Very weird. On the first hole, my younger brother who is 16(I'm 20) duck hooked a drive that it a tree in front of the tee box. We never saw the ball. As headed towards the ball, some guy starts yelling at my brother(I was walking with him). He tells him he should have yelled fore and that it almost hit him. Then he starts saying negative things about me and my brother and was cussing us out. I said, "I'm really sorry, we didn't see the ball, but you don't need to be such a jerk".

At this point, the guy totally freaks... He yells "come over here you little p*ssy, I'll kick your a$$". He then proceeds to call me a c*nt and a mother f'er repeatedly. Me and my brother keep walking, and just repeat "sorry, we didn't see it" etc... Well, then my dad notices what is going on and goes "hey buddy, shut up!" The guy then proceeds to tell my dad no to come over there b/c he will kick my dad's butt in front of his kids. My dad was 2 times the size of the guy, and my dad is pretty dang tough. My dad told him "you don't talk to my son's like that and get away with it" The guy continues to talk crap and my finally goes "you come over here and hit me". My dad was about to go after the guy...

then I just went up to my dad and told him to go to his ball... if I wouldn't have done it, their would have been fists flying. Later my dad told me that was the most restraint he had ever showed and said something to the effect of "he was lucky you stopped me, b/c you don't talk to my kids like that"

Too bad you didn't yell fore....Most people don't duck, like they should, they look up to see who you're yelling fore to. You might have got him in the nose, or the hose.

Ya, very true. It was insane... I was just pissed b/c he was freaking out for no reason and really it was directed at my brother. I'm not gonna let someone talk to my brother like that...

obviously my dad felt the same way!

I agree that the guy shouldn't swear at your kid brother, but a golf ball can kill people.
If you lose sight of the ball and its off the hole you are playing, you yell fore, always dude.
Just think, you looking for your ball, some other ball goes flying 2 feet from your head and you never heard fore.
I'd be pissed, but wouldn't get in a fight over it if the guy said he was sorry.

Yes, I knew it should have been yelled, but we didn't see the guys over there. Every time the ball goes into the trees you should yell fore? WE did say we were sorry and didn't see the ball.

Also, the ball didn't come that close to them. The ball was over 100 yards past them and about 20 yards right of them. So it is a stretch to say it came super close to them...

Everyone's right, no need to fight...

Only thing though Kurtis, even though he was acting like a jerk; by telling the "angry man" he WAS a jerk... it pushed over into something more. You know how them s***kicker's are in Oklahoma! So you probably share credit for the escalation, though unintentional.

I kind of get used to balls flying everywhere here in LA, and the trees are peppered with ball marks. What WILL push me over though, is someone hitting up on me, and not yelling fore. I'm sure we all agree that's different. But one day, some guys hit into us with their drive, and we were too close for them to be hitting. My friend yells back at them, "What are you doing?" Or something to that affect...

Well, before we'd gone much farther, they hit again; it was short of us, but I got the message. Still, I let it go. Shortly later, I'm walking around near my ball, already on the next hole from them; I hear, "Fore!" So I cover my head, etc., and then I spot them laughing. Well, they weren't laughing when I walked down there. I had "I'm going to kick your a**" written all over my face, and I was about to... but a cooler head prevailed, though they never admitted to their "prank." Glad to say there were no more problems after that.

It was more important for me that day, to finish my round, than to finish theirs.

Yeah, always yell "fore!" Better safe than sorry. I had a ball come wizzing past me today. Never heard "fore!" But, there were trees and they couldn't see me from the tee box. It's my home course, and I know that area gets its fair share of errant balls. Maybe the guy didn't know the course I figured.

My boss got hit from about 180 the other day. (Rightfully so, since I was working! ) He has dimple marks on his arm where it hit him! Ha Ha! Funny, but dangerous...

The comment to the dude about him being a jerk about it pushed him over the edge. Even if I wasn't already steamed, I probably would have been after that remark. If you've ever seen what a golf ball can do when it hits someone, your perspective is a little different.

Let's be careful out there people!

No, the dude was already heated and had his mind made up. I'm not gonna let someone disrespect my brother and get away with it. And I reacted like my dad did, the protective older brother.

And before anything else was said we admitted we should have said fore. The guy was just straight white trash though.

Hanes: I can understand your point of view, "BUT", I hope you can understand also, that calling someone a "JERK", when that person was almost hit by a ball, is not going to "HELP MATTERS". FIRST, he was wrong to yell at you that much. SECOND, you were wrong to call him a Jerk for yelling. Some times it's better to be the cool calm one in the group, than get mad yourself and make things worse. I think most of us have been on both ends of the ball coming close issue, we've hit that ball, and we've had a ball come close. It may not be easy, but's it's better to be calm than fly off the handle.

Well Hanes, here's what would have been appropriate:
If you carry a 3 iron, you should have dropped 3 balls, ripped them at the guy, then walked up to him, wrapped the 3 iron around the SOB's neck and said, "Fore ass*#$*, I'm sorry I didn't say that the first time around."
The real goal here is to find a way to justify getting that new club you've been wanting. You probably don't use a 3 iron that much and you had a good chance to replace the 3 iron with a hybrid. Next time Carpe'Diem.
In fact, we should all forget this etiquette thing and look for opportunities like this to replace equipment we don't want anymore.
We could write a book......"No Fore You, New For Me"
Bill

Nice.... I do have a lot of 3 irons come to think of it....

One thing that has not been mentioned, is that even if you did yell fore, there is a good chance it wouldn't have made any difference. First off, most people are going to watch where the ball is going, and then if they see someone in that direction, they will yell out. By that time, the ball is most of the way there, and it does take a certain amount of time for sound to travel to the people you are trying to warn. Add to that the time it takes the normal person to react to the yell, and it's my guess the ball has already hit someone or gone past harmlessly. Is it normal to yell fore everytime you miss the fairway? I don't think so. First thing I do is look where the ball is going, and if I see someone down there, I'll yell at them to warn them. But that takes time and I'm not sure I really did any good yelling fore. If you hit a high shot with an iron, sure it might help. But hit a ball off the driver at 150 MPH, and good luck ducking out of the way if they did hear me yelling. And as Bill mentioned, would most people duck, or look up the see what was going on? Good Question.

Good points Don. When I hear "fore!" I immediately cover my head; figuring I can take a blow to the body, but I never look first then cover. BTW, if a situation were to arise, and it looked like myself and another golfer were going to come to blows, I would definately NOT yell "fore" before I hit him...

Just remember, ya gotta bring it if you're gonna talk it. Even if you do, they often have a bigger friend. If they don't, their friend "smith & wesson" or "Mr. Glock" might be waiting out in the car. If ya watch the evening news, you know it's a crazy world out there. Just be careful out there.

True Mike, it's almost always better to walk away. But if you can't... and their Glock is not in the bag... and say they pull one of their rescue clubs... I could still pull my Heavy Putter! Let's see them trump that! (This is all in jest, of course.) I learned how to fight, to avoid fighting. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Always remember: Man who woos woman in Pantry, gets ass in Jam.

Wade, does the pantry thing have anything to do with being by not being? Or, learning to fight to avoid fighting?

I still like my 3 iron scenario...the book, No Fore You, New For Me, would be a best seller.

Uh! What was the original post about anyway?

Pantry: The derivation of the word is from the same source as the Old French term "paneterie," that is from "PAIN," the French form of the Latin "panis." I'm sure there's some connection... and let's take "being by not being" here to mean, just "Let It Be."

Bill, I do like your club replacement technique, and your book idea. Please get to work on that, and let us peek at an early draft in Colorado! And if you manage to keep it down to more of a pamplet-size, you can just charge $4.00 for it.

Okay, I have to ask. What are you chances your wife will "buy" that story? "Honey, I need a new set of irons, I broke the 3 iron on some idiots head today". I'm betting that story will not fly more than once, if that. I'm thinking it won't fly at all, more like a worm burner.

She absolutely will not buy that story. But, she will be ok with me getting the new club, because, she will feel sorry for me for having to stoop that low to get what I want, need, expect, have to have, can't live without.... whatever!

Don, you're right, it may not fly.......If I can't get a new club out of it, I may go back to yelling FORE!

I'll drop my 2 cents into the fray...our local "rule" is that if you sort of hit into us once, we'll let it drop especially if you catch up to us when you are on the green and we are on the next tee and apologize. You do it again, with malice, and don't yell fore, we'll we pick up your ball and throw it far away or stomp it into the ground.
My guess is the guy was a jerk looking to pick a fight and figured he'd scare some kids. Then his adrenaline got going and he offered to go after their Dad without looking at the size of the guy too closely. He'd never lose face by backing down after reaming the 2 boys. Some people just don't have the temperment for a "gentleman's game".
BTW, once we got paired with a cop who almost went after a guy who was hassling our group - he was known to him professionally (ie, the guy was often in the police station). The loser lived in house near the 10th hole fairway and liked to shout at people from his front yard filled with rusting car bodies and other trash.

Aimee, "pick up the ball and throw it, or stomp it into the ground;" I'll remember that next time! And about that nut living near the 10th hole, and harassing people... that should result in his house becoming quite the regular target for "errant" shots...