Grayesun,
I applaud you for doing the right thing calmly without raising a stink.
The person who hosted the visiting non-golfers, on the other hand, was discourteous to say the least! I witnessed a great lesson yesterday in a better way to handle having a young guest who wants to learn golf. I was surprised that a member of my ladies golf group brought her visiting grandson, along with his junior set of clubs, to join our weekly Play Day. I ended up in a foursome with her.
Turned out the tike could hit a mean drive-- for his age. Ugh. I was sure our group would hold up the field. Nope. She explained to him that he would have to keep up. When he hit an errant shot, she made him drop his ball next to the "best ball" and hit from there. When he complained that his "papa" didn't make him do this, she explained that "pace of play" is part of being a good golfer. She said that if he ever wanted to play in a group, good sportsmanship was as much a part of the game as being able to hit the ball.
Guess what? It made him feel important that he was learning "good sportsmanship". He started picking up on his own. She only had to tell him once to mark his ball on the green, not walk on anyone's line and move far enough from the hole to not leave a shadow for the person putting.
Instead of feeling put down, she made him feel like a little man. She made him proud. She made us proud too.
