warren golf course: warning shots very normal?

Played today at Warren sunday afternoon flight. Besides a few times ball was driven near behind us no harm done. But twice the balls ran in front of me!   

My two other flight mates who are members says it is normal for flights to follow close behind even fire warning shots.

my maiden game at Warren was quite fun but could have been a perfect experience if not for this kind of play..... dangerous sia.

What time did u play mate?

12.15.... got pushed one flight earlier

Wa piang... did you bring it up to the marshall? Next time I buy helmet for you...

And no human was injured in the process of this warning..... I am speechless

Which golf etiquette or rules allow this???

I Kanna that "warning shot" by warren members before. They are a flight of 4 old man pulling trolley while we are on buggy.

Bad golf etiquette and marshal also not working loh.

jamezponk wrote:

What time did u play mate?

Wa... 
Bro jamesponk, yr hme club like tat one! 

jamezponk wrote:

What time did u play mate?

Wa... 
Bro jamesponk, yr hme club like tat one! 

Wow. This is not about slow play or the urge to push but dangerous play Leh. Where are the marshal and no displinary actions?

Member or not. Lives are at stake.

Yup willytan behind us were 4 old men. Not sure they are same group as they were on buggy.

Slow play or not....this is simply ridiculous. 

Life at stake here. Must we have a lost live from this before people learn?  

More can and should be done to punish such golfers.

Whats more amazing is that members in my flight seem to be unfazed by this, so maybe I thought was a unique club culture

But to the credit of the uncle group behind, one of them drove over to apologise after the second time the ball rolled in front of me. It was a par 4 after I hit my second shot then the ball appeared! That means they have been driving the ball during my second shots but this one was carried by backwind a bit more

Perhaps the group behind you are also guests.  Usually members will not do this type of thing, cos the golfer complain and members will get bar from playing for six months.

Regardless of the circumstances, this is dangerous

To put into perspective, this is a game we enjoy playing, it's not life and death.

Why get hurt in the process?

You are a nice gentleman. If it were me, I would have lodge a complaint much much earlier

Quoting from GolfDigest: Every year nearly 40,000 golfers are admitted to emergency rooms after being injured at play, most by errant golf balls and flying clubheads. One of the injury caused cerebral hemorrhage to the area of his brain that affects muscle control, after being struck by ball into the head. 


We need to understand these are accidents that can be largely preventable. If u r genuinely in a rush to complete your game, talk to the front flight n I'm sure they will, or most likely will, allow you to overtake. Firing warning shots on purpose is simply unacceptable, akin to stepping accelerator onto pedestrian at traffic junction. Attempting to cause harm onto others just because you don't want to wait or overtake??  

Golf is a gentleman's game, if u are thinking of hurting someone in the process, then I suggest u change another sport like Muay Thai.

This topic is close to our hearts. I think a thorough discussion will be beneficial to all, particularly to newer golfers. What would be an appropriate response to the following scenarios:-

a) Ball landing close but still behind you;
b) Ball rolling past you; and 
c) Ball flew over you.

For (a) I am likely to assume misjudgment on the part of the golfer and will wave to indicate to him that he should wait for us to be out of range.
For (b), I would tee up his ball with a note attached to tell him this is dangerous play.
For (c). I would report him.

What about you guys? Please share your views.

a) Depends on which shot I am taking. If still my in regulation shot.. I would report. If not.. then I am assuming its a misjudgement... and wave him/her off.

b) I would report

c) I would report

My personal views on this ....

If the ball rolls up to near where I am or even past me, I generally ignore the first time, after all, sometimes you can get a lucky bounce and it rolls 15-20m more than normal.  However, if it happens 2nd or 3rd time, I'll have a word with them as they approach the green to let them know the ball is reaching us.  To be fair, as we get older, it gets harder to see the ball at a distance.  They may not know how far the ball is going (especially if they just got lessons or a newly fitter driver and are hitting further than before).  I am pretty cool about the ball rolling.

If the ball lands behind me or anyone else in the flight (15-20m), I generally keep my cool as well ...  We have all had drives where by magic it goes 20-30m further (followed by the pull-hook or push-slice at the next hole when we try to "recreate" that magical shot).  However, if there is more than one ball landing behind us, then I will immediately drive back to the flight and let them know.  This assumes that your buggy is in clear view of the tee box.  Let's be fair, if you cannot see the tee box from where you are, chances are that they can't see you from the tee box as well.

If the ball flies over me (and I can see the tee box), then I will immediately call the marshalls and report the incident.  This is not funny.  If it can go over with a good shot, with a normal shot it can also hit you.  I will also keep bugging the club management to make sure that some action is taken.  Knowing myself, going back to confront the golfers behind is going to lead to a lose-lose situation.  That being said, sometimes the golfers behind will drive up immediately and apologise.  In that case, whatever the reason is, I will just let it slide.  In good faith, if they can apologise, I assume they did not mean to hit it.

The tricky part is if the ball flies over and the hole is designed such that the landing area cannot be seen from the tee box (and there are no traffic lights or other indicators).  In this case, you can't really blame the golfers behind.  I would take this up with the club itself and inform them that this is a safety hazard that needs to be resolved.

Back to the topic, if the shots are hit close to you intentionally as a warning shot, I cannot accept that intentionally commiting an act knowing that it can cause serious physical injury can go unpunished by the law.  Although I would think the case would be much stronger if the ball was flying in the air past you, this sort of behavior cannot be tolerated.  If etiquette and simple human decency cannot manage some individuals, then there is no choice but to use sterner measures.

Shocking that anyone would consider this normal....in KL, my club issues an automatic suspension to anyone hitting into the flight in front as long as a complaint is lodged...of course, you have the right to a hearing with the disciplinary sub-comm....but this is a strong deterrent against dangerous play...

Mind you this is in m'sia....a place where the rule of law barely exists....surprisingly, it is enforced as I know a few who have been suspended because of this.......

so all visitors to my homeland better keep in mind that you can buy a kopi driving license, you may be able to bribe a policeman, and if the urge suddenly arises you can even blow up your girlfriend (as long as as it has been approved in accordance with the delegation of authority matrix)...but if you do something serious like hit into the front flight, the respective authorities will come down hard on you......this means YOU, derek......

If there is no one behind us....and I arrive at the tee off box with a flight taking their tee shots... I would wait for them to clear the green and take a 10min break... ...
no one knows how well you can hit that ball... and if you manage to hit the shot of your life and the ball lands on someone's head.... no fun for you and definitely not funny for that person too...

And I don't think that warning shots is acceptable at all, no matter where you play, in sg, msia or indo for that matter.
Even it is by accident, it is not acceptable by any standards....
and even if the golfer has 3rd party insurance, you could have hurt someone badly with that errant shot...

pick up the ball and pocket it..
alternatively start playing 8 ball (2 balls each) and irritate more

If it's a lucky bounce and roll up, I'd let it go. If landed anywhere within 10m of me or flight mates, I sure wait for them and see what they say on the green. If dare to KL with me, I call marshall go clubhouse and complain. Make sure they tio banned for life. No need to go down to their level