Teed-off golfers take bad swings

It was a bit unsettling to see a friend and co-worker show up at our annual sports staff golf tournament earlier this week sporting a cast-like contraption on his left arm.

It became a bit alarming when I learned his injury – a shattered bone between his thumb and wrist – was the result of a golf course altercation.

My friend, Bob, said he was attacked on the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course during an incident that started with an exchange of words over an errant shot, escalated into a roll-on-the-ground fistfight and ended with the other person grabbing an iron from his bag and slamming it down on my friend’s raised arm, breaking the bone near his thumb into 12 pieces.

Police arrived on the scene after my friend had left for the hospital and collected statements from witnesses. No charges were filed.

“It was like road rage,” explained Bob, who apparently prompted the incident by asking the other party why he hadn’t yelled after slicing a shot onto the tee box where my friend was standing, striking one of the other players in his foursome. “It was sickening.”

I would have to agree.

So sickening, in fact, I decided to call a few of the head professionals at other public courses in our area to get their thoughts on violence in golf.

Each one I talked to expressed dismay over what had happened to my friend. But most also had a story or two – albeit of less brutal incidents – that have occurred at their courses.

Hangman Valley’s Steve Nelke recalled a fight that broke out on his course a couple of years ago, presumably because of slow play.

“It was back when we had our infamous Twilight Rate out here,” Nelke explained. “The rate went into effect at 5 p.m. and you had the situation where the 5:04 group maybe only wanted to play nine (holes), but the 5:12 group wanted to try to squeeze in 18 and were going to run over everybody.”

The fight was apparently ignited when the 5:12 group tried to speed up the group ahead by hitting into them.

“It got a little ugly out there,” Nelke said, adding that he thought assault charges were eventually filed against one of the combatants. “One guy, who was big and could handle himself, took on a couple of people. A couple of my staffers had to go out and peel them apart.

“Fists were flying, but nobody took clubs out.”

Kit DeAndre, the head pro at Liberty Lake, can remember two occasions when he’s had to call the police and ask for assistance in breaking up fights.

“Those are the only times we’ve had incidences arise that we couldn’t defuse,” DeAndre explained. “In those two cases it came down to some pushing and shoving, and fists may have been used. In any event, it got to the point where we needed to call the police.

“But I’ve never had an incident where a golf club was used to assault somebody.”

Police were called to MeadowWood Golf Course earlier this spring after a scuffle broke out between the 14th and 16th holes.

According to head professional Bob Scott, the incident was again sparked by an errant shot and involved a member of a threesome who had challenged a golfer in the group by noting there were “three of us and only one of you.”

The young challenger reportedly ended up on his back after getting little or no help from his friends. No punches were thrown, but the members of the threesome walked off the course following the skirmish and called police.

Scott said assault charges were filed but later dismissed.

In his 13 years at Downriver Golf Course, head pro Steve Conner said he has never had to summon the police to break up a fight.

“We’ve never – knock on wood – had to deal with any kind of fisticuffs, whatsoever,” he explained. “I’m not saying we haven’t come close, but never any swings. We’ll have guys squawking at each other for one group hitting into another, or something, but never anything like that.”

The same holds true at The Creek at Qualchan, according to head pro Mark Gardner.

“We’ve had some confrontations, but we’ve able to calm them all down,” Gardner said. “The only time we’ve called the police out here was when a group took a couple of our carts four-wheeling after their round, and we wanted to get them off the course.”

Nelke said he worries constantly about what he perceives as a growing problem with violence on the golf course.

“It’s getting scary out there,” he said. “I don’t want to be the predictor of doom and gloom, but it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody gets seriously hurt one of these days.”

Violent behavior on a golf course is not easily explained.

“It’s seems strange,” DeAndre said, “because golf is supposed to be a sport where we have camaraderie and decency, and where we have respect for our fellow players and the course itself.

“But one of the things I have noticed is that in our faster-paced world, rounds of golf have not gotten faster. It takes the same time to play a round of golf today as it did 50 years ago, and I think there’s a certain level of frustration associated with the guys who can’t get around the golf course as fast as they’d like.”

Most pros agree that slow play and errant shots by unapologetic golfers are the most common sparks that ignite the kind of on-course disputes that can lead to violence. The key to avoiding such disputes, they add, is to adhere to the proper etiquette of the game and keep your ego in check.

“We’ve all accidentally hit into the group ahead of us at one time or another,” said Scott. “But when you do, just suck up your ego and go say you’re sorry.”

Nelke suggests golfers keep the big picture in mind.

“And realize it’s just a round of golf,” he added. “It’s a game, and it should be relaxing and fun. If you have a problem on the course, report it to us. If somebody’s really that bad, we’ll take care of it.”