour pace we should have set).
 
I was leading my flight in city championship by 3 strokes in day 2 about 4 years ago. Was waiting for a guy to putt on hole 4, I stepped backwards and stepping into something lower, I went down. I pulled a muscle on the side of my right ankle. I could barely put any weight on it. The one guy thought I was having a heart attack or something how fast I went down.

Somehow I got par on the par 3 next hole. But not being able to put weight on my back foot, the next hole I proceeded to hook my drive into the bush, as well as my provisional, and the shot after that... I used my 7 iron to put one out there. I can't even remember much of the round, just how disappointed I was.

Earlier in the season I had won my flight in the match play tournament, basically against the same guys, so I had a great shot at winning both that year. And I was playing well and really confident.

I think that is my worst experience. I've been angry/miserable at things/people, but nothing like that day.
 
The worst days are when I'm playing like crap & I lose my *bleep* and act like a petulant child. (i.e. trying to break a club)
Unfortunately, this popped out last TH at my league, so I have some apologizing still to do tonight.

I had a bad day with work & I barely slept the night before....these are my poor reasons (excuses) for my behavior.
I hadn't lost my (bleep) like this in 4 years.
So disappointed in myself.
 
Injuring my wrist on a tree root about 30 years ago. It was way worse than any of the 5 times I’ve been hit by a golf ball because when it happened I knew I was going to be out for a few months which at the time living in MN turned out to be a forced 10 month lay off at a time when I was playing the best golf of my life.
 
A little while back I got paired up with a high school golfer at a local muni. Not a bad golfer. His father payed for green fees and carried a bag with like 4 clubs in it. He didn't play but took notes on every shot his kid played. A real helicopter parent. The kid took forever, even making sure his line was aligned on a one foot putt. It was painful. After awhile I said to the dad "Your kid's a good golfer, but this isn't the US Open and he certainly won't make any friends with this pace of play once the season starts" They picked it up a little after that but not much.
 
Another experience I hate is when you see the cart girl for the first time all day on the 18th fairway...
 
I've been golfing for almost 35 years and although every round certainly hasn't been all sunshine and butterflies, not one of them sticks out in my mind as the worst. Sure, I've had plenty of rounds where the pace of play was like a herd of turtles, been paired with some real losers/a-holes, played through injuries, had rounds where I couldn't hit a ball straight to save my life, dealt with grumpy marshals, played a few real goat tracks - but I can't think of one round where I was genuinely miserable to the point that I would've rather been anywhere else.
 
I played a match against a buddy of mine a while back and he had some guys on his side cheering while no one on my side, seemed like a one sided battle and wasn't near as fun as it could have been
 
Easy one for me. January this year, playing Pebble. I’d played it before, but still excited to play it with my regular partners and one of their mates originally from Scotland. We had weeks of glorious weather with one day of pretty bad weather, of course the day I was playing. Play was suspended when we arrived, but we eventually tee’d off around an hour late. Within 2 holes, my waterproofs had failed with all the water. Greenkeepers were squeegeeing the greens (which was pointless) and by the third, the course was unplayable with flooded greens and fairways.
Pebble is famous for no rain checks, but nevertheless, we demanded someone come out to the 3rd to see the condition of the course. I ended up having a huge barney with the head pro who came out and insisted the course was still playable. Not even close to being that thoroughly pissed off on a golf course before. I did get a rain check in the end after firing off a very harsh email. Complete joke they expected people to play an unplayable course though. I remember getting home and almost bursting into tears LOL.
 
Tournament. Waist high grass eight of every fairway OB left. was 98 degrees, lost 10 of my 11 golf balls first 14 holes was like last ball I am done after this gets lost. Of course I don't lose it. Round took 6 hours 15 minutes walking as a 3 ball. I think that about covers it, no need to explain why it was the worst.
 
First tournament I entered. Had been breaking 100 consistently and carrying a 28 cap, had a real shot at the net division. Put up a 119.
 
It probably was when I took a ball straight in the forehead from an errant drive. It literally knocked me senseless and left me with a goose egg the size of a golf ball. I am really lucky I had a hat on or I am sure it would have split my head open like a ripe watermelon.
 
First tournament I entered. Had been breaking 100 consistently and carrying a 28 cap, had a real shot at the net division. Put up a 119.
Okay, that does bring one round in particular to mind. We play an annual tournament/guys' trip that we've been doing for over 20 years. A few years ago I shot mid 80s in the practice round and first tournament round - a couple of the better golfers who usually win or contend had a bad day, so I ended up in the final foursome. In the second tournament round I completely melted down and shot a 104. I couldn't hit a decent shot to save my life and putted like I was blindfolded and wearing steel mittens. I still enjoyed the company/camaraderie and it was a beautiful day for golf, but I think that has to be the most frustrated I've ever been on a golf course. It still burns in me to this day.
 
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I think it was 1990? My caddie finding a dead guy while looking for my ball in the trees in Alexandria Egypt was pretty bad. He came running out of the trees screaming in Arabic and puked right at my feet. The place was called the Sporting Club Of Alexandria.

Round over.

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I went back two days later and played 18. A really bad smell suddenly came over the course and the ditches has moving water in them. My caddie told me that they used city grey water for the course every day at 1:00 pm.

OMG.....what a **** hole.

Go Navy!
 
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Easy, Silverhorn charity event from about 6 years ago. At hour 8 on the 10th tee box (no this isn't an exaggeration) I just had to walk off the course and go home, it just wasn't fun at all. However the charity did well from a money perspective so thats a bit of a positive.
I was going to say the 6 hr 15 minute 18 hole scramble I played last week was pretty bad, but that right there absolutely takes the cake.
 
Two days stand out as worst ever. A round at Las Sendas in Mesa, AZ that I do not want to re-live, but was bad enough that I have not been back in the 15+ years since it happened.

The other was a stomach bug that hit all of a sudden and caused an accident of monumental proportions.

The fact that Las Sendas gets mentioned in the same post as the aforementioned butt-splosion should emphasize the disdain I have for Las Sendas, a course that some of my AZ friends still like.
 
I was going to say the 6 hr 15 minute 18 hole scramble I played last week was pretty bad, but that right there absolutely takes the cake.
I've played in a lot of those 6+ hour charity scrambles - they never bother me because I know going in that it's going to be a long day, we go out there and just have fun with good friends, and the alcohol is usually flowing. Maximal hijinks and minimal "serious" golf. But 8 hours to play 10 holes?!? Noooo thank you on a 14-15 hour round!
 
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