“GET IN THE HOLE!!!” This Guy’s Gotta Go

The first time it was hilarious. The next couple of times it still got a chuckle. But now, it’s enough already.

Loud, obnoxious golf fans screaming “get in the hole” when a player tees off on a par four or five HAVE TO GIVE IT UP. It’s not funny anymore. Instead it’s distracting and annoying.

And I’m just speaking from a fan’s perspective. Imagine how bothersome it is for the pro actually hitting the ball; knowing that EVERY time he tees off on a 400+ yard hole, some Budweiser-fueled dummy will shout at the top of his lungs for the ball to (impossibly) go in the cup.

My personal feeling on this issue changed when I saw my first golf tournament in person two years ago.

At that time I was a big fan of “GET IN THE HOLE!!!” There was no way I was leaving that tournament without imploring someone to smoke a hole-in-one from a quarter-mile away.

But as go-time approached, I got cold feet. It’s amazing how truly close to the action you are at a tournament, and when the pro addressed the ball, I couldn’t bring myself to yell a nano-second after he hit his drive.

I was all talk, no blood-curdling scream. And I feel I’m a better golf fan for it.

And that’s what amazes me about fans who still yell “G.I.T.H” today. I was unable to pull the trigger at a Senior Tour tournament. These oafs are screaming at Tiger Woods!

Case in point, Tiger’s round today. After sinking that 50-footer out of the sand on 14, apparently stealing the momentum from Tim Clark, Woods hit his tee shot on 15 out-of-bounds. Immediately after making contact, my television SHOOK with someone bellowing a textbook “GET IN THE HOLE!!!” Watch some highlights of the tee shot and you’ll no doubt hear it.

As he watched that shot sail into a cactus patch, I’m hoping that guy felt like a real idiot. I hope the fans standing around that guy a) hit him, b) pointed him out to security, or c) poured a beer on his head. In a perfect world, Tiger himself would have wrapped his driver around his neck.

“G.I.T.H” serves no purpose other than some look-at-me loser in the crowd getting his five seconds of fame. Golf tournaments, right or wrong, ban most everything that may be considered distracting to the players. It’s incredible that this has survived.

Here’s to hoping the next time some jerk yells “GET IN THE HOLE!!!,” a security guard counters with, “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY TOURNAMENT!!!”

Matt Estreich for The Huddle