Touching a nerve
From The Journal Star report on the Peoria Men’s City Golf Qualifying:
Darel Hubbert got a rude awakening during his introduction to tournament golf. Hubbert, a Cat retiree, entered the Men’s City for the first time. By the fifth hole of Wednesday’s qualifying round, he probably wished he hadn’t.
“I just lost it,” said Earl Martin, playing in the same group. “The guy didn’t know anything about golf.”
According to Martin, Hubbert (who shot 89) was unsure of rules and procedures, though Martin cited few examples. He said he was upset when the group fell behind, even though it was the last foursome on the course.
My first question is how does one shoot an 89 in tournament conditions and not “know anything about golf.”? Qualifying day can be a bit unnerving, especially if it’s your first time. Uncertainty about “rules” probably means he lost a ball out of bounds or in the water and just wanted some confirmation from the group as to exactly what he should do. No-one likes to do the walk of shame back to the tee box after spending the allotted 5 minutes searching for a lost ball and it will undoubtedly cause a group to fall behind, but it is hypocritical for the man who likes to give on-the-course lessons to complain about slow play.
Earl mentions “procedures” and I know exactly what he is referring to. Darel undoubtedly stood behind Earl while he was teeing off; probably more than once. Earl will bitch and moan that he can see you in his peripheral vision and he’ll go on and on about how he doesn’t understand why people think the proper place to stand is behind the player who is hitting. Do it once and he’ll ask you nicely to move. Do it twice and he’ll start to get aggravated. Do it a third time at your own risk.
According to witnesses on an adjacent green, Martin screamed an obscenity at Hubbert as they left the fifth tee. The irony of the situation is that “Coach” lost it right in front of the bench dedicated to him by the Illinois Golf Coaches Hall of Fame following his induction in 2004.
“You have to understand how much I regret losing my cool,” Martin said. “But you also have to understand how bad he must have been to push me over the edge. When the perpetrator becomes the indictor, that’s an injustice.”
“How bad he must have been to push me over the edge?” Probably as bad as the 8 year old I saw brought to tears after complimenting Earl on a good shot.
I am speculating on what happened as I wasn’t a witness to this scene, nor do I know Darel Hubbert, but Earl is a fixture on the local golf scene and has a long history of this sort of behavior. I’m certain that reports of him losing it came as no surprise to anyone in the clubhouse. My advice to Darel is to shake this off, try again next year and be sure to write “do not pair with Earl Martin” on next years application.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
[...] weeks have passed since the well known sometimes loved, sometimes hated local golfer Earl Martin blew his top after only 5 holes during a the qualifying round at this year’s Peoria Men’s City golf [...]
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
If you are that angry at someone for standing behind you…the essence of the game has been lost.