First mens club outing

[jryder]

How competitive are most men's clubs.... im twenty five been golfing about seven months but very frequently.... im getting pretty pumped about being invited the men's club free of membership charge... should i go in trying to win or is it more of a laid back atmosphere??

[Lihu]

13 minutes ago, jryder said:

How competitive are most men's clubs.... im twenty five been golfing about seven months but very frequently.... im getting pretty pumped about being invited the men's club free of membership charge... should i go in trying to win or is it more of a laid back atmosphere??

Pretty decent for anyone not scratch. Most of the people I know enjoy the friendly competition, some not so because they are overly competitive and lose.

[Club Rat]

Most Mens Clubs have golfers of all abilities and are formed as a means to golf and meet many members. Great friendships and golf companions can be made from the camaraderie of competing together over a period of time. In many clubs, guys play with the same group of guys forever, and seldom invite outsiders. A Mens Club can be fun for most, some will become disgruntled, but usually everyone will certainly enjoy a few brewski's afterwards. Play your best and enjoy the golf.

[jryder]

Thanks guys

[tdiii]

Depends on the club, I suppose.  I am a member at a private club and was a member of a different club about a decade ago.  In both cases, I participated in a Tuesday night league.  I was shocked at how seriously a bunch of hacks with truly ugly swings take the game.  Pathetic, really, as no one is going to make a living at it.

One experience this year:  I was new to the club and signed up with a team where I knew a couple of guys.  The team did not have enough folks so we got "redistributed".  The format is for your team to pick 8 guys each week to play another team.  That week it was individual matches, but you are paired up with your teammate in your cart.  I ask for a read from my teammate on a putt.  He gives me the read.  I putt and miss.  As we walk off the green, the guy from the other team announces we are each penalized, me asking for assistance, my teammmate for providing it.  I didn't give a rat's ass but just asked, "I thought it was a team game so I could ask my teammate."  "Nope, you are playing a singles match."  I say, "Okay, whatever."  And I don't give a rat's ass, although I think it is kind of pathetic in a social game to pull this crap.  My teammate is unhappy so argues with the other team.  This goes on for a few holes.  At the end of the match, I bail to go home.  I think I won and my teammate lost, but it doesn't and didn't really matter.  I just wanted to meet new folks.  The upshot of all this is that the golf pro later told me I was allowed to ask for assistance. 

In any event, be careful.  If you want to play for fun, make sure the club is conducive to that.  If you want to play competitively, make sure people take it seriously. 

 

[David in FL]

9 hours ago, jryder said:

How competitive are most men's clubs.... im twenty five been golfing about seven months but very frequently.... im getting pretty pumped about being invited the men's club free of membership charge... should i go in trying to win or is it more of a laid back atmosphere??

Why wouldn't you try to win?  You can certainly have a fun, "laid back" game while trying to win.  One doesn't, or at least shouldn't preclude the other...

[newtogolf]

If playing to win means doing everything within yourself to play your best round possible then I'd encourage you to do so.  If you're considering playing mental games with your competitors then I'd suggest you refrain.

[mcanadiens]

I played in my first club championship earlier this year (and completely sucked). It was flighted A, B and C and I'm definitely a C. The guys I played with were all very pleasant and definitely helped me deal with the crappy rounds I posted. I'll be back next year and give it another stab.

Maybe the A flight would have been very different, but I doubt it.

 

[Lihu]

9 hours ago, tdiii said:

Depends on the club, I suppose.  I am a member at a private club and was a member of a different club about a decade ago.  In both cases, I participated in a Tuesday night league.  I was shocked at how seriously a bunch of hacks with truly ugly swings take the game.  Pathetic, really, as no one is going to make a living at it.

One experience this year:  I was new to the club and signed up with a team where I knew a couple of guys.  The team did not have enough folks so we got "redistributed".  The format is for your team to pick 8 guys each week to play another team.  That week it was individual matches, but you are paired up with your teammate in your cart.  I ask for a read from my teammate on a putt.  He gives me the read.  I putt and miss.  As we walk off the green, the guy from the other team announces we are each penalized, me asking for assistance, my teammmate for providing it.  I didn't give a rat's ass but just asked, "I thought it was a team game so I could ask my teammate."  "Nope, you are playing a singles match."  I say, "Okay, whatever."  And I don't give a rat's ass, although I think it is kind of pathetic in a social game to pull this crap.  My teammate is unhappy so argues with the other team.  This goes on for a few holes.  At the end of the match, I bail to go home.  I think I won and my teammate lost, but it doesn't and didn't really matter.  I just wanted to meet new folks.  The upshot of all this is that the golf pro later told me I was allowed to ask for assistance. 

In any event, be careful.  If you want to play for fun, make sure the club is conducive to that.  If you want to play competitively, make sure people take it seriously. 

 

Some people are sketchy regarding the rules and can get a little overboard at the same time, and I can see why it led to your feeling. . .good that you probably did follow the rules anyway as the pro confirmed that you did.

 

Quote

Rule 8-2 deals with anyone indicating the line of play to a player, which is permitted, unless the ball lies on the putting green. However, any mark that is placed to indicate a proposed line of play by the player, or with the player’s knowledge, must be removed before the stroke is made. An example of this would be that if a player drops his glove at a position on a hill marking the line over which he intends to play, and then makes his stroke, he is penalized two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play. Similarly, if someone has positioned themselves so as to indicate a line of play to a player, they must move away from that point before the stroke is made, to avoid the player incurring a penalty.

 

To the OP and in general, I advise at least attempting hard to play by the rules, and have fun at the same time.

[DaveP043]

10 hours ago, tdiii said:

The upshot of all this is that the golf pro later told me I was allowed to ask for assistance. 

In the case of two singles matches in the same group, I don't think your teammate in the overall sense is the same as your teammate would be if you were playing a fourball match.  In this case, that other guy in your cart is just another guy, and you're not supposed to ask for advice.  I think your pro got it wrong.  Even so, your opponents could have been a little more gracious about it.

For the OP, I go into every round of golf expecting to play by the rules, expecting to try as hard as possible to play my best, and expecting to have a good time with my partners and opponents.  For me, at least, trying my utmost to win does not mean I won't joke around and have a good time.  This applies to tournament and men's league stuff at my club, more serious interclub matches, and even at big-time national match play events like the Newport Cup.  I occasionally find people that are "all business" on the course, but that's pretty rare.

[rkim291968]

16 hours ago, jryder said:

How competitive are most men's clubs.... im twenty five been golfing about seven months but very frequently.... im getting pretty pumped about being invited the men's club free of membership charge... should i go in trying to win or is it more of a laid back atmosphere??

I have been playing in tournaments for 2 years.   Give it a try and find out yourself.   It can be fun, stressful, disappointing - I've got all of these in the two years.

I didn't play the season ending club championship on purpose.  It has gross & net flights but both flight players are way too serious for my blood.  I played right behind the tournament and saw guys throwing, slamming clubs.   And my club has number of players who "manages" their HI very well.   One of the players who manages his HI well won this year .    That is, as far as I am concerned, the net flight championship is rigged b/c of the sandbaggers.   And I am not good enough to play in gross flight.

[tdiii]

4 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

In the case of two singles matches in the same group, I don't think your teammate in the overall sense is the same as your teammate would be if you were playing a fourball match.  In this case, that other guy in your cart is just another guy, and you're not supposed to ask for advice.  I think your pro got it wrong.  Even so, your opponents could have been a little more gracious about it.

For the OP, I go into every round of golf expecting to play by the rules, expecting to try as hard as possible to play my best, and expecting to have a good time with my partners and opponents.  For me, at least, trying my utmost to win does not mean I won't joke around and have a good time.  This applies to tournament and men's league stuff at my club, more serious interclub matches, and even at big-time national match play events like the Newport Cup.  I occasionally find people that are "all business" on the course, but that's pretty rare.

The pro's explanation is that everyone is allowed to designate a person to provide assistance -- typically a caddy.  We played without caddies so you can have your teammate as that designee. But no one else, so if the team captain came by, he could not provide assistance. 

I asked the question of the other players to make sure I understood the rule and didn't unwittingly screw up in the future.  The fact that this kind of thing even cropped up in what is supposed to be social game was sort of galling for me, particularly when the stakes are zero and the players (including me) are all complete hacks. 

To the OP, play hard, don't engage in any gamesmanship and hopefully it is a great crew!

Edited November 12, 2015 by tdiii

[DaveP043]

"The pro's explanation is that everyone is allowed to designate a person to provide assistance -- typically a caddy.  We played with outcaddies so you can have your teammate as that designee." 

That's an interesting approach, and not entirely consistent with the Rules of Golf, but I can see that rule being used in the kind of informal competition you were in.  What the Rules allow, in a team competition, is for each team to designate a single person who's allowed to give advice to all of that team's players.  This is the last little bit in Rule 8.

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-and-decisions.html#!rule-08

I remember when we played singles matches at the Newport Cup, we were pretty careful not to give advice to our cart-partner.  It wasn't always easy to remember, since we'd played 4 rounds of foursomes of fourballs, and gotten used to having a partner.

I absolutely agree with your advice to the OP, plan to go out and play hard, do your best to play by the rules, but don't take it too seriously.

 

[tdiii]

Just now, DaveP043 said:

 

That's an interesting approach, and not entirely consistent with the Rules of Golf, but I can see that rule being used in the kind of informal competition you were in.  What the Rules allow, in a team competition, is for each team to designate a single person who's allowed to give advice to all of that team's players.  This is the last little bit in Rule 8.

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-and-decisions.html#!rule-08

I

 

But you are now saying it was a team competition.  It was singles competitions, so each single can designate a person since we did not have caddies. 

[DaveP043]

AAhhh, but it was a team event, the way you described it, consisting of a number of single matches.  I took this to be similar to the final day of the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup.   Maybe I misunderstood.  

[tdiii]

Just now, DaveP043 said:

AAhhh, but it was a team event, the way you described it, consisting of a number of single matches.  I took this to be similar to the final day of the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup.   Maybe I misunderstood.  

And in the case of the final day of Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, each player can look to his caddy for assistance.  But it doesn't have to be a caddy.  It can be anyone.  But only one person. If Justin Rose doesn't have a caddy and he's playing in the same foursome as Sergio Garcia, he can ask Garcia for advice. 

And to the OP and others. . . sorry for my threadjack!  I will go away quietly, once again wishing the OP best of luck and a good time with his men's club. 

Edited November 12, 2015 by tdiii

[DaveP043]

Here's the wording from the RoG:

Note: The Committee may, in the conditions of a team competition (Rule 33-1), permit each team to appoint one person who may give advice (including pointing out a line for putting) to members of that team. TheCommittee may establish conditions relating to the appointment and permitted conduct of that person, who must be identified to the Committee before giving advice.

There can't be multiple people giving advice to a team, they allow one person to give advice to members of the team.  However, I do see in definition of caddie that its someone who assists the player, and that assistance may or may nor include dealing with his clubs.  Perhaps your pro is right.  I'm just not sure that another member of your team, although he's not your partner, can be your caddie.

And once again, I agree with @tdiii, we can open a new thread if we need to continue this discussion.  Sorry to have threadjacked this one.  We may have made the prospect of playing in a new men's league seem much worse than it should be.  Go out and have fun, and make a few new friends!

[Cupcakus]

I recently joined my local mens club, and I really enjoy it.  Everyone is different, most of the golfers are just having fun and trying to do well, others take it a bit too seriously, even walking off the course if they're playing a bad round.

For me it's nice to finally play by the rules in a like minded foursome.  Have to putt everything, OB counts, no improving lie, it's more fun for me to play the game properly.