All golfers love to tell the tale of great shots and great holes, and totally fair enough in this tough game. But perhaps there's room for the mishaps, the ones we're not so keen to dwell on at the 19th.

Having said that, my mishap yesterday at the mae jo golf course in chiang mai could not evade 19th hole scrutiny...

Context: best score for me is 90, typical scores just under or just over 100.

Yesterday playing very nicely, on for a possible best round: after 8 holes on 41 with a par four 9th hole next. Another lovely drive leaving me a 9 iron approach shot. It was looking good but somehow dribbled into the right greenside bunker. Now i really cannot play bunkers, but what happened next cannot be envisaged even in golf. I was just below the lip of the bunker, but water was to my right and behind me. So i decided to hope for the best and blast it out onto the green or beyond. It missed and rolled back into bunker. Perhaps i had room now to get it out.

Wrong.

Seemingly possessed like some kind of machine i just could not stop myself trying to get out. Each and every time it hit the edge and rolled back into the bunker, and included were two air shots. 20 shots later i was out, and with two putts i had carded a 24 for the 9th hole. I had no idea how many shots i had taken, but ordered a mate to be counting after about half a dozen shots.

One moment of madness ruined a wonderful relaxed round where i was really hitting the ball great.

I just wonder if 24 is some kind of world record?

Anyway, any golfers like to share their tragic stories? Having said that, mine was elevated into the tragi-comedy class, and all i could do was laugh once i had escaped the possessed state i seemed to be in.

Next time i shall simply putt out, even if it takes two or three shots. Lesson learned in a big way.

I am sorry but why would anybody tell everbody how bad a golfer they are ? at least it made me smile

I used to play a golf course in Hawaii called Kooolau, it had the highest USGA handicap rating of any course in the USA. It sat on the side of a hill with only 2 fairways abutting each other the rest of the fairways had ravines on both sides and often carries in the fairway over 1 or 2 ravines per hole. I am a high handicap golfer and the only way I kept score on this course was counting lost balls. My best game was 9 lost balls, my worst was 19.

I am sorry but why would anybody tell everbody how bad a golfer they are ? at least it made me smile

Yeah, but it's not doing that though. Just relating tales of bad holes or a bad round. We all get those, even the pros!

Not even bad perhaps, just typical of the game when something goes wrong.

Being a member of 3 large Expat societies I am always reminded of the record 'local expat' score every time we arrive at the 16th tee at Legacy.

Apparently, and I have this on good authority, khun X arrived just short of the lake in front of the green with his drive and left the green 30 minutes later after having carded a 26 (which included a one-putt!).

Bad luck...you were only 2 shots behind!

After getting a 16 on a par 4 once, I was asked...."How did you get a 16 on that hole?"

My answer..."I missed a 35 foot putt for a 15."