Flying Clubheads On The Twelfth At the Crowne Plaza Invitational

On the twelfth (actually our third hole of the day), Del Ross, IHG VP for US Sales and Marketing, took a mighty swing and both ball and driver head went flying down the fairway. The ball went 200 yards down the middle. The clubhead landed in the back of the maintenance cart waiting at the crossing.

It was quite a surprise. And after we realized that no one was hurt, we all let out our collectively held breaths and laughed. Even better: Dell’s brother had been filming at the time and caught the incident on his iPhone.

Stuart Appleby thought it was funny, too. “You were a little hard on that golf club,” he shouted.

He asked to see the shaft and head and said that he’s never seen anything quite like that before.

My own tee shot on that hole was a forgettable hook into the trees and down over a hill. A marshall found the ball, and I bopped a three wood up the hill and back to the proper fairway. When I got back to the top of the hill, Stuart was on the phone, having an intense conversation with someone. Doing business, I thought. We waited a few more minutes until Stuart was done, and then played to the green. My shot landed right

Two holes later, a cart pulled up and handed Stuart a driver, which he presented to Del. As it turns out, he had been on the phone with the Callaway Tour Van and had ordered up a new driver, with the same loft and flex as Del’s old stick. The new one was a huge upgrade over Del’s Big Bertha, though.

Del thanked Stuart profusely, but the Aussie insisted that he had “found” the driver in the bushes. No amount of gratitude from Del would change Stuart’s story about the “found” driver.

Getting a club delivered on spec in two holes: Total Rock Star

The twelfth, shown here, is a 445 yard par 4.

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