# What did the Golfer do wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 30, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057 "2010-08-30T23:02:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/1 "2010-08-30T23:02:26Z")
I caught some news story of a pro golfer who “touched the trench” or such when he was teeing off? Perhaps a SDoper heard this story, and can explain what this is and why it is so terrible? Not that I follow golf, but I’ve never heard of this before. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/2 "2010-08-31T00:16:54Z")
I’m a golfer and I have never heard the phrase or anything remotely like it. It sounds like a euphemism for a sex act. ---
**Author:** ![Ambihelical\_Hexnut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Ambihelical\_Hexnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambihelical_Hexnut)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/3 "2010-08-31T01:22:41Z")
I’ve never heard that term either - maybe it wasn’t as he was teeing off; but his ball landed in a drainage trench marked as a hazard, and, rather than taking a drop, he decided to play the ball from where it ended up, and grounded his club in the trench (incurring a 2 stroke penalty)? I can’t think of anything else that “touching the trench” could possibly refer to. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/4 "2010-08-31T01:35:11Z")
Was it Dustin Johnson grounding his club in a hazard in the PGA Championship? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/5 "2010-08-31T18:06:52Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Was it Dustin Johnson grounding his club in a hazard in the PGA Championship? He said while teeing off. Maybe he was scratching his ass. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/6 "2010-08-31T18:09:40Z")
I believe it means that a golfer hit the drive into a very large divot. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Spoonful_of_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-golfer-do-wrong/552057/7 "2010-09-01T03:14:03Z")
It could’ve meant [this.](http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Golfer-s-swing-sparks-25-acre-California-blaze?urn=golf-266447) :eek: ETA: Nevermind. I read the OP as _torched_ the trench. As you were.