Top 10 Excuses For Bad Golf Shots
(Image credit: Tom Miles)

We run down the top 10 excuses for bad golf shots covering everything from no sand in the bunker to a gust of wind at the top of the backswing. How many of these have you used?

Top 10 Excuses For Bad Golf Shots

10 “I Hit The Wrong Club”

It was nothing to do with the quality of the strike, honestly! In this instance, you have a wide menu of options to go for. Here are some of the most commonly used:

“I lasered the wrong thing.”

“I knew I had the wrong club.”

“I was between clubs.”

“The yardages on the sprinklers are to the front, not middle.”

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9 “No Sand!”

You have skulled your bunker shot into the face or sent it rocketing over the green. Your technique is clearly not to blame. Instead the obvious excuse is a lack of sand in the bunker. 

No sand in the bunker

8 “Too Much Noise Put Me Off!”

As golfers, most of us are looking for complete silence as we play our shot. If this is broken, we have a ready made excuse for the inevitable disaster that follows!

7 “You Were Standing In The Wrong Place!”

Some golfers are very particular about where their playing partners should stand. Move from your assigned twenty-past-three position and you could find yourself used as an excuse!

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6 “That Gust Of Wind Put Me Off”

As golf is played on a natural landscape, railing against Mother Nature can always seem like you are clutching at straws!

5 “What A Terrible Lie!”

This the most obvious, ‘go-to’ excuse for any golfer. As you are playing on a natural landscape, scrappy lies are a sad reality every golfer needs to face up to. Some are better at taking the less than perfect lies on the chin than others. 

Bad lie

4 “Spike Mark!”

You’ve missed a short putt that bobbled on its journey. It happens to us all and is incredibly frustrating but don’t forget, you are now allowed to tap down spike marks under the rules of golf...

3 “My Foot Slipped!”

A classic excuse. Your playing partners may not have detected it but as far as you’re concerned your last swing was like watching Bambi on ice! 

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2 “Bad Bounce”

Sadly, golf isn’t fair and bad bounces are all part of the experience. The good news is that the rub of the green tends to evens itself out… yeah, right!

1 “The Tee Markers Are Pointing In The Wrong Direction!”

You have just sent your drive sailing off the golf course and into a nearby field. Of course, this had nothing to do with your clubface being 10˚ open at impact and was all down to the position of tee markers.

Neil Tappin
Editor

In July 2023, Neil became just the 9th editor in Golf Monthly's 112-year history. Originally working with the best coaches in the UK to produce instruction content, he has also presented many Golf Monthly videos looking at all areas of the game from Tour player interviews to the rules of golf. 

Throughout his time with the brand he has also covered equipment launches that date back well over a decade. He clearly remembers the launch of the Callaway and Nike square drivers as well as the white TaylorMade driver families, such as the RocketBallz! If you take a look at the Golf Monthly YouTube channel, you'll see his equipment videos dating back over a decade! He has also conducted 'What's In The Bag' interviews with many of the game's best players like Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm. Over the years, Neil has tested a vast array of products in each category and at drastically different price-points. 


Neil is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus Fairway Wood: Titleist TSR2 Hybrid: Titleist TS3 Irons: PING Blueprint S (4&5), PING Blueprint T (6-PW) Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 50˚, 54˚, 60˚ Putter: Odyssey Triple Track Ten Ball: Titleist Pro V1X