Never under-estimate the stupidity of America's Youth
 

So I'm playing Amelia at Mallory, around 5 pm tonight.

Standing on the 3rd Tee. I see a woman walking around, between the cart path and the road, about 50 yards left of the Green.

It's playing 141, downhill. Simple knock down Wedge to about 5'. I'm playing an orange & yellow, Vice Shade golf ball.

I start to drive towards the Green and the woman, who's got on AirPods & playing with her phone, starts walking towards the Green & the Flag. I'm the only person on the golf course and there's no one else within 1000 yards.

I pull my cart up next to the Green and realize it's not a woman, but a girl of about 16-17. She walks towards the pin, picks up my ball and walks away with it.

I start walking to towards the Green and say; "what are you doing"? She says, "Oh, is this yours"? "No, it fell next to that Flag, when it was dropped from a UFO" is what I felt like saying.

She then hands me the ball and walks through the middle of the golf course (which is hidden from the Tee box).

If you haven't paid a Greens Fee, stay off the Championship Golf Courses. They're private property and not a place to stroll, walk, jog, play with your dog, push a baby carriage or cut through to somewhere else.

Sorry to point this out, but she doesn’t care, her grandparents have zero control or responsibility of where or what she is doing.

The only thing this post is going to create is she should know better.. new ps she doesn’t, and if there was only one out roaming the course feel lucky

Just yesterday a landscaping guy doing work for the Villages on the edge of an Executive course picked up my ball that landed about 1 feet short from the "out of bounds" fence, drove his UTV towards me and threw the ball over to me, like he was doing me a favor.

OH! Yes, she knows better but, being an entitled "karen", and also a likely casual shoplifter and picker up of anything not nailed down, says the innocent "oh! Is this yours? (Wide eyes, surprised look of Innocents). Take anything you can, but if you get challenged, act brain dead innocent and return it and you will get away hassle free. If you don’t get challenged, its YOURS.
I hope OP at least gave her chewing out. Not that it would do any good.

When I saw her continue to walk towards the middle of the golf course, I told her to get off the golf course, before I called someone to have her thrown off.

I neglected to mention the dope with the 4 seater golf cart (& no golf clubs) who was driving around another fairway, apparently showing his "guest" around the golf course.

I know posting on this site isn't going to change anything, but it just aggravates the hell out of me, when things like this happen and it seems to happen way too frequently in TV.

Brian99, sometimes it just feels good to vent, and to share your frustration.

[Sometimes I wish I could whack a dummy!] Uhh, did I say that out loud?

First, I find your story hilarious.
Second stupidity is not wasted on the youth, if you look around there are people of all ages who are getting a piece of this action.
Whenever I'm out I'm always aware of people around me, not for fear I will be harm from an irresponsible person, but more they will put themselves in a position where I won't be able to avoid doing them harm.
Forget she pickup your ball, this fool was walking around the green with air pods.
Sooner or later, if she keeps this up, she's going to get hit with a ball.

Chill out!
 

Your in The Villages, relax, you are taking this way too serious. It's just a golf ball. How do you handle important issues?

Complain complain - this world isn't all about you OP!

Well said. Finding the humor is stupidity is better for your blood pressure.

Take pictures next time.

The stupidity is not limited to young people. How many times have we seen (old) people driving incorrectly in the roundabouts potentially causing accidents? Or the dopes you see driving their automobiles on recreational trails? Or the nitwits who drive 25 mph in the left lane in a 45 mph zone? It happens daily.

Quite true. But it should be pointed out that there are probably a fair number of seniors here endangering themselves or others by their driving shenanigans are doing so because they're incapable, either physically, mentally or both, of doing so correctly in anything resembling a routine manner. Teens and young adults as a rule don't have such limitations. They should know better.

Yeah but that’s not the point. The game has its own rules and when some outside force (oblivious gal or worker) interferes with the player’s enjoyment that player has every right to be annoyed. One question might be where is the oversight on the courses? It would also be appropriate to see the OP’s point of view instead of making light of it.

I used to get mad, now i just laugh and laugh.
 

People like this used to frustrate the heck out of me until one day i decided to just laugh at them instead. It's just a ball, it's just a game, no one got run off the road, no one got hurt.

Life is an excellent teacher and this girl has some hard lessons ahead of her. Imagine her surprise when she gets hit in the butt by a golf ball one day :shocked::clap2::1rotfl:

You didn’t tell about the Titleist bird that lays golf balls at random places around the golf courses?

Lost old man
 

Brian, I bet she told the person she was on the phone with "omg I just found an angry old man that looks just like great grandpa wandering around a field chasing a little ball. I hope they find him before he gets hurt. You know it's a shame no one uses this field for anything, it's pretty but they could totally put a Ulta right over there!"

Played Southern Star a few nights ago. Tee’d off on the 3rd or 4th hole hitting towards St Charles Place. Began to drive towards the green when a golf cart with mature folks drives up the golf cart path from St Charles Pl and turns onto a path leading to the Sterling Heights Rec center area. I was wanting to say something to the effect that it might be better to drive a few yards down to the actual entrance to the rec center rather than risk getting hit by a bad drive…. Figured I’d only waste my breath. They looked right at me and kept driving as if they were unaware they were driving on a golf course.

This is one of the funniest stories ever. I can see her at a tennis match wandering on the court, and pick up a tennis ball. Or at a baseball game, wandering on the field picking up a baseball. Football, hockey..... think of the possibilities.

“OK, Boomer!”

So where did you take a drop or replace your ball to its original lye?

It is to laugh
 

I only have so many years left so I want to use them having fun and laughing at the world. I admit I get frustrated at times but my 2 yr old Grandson has taught me a lot about patience and the need to keep a Kleenex or napkin near by. I don't have any recommendations just an idea of how I do things and try to feel.

Have a better day. Maybe next time try to explain even if she does not listen.
:gc:

Talk about 1st world problems...

Which is why I mentioned I was playing a Vice Shade Ball (Orange & Yellow).

The Titleist Bird only $hites white balls and usually lays them in the rough, not 3' from the pin.

I’d say the mother has zero control? Unless of course her grand parents raised her? More like day care has raised her IMO:eclipsee_gold_cup:

I don’t take a round of golf seriously, if I did I might consider it work.

wedge
 

Trying to think of how many hills I've played that were steep enough for great grandpa to be hitting a knock down wedge 141. :-) Remember this one hole up in Atlanta, maybe, but there still woulda been a lot of roll involved. Googling taught me that Ulta was not something misspelt. :-)

just
 

just tell her you could get hurt you need to say off courses she doesn't know

neon
 

ProV1's come in that neon yellowish green - or at least the ones that "Lost Golf Balls" sells do.

So, you hit it 5 ft from the hole, an outside agency moved your ball allowing you to replace it. you replaced it 3 ft from the hole. I would say she did you a favor. If she picks it up 2 more times you would replace it in the hole. The bigger question is, Did you make the putt once you replaced it. Now that would be a good golfer.

Oh! You can bet she knew. Just entitled and disengaged from reality. Typical "karen"!

Would have been a better story if OP had dropped her 5 ft for the pin and bounced in off her head.

I try my best not to sweat the small stuff. It doesn’t always work but I still try.

A similar thing happened to me several years ago at Mangrove executive golf course, where a woman golfer, after finishing a par 3, watched our group tee off, proceeded to pick my my ball on the green and go to her next tee. After catching up with her, I realized she felt completely comfortable knowingly taking someone else's ball. Amazing.

Did you help yourself to one of her clubs?

I'm confused. I thought there was no one else within 1000 yards???

I’ll nominate the stupid youth of the day award to the young girl driving the golf cart today who came whipping around the corner into the Saddlebrook tunnel, from the wrong “one way” direction while driving in the left lane, and would have hit us head on if I didn’t slam on the brakes. She was laughing like the whole thing was some kind of an amusement park ride and she did nothing wrong. People need to be much more careful about giving the keys to their golf carts to visiting kids.

You are missing the point.
No one is teaching this young girl how to act in society.
She’s on a golf course, others have paid to be there to play a sport. She has not. This is not the city park. This is not grandpas back yard.
She’s taking a golf ball. It’s not hers, it obviously belongs to somebody. But she knows it’s not hers. So leave it alone.
She is a visitor. Whoever she is visiting has an obligation to educate her on how to behave.
I live on a golf course. When my grandkids started coming to TV we talked about the rules of the golf course. They never once went on the course when golfers were playing. End of the day….sure, they ran around out there.
Going to the pool? The first thing we did was read the rules posted on the wall. Then they followed them.
We want our grandchildren to become adults who fit in to society and are team players.
You aren’t doing your grandchild any favor letting her behave like a narcissistic princess.

OMG, you so, so win.
"It's playing 141, downhill. Simple knock down Wedge to about 5'."

What the heck does this have to do with anything anyway?

I find it hard to believe that she finished her hole, then just stood there while your group teed off.
I suggest there may have been an alternate scenario.
A group of women golfers, followed by a group of men golfers.
The men think game play is going too slow, and tee off while the women are still on the green.
I have been “hit into” a few times in my golfing career.
I don’t leave their ball lying there. I pick it up and take it with me.
Just once the man approached me. I returned it, and asked that he not hit into me again.
The rest of the time…..
When the ambassador came by I gave the ball to him. I asked him to return it to the gentleman behind me. With a conversation on golf etiquette.
What I’ve never seen happen is a golfer stand by the green, waiting for the next group to tee off. Then running out on the green and stealing his golf ball. Never seen that one.