Your shortest and longest defeats (or any other grizzly defeats)

I am not bothered about the time you won on the 12th or chipped in on the 25th for the win, this is about the most painful defeats you have suffered.  To get the ball rolling why not post about the time you were defeated in fewest number of holes and most number of holes.

The earliest I have been defeated was the 14th hole of a club championship quarter final, and the longest I have gone and been defeated was again a club champ quarter on the 22nd.

The most painful, which I think i have mentioned before was on the final hole of a fairly important junior event when I shanked a pitch shot  (my second) OB from the fairway on a short par 4 while the match was all square.

I would hate to give the impression I think about it a lot, but 3 years ago I lost in 2 club knockouts in the same week. Gave 17 and 18 shots, both matches went to 18, and neither opponent had worse than a bogey! Don't think I've ever played better. They still smart, but at least we had a laugh in the bar!

Years ago I was (unluckily) defeated at the 20th hole of a county matchplay event, by an international. Couldn't have played better. The following weekend, having been praised by all and sundry at the club for that performance, I played a club knockout quarter final against a 16 handicapper. It never even crossed my mind I could lose.

I lost 8&6.

Lost a 4bbb match on the 22nd, near 6 hour slog as we were following the end of an endless medal. Halved 19 giving a stroke, 20 when our 18 hcp opponent holed out from 25 feet, and 21 giving a stroke also. Lost 22 giving a stroke to a par net f-ing birdie this was after being 3 down with 3 to play and having pulled off possible my best ever recovery to make birdie on 17 to keep it alive. We were defending champions and it was the first round. 18 hcp opponent came down to 14 that season...and they didn't even show us the courtesy of winning their next match...GRrrrrr

I have done a mate 10 & 8 at St Enodoc but it was only a friendly. The 8&6 pumping I got in the 1st round of the Tassie in September was my worst ever defeat.

We got knocked out of the "Mail on Sunday" event at home today, spare a thought for our anchor man, shoots a gross 68 (off 3) and lost on 17th...painful!!

In match play, I don't think I was ever closed real early.  17th hole to the best of my recollection.

I lost on the 6th playoff one time in Match Play Club championship.

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In a couples scramble medal play tournament, we went 9 playoff holes until darkness prevented us from playing on. We called it a draw.  It was really dark!

Not sure. Final of a Society singles KO probably, played at Sherwood Forest.
I'm 1-up playing 17 and, off the tee, I'm in the centre looking pretty and he's behind a tree. He gets a drop (rabbit scrape) but drops behind the tree again. I'm laughing to myself. He then proceeds to hit the most outrageous banana slice around the tree to the centre of the green and I, being stunned, pull a 9-iron (or similar) left of the green and leave myself short-sided. All-square.
Still suffering, I stripe a 2-iron off 18th tee....behind a lone, thin tree just off the left of the fairway. No shot really but manage to fire one across the green into some brambly stuff - lost ball and lost match. Still smarts!

My most painful defeat came in my first or second game of competitive matchplay. I was a bandit at the time and playing well to boot, and should have won comfortably. My opponent was a wily old veteran- mediocre from tee to green, but to date the best putter I have ever seen. I employed a strategy that Seve was said to have used: give your opponent most short putts (~3 feet) for the first 12 or so holes, then give them nothing after that. The rationale being that your opponent would not be allowed to become accustomed to holing nervy short putts early on, and then he would be forced to hole them all in the pressure-filled final quarter of the game without any practice. Needless to say this approach backfired spectacularly. For reasons that are unclear to me, I gave him a number of putts up to, and including 6 feet. Despite this the match went to the 18th, where he sank a long, breaking putt to win the hole(he only needed a half). His leaping fist pump belied his 70 year old frame. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. He bought me a sandwich afterwards in the clubhouse.

Thanks to those who have shared these painful memories.

I had hoped for more but it seems the posters of 606 aren't as choke prone as Mr Ian Poulter.

Had a 7&6 battering. Totally expected. Got in at 7 and played at 11. Wasn't sure what way up to hold the club and evidently I should have tried the other.

Have done the 1 up with 2 to play and lost. Lost 17 to a fair and good birdie but then watched as oppo hammered his chest putter from 15 foot off the green on 18 through the break denting the pin followed by the inevitable double clunk of the ball falling in. Jammy ba*tard

On the flip side, a few years previously I had been 1 down with 2 to play before securing a good birdie on 17 before driving about 15 foot short of the 18th and holding my excellently judged putter which had been perfectly weighted and line accounted before plopping in as intended for a well deserved eagle.

Obviously when I lost the guy was jammy whereas my eagle was little short of perfection...

Ahem.

R-C, and I thought it was only me that suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...

I may have been the beneficiary once or twice of a slight bit of good fortune, but the people I play against obviously sold their souls at the age of 2.

Ahem.

Fact*

*Opinion

Super

It seems odd not to have a contribution from you on this thread. You play a lot of competitive golf so at some point must have suffered a crushing blow?

Actually Mac, I don't think I've been on the back of a real hiding.

I had one game (Club Champ QF) where I was 4 up thru five and I got beaten on the 19th. That was a hard one to take.

Never had a big match finish before the 16th, so no real gubbings in there.

lost 7&6 in a junior club champ semi, the only hole i won courtesy of the other guy playing the wrong ball on the 6th...

got gubbed 5&4 a couple of years ago in the club champs last 16. was 1 down at the turn playing some reasonable stuff when my swing deserted me.

lost the final of a 4bbb knockout a few years ago. tight game played late october and the 2nd and 18th greens were on temps due to some maintenance work. we lost the match 1 down including losing both those holes. worst bit was after my partner lost his tee shot on 18, i had a 70 yard flick into the temp green - sh**ked O.B. shake hands. particularly annoying as i'd left a nice yardage in to the main green, and 70 yards was a bit of a problem area for me at the time... damn temps

barra

Nice (if that's the right word) to hear that someone else has shanked a pitch shot on the 18th OB to loose the match.

Lost the Summer Pairs final last year. 1 or 2 up all the way through 33 holes, then we failed to par any of the last 3 to lose it on the last hole. Sickening.

I played a club match a couple of years ago against Sanford Springs at my club. These are meant to be the more "friendly" matches - not the scratch team or anything like that, but a chance for the mid/higher handicappers to represent the club. Unfortunately, Sanford Springs had heard how good our course was playing at the time and in fact asked for 8 pairs to come instead of the usual 6, as they were over subscribed with people wanting to come and play.

I was paired with my mate and we were a 22 and 20 pair - over breakfast the captains announced the draw and came and told us we were playing against a scratch player and a 6 h/c.

With home advantage and a bucketload of shots we weren't intimidated to start with but as the opponents arrived on the first tee, which for most good players is a 4-5 iron down to the sharp dogleg left, they both pulled out drivers.

Anxious to be courteous to the visitors, we asked if they had played the course before and they both agreed they had. I looked at my partner and knew we were in big trouble as they both smoked drives over the high trees guarding the dogleg to about 100 yards from the green (when the dogleg shot would leave them about 170)

Neither me or my partner played to the best of our ability that day, but even if we had, we would have struggled even with all the shots. As it was we lost 5&4 and it was only a decent putt on 14 for a half that stopped it being 6&4.

The day was sweetened though by them both being great company and very encouraging to us - though with a lot of good natured banter! Never have I lost 5&4 and enjoyed it so much

Davie wrote:The day was sweetened though by them both being great company and very encouraging to us - though with a lot of good natured banter! Never have I lost 5&4 and enjoyed it so much

That's what it's all about though. Good to hear.

Davie

If a player who thought they were better than me tried to "encourage" me I would feel deeply patronised. Having been made to feel like that it would be very difficult to adopt a frame of mind that would enable me to enjoy the round.

They didn't "think" they were Mac, they evidently were.

Depends what is meant by 'encourage'.
If that's a 'well done, good shot' etc then obviously that's a decent thing to do.
If it's a 'now come on laddy, keep trying' then yes that would annoy me. Doesn't sound from Davie's story like they were patronising though

No they weren't in the slightest bit patronizing. Just Mac stirring the pot again.

It was mostly the scratch player who was encouraging as he was effectively mentoring and coaching (with the rules) his younger partner.

And the encouragement wasn't in the slightest patronizing .. I do find it a little irksome when someone says "good shot" almost automatically even if it wasn't particularly good - but when I or my partner hit a bad shot he just didn't say anything or perhaps a murmured "bad luck" - but was very complimentary about any good shots we hit

But far from patronizing, he was full of good natured banter .. he even caught me out with the good old "you dropped something - your lipstick" when I left a putt way short, as early as the 4th green! Some might say that is early (and unnecessary) gamesmanship but I can honestly say the way it was delivered I felt no attempt to belittle or intimidate at all (they didn't need to) - it was all just very good friendly competition - remember I stated these are the more "friendly" club matches which although are still quite competetive, don't have the cut throat fun and games I've heard on in scratch leagues for example

I'm sure Mac would feel the outrage on behalf of women everywhere for the "lipstick" jibe

super_realist wrote:I'm sure Mac would feel the outrage on behalf of women everywhere for the "lipstick" jibe

I don't actually get it.

The insinuation being you "dropped your lipstick" because you are playing like "a woman", i.e. lacking the strength to get the ball to the hole.

Similar to asking "does your husband play golf?" when a shot doesn't get there.

I see, the usual high quality golf joke.

McLaren wrote:
I don't actually get it.

Well we guessed that much..

My partner and I won the ladies foursomes knockout at Meyrick Park in Bournemouth many years ago - virtually in the dark!

We were 4 up with 4 to play and made the fatal mistake of saying "we only need to halve the next hole" - and the next one, and the next ...... We eventually won on the 20th after several of the chaps had come out of the bar and turned their car headlights on in the car park to show us the way down the 2nd. We had had to play the match in the evening after work because our opponents (who didn't work) refused to pay the extra greenfee to play us at the weekend. One of the drawbacks of being a working lady member of a golf club - and one of the reasons I think female membership of clubs is declining. So many more of us have to work for a living these days and can't play during the week when virtually every club has "ladies' day".

LadyPutt wrote:One of the drawbacks of being a working lady member of a golf club - and one of the reasons I think female membership of clubs is declining. So many more of us have to work for a living these days and can't play during the week when virtually every club has "ladies' day".

Yeah my wife won't join because of this very reason - although she's still got a couple of years of hockey left in her I think she will be looking to start playing golf.

Been beaten by the 12th in a scratch singles knockout (I was off 11 at the time!)
Also lost a winter league final to four consecutive birdies when 2 up 2 to play.

My worst ever defeat was shaking hands on the 12th green having lost 7&6 in a club singles knockout match.
Funny thing was I had been playing well for a period and started quite nicely, playing some good shots until the 5th and was all square. Hit a toppy slice off the 6th tee into the water and everything thereafter was pony. I lost every hole from there to the 12th and game over.
It was quite embarrassing but in truth the chap I played against was bogey or par on every hole and had a couple of shots on me so it would have been a tough match even if I had turned up!

In terms of good stuff, I (and my partner) won a pairs better ball match this year in the quarters of our winter knockout against the reigning summer pairs champions who are current captain and last year's captain. They like to give a bit of banter and were doing as much before the match. They fancied their chances no doubt about that. We beat them 7&5. I may have given some banter of my own after.....