The Guy who practise pitching in Bishan Park

Foam ball can pitch 80m meh?

So, what's the debate all about…     

Isn't this post similar to the guy who goes around fishing at water hazards on the golf course while he waits for the flight at the front to putt out or other similar posts that dies a natural death after we have said our piece......  So, are we going to do anything about this guy or not…?? Or are we just going to sit in virtual space and explore the fact that Singapore has only 2 cows or maybe even more cows to come since we love to complain so much (or has this become our way of life)…??

FYI, we're living on a land scarce island where 80m (in radius) is quite a sizable space in a public park ~ how would you like to have golf ball (be it the real deal or foam made) shanked in your direction while cycling on the bicycle path…??

Last but not least, gov.sg spends millions of tax payers' $$ on public facilities for a specific purpose or usage with benefit to the general public in mind ~ so are we conforming to the original intent of this park is pretty much up to your imagination……

For two days last week during the morning peak hour, i have seen a guy practising golf shots at the grass patch at the junction of Queensway underpass and Commonwealth road (in front) of Queensway Secondary school. For drivers, be careful if you suddenly see a ball flying to your car!

Don't give golfers a bad name guys.

We already are not the favourites among the general public because our sport takes up so much space. Moreover, golfers generally are considered the more atas people and have the atas image and thus are the target of envy amongst the general folks (who incidentally will vehemently deny any envy feelings).

Thus dangerous behaviour which can accidentally hurt other people shld be discouraged lah.

Having said that, how do you know that the guy practising does not use those plastic balls? I myself have bgt those balls and practise chipping in my balcony with my kids running ard the house. In that case it is not dangerous lah and to which I say, let the man do what he wants. However, some will say that he is spoiling the turf. Then its also wrong but if he uses a chipping mat and plastic balls, then I don't see anything wrong lah......IF and its a big IF.....but I doubt the guy in the pic does the two things

If he was using real golf balls, then it would be really dangerous.

TS said he pitched a ball to abt 80m. I was struck by a ball hit from about 80m away before. Was about to vacate the greens when the guy from the next flight took his tee shot and shanked it right, to my direction. The ball bounced on the turf in front of me and bounced up to my face. It struck my sunglasses and shattered it... Had a black eye and lots of pain. I know of many friends with kids who like to bring them to Bishan Park after work/dinner for a stroll. Imagine the ball shanked and went off-line, then hits a kid. The results would be terrible.

Let's hope that the guy is just using practise foam balls and that he has tremendous control over his shots... If not, I do sincerely hope that this kind of practice should stop...

I think as a golfer, we should take reasonable care of fellow golfers in the golf course. Let alone general public. Should this gentleman hit an errand shot or top the ball, it might just go out of the range he estimated. The liability to the injured party might be more than he can imagined and I think the cons certainly outweigh the pros in this respect. Accidents do happen and I hope he knows what he was doing and be responsible for the act should anything happens.

The originator of this post should report to Npark and let them deal with the guy.  Not just the ball ( if real ball) that is a danger to other park users. What if the club head or worst, the whole club flew off from his grip and hit someone? or kids running around the park came near him and get struck by his club while he is swinging?.  As far as I know, I do not think public park allows golfers to practice there.

I remembered some time ago, there was a tread where golfer/s was seen doing swing practice (i.e. no balls, real or plastic) at a carpark, presumably while waiting for someone......


Golfers being golfers think, sleep, eat, dream golf and this is one typical example of a die hard fan of golf.

It did ponder upon me on what if the die hard fan practice swing with

1)a real golf ball
2)practice with a plastic ball
3) or just air swing without any type of ball

The gerenal feedabck from this forum for case:

case 1: generally a no no for obvious safety reason
Case 2: generally a no no, because the public will preceive that it is a real ball and may cause alarm to the public.
Case 3: OK BUT BUT BUT..... do it at a secluded area where it is away from the general public.

Any one is free to add any other options......Glad that this can be an educational tead for all parties.

perhaps we are making a mountain out of a molehill. Ever wonder why we need to BUY our gold medals in the commonwealth games? With all the passion , we are not given a chance to prove our worthy.

The Brazilian kids can play football in the kampong playground n that give them the possibility to turn into a world class footballer. The local pros are complaining that they are not given enough exposure but are they good enough to join PGA tours?

Richard Branson broke the record crossing the Atlantic a hot air balloon but failed to circumnavigate the globe. why he did that?

As for me, I rather die with my passion than sleeping in a hole

Kaii wrote:

perhaps we are making a mountain out of a molehill. Ever wonder why we need to BUY our gold medals in the commonwealth games? With all the passion , we are not given a chance to prove our worthy.

The Brazilian kids can play football in the kampong playground n that give them the possibility to turn into a world class footballer. The local pros are complaining that they are not given enough exposure but are they good enough to join PGA tours?

Richard Branson broke the record in a hot air balloon crossing the Atlantic but failed to circumnavigate the globe. why he did that?

As for me, I rather die with my passion than sleeping in a hole

No offence but if our atheletes think this way then they r really losers. 
I feel that we r buying competition n experience. Not gold medals. Most importantly our local atheletes get to train and compete with the best. 
When one day we manage to win a gold with our local talent it is because he/she has trained with n beaten the best. Then our system has succeeded and will grow.  

No pt playing kampong soccer with kampong players forever. Also will not become world class. These talents have been put thru scouting and training camps since young. Many compete with foreign talents etc messi at barcelona. Most forgo education. 

So many complain that our local athletes dun get chances. Even with the exposure without the right attitude it is very hard to succeed. It is always easy to blamed the system. Many successful atheletes find their own way. many actually get sponsorship only AFTER they have proven themselves. 

I find that our locals Dun lack talent. But they lack the tenacity to succeed. That I say it is because we have too good lives.

as for competition n experience, we should buy the coach n not the players.

if you are not given the chance to play football , how would you know that you are good enough to be chosen to train in the camp?

Passion and safety are 2 different issues. Why sacrifice safety of others for your own passion?

athletes become the best when the overcome barriers.
We may have the best coachs, but without barriers to overcome. How can you be better?

There are range warriors who range everyday, but no course experience. when going to the course. everything falls apart. nothing beats the real thing. daily competition from better players only improve the quality over all.

You can see now that locals are winning medals, slowly but surely. Sure the GOLD is still won by foreign talents. but the snowball effect should not be overlook. The standard of SINGAPORE has slowly improved.

sorry to digress, but its something that is close to my heart.

Anyway this is about the bishan park incident.

There are passionate folks who respect others and practice at designated areas to ensure the safety and the enjoyment of others and there are passionate assholes who does anything they want.

I remember the stupidity factor video in army, the guy maybe the safest player in the world. But he will never be able to predict if a little boy runs into the path of a flying ball etc.

Will passion save the boy's life? it is important to be passionate and respectful to others and public property.

Public property means everybody can use but doesn't mean anybody can abuse

this may just be a molehill. but it sure is OOB

I agree with DLWL... It's easy to say that the guy has passion for golf and wants to golf anywhere. I may also have a little passion for golf.. But I CHOOSE to drive to a proper golf course with pitching and putting practice facilities to practise my short game. So if I do not do it on a properly designated area, does that mean I have less passion?

I used to play tennis. But do not stay at a condo. So could I have used the badminton courts at my residential area to practise my serve?

Safety is always a prime concern and if a stray ball hits my kid while I am having family time with him at a park, all hell will break loose...

Seems this is a case of 'guilty till proven innocent' . perhaps you should go bishan park to see for yourself on how is he jeopardising the safety of others. (no chiobu so I go bishan range not the park)
if in anyway , he is endangering others . he should be reported to the police instead.

Accident happens even you are the safest driver n that's life.
 
Buying gold medals is not buying experience and competition. In golf or any other sport, the experience counts but the competition is yourself.

As for passion, we need to give the young rooms to nurture their passion in whatever they are good at n may the best man wins.

Princes are born in royalty but are groom to be King.

oldie-newbie wrote:

why not talk to him there and then?

Oldie-newbie, Very very good question. 1st thing that came to my mind too.

It's like see a young guy sitting on priority seat on the train while a pregnant lady stand beside him, don't do anything. Take a picture go back home and post on internet "aiyoh look at this guy never give up his seat to someone who needs it more".

The internet and smart phones has really changed how we live.

Fm the pic resolution taken by bro 2008, he could be a distance away or in his car waitg for the traffic light to go green hence nt convenient to do so. 

Nam Flog wrote:

oldie-newbie wrote:

why not talk to him there and then?

Oldie-newbie, Very very good question. 1st thing that came to my mind too.

It's like see a young guy sitting on priority seat on the train while a pregnant lady stand beside him, don't do anything. Take a picture go back home and post on internet "aiyoh look at this guy never give up his seat to someone who needs it more".

The internet and smart phones has really changed how we live.

I remember this story. It was not a priority seat. But the photographer chose to cut out part of the frame. If zoom out, you can see there are many other seats and it was the lady who prefers not to sit.

Golf is an exclusive sport, not suppose to be played in a public park. There are designated area for golf for obvious safety reasons. This guy was pitching to a distance approximately 80m. I wouldn't want to be near to him within 100m range. Assuming he hits his balls 5m offline and that would mean 5382sqft of area exclusively used by him.




Being selfish is one thing, safety is also a big concern if he top his ball. (ya, he is using real golf ball). Someone might say ok lah, give the passion poor man a break, let him do whatever he wanted. He may bring another friend along someday or another passionate golfer starts to monkey see monkey do. Or worst, some passionate archer brings he target board and starts practicing his archery in the park.

The park is created for the general public for general sports usage. Not designed for such exclusive sports. I wouldn't mind my children to stand near someone playing Frisbee or soccer in the park but definitely not near the asshole who pitches golf ball around in the park. I am writing this as a passionate golfer myself and I understand how this sport is being played gentlemanly.

I can see clearer now on why the hoohah if I read in-between the lines correctly.


Golf is an exclusive sport and that bloke has lower the esteem of golf by playing in a public park. Yes, Golf was an exclusive sport back then but in todays , Tom , Dick n Harry are playing golf n perhaps T,D & H are gentlemen too.


your camera phone has a digital zoom,  from the picture n if my golf pin distance agaration serve me well , that bloke is at least 60 m away with back facing u. I assumed that each time your golf kaki is teeing off or hitting the ball , u are at least 60 m away and when your golf kaki "top the ball" , the ball will flew a great distance n not rolled a short distance forward.

If you are not using the space / ground that he is playing then why the upset? and if you need that space , all u have to do is shout 'FORE'   

Golf is the only sport that plays with grace n freehearted

to clarify. I dunnoe the thread starter. Nor most of the people on this site. I'm just a watcher that occasionally chat and buy/sell stuff. but from what I can see. Most forummers are down to earth and nice people.

it is clear that you dun understand him and u read in between the lines wrongly.

when he says that golf is exclusive. he means is that Golf is a special sport that must played at specific locations i.e Range or Course, unlike football, Frisbee or badminton which are flexible. ofcoz i think you disagree with that, but too prove it, all you need to do is play a 3 hole game in the park. see what will happen

twisting your interpretation to attack his personality is not gentlemanly or graceful. I believe most forummers are normal folk like me. not some attas snob. and I believe that's not what the TS is toking about. once again I do not know him (I may have bought sth from him. dun remember)

and u completely miss his point about SAFETY. Its not a matter about who needs the space. More about being a responsible citizen. If you go overseas and you do something wrong, they will walk up to you and tell you off. Singapore still does not have such culture yet.

but I do agree with you that if it were me. I would've walked up and advised him to be considerate. Public shaming is only last resort.

Golf is a game played with responsibility and integrity.

I'm sorry I don't understand but why are your taking the discussion so personally. The big hoo hah is not because golf is an attas game but because there is a huge SAFETY breach that you fail to acknowledge. Let's not wait till the accident to happen before we take action.

So now, SAFETY can be pushed aside as long as the public space is not occupied and ppl are not near me...

Gonna go drifting later on public roads. Have deep passion for drifting and my project car is finally ready. According to ur theory, as long as I drift on public roads with no one near me it's ok?

I seriously doubt so... We need to observe SAFETY. One can never expect when another person might pop up in ur vacinity.

The following are not allowed:

1. Hitting a real golf ball (safety reasons. Disagreeing is akin to saying if I am a damn good driver, why must I get a license to drive. Its the law, deal with it)
2. Using a real club on the grass (since you are destroying the landscape)
3. Playing golf (Golf playing areas are in the master plan)

If you are hitting a foam ball on a synthetic grass mat you brought, the tolerance level is higher though swinging a club haphazardly might still be consider dangerous, authorities might advise you to refrain if they see you, won't summon you.

This is what I gathered from a friend working in law enforcement. So basically it is not about tolerence, it is about rules, safety and protecting the environment. They applies all over the world, not just in littledottyland.

Now we have some info from the authorities and hopefully the debate will cease. Thanks to oldie-newbie for the clarification.

As a coach of a certain sport, it is great if I see passion in my students. But I will always emphasize on the SAFETY element as that is of utmost importance. I always tell me students, it doesn't matter if you perfect your skills but end up not being able to display it due to injuries. Or in this case, you end up causing hurt to passers-by.

Passion does not mean practising your sport of choice as and when you can. Folks who go down to the range are passionate. I see this gentleman at a range and noticed that he is literally improving by leaps and bounds since I first saw him a few months ago, which is about a few sessions for me. When I spoke to him, I realised that he would go to the range for two hours and learn from ppl there every single day. That's passion. I do not think he goes to a park to practise his pitching. Maybe I'll ask him the next time I see him.

So let's all just enjoy our golf, on the course or at the range! And may there be birdies and eagles galore!