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  1. #1
    I Just Won't Leave covanant is on a distinguished road covanant's Avatar
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    lightning strikes

    Was playing yesterday at irish hills when the horn blew for lightning.
    Not too bad considering i was on the 16th,but i noticed some guys would not get off.
    I was curious,do you have to get off? or is it just a recomendation?
    What is the policy if youre only on the first or second hole?
    Is there a rain check?
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  2. #2
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    It amazes me how some golfers can be stupid sometimes. If the horn blows, get the hell off the course.

    I'm guessing that if they close the course, you HAVE to get off as far as the course is concerned. If you stay out, you do so at your own risk and the course has no liability.

    Every course I have played has some kind of rain check for lightning. Usually 18 or 9 holes depending on how far you've gotten.

  3. #3
    Caddy powerlefty is on a distinguished road
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    I played last evening at a west end course when thunderstorms approached. I noted some flashes and then checked the time between the flash and the thunder. I calculated the storms were within 1 to 2 miles so I walked off the course. I never heard a horn. A couple of other groups on the course kept playing.

    A Question - do any (most?) courses have lightning detection systems? I cannot recall ever hearing a horn at a course in Ottawa when lightning is in the area and I have been caught in a few storms at local courses - Outaouais, Pakenham, Manderley, to name a few.

  4. #4
    I Just Won't Leave covanant is on a distinguished road covanant's Avatar
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    I was at Irish hills,They did in fact blow a horn 3 times.
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  5. #5
    Amateur Golfpeasant is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by powerlefty
    A Question - do any (most?) courses have lightning detection systems? I cannot recall ever hearing a horn at a course in Ottawa when lightning is in the area and I have been caught in a few storms at local courses - Outaouais, Pakenham, Manderley, to name a few.
    I've never heard a horn on any course I've played in Ottawa, but haven't played at the high end ones during a storm.

    I have to admit that I've tried to wait out lightning a few times. Stupid? Yes, I am.

  6. #6
    Amateur BullDog is on a distinguished road BullDog's Avatar
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    I was at Loch March yesterday and there was no warning signal or anything. We quit after putting out on 17. As we drove up the 18th hole, a marshall was coming out to "inform groups of their options" - I guess they didn't have the intestinal fortitude to tell them to "get the hell off" the course.

    Someone got hit by lightning in the Toronto area this week. I wasn't going to be the next story on Global news.

  7. #7
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by powerlefty
    A Question - do any (most?) courses have lightning detection systems? I cannot recall ever hearing a horn at a course in Ottawa when lightning is in the area and I have been caught in a few storms at local courses - Outaouais, Pakenham, Manderley, to name a few.
    I'm not sure about lightning detection systems, but I've heard the horn at Stonebridge and Greyhawk.

  8. #8
    GolfPig of the Year 2006 Golfbum is on a distinguished road
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    Lightning

    I am located in southwest Ontario and we get some pretty violent thunderstorms blow through here. They approach quickly and it is easy to be caught away from the club house when they come through.

    My course watches the radar on the internet and uses common sense when a storm is approaching. They will blow the air horn. However common sense should be the rule when a storm approaches. GET THE HELL OFF THE COURSE, a round of golf, no matter how well you are playing is not worth your life.

    Just last week I read a story in the paper about people being hit by lightning while on a course. (Somewhere is USA), they tried to hide by a tree of all places.

    If for some reason you do get caught in a thunderstorm and can not make it to the clubhouse your best bet is to lay down in a low area of the course, away from your clubs. If you feel your hair start to stand up then you are damn close to being hit by lightning, LAY DOWN FAST.

    Every year there are golfers killed due to lightning and there really is no need for that to happen if common sense prevails.
    My opinions are my own, I do not follow others.

  9. #9
    Scratch Player byerxa is on a distinguished road byerxa's Avatar
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    Was playing at Diable (in Tremblant) Friday afternoon when a nasty one was approaching. It really started to rumble and I started to get antsy. The other guys start going on about how the strikes will be up in the hills and not to worry. Then it started to get serious and I suggested to screw it and go in (we were on the 9th hole). At that point a course employee came out on a cart and suggested to stay in the carts off the fairway for a few minutes until it passed. Well, it was not going to pass anytime soon so we headed in. As we got to the club house a minor micro burst hit, and the lightning start going really good. Some trees were knocked down by the wind, others by lightning. A sprinkler got hit knocking out the whole sprinkler system, and they lost their GPS system as well. So much for the hills keeping the strikes away from the low lands!

  10. #10
    Major Poster EDSGOLF is on a distinguished road
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    Screw the horns or no horns, if it's thundering and lightening, get in the clubhouse, chnaces are you can go back out and finish your round and after a few cold ones.
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  11. #11
    GolfPig of the Year 2006 Golfbum is on a distinguished road
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    Lightning

    Quote Originally Posted by EDSGOLF
    Screw the horns or no horns, if it's thundering and lightening, get in the clubhouse, chnaces are you can go back out and finish your round and after a few cold ones.
    Exactly, I know one thing for sure. You won't finish that round if you get struck by lightning.
    My opinions are my own, I do not follow others.

  12. #12
    Hopelessly Addicted fireice is on a distinguished road fireice's Avatar
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    When I played the Marshes last week there was a thunderstorm that blew through in the morning. A weather warning flashed across the GPS screen to warn golfers. We just sat in the cart and waited it out about a half hour. Smart, probably not but it was a complimentary business round and a day off, so I wasn't in any rush.

  13. #13
    Hall of Fame mpare is on a distinguished road mpare's Avatar
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    There's another good reason for getting off the course during lightning storms. Humans make notoriously bad lightning rods or good ones depending on your perspective. For some reason our internal mechanisms (like the heart) tend to freeze up if not fry up. Once that happens, play on the course (even after the storm abates) is slowed up by the ambulance attendants and, in some case, the coroner. It's one thing for you to gamble with your own life, but think about the rest of us whose perfectly good round of golf will be compromised after you get zapped.

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