New Guy at the Club

[iceman777]

Whats the best way to get involved with golfers of the same skill level at a new club ?. Am looking at joining a club in Aiken SC . I play about 2-3 times a week , may be 27 holes ,. Handicap is about 20 . I really don't enjoy playing with real low handicappers , as I always feel I'll slow them up if I start going badly . I am not a slow player and simply pick up once I m at a snowman . thanks

[sirhacksalot]

I struggle with that as well but honestly I think I need to come to terms that if I want to play golf with others there are going to be some better than me and some worse.  To get out of my comfort zone and to meet other golfers I try to play in at least a couple of blitzes a month usually with a neighbor or someone I know as a riding partner, then we are paired with random people.  I have realized that I usually (maybe to my own detriment) play faster then the better players so I am not really slowing anyone down.  I maybe taking an extra shot if I hit a bad tee shot but all in all I can hang. So even on my worst holes vs there best there is only 3-4 strokes different. Which when some of those are putts I am not really slowing anyone down.

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by sirhacksalot

[imsys0042]

You can ask the pro if there are good people to hook up with.   I've only had experience at 2  private clubs (one as a caddy and one as a member).   In both places there were several groups that were usually open on the weekends who might have a slot to play to get to know people.

Other than that, don't feel like you slow down lower handicapped players.   Most don't care (unless someone doesn't know what they are doing), and those that do are generally people you don't want to play with anyway.   Taking more strokes than someone else doesn't mean you are slower than them, IMO.   Someone I play with is usually between a 6 and an 8 and plays with anyone at all.   And he only gets annoyed if the person just plain doesn't care about the game or what he does out there.

And whatever happens, give it some time.   I had a terrible experience with a couple of jerks where I joined but now like the place very much.

[DaveP043]

If you're just thinking about joining a club, that's one of the questions I'd ask the head pro, or whoever you're dealing with.  At my home club, we have a few groups of players who often play together, generally up to 12 players each weekend day.  Some of them get narrowed down by general handicap level, others by personality or time of day preference. Maybe the pro can arrange to introduce you to someone you might be compatible with.  

 

[Patch]

Ask some of the employees at the course. They usually have a handle on the different personalities, and hndcps at their club. 

As for playing with better players, I welcome the chance to play with those folks who have a better game than mine. I tend to focus more on my own game, and I can usually pick up something to enhance my own game. 

Speed of play has never been an issue with me. It is what it is on any given day. As a 20 hdcp, you can always look on the ESC chart and see what your "pick up" number is. 

[ev780]

I get this as I had the same problem when I joined my first private club.

It was pretty cliquey in the beginning and I was definitely on the outside. Preset games that had been going on for years and they are pretty closed groups.  There are others like you too.  I remember talking to one guy who said he would just set quietly in the bar played a few time a week and had a hard time meeting the right people. 

Then we started a group of our own.  It turned into the men's club we have today.  It is very open and inclusive and we take pride that we bring all the new members into a social group.  If an open men's league exists then play that.  May not be the right level of competition you want right away but, you will meet a core group to play with from there and the other games will develop.  If one doesn't exist then start one. 

Me I play with anybody. My regular group, the old curmudgeon group, the "players" once in a while (although I don't belong there they humor me), and most importantly and the main reason for joining a private club, I can play a leisurely solo round and get in quality on course practice. Jump around holes, play a hole twice if you don't like the result the first time, play 4 holes for no reason, and emergency nine if needed, second, maybe 3rd balls.  

[BuckeyeNut]

16 hours ago, iceman777 said:

Whats the best way to get involved with golfers of the same skill level at a new club ?. Am looking at joining a club in Aiken SC . I play about 2-3 times a week , may be 27 holes ,. Handicap is about 20 . I really don't enjoy playing with real low handicappers , as I always feel I'll slow them up if I start going badly . I am not a slow player and simply pick up once I m at a snowman . thanks

Seriously...don't worry.  Join the club and show up to play and play often!   You'll find the playing partners you seek in short order.  this isn't a difficult process..........

[Smidd4]

17 hours ago, iceman777 said:

Whats the best way to get involved with golfers of the same skill level at a new club ?. Am looking at joining a club in Aiken SC . I play about 2-3 times a week , may be 27 holes ,. Handicap is about 20 . I really don't enjoy playing with real low handicappers , as I always feel I'll slow them up if I start going badly . I am not a slow player and simply pick up once I m at a snowman . thanks

As I just went through this same perdiciment this year, I can tell you what I did. I played a lot of solo rounds. After about a month I started asking to be paired up with people and I didn't care how good they were. I was terrible but really enjoyed playing more than I cared that I looked like a jackass so I just kept at it. I personally am really good with people and always have been so I found it easy to keep meeting people. I also learned that most of the golfers don't mind playing with someone of lesser skill so long as they are good company. So my advice to you is just keep showing up and join men's league if it's available and your network will grow before you know it. Before long you will have more games available to you than you know what to do with. I attribute my eventual friendship with several low single players to helping me drop from a 24 to 12.7 last year. 

[DutchGolf]

9 hours ago, Smidd4 said:

As I just went through this same perdiciment this year, I can tell you what I did. I played a lot of solo rounds. After about a month I started asking to be paired up with people and I didn't care how good they were. I was terrible but really enjoyed playing more than I cared that I looked like a jackass so I just kept at it. I personally am really good with people and always have been so I found it easy to keep meeting people. I also learned that most of the golfers don't mind playing with someone of lesser skill so long as they are good company. So my advice to you is just keep showing up and join men's league if it's available and your network will grow before you know it. Before long you will have more games available to you than you know what to do with. I attribute my eventual friendship with several low single players to helping me drop from a 24 to 12.7 last year. 

This is true. Your handicap and ability doesn't matter that much. Just keep up the pace, show some interest in talking with them and watch them! I find it very useful to play with skilled players, and sometime they give me some advice on my game, but only when I ask.

[Pendragon]

12 hours ago, BuckeyeNut said:

Seriously...don't worry.  Join the club and show up to play and play often!   You'll find the playing partners you seek in short order.  this isn't a difficult process..........

I'd agree. It's not really that tough. If you start as a single, you'll get paired up with others, and it won't take long before you've found some guys that you enjoy playing with...and who enjoy playing with you. 

[Dave2512]

Yeah just get out and play you will meet people just being there. 

[dak4n6]

GO PLAY! (I forgot who said that). 

Seriously, just start playing as a single and you will start getting paired up, and before you know it you will have a bunch of new contacts in your cell phone and you'll be a 'regular' in one or more groups of guys. That's truly one of the great things about golf. Unless you're a true jerk, it's actually very hard to keep golfers apart from each other.

[Lefty-Golfer]

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2016 at 9:46 AM, iceman777 said:

Whats the best way to get involved with golfers of the same skill level at a new club ?. Am looking at joining a club in Aiken SC . I play about 2-3 times a week , may be 27 holes ,. Handicap is about 20 . I really don't enjoy playing with real low handicappers , as I always feel I'll slow them up if I start going badly . I am not a slow player and simply pick up once I m at a snowman . thanks

Check with the proshop about some of the "open" games. most clubs have mens day events where it is a blind draw for teams or partners. They may reserve a couple of T times on the weekend first out for open games as well. You get to meet people, I find that similar HC's tend to gravitate to form groups out of these types of events.

I can tell you this, the most important thing you can do is keep up. Sure some guys will hate giving you 6 a side or whatever the number is but if you are a fun guy, part of the group and don't hold play not many will care what your number is as long as it is honest.

As a courtesy to the course and club you should pick up after 8 regardless of you are playing with. the absolute longest it should take to play a round at a private club is 4 hours and that better be due to a full course. 330 is pretty typical for a slow day at my club. Some of the caddy only clubs play little bit slower but you get the idea.

[WUTiger]

I play at a semi-private club in the senior group. They play 2 or 3 times a week -especially the retirees - when the weather is warm, and I can work in rounds twice a month. Occasionally we make a "road trip" to another course.

It was easy for me to get in, because the guys just put my name on their mailing list. Each week the e-mail would come out, telling how many tee times we had. Then, people would sign up for specific days. We normally had an extra tee time to give back, so access wasn't a problem.

Cracking an established foursome is difficult, but if you have a group of golfers that fill four tee times on a given day, it's easier to get in.  

[9wood]

On 1/8/2016 at 9:46 AM, iceman777 said:

 Handicap is about 20 . I really don't enjoy playing with real low handicappers , as I always feel I'll slow them up if I start going badly . 

My handicap is about the same as yours but I enjoy playing with low handicappers. The low handicappers are better able to diagnose what's wrong with my game. Low handicappers have taught me valuable lessons on my chipping game and my set up and stance, etc, which have helped me to improve. And I have never been made to feel as if I am slowing anyone down, especially since we normally have to wait for those playing in front of us to finish the hole.

[ay33660]

I am in the membership committee at my club.

In general I would expect that the club you are joining is just as interested in making sure you find a good group to play with.

If the membership committee meets with you prior to joining make sure that you ask them about finding groups to play with.

When you join the club make sure you seek out the head pro, sit down with him and give him an idea of the kind of golfers you would like to play with and when you would like to play.

The pros at the course will know which groups are good with new members and which are not.

As long as you are knowledgeable on etiquette and most of the rules you should have no problems playing with low cappers. After all I have heard that only 25% of golfers are single digits so it is very likely that they will end up playing with high cappers at some point.

 

 

[Scratchman]

Don't worry!!  The truth is that low handicappers do not mind who they play with, as long as they are cheerful and enjoy the game. I have found over the many years I have played golf (60+ years now!!) that often the most cheerful people to play with are not low handicappers, who tend to be too serious about what is simply a game. 

Enjoy yourself and people will want to play with you. 

[9wood]

For those who are High HC golfers who are afraid of playing with Low HC golfers for fear that they might slow up the low HC golfers. In my personal experience, the low HC golfers always play slower than I do because they like to take a lot of extra shots. Nevertheless the lessons you can learn from a low HC golfer are well worth the outing.