When one thinks about violence in sports, Bob Barker and Happy Gilmore not withstanding, chances are one doesn’t think of golf. We think more about hockey or a bench-clearing brawl in a baseball game. But a recent incident here in Connecticut has gotten me interested in where else some golf-course violence may have sprouted. Quite surprisingly, there are more incidents than one might think.
Starting with the previously mentioned incident here in CT – an amateur golf champ apparently assaulted his caddie in the 19th hole. Although the incident was not golf-related, it is the story that sparked my interest. And here are a few examples I’ve found.
Back in February, a golfer in one group was stabbed with the broken shaft of a club by a golfer in another group. According to a report, one group was instructed by a course ranger to play through the group ahead of them. This however did not sit well with a member of the group in front, and a brawl broke out. One sliced artery later, and a golfers leg is permanently damaged.
Speaking of bench clearing brawls, check-out this story involving former National League MVP Kevin Mitchell. Apparently, someone was talkin’ a little smack. So Kevin decided to go “old school gangster” on him right on the 13th hole.
Several other incidents involving on-course assault in the Seattle and Dallas areas, as well as in England have cropped up recently. And that leads me to one question…what took so long?!
Think about golf for a second. This is not a sport filled with testosterone-fueled violence. There’s no big hits. There’s no one running at full-speed. No one is going over a wall. But, what golf does have is a knack for getting you so pissed-off that you could spit nails and scream fire. Put two of these hot-headed golfers in any type of confrontational situation, and I can understand how these instances can occur.
So do these types of thing happen more often than most of us realize, or is this something relatively new? Does it happen only on the public courses or does it happen in the private country clubs as well, only to be kept hush-hush so as not to ruin a reputation.
Have you ever witnessed any of this violence while out on the course? Or worse yet, have you ever been a part of it?
Swing ’til you’re happy…just not at someone!
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Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like
you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you
can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit,
but other than that, this is great blog. A fantastic
read. I will definitely be back.