In this episode of The NCG Golf Podcast<\/a>, Tom Irwin and I detail some of our course catastrophes \u2013 the ones we\u2019ve tried, and failed, to forget. <\/p>\n You can listen to all of them in much more detail in the episode below but, just to whet your appetite, we\u2019ve highlighted a trio of our standout golf nightmares\u2026<\/p>\n LISTEN TO THE NCG GOLF PODCAST<\/p>\n ALSO AVAILABLE ON:<\/p>\n Apple Podcasts:\u00a0Listen Now<\/a><\/p>\n Spotify:\u00a0Listen Now<\/a><\/p>\n Amazon Music:\u00a0Listen Now<\/a><\/p>\n A hole flag from the 150th Open at St Andrews | Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Golf disasters: Tom\u2019s Open Qualifying mishap<\/p>\n Tom said: \u201cI enter Open Qualifying every year. This was two summers ago and what I\u2019ve always done is enter the nearest venue to me.<\/p>\n \u201cSo a couple of years ago, I thought \u2018I\u2019m going to do it differently this year. I\u2019m going to enter at Goswick<\/a>\u2019. It\u2019s a classic links and two and a half hours up the road. It\u2019s an amazing two loops of nine \u2013 a course between the dunes.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI\u2019ve arrived around half 10 thinking, \u2018this is perfect. I can do an hour\u2019s practice. I\u2019m not here too early and I\u2019m all ready for my 12.10pm tee time\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI pulled into the car park. You have to give your name as a player. I get round to the car park guy and he says, \u2018what time\u2019s your tee time?\u2019 \u2018I think it\u2019s 12.10pm\u2019 and he said, \u2018no, can\u2019t see you here\u2019. I was like, \u2018it definitely is\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI opened my phone up and I\u2019d been looking at the start sheet for the previous year when my time was indeed 12.10pm. But this year, my time was 10.20am and I\u2019d arrived at 10.40pm \u2013 missing my tee time by 20 minutes and thus being disqualified.\u201d<\/p>\n Golf disasters: Steve\u2019s unwanted Captain\u2019s Day record<\/p>\n It\u2019s still a club record, but not the kind of any of us would want. It\u2019s 2017, at Sandburn Hall, in York, and I\u2019m about to drive-in for my year as Captain.<\/p>\n I\u2019m prone to overthinking things and I must have played that first shot 8,347 times in my head before I finally stood on the 1st tee.<\/p>\n In the weeks leading up to the stroke I\u2019d also developed a destructive snap hook. Coincidence? I don\u2019t think so, but I couldn\u2019t get the ball off the ground.<\/p>\n I must have been in the driving range for about an hour and a half drilling ball after ball to try and break the spell the morning of the ceremony. <\/p>\n I probably should have been in the bar, easing my nerves with a couple of smooth ales. It couldn\u2019t have worked out any worse.<\/p>\n What I did instead was turn up at the tee and snap it 96 yards. The ball barely got off the ground.<\/p>\n Want to know what\u2019s worse? We did a charity sweepstake beforehand \u2013 guess the yardage the drive would travel \u2013 and the list started at 100 yards. So not only had I botched the drive, I even ruined the sweepstake!<\/p>\n Golf disasters: Steve gets a pity five at a pro-am<\/p>\n I seem to have a thing about hitting shots in front of crowds. A few years ago, I played in the Portuguese Masters Pro-Am on the Old Course, in Vilamoura.<\/p>\n It was a Texas Scramble Format, which is basically the softest form of golf there is. There\u2019s absolutely no pressure because there are three other people with you on every single shot.<\/p>\n But did I play any good golf? No, it was awful. I topped it off the 1st and it didn\u2019t get any better. I told myself the sandy turf didn\u2019t suit, but I ended up scuffing nearly every ball.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-1407835896-1030x686.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Portugal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PortugalMasters.jpg\")
Portugal Masters Pro-Am | Source: NCG<\/p>\n