I haven't played enough in traffic to get guys yelling like that yet, but I had an interesting story from this week.

I started walking a quick 9 on Monday afternoon when an older gentleman asked if he could play a few holes with me. I said "sure as long as I could ride in his cart" which he was fine with. We played a few holes and then in the middle of the 5th fairway as he's waddling to his ball away from me I notice a reflection of sun coming from his direction. No one was on the course but I wish he would have used the UroClub instead of unloading on the fairway.

While I'm all for loosening the bladder if you gotta go at least find a tree! Not the most monumental story, but funny nonetheless.

Here is a time when I may have been wrong but I was severely p****d at how the guys in front of me handled it.

We had playing behind a Foursome all day, never really having to wait on them but maybe a couple minutes every now and then. We're waiting on the teebox on a par 5. This hole starts up a hill with a tree on the left hanging over then drops down a hill. Basically you either layup with a 4iron (which I hate to do on a par 5) or hit a nice Draw shot with your driver. I saw they guys all hit there shot and go down the hill, I then waited a little while longer to make sure they were clear. I hit my drive and it was beautiful, went right around the tree and headed down the hill. Next my buddy hit his ball and while his is in the air, I see my ball come flying about halfway back.

I wanted to go meet those guys but my buddy begged me not to because he didn't want to get in fight. If I hit up on those guys, all they had to do was tell me to watch it, I would apoligize (small price to pay for a great shot). But its ridiculous to hit or throw someone's ball back like that when they had to know someone was excited about a drive like that.

Maddest I've ever been on a golf course. Of course after that incident my game went to hell for the rest of the day.

If I had to pick one it would be talking and making noise when someone is about to hit. Simply pay attention and be quiet and don't move for 5 seconds, and that includes messing around with your bag.

there's a few that really get me:

1. Fix your damn ball marks on the green
2. pay attention and give someone the 20 seconds to hit. It's not that important of a conversation
3. Keep the pace of play moving. It's not enough to keep up with the group ahead of you, you really need to look BACK sometimes, especially if there isn't anyone ahead of you.

Story on number 3 that really pissed me off. This past weekend, i was playing locally and was with some guys that i normally play with. we play for pennies and we had been following this group for a while. They were pretty slow, but since they went off ahead of us by like 3 holes it wasn't too bad. We caught up with them on 7 and were waiting ever since. 9 is a par 5 and i had to wait until they left the green because i could make it. It took us another 10 minutes to complete 9. so they've been done and onto the back for 15 minutes or so. Now. we get to 10 and they're nowhere to be found. There's a big gully on the hole that's like 50 feet deep so we figure they're either all the way there already or they bailed after 9. fine with us. Our buddies stopped to get a hotdog real quick so myself and my cart mate teed off (ready golf). 5 minutes after that, the group that was in front of us comes down, followed by our partners. This is 20 minutes after finishing 9!! the guy has the balls to say to me -- well we'd let you go through but you're a foursome and we're a threesome and they're playing better ball anyway. We conceded just to be nice and the guy tees off. Then the other two spend about 15 minutes on the tee box in front of us. They were a full 4 and 1/2 holes behind. We called the marshall on them 3 times and they finally had to pick up and move ahead. What gall.

Here's a new one, doesn't really fit any category but I thought I'd share.

I was on #10 yesterday after having played the front nine in 45, an okay score considering my handicap. So it's not like I'm out of my league on a cheap public course. We've been waiting on the group in front of us all round, but it hasn't been that slow, about 2:10 for the first nine. My playing partners (strangers to me) bought a bunch of beer at the turn, and that took some time, so the 10th hole, a par-3, was clear by the time we got there. Fine, we'll catch back up soon. It's an elevated tee that you can't take the cart to, so there's a brief walk, 25 yards up a hill.

I'd been letting the other three guys go first all round because they were friends and had bets going. So I'm last to go, and I mis-hit my tee shot out of bounds, my first really bad swing of the day. Usually I have a second ball in my pocket, but this time I had forgotten for some reason, so I had to hurry down to my cart to get another ball, then run back up the hill. It took maybe 20 seconds. Then I didn't compose myself and hit another terrible shot, only about halfway to the hole, but at least in play.

I'm heading to my ball and someone in the group behind drives over to me and says, "Go ahead and pick that up. You already hit your first one out of bounds, right?"

All I could say was, "Uh, yeah, so this was my third." But I sure wish I'd come up with something a hell of a lot ruder.

I was playing a few weeks ago with a fellow who didn't like the fact that the tee box was on an uneven lie. So we get into this semi-heated discussion about whether he was allowed to move his ball outside the tee box. Remaining holes were torture.

Not fixing ball marks on the green for sure, because that is just criminal to damage a green and not even bother to fix it. In a karmic sense at least. I usually find at least two or three! fresh ones on every green I play.

But I hate the worst... not playing ready golf. The standing around, slack-jawed, just kind of mindlessly looking around at everyone else's golf, completely oblivious to his own shot until the very last possible moment. Then when you add to this with the kind of pointless, drawn-out practice swinging and aiming and standing frozen over the ball too long followed by a poor shot...it makes me mad.

A bit of slow play here and there is fine as long as there is a reason for it. Sometimes pins are in difficult spots and putting is a bitch, that's fine I get it, if we have take time to get the ball in the hole. But not playing ready golf when there's groups of golfers behind you is a flat out sin. It's the height of inconsiderateness.

You definitely have legitimate beef:)

I honestly don't know which I dislike more...the people who don't do the little things that do so much to speed up a round...or the people who get overly irritated at those people who don't do the little things that do so much to speed up a round.

I alter my playing style when there is a group behind me. If there is no one behind me, I like to play at a leisurely pace. This means sitting in the golf cart (in the shade) while my partner hits so he can drive me to my ball.

But when the course is busy, it's a whole different story. I'm walking to my ball from the cart or asking my partner to drop me off. But there is only so far one can go when it comes to ready golf. I have my preshot routine, and it may seem extravagant to some. I do it for a reason, though. I struggle with lining up shots, so I make sure I line each shot up twice. Once before my practice swings and once after my practice swings. I line up the ball first. Then I take two practice swings to establish tempo. Then I line up the ball again. I step up to it, go through my mental checklist, and swing. The whole process takes about 40 seconds, which can seem like an awefully long time if you're in the group behind me waiting to shoot. But if I start the pre-shot routine before my partner hits, and then I finish while he still hasn't hit, I screw up my rhythm.

I think everyone should take their time on their shots. It's what you do in between those shots that really speeds up the game. That's what I try to teach my nephew. He's got the opposite mentality, and I think I understand why. When your shooting, it feels like all eyes are on you, so you have to speed it up. But in my opinion, taking the time to get off a good shot does more to speed up my game than anything else I do on the course.

You make a good point. If taking an extra 10 seconds per shot can save you 8 or 10 strokes per round, then what seems like wasted extra minutes can actually end up helping you to play more quickly. I've played with a lot of guys who are "fast" but who make a lot of mistakes, then give themselves mulligans or free drops or conceded six-footers in order to make up for it. That's not why I play.

I thought I was the only one who lined up shots twice. For me, it's sloppy concentration, because I pick out an intermediate target but then forget what it is during my practice swings. So I'm trying to eliminate that habit, because I don't really need it and I know it drives my playing partners crazy. For putting, though, I'll always need extra time, because I really struggle to see green contours. So my plan is to get the speed for the rest of my game above average, then hope I can be indulged with a slow putting routine.

Even with my "slow" play, though, my group is nearly always waiting on the one in front, so it hardly matters. The only times I'm not ready when it's my turn to hit are when there's something about the circumstances of the shot that I can't evaluate in advance -- for example, if I can't see the lie but it's in a playing partner's line, or if there's something about the shot that's blind that I'll have to run up ahead to check.

As with most have said, fixing ball marks on green is up there as one of my most hates. (I usually fix a couple on each green)

Slow play is another. I don't mind players who mis-hit from one side of the fairway to the other zigzagging their way to the green, at least they are making an effort. Its the ones that take their shot and then just stand chatting instead of heading towards their ball, (can they not walk and talk at the same time?) or stand chatting on the tee box when the whole of the par 4 ahead is clear, and just as they see you coming, start preparing to tee off.

Finally people who don't shout when their ball is heading your way, and the first thing you know about it is when you hear the thud of it landing a metre away from you.