Our foursome was on the 14th tee, I was struggling with my mental state having just doubled 13 and there was some ongoing and increasingly heated "chat" going on between 2 other members of the playing group.

This chat related to a few relief situations one of my group (the ex trainee pro) had asked for and been given by his marker on 3, 7 and 13. All 3 situations apparently related to his ball coming to rest on stones (embedded or otherwise) and him asking for relief and being given it. Each time he had missed the fairway and was in among the trees with no shot.

The disgruntled member of our group, a past Club Captain was having a shocker himself and he was getting increasingly annoyed as our round wore on.

As we walked off the 7th green, he was muttering under his breath (but loud enough to be heard) something about the ex trainee pro's ability to find stones under and around his ball in the most convenient of places.

Collectively, we hit 4 really poor tee shots on 14. The ex pro's started centre and drew left towards the OOB creek bed, bouncing twice before disappearing into deep long grass that borders the fairway. The past Captain's faded right into the right hand tree line. The retiree's was pulled straight left into the trees and mine was block shanked through the right hand tree line and out into the middle of the adjacent 15th fairway.

On arrival at my ball, I was inwardly angry, struggling to put aside how my ball had come to sit where it now was. Struggling to forget the double bogey on the past hole. Struggling to ignore the conversation between the ex pro and the past Captain.

I had a shot at the green, granted over tallish trees, but it was makeable. In hindsight, it probably wasn't, given my frame of mind at the time, but, I took 6 iron and hit a poor shot and left myself 20m short of the green, still in the right hand tree line.

I knew my round was falling apart and I was struggling to put things behind me and focus on the next shot.

As I walked to my ball to assess my 3rd shot, the past Captain was again banging on about the ex pro's ability to find stones under and around his ball. I tried to ignore him, I couldn't.

Got to my ball, head spinning with anything but what I should be thinking about and subsequently my approach to the 14th green was a little strong, and even though it pitched then bounced twice before reaching the green, it still managed to roll right across the green and out of sight over the back, towards the creek. I said I would play a provisional, the past Captain suggested I not bother, he didn't think I'd be in the creek. This time I listened to him, I shouldn't have.

As I made my way across the green to where I thought my ball may have been, the ex pro & the past captain were still going on. I found my ball, a third of the way down the creek bed embankment, in some long couch. Grabbed my sand wedge and hacked at it. It popped up and came to rest just off the green. Still they yapped. I would then again go with the sand wedge and duffed it badly, moving the ball all of a foot. Still they yapped. Took my putter and knocked the ball onto the green. Given what was going on, made a reasonable attempt at the 20 footer I had left myself, leaving it about 15 inches shy. Went to tap that in and the ball would horseshoe around the hole and came back at me, finishing 3 feet from the hole. Still they yapped. I still have no idea now how I made that 3 footer.

I just wanted to tell them to shut the %$^&* up, and didn't, I should have.

From there, the day was over.