Playing A New Golf Course? – Always Check With The Pro Shop

This past weekend I came within inches of losing my life on the golf course. A friend just purchased a condo on the 15th hole of a private golf course north of Boston and had invited me to join her for a round of golf. She made all the arrangements and so I figured there was no need for me to check into the pro shop. I waited in the golf cart and after she signed us both in, we headed out for the first tee.

Everything was going along fine until the fourth hole. Just at the top of a rise in the fairway, a yellow and black checkered flag waved in the gentle breeze. Unfamiliar with the course I relied on my friend to tell me its purpose, but as she had only played the course once before, she had no idea, and I was foolish enough not to press the point. By the sixth hole we both found out the hard way that the checkered flag in the fairway was a warning flag to alert those playing behind that the group ahead had moved on. The course was very hilly and several holes had blind spots. Without the use of signal flags, there was no way for players to know when it was safe to hit.

As the forward players, it was our task to take the flag out of its holder while we played our second shots and once we had hit, replace the flag therefore signaling the group behind that we were out of the way. Not knowing the local rule, we left the flag stand while we hit and THWACK!!! one of the men in the group behind us drove his ball right into the back of my neck. A couple inches right or left, and it would have been a direct hit to my skull. I dropped like a rock anyway and everyone came running. The course pro came out with ice and an EMT kit, but within just a few minutes I was up and walking around— a very lucky player.

We went on to finish the round, but as you can imagine, it wasn’t my best game. I learned a very valuable lesson and I pass it on to you. When you play a new course, check with the pro shop for local rules. Ask if there are blind spots and if they use flags or bells to signal safe play. It’s worth the time it takes, and might just save your life—not to mention your game.

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