As Joost Luiten describes it, it was just “one of those weeks when nothing went my way.”
He’s not kidding.
Not only did the 37-year-old Dutchman shoot 3 over to lose by 18 shots and beat just two players at the DP World Tour’s 50-man season-ending championship in Dubai, but Luiten also had to play briefly with just 11 clubs after getting three clubs stuck in a tree.
Yes, three clubs. The incident happened on the ninth tee box. Frustrations were boiling over after Luiten bogeyed the eight hole and then followed that up by yanking a drive into the left rough. He took the errant shot out on his driver.
“Lost it and threw my driver, and it got stuck up a tree,” Luiten said. “That sums up my week nicely. I tried to get it out by throwing some other clubs at it, and [two] other clubs got stuck up the tree, so I couldn’t get them out.”
Taking tree trouble to the next level 🌳@joostluiten threw his driver into a tree and then loses two more clubs trying to retrieve it! #DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/uOqUmPyxZm
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 19, 2023
Video posted by DP World Tour shows Luiten trying everything to extract his clubs, which appeared to be about 20 feet up in the branches. When the two other clubs didn’t work, Luiten tries the scoring standard, then a large branch, a few rocks and at one point even tries to jump. Arms outstretched, he didn’t come close.
After several minutes, Luiten kicks his bag in anger, shouting a bleeped-out word.
Joost Luiten got three clubs stuck in a tree today in Dubai.
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) November 19, 2023
Yes, three.
The still images from the video of the ordeal are incredible. pic.twitter.com/wKCEOtRKvn
Finally, he gave up, walking away and playing the hole with just 11 clubs. A volunteer then retrieved the stuck clubs and gave them to Luiten on the 10th tee box. Luiten’s wife, Melanie-Jane, who is eight months pregnant, helped return the clubs to her husband, according to the DP World Tour.
“I just went on and played the rest of the hole and one of the volunteers got them out,” Luiten said. “Otherwise, it would have been a funny round to finish with 11 clubs.”
It’s still a funny story to tell.
