So I played last Saturday, and I put both of my drivers in play. I was testing the Nickent 3DX Square as a gamer, but kept my MacTec in case the Nickent wasn't so hot during actual play.

By the 3rd hole I caught up with a husband and wife, in their mid-fifties, both looked like pretty decent golfers, probably around my handicap. The guy was hitting his drives pretty well, but everything started leaking left. He was using a Titleist driver, dunno the model, but like I said he poked it pretty far out there, it just leaked left a little.

Well, of course he was intrigued by by "Nya-kent" (should have been my first warning sign) driver, and basically fondled it when I showed it to him.

Around the 12th hole, a straightaway par-5 with a tight landing area, I made my mistake.

"Say, can I try that Nya-kent?"
"Uhh....yeah, I guess so." I was a bit leery, but I figured the guy was playing a relatively new Titleist driver, and he had a pretty good swing.

First off, he tees the ball up too high...I panic and yell, "That's too high! Tee it lower!" He's already set up at address, and he's like, "No, these bigger drivers should be teed up high, I think that's part of your problem."

The Nickent is 4600cc, but the face is relatively shallow, since the head is elongated so far back.

Before I can say another word, he makes the fastest, most aggressive swing he's made all day.

I guess you can all figure out what happened next. DOINK! Mile-high pop-up. The guy has no frakkin' idea what he's done, and says, "Wow, got alla that one, hee hee!", and tees up another to hit with his driver.

I'm basically feeling sick now, and he hands me the driver, and sure enough, THE IDIOT HAS MADE AN IDIOT SKYMARK RIGHT NEAR THE DAMNED ALIGNMENT AID!!

I was mad, but I said to him calmly, "See, I TOLD you not to tee it up so high! You made a skymark on my driver." The bastich says to me, "Aw, it's not so bad, it's like getting that first scratch on your new car, it's better to get it out of the way soon." And smiles.

I basically told him that there's no way to remove the mark, and now if I want to sell it back or trade it in, he's cost me dollars. At that point, HE gets mad, and is like, "Well, you said you're not happy with it now, how about I give you $60 for it". SIXTY DOLLARS?!?!? WTF??

I was just sick of him, so I told him, "Forget it, you have no idea what you're talking bout, just hit your goddamned ball."

I didn't say another word to him, and, I know this is ungentlemanly, I walked off the 18th without shaking his hand or acknowledging him at all. Putz.

I know it's my fault, but I'll be damned if this happens to me again. I don't care if I come across as a jerk, I am NOT letting anyone hit my clubs again. I'll just tell them, "sorry, I'm demoing this club, I'm responsible for damage".

Sorry, had to vent, this has been stuffed inside me for a few days. Anybody know how to get a skymark off?

Good lesson learned.

try car wax and buffing it out like a scratch on a car...heard it works sometimes depending on the extent of the scratches.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I know there are a lot of folks that would do the right thing, but this ID-10T surely didn't... That stinks. FWIW, I had to get my Ping G5 refinished because of my popup marks. It wasn't that much ($30) but it sure did take a long time to get it back...

seriously I would have whooped the sh** out of that guy if he did that and didnt pay for it. Not even kidding. what a prick! Seriously though since you didnt do what I would haave, I suggest you hire me for idk say $10 with a plane ticket and I will whoop him and get your money. almost not even kidding. find out who that guy is and seriously make him pay for it, and if he doesnt snap his driver.

If you dont do either of what I say i am predicting some very good rounds for you for VERY good carma. That guy is lucky he didnt do that to me. You are a very good guy and should be proud of that. I am seriously predicting some good rounds or a new better driver for you in the future.

This is why I don't loan stuff. Some may think me an A**hole for it, but I have had too much stuff ruined over the years by folks that thought nothing of it (a chuck of a brand new DeWalt 18V held against the rocky ground while trying to back out a low stripped screw, a brand new $500 ladder covered in paint, hard cover first editions that come back with the bindings creased, I could go on and on... not to mention items that were never returned - my old Burke persimmons).

SO if it is not someone I implicitly trust and respect... they're on their own. Fine... I'm an A**hole. But I am an a**hole with no skymarks on my driver.

Sorry to hear about your driver. Some light rubbing compound followed up with Merguire's #6 should do it. If not, some very light wet sanding with 1600 wet/dry paper, followed by the above should do it (I used to paint my own cars).

BTW... based on what he said, I would have followed him out to the parking lot after the round to see if his car was relatively new, and if so, returned the favor with my key. (c;

Today, I joined up with an elderly gentleman and his wife when I caught up with the foursome in front of me. He asks me to hold up after I tee off, and I think he wants to play through. I told him to go on through, but there was slow foursome in front of us. He said no -- he just wanted to give me some golf balls that he would never use. He had a whole sack full. A 2007 Pro V1, a couple of Nikes, a Noodle -- very decent.

Anyway, we join up. I tell him that this is the maiden voyage for my new driver (a thriver I just got from Diamond Tour). He says, "Well, let me give it a try." I couldn't really refuse after his kindness (wouldn't have refused anyway), but I was a little worried. He hits a slice, but it's the only slice he or his wife hit all day. "Well," he says, "I took all of the slice out of it for you!" They must have been in their mid-to-late 60s, and he put it out there 160 yards straight as an arrow every time. She went about 120 yards straight every time. Pretty impressive.

Club was fine, btw. Sorry to hear about your misfortune -- that guy sounded like a jerk.

Ouch. Feeling for you. Might have been feeling for the guys Adam's apple had I been you.

Lots of people ask to try my stuff. I act dumb (not hard) and tell them I'm awfully sorry but I'm the only person insured to use it.
They walk off shaking their heads at the English idiot, but they are not offended, and my gear stays in good nick.

I feel for ya. I would have wanted to kill him. Too bad you didn't have the chance to "practice swing" into his knees! I feel sick if I skymark one of my clubs. (thankfully rare) But someone else doing it to one of my clubs would make me sick.

Fortunately I'm not all that anal about my stuff. I let people hit my equipment all the time. I never ask anyone to hit thiers unless it looks well used though. I can understand a brand new driver though, that sucks. I have fortunatly put a few marks in most of my stuff so don't really care all that much. The one thing I am careful of is rocks and my irons. I put a ding in my 7iron that really pissed me off. I won't let anyone hit one of my irons unless they are in the fairway or off a tee.

On a lighter note... I hit a drive right on Sat. that ended up against a rock wall. I get out of the cart to take a look at the lie and my options. My boss says "What are you going to use there" I reply "how about your 7iron.".

Try Meguiar's Scratch-X and a soft cotton buffing cloth. Works wonders to restore a driver crown's finish to looking like new. Don't ask how I know.

You can find it at your local Pep Boys or Kragen.

Sorry to hear about the driver Big D. I would have been steamed as well. Best of luck in fixing the mark.

Im pretty sure the rubbing compounds/scratch removed cant help if its down to the metal. They will only help if it is just paint damage. Although you can get little bottles of OEM matched paint on ebay. That eases the pain slightly. But when I sky one of my clubs i think im going to throw up, then and every time i look at it.

Sand blast it and re-paint it.......lol

I get guys that want to hit my driver all the time... I just cringe... unless this guy is better than me I just politely say no, I'd rather you didn't....

I also like to have the better player hit my clubs if he wants so I can get a feed back from someone who knows golf clubs.

Thanks for the sympathy.

I actually feel a lot better now that I posted this. My wife doesn't golf, neither do any of my friends, so it's not like they'd understand the severity of the situation!

But I'm cool with it now. It's only a $180 driver, it's not like a $500 Ft-i or SuperQuad, or a $40,000 car. It's marked, I'll fix it if I can, if not I'll live with it. Who knows how long I'll keep it anyway...already bought a used TM R5 D-Type from ebay for $60.

"Certainly you can hit. I'll just need a $ 500 deposit because if you sky it, you buy it!" read that somewhere else on this site, been using it ever since.
let us know if it buffs out.

My Driver and fairway woods have seen their share of carnuba wax, it's taken every mark off so far, some idiot just keeps re-applying them.

Man. Unless I know you WELL, forget it! Try soap and water. Dry it off, then use a magic eraser. I heard that works.

Yikkess!!! You handled that much better than I would have...to be honest there would have been a march to the cash machine as that "gentleman" just bought himself a driver or passed over his Titleist as an exchange!!! Seriously, at 6'3 and 270 I would not have let him leave that course until we were square.

Good one ya' for taking that as calmly as you did...

Ken

^^I have an Irish temper, and slightly high blood pressure. I've learned to just try and stay as calm as possible, because the consequences of a moment's anger (no matter how justified the anger) can be very bad. Let's just say my late teens and early twenties saw my fair share of scraped knuckles and "talks" from John Law. Never got in any real trouble, but I was definitely a hothead in my youth. When I calmed down I should have explained to him why I was so upset, and suggested that the gentlemanly thing to do would be to at least reimburse me for my round. But I could tell the guy was a clueless jerk, and he would have argued, and then I probably would have pounded his a**. Don't wanna be the 35-year-old who clocks a guy in his fifties.

I have some carnuba wax in my garage, I'll try that first. Thanks!

Sorry to hear about the driver. I have had a few people ask if they can hit my drivers in the past and I have come up with a stock reply that works pretty well. "Sure you can hit my driver, but if you put a mark on it you have two options. Either you buy the club from me on the spot or I get to choke slam you right here on the Tee Box...and I decide which option you choose..." It probably helps that I am 6'8" 300lbs...but they get the picture...now if I could just find a way to get the people in my league to stop comparing the their drivers to mine by laying theirs on top of mine and touching them...I get it...the new drivers are shape funny...so I must clang my old driver on top of yours...sorry for the tangent and your experience today.

You know what I think--and I have a 3dx Square---the second you hit a ball with the club it was worth about $60--Nickent not being known for its resale. Regardless I won't let a wretched hack hit my clubs--skilled players are a different story.

And playing with strangers what's up with that---the only time I play with strangers is when I visit a resort area, or a tourney.

It shouldn't be that hard to join a playing circle or two.

I witnessed this exchange once while playing as a single in a foursome.

Guy #1 is upset because he can't hit his brand new driver straight - he's spraying balls all over the course at every tee. Slices, hooks, etc. After about 5 holes, he mentions something to the effect of "this new driver sucks". So guy #2 (a playing partner of his) says "it's not the driver, it's you. Let me swing that thing." He then takes a huge swing at the next tee and ends up skying the ball about a mile high, and leaves a gigantic mark on the crown. So the guy shrugs, gives the driver back to guy #1, and says "huh, I guess it IS the club after all." The rest of the round was pretty much finished in silence.

What a jerk. I feel for ya, sometimes it's just too hard to say no.

I have a good revenge story, too bad you can't recreate the incident. When I was in college (19 yrs ago, wow.) I was playing in a foursome and we were waiting on the fairway for the foursome on the green to finish, one of those days where playing through just puts you behind 4 slow groups instead of 5. Anyway, this tool behind us on the tee launches a drive down range and one-hops my roommate in the back. Needless to say, we were not amused and yelled back to the tee so to knock it off. Once we finished the hole, there was a big backup on the next tee. One foursome on the tee, one on deck, us in the hole, and Mr. Impatience's group behind us. I asked him if he knew we were on the fairway when he hit his shot. He said "Yeah, but someone has to get this show rolling." I said nothing at the time but on the next green we were bottled up again. When Mr. I went over to get a beer from the cart girl, I took a dead Koi (spelling?) floating in this garden pond and slipped the deceased wiggler down our new friend's golf bag.

I know it's childish, but now you have a plan if Mr. Skymark shows up again.

Consumer Reports just did a rating on auto scratch removers:

1. Quixx - High performance scratch remover. $21, score: 90
2. Mothers - California Gold Scratch Remover. $6, score: 76
3. NuFinish - Scratch doctor. $10, score: 74
4. Meguiar's - ScratchX. $8, score: 62
5. GS27 - Scratch remover. $10, score: 62
6. Black Magic - Express scratch treatment. $6, score: 58
7. Turtle Wax - Scratch & swirl remover (T-237). $7, score: 58

Good luck, I feel your pain. I'd assume they have a clear coat on those. If so, you want to be careful you don't go through the clear.

^LOL! That's classic, and exactly what he deserved. See, I love revenge stuff like that: it's simple, it's effective, it pisses the guy off but ultimately doesn't cause any real harm.

Like when we'd put sardines or smelt inside someone's wheel covers when I was in college....hee hee...

Awesome, thanks. I might be selling the Nickent soon, it just doesn't set up well at address for me. I'd be better hitting my 2-Iron than a driver that doesn't inspire confidence at address. Hopefully I can get the skymark out so I don't lose any more dollars.

That is too bad, and even worse the guy's attitude sucked. I have a pretty firm policy about letting anyone hit my clubs:

Just Say No

Close friends who's game I know....sure...but they understand that should they ding it...then they just bought it.

Man I feel for you...And for him to have the cheek to get angry with you and offer you $60 for it is probably the most ignorant thing I have evr heard!

Sorry to hear about the driver Big D. I had a guy last week ask me to hit my driver when I was playing in the Poconos and he got annoyed when I told him he can't because his swing could not generate enough power to get the ball airborne. He was playing a 10.5 R flex driver and thought he could hit what I am playing.

What course were you playing?

I was playing Center Square golf course. What a dogtrack, and waaaay overpriced at $60!

I would agree with that and have not played it since I was in college. I would avoid Bucks County CC as well, played it last week and it was in just awful shape.

Back in the day when I worked at a range, I was hitting balls one evening and put down my 1 day old 975f to help a customer in the shop. There was a man hitting balls next to me that grabbed my club and hit a few while I was inside without asking. When I came back outside, I went back to the area I was hitting balls, picked up my new 3 wood and noticed he was driving off. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the nice skymark he left me.

Holy s...! What a f...... jerk! Unbelievable!

Sorry, I couldn't control myself

Just say NO! You dont need to justify anyting to anyone!

Hit my driver? Are you crazy? I suppose you wanna come over after the round and screw my wife too...?

You were hardly stupid - you did the cordial thing and the fool didn't acknowledge what he did to your club. A lesson learned, but it's not really your fault.

Why I don't let people hit my woods: I once played with a guy who was the most clueless fool I'd ever met. Aside from hitting on every cart girl in sight (a fat, bald 45y.o. begging for 20y.o.'s numbers), playing neon balls (so he could see them better), and having the most out of control swing I'd ever seen. After bothering me all round to try my driver, I agree on a long par 5 as he had been trying to buddy up to me and I didn't want to be rude. He loads up and proceeds to hit the hardest, fattest shot I'd ever seen off the tee. Sparks fly up all over the driver and my jaw drops. No sky marks, but four big scrapes right in the bottom of the face. The worst part is that I had built a nice collection of impact marks around the sweetspot, all ruined by one idiot. Of course, he acted like nothing happened. And then the round got even worse. He got really angry by the 14th, and began to not care about his shots or the game. While 120 yards out, he drops three balls on the fairway and smashes them.. with his hybrid. Right into the bushes protecting the tee box ahead of us. All three balls. Right into the group in front of us. They ran me down on the green and told me to get control of my friend. I couldn't believe it (we didn't see them, but what he did was insane). I rip him apart for his behaviour and total disregard for anyone else. He didn't even care and spent the rest of the round pouting like a petulant child. I couldn't get off the course fast enough...

Worst part is that he still calls me to play, I just don't know what to say (aside from the obvious).

It's relative. If you're passionate about something someone else next to you isn't and simply doesn't understand (with the exception of outright jerks). It's like parking your car in a parking lot. The guy next to you who flings his door into yours might just figure "heh, it's just a car". Probably wouldn't even notice if you did the same to his with him sitting in it.

My response is "I'd be mortified if it got a mark on it and I wouldn't be able to bring myself to ask you to pay for it and wouldn't accept it if you offered".

I've never been asked by a stranger to try my clubs but it's hard for me to say no to family. Funny thing is they never ask anyway when we're at the range. If they notice something new in the bag it's the first thing they go for. Luckily they've never put a skymark on anything but one of my cousins (guy with yellow shirt in my avatar) uses a 3 1/4in. tee and tees it up very high. I cringe everytime but he says he can't hit it if it's not that high (he's never broken 100). Quite a while back, my cousins' friend's younger brother was using my old callaway steelhead plus 13* (didn't ask, just pulled it out like my cousins). I noticed that he was swinging for the fences and on one of his shots he popped it way up into the sky. I knew there was a great chance that he created a sky mark. As he walked back to put it in my bag I noticed him checking out the clubhead and had a guilty/worried expression on his face for a slight second. He never said anything and when I got home I noticed the sky mark. I was pretty disappointed that he never owned up to it. I knew at the time he was a high school kid and probably didn't have that much money but if he would have accepted responsibility for it I would have been perfectly fine. It's when they ignore it or downplay the situation as if it wasn't a big deal that get's to me.

I feel for you. There is nothing worse to look at at address then a scratched clubhead.

I had an experience the other day where a guy we were playing with offered to let me hit his newish HiBore XL... I declined - precisely because I didn't want to have that bad swing, and damage it. OTH, I've offered my club to players whose swings I have seen and assessed as solid. In that case I take responsibility. If I don't trust their swings its a no.... In any case, if I lend it out, its on my shoulders. So, I guess what I am trying to say is, there are people I wouldn't lend my club to, and if I do lend it out, I accept what happens - anyone can have a bad swing now and then.

I normally don't let other people borrow my clubs. I have a couple of buddies that I have that will just grab my clubs out of my bag and say "I'm gonna hit your club". Normally, I reply with something along the lines of "H*ll No" or "Put my d*mn club back in the proper spot".

There's a simple solution to this. Learn to play left handed. No one ever asks to use my clubs.

Knowing how much I spent for my clubs, I can't imagine ever asking to "try out" a total stranger's clubs. Might as well ask to borrow their car.
Kudos to you for the extreme level of control you displayed. I think the only way I would have let that guy off the course is with a lighter wallet or on a stretcher.

What time is good for you?

:-)

Heh...I have a TM r7 5-Wood with the exact same type of deep scratch on the face. Bought it used at Golf Galaxy for like $50! I gotta admit, since I spent so little on a club of that quality, I don't much notice the scratches.

That stinks man! Keep your chin up, karma always has a weird way of evening the score for guys like that.

Why don't manufacturers powder coat their heads. Wouldn't that be a more durable finish than paint?

Powder coat is more durable but not bullet proof. It will still scratch.

This is why it's awesome to be left handed. Hardly anyone else is left handed, so they can't try your stuff if they want to.