"Get in the hole!!!"

The other night my brother Kyle and I were hanging out at home just shooting the breeze. Actually, we were half-paying attention to the TV as the Twins dropped a 4-2 series opener in Kansas City. We were chatting, and somehow ended up on the subject of golf and the "Get in the hole!!!" rants from fans.

You know what I'm talking about. You're at home relaxing with the soothing game of golf on the tube, but at the strike of nearly every golf ball the tranquility is broken abruptly by screaming patrons in attendance.

There always has to be someone who tries to get out the frantic phrase faster than anyone else, just as soon as the golf club makes contact with the ball. Once one person gets through it, countless others follow suit and erupt into a loud batch of cheers.

One of the funny things about this common golf fan practice is that it seems to occur everywhere on the course. I suppose the most common place is on the greens where the golfer has the best chance to actually get the ball "in the hole." But these jests are even heard at tee boxes, where unless an impossible hole-in-one will be shot, the ball has no chance from the tee.

This just doesn't make any sense to me. Now I know the shouters are probably jumping on the trend bandwagon, and that they don't really think the ball is going in the hole. But why is it necessary to act this way, especially in the instance when the player hits his first shot on a par 5, 556-yard hole?

It's not. It's getting so ridiculous that it can even be quite comical if the ranting is outrageous enough.

I typed "get in the hole" in my YouTube search box to see what kind of hits I would get. There weren't too many relating to golf from looking at the first few entries. I played one video that was an advertisement and a bit of a spoof on the whole sharade. You can see for yourself.

My brother and I watched this clip a few times and were in hysterics. Then we made ourselves practically hoarse by trying to imitate the fast and furious saying.

It very well could be that you did not think the video was funny, or agree with any of my points about this topic. That's fine. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Or it could be that if you didn't share in the hysterical laughter, maybe that's my brother and me in a "you had to be there" kind of moment.

No matter what you think about the "Get in the hole!!!" bonanza, here is my main point:

Why not give the blistering screams a rest and save them up for the greens when the ball has a chance? It's becoming as annoying as listening to Monica Seles grunt her way through a tennis match, or watching Maria Sharapova tuck strands of stray hair behind her ears after every single point.