I am not a golfer, but this happened to an acquaintance of mine, and the story is so unbelievable that I thought I would share it. I was not there, but this is the story as it was told to me.
So, this guy (early 60's) managed to get invited to play the course at Augusta National. I believe he volunteered for the rules enforcement committee, or something to that effect, and has done so for many years, and as a token of their gratitude, he gets to play the course once a year. He has played it many times, but I would imagine that this last time will in fact be....the last time.
Guy arrives at 10am with his friend, and they are informed that they will be using golf carts, but only one of them is allowed to drive the cart. They decide the friend will be the driver, and he then fills out all kinds of paperwork. They then start their round, and on the first hole they both shank the first shot to opposite sides of the fairway due to nerves. Since there were more players behind them, and they did not want to hold people up, they decided that the friend would look for his ball on one side, and the other guy (who was not supposed to be driving the cart) would take the cart to the other side and look for his. There are varying accounts on the next part of the story, but this guy somehow managed to drive the golf cart into the bunker on Hole #1. Fortunately he was not injured, as it was reportedly about a seven foot drop into the bunker. At this point, I guess he thought he could get it out on his own, so he tried driving the cart up the side of the bunker, at which point he destroyed part of the lip, and almost flipped the cart. Well, some of the members were in the clubhouse and observed what happened, so they come out to find him standing in the bunker balancing the cart on its side trying to keep the cart from tipping all the way over. He said this was the most embarrassing moment of his life, which I can believe.
If this was me (and I am not a golfer) I would have taken my clubs and escorted myself to the parking lot and left. He, however, played the rest of the round! He says the people were nice, and encouraged him to keep playing and enjoy the golf, which is not surprising, but I would have gotten out of there as quickly as possible.
@Tkinard43 - don't you know the grounds keeper, and, if so, could you add anything I missed?
The moral of the story is if you are invited to play golf at Augusta National and are tasked with driving a cart, then look where you are going!
Edit: I do not think he was drunk.
So, this guy (early 60's) managed to get invited to play the course at Augusta National. I believe he volunteered for the rules enforcement committee, or something to that effect, and has done so for many years, and as a token of their gratitude, he gets to play the course once a year. He has played it many times, but I would imagine that this last time will in fact be....the last time.
Guy arrives at 10am with his friend, and they are informed that they will be using golf carts, but only one of them is allowed to drive the cart. They decide the friend will be the driver, and he then fills out all kinds of paperwork. They then start their round, and on the first hole they both shank the first shot to opposite sides of the fairway due to nerves. Since there were more players behind them, and they did not want to hold people up, they decided that the friend would look for his ball on one side, and the other guy (who was not supposed to be driving the cart) would take the cart to the other side and look for his. There are varying accounts on the next part of the story, but this guy somehow managed to drive the golf cart into the bunker on Hole #1. Fortunately he was not injured, as it was reportedly about a seven foot drop into the bunker. At this point, I guess he thought he could get it out on his own, so he tried driving the cart up the side of the bunker, at which point he destroyed part of the lip, and almost flipped the cart. Well, some of the members were in the clubhouse and observed what happened, so they come out to find him standing in the bunker balancing the cart on its side trying to keep the cart from tipping all the way over. He said this was the most embarrassing moment of his life, which I can believe.
If this was me (and I am not a golfer) I would have taken my clubs and escorted myself to the parking lot and left. He, however, played the rest of the round! He says the people were nice, and encouraged him to keep playing and enjoy the golf, which is not surprising, but I would have gotten out of there as quickly as possible.
@Tkinard43 - don't you know the grounds keeper, and, if so, could you add anything I missed?
The moral of the story is if you are invited to play golf at Augusta National and are tasked with driving a cart, then look where you are going!
Edit: I do not think he was drunk.
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