Win a Copy of The Downhill Lie

If you're a golfer, and you haven't read The Downhill Lie, shame on you. The book is made for golfers, and Carl Hiaasen portrays the struggles of the regular golfer so perfectly it will almost make you quit the game yourself!

Basically, the book is about a man that picks up the game after years of being away. It's a great read, with funny one-liners throughout like this one -- "As I grew taller (my dad) generously bought me a set of Ben Hogans, which were so gorgeous that at first I was reluctant to throw them." Been there, done that.

So, I'm going to have a little contest to see who gets a free copy of the book. Here are the guidelines, in typical Hiassen fashion.

E-mail me (at shanebacon at gmail dot com) your funniest golf club breaking-throwing-tossing experience. I want the best thing that has ever happened during your biggest meltdown on the golf course. I have two I'll share to get the ball rolling.

First one comes from a guy that will remain nameless. The kid was a year older than me when I started high school but he could flat out play. I mean, play. The problem was, the guy had as much sense as a bag of M&Ms and was so psychotic he once hit a stinger 2-iron at my from about 20 yards away, missing my head by mere inches and was laughing about it. Oh yeah, death is hilllarious. Anyway, one time we were playing a match with one of my friends and he got pissed on the 11th tee at my local country club and tossed his club in the air. The club got stuck in one of the gorgeous East Texas pine trees, and wouldn't come down. This kid, wanting his club back, drives up to his house on the golf course, brings a set of irons back that he doesn't use anymore, and begins tossing club after club in the air hoping to knock his down, getting nearly the entire set stuck in this tree. There are still some irons stuck up there to this day.

My second story is a bit more embarrassing. I was playing at a course in Tucson during college with some of my buddies and my uncle. I was playing pretty decent on the back, a couple under par, and came to the par-5 18th. I hit a great tee shot and had a second shot over a wash to the green. I came out of it, missing the green left and was hot. I went to slam my iron against the cart (remember, I was a stupid college kid) and stopped a little as I slammed it down, noticing my buddies hand there. "F-it," I thought, and went after the cooler, missing it wide left and hitting my friend's finger. To this day, you can still see a little damage to the finger, and it was that moment I vowed to never get so mad on the golf course again. Oh, and the best part of the story is that my friend, who wasn't even that mad, just in pain, went on to finish the hole and almost made par one-handed. He reads this blog, so again, sorry for being such an idiot.

Okay, e-mail me your ideas. The best one I get will be published and you'll receive a free copy of the book (or you can just buy the book right here). Fire away.