Incredible playing partners

I've been walking on alone during the weekdays lately. And have been paired up with all kinds of characters. Some have made my round so enjoyable, and others have made me wish I stayed home that day, even if green fees were free!. This Monday, a great example. I get paired up with 2 other singles on a beautiful day at San Jose Muni.(A very easy, wide open course). Dont get me wrong, I'm no goody 2 shoes, but I am very laid back and really love my time on the golf course. Having golfed over 20 yrs. Ive been around alot also and never considered myself judgemental in any way. But some guys give me the creeps right off.... First guy says 'I hope you guys dont mind, I'm a beginner and not very good'. I say 'there aren't any pro's out here, everybody is a beginner at some point' The second guy jumps in about hating playing with beginners. If you cant keep up you should go home, etc. We play the first 2 holes. I par, par. The beginner bogey, bogey. Very simple smooth swing, no experience but trying real hard and a very nice guy. The jerk is all over the place. Swinging real hard and hacking terrible. Very angry. The beginner and I are walking together and he's asking alot of questions very politely. I really dont like giving advice but the jerk keeps jumping in trying to give advice while he's in his stance etc. Anyways on the 9th I'm at even par and beginner is shooting his best ever. On our approach shots the jerk sends his ball into the lake and says 'f--- you guys!' and walks straight to his car. The back 9 was one of my most enjoyable I can remember. The guy just had a baby bla bla. We really hit it off. Anyways, on the way home I'm thinking what if it was just me and that jerk together for 18 holes. One of my most pleasant afternoons would have been one of my worst. I can't believe somebody could get that angry on a golf course. I love golf so much, I cant imagine becoming that angry at a place where we are supposed to have the most fun. Anybody else run into Dr Evil on the course?

Great story, lucky you that the jerk went home :)

There is one member at my club that starts throwing around his irons after a couple of holes if he misses par. Mind you he is around a 20 handicapper. I try to stay away from him on the course. Most of the members at my club are fairly enjoyable playing partners, have the same vision of the game as you mention, enjoying the round. People who are too hooked on maintaining some pre-imagined goal for the round and usually are very vocal about it, I tend to stay away from. When that goal is not achieveable for them they usually self destruct and want to take everyone around them down with them.

My club is fairly small in member numbers, so I usually have good choices when it comes to playing partners, here we register 2-3 days ahead on the web for tee times.

Yes, some weeks ago.

Our course is a short 9-hole Par29 , so usually you manage to get through in 80-90 minutes as a foursome. My girlfriend and me were playing with another couple - she was very quite, just a beginner, but kept up quite easily, he was also very nice (at the beginning), although he's been telling his wife what to do, all the time (I can't stand that). At the 5th hole (par3), his teeshot hops some 15 meters, his 2nd goes straight over the green into some bushes (you won't find your ball very often there). That was the time, the casual round turned around. He started cursing at nearly every shot and totally lost his game. The climax came at the last hole. His first shot found the rough (10" high), with a safety net between the ball and the green. Nobody would try to pop the ball out _under_ the net, it's only a 30cm gap there. Of course he does, hits the net, ball in same position as before. He really shouted at his wife (she quitely asked him to lay it out) then proceded to hit a backhanded baseballhit at the ball, which screems over the fairway and green with a wild roar. Completely out of his mind ATM. After the round, my GF were wondering, if he's the type of guy who hits his wife, wouldn't make us wondering, if he did... greetings michi

Well, maybe not Dr. Evil, but more like...Gibert Gottfried on amphetamines. My buddy and I had a single thrown in with us at Delta View (Pittsburg, CA muni). I think his name was "Bob." (Edit, checked email, yes it's BOB) Turns out everyone knows Bob and few will play with him. We didn't know this. Anyway, "Bob" comments on every single shot you take, talks during your swing, walks on your line, hits away your lag putts and says "that's good", hits your ball out of the fairway instead of his, drives his cart right up to the green, is apparantly so crude that the cart girls don't stop for him (or us, since we were all together), and talks NONSTOP. My usually unflappable playing partner was about to kill him. It was so bad it just got funny by the end.

Fast forward a couple of months...we are checking in and the guy says "We're going to put a single in with you." I said "Sure, as long is it's not that ••••ing BOB •••••••. If it's him, I'll kill him on the first tee with my 5-iron."

"Why don't you fellas just go on ahead then..."

We saw him later with some twosome and boy did they look miserable.

lol at the bob story :)

i used to have a friend that would do and say anything to get under someones skin.
this was when we were just getting into golf a few years back...so we were shooting above 100 usually.
these days im on the hunt to break 80

anyway, this guy would stand in your shot, sometimes yell out..and be freaking out all the time.

he has left his own golf tournament before :) he couldnt leave the place as we were his ride, but he organised and got us all on planes to florida...and then stormed off, and satin the cart the rest of the day...lol

i dont let anything bother me, i had rented clubs that day and shot a 93...back then that was a best score for me :)

My local club i met a few fella's there that i really enjoy playing with. They are bogey golfers but so laid back. They just enjoy playing and it makes the game fun. I've never played with someone i hated yet.

I've played as a single lots in my life. I enjoy it for the most part. I've know this guy, Carl, who I've been paired up with a few times. He is such a pleasure to be around. I've played with him a couple of times.

I've had a few bad experiences but not many. I keep to myself as a single and play my own game. I never give advice unless they ask for it. That is just rude regardless of how bad they are. The course isn't the place for new swing thoughts.

I really like meeting new people and playing with strangers.

I will throw a few curse words out there, but only usually lasts for a shot or two, if i still have a bad day then i will tend to just be very serious and quiet. Usually when i get that way no one talks to me, i tend to give off that aura of dont come with in 10 feet. I never lashed out at anyone before for giving me advice, i will tend to just say, thanks i'll consider that and not bother with it again.

Never played with a guy who is hard to get along with or really lashes out on the course.

cant stand that sh*t
why get all stressed out and ruin the round for other people??? really....

mitts would have been dropped on number nine if dude didnt walk off.......i dont have the patience for that crap
especially w a newbie....the newbies are what is keeping our sport alive, his attitude would make most new golfers want to quit

at the Bob story.

Jaywun - I had similar experiences at SJ muni when I lived out there. Played with some great folks, but also met one of the biggest jerks I've ever played with there. Random pairing with some guy who was just rude. Made the rest of the group miserable.

I spent a lot of evenings practicing under the lights there.

Fat Slice THATS HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow I think we're talkin' the same guy! Too funny

IF some random ever did this to me there would be a really good exchange. If he did it more than 1x I would be screaming at him. Probably tell him to just play ahead and ill play bymyself or with those behind us.

While as a single last season I played through a few holes as it was twilight and ended up with a group of 3 older guys (probably 30's/early 40's) that were awesome and allowed me to play through. I had my driver on fire that day so when I hit a 300 yd drive dead center they started jabbing at me and eventually I ended up playing with those 3 guys the rest of the round in a semi-competitive way.

I'm always excited seeing who I get paired with when I play solo.

I very rarely play solo just because of some bad experiences like everybody is talking about here. Getting paired with a raving idiot takes all the pleasure out of the game. This one was my worst experience: One of the munis I used to play put out fivesomes whenever possible, so even if you had a foursome of friends you still ran the chance of having a solo paired up with you. We showed up with a foursome one day and sure enough, they sent a solo out with us. He was one of those golfers who thinks he's a lot better than he actually is and takes himself very seriously. Real arrogant and we quickly learned that he had a very bad temper - swearing and throwing clubs every time he didn't hit a perfect shot (which was pretty much every shot), pouting in between shots, etc. We were sick of him after three holes and nearly out of our minds by the time we made the turn. A couple holes later he missed a long putt, yelled an expletive and slammed his putter into the green toe-first, burying it in the green clear up to the shaft. That was the straw that broke the camel's back - all four of us went ballistic on him and he apologized profusely as he attempted to repair the damage he had caused. We told him to go ahead and play through by himself - he apologized and said he'd cool it, but we told him there was no way we were playing even one more hole with him. I've had both good and bad experiences being paired with strangers before and since, but that was by far the worst.

Bad manners on a golf course is unforgivable, a friend of mine sometimes throws his clubs further than he can hit the ball, he can build him self up into such a rage, I really don't know how he enjoys golf at all .
I play him for cash so when he starts to loose it I just smile.
Playing with a crazy friend is one thing, but playing with crazy strangers is madness.
I have been lucky so far, but if I had to play with some of the knobs described above I would let them know the errors of their way quickly.

Yes I have, and it came from a co-worker who is the nicest guy ever. We were in a work league together. He had just moved here from L.A. Totally nice guy, would give you the shirt off of his back. We got to the 7th hole of our first match of the season and he made a bad shot and then all hell broke loose. He went on a 2-3 minute cussing spree and a few of us had to actually take his club out of his hand. Our company's HR man happened to be a hole over came over to talk to him about embarrasing the company. He settled down, started laughing and continued. I thought maybe he has a mental handicap. He just quit coming to work one day. Never did hear what happened. But yes, you never know who you will be paired up with.
Had a newly wed couple ask me if I was Garth Brooks one day. lol Been told I look like him but never asked if I was him. lol

About five years ago I went out as a single, early, and got paired with a married couple in their 80s. They couldn't do much but bat the ball about 100 yards at a time, but they were out there for their exercise and were the nicest people I have ever played golf with. They were in love with each other, they treated me like their son. They gave me the best model possible for how to treat players we get thrown together with for two hours or for four, and I hope I am living up to their example.

Even though he wasn't a random, my friend's cousin brought along his buddy when my other friend bailed.


-We were whispering from the cart. A good 5-10 yards away from the tee box hardly audible to us, let alone him. Hits a bad shot and FREAKS out on us.
-On multiple occasions complained about taking any gimmes. He finished every . single. hole. We get it bro, you're playing for the US Open in late november on a public course in New Jersey.
-Was touting about his 7.5° '$500' driver. Then hits a slice so massive pretty sure it landed in the clubhouse. Kid didn't get the memo about difference in shafts I guess.
-Then called me out on my score at the end of the round just because I ended up way under his.


I'll pass next time I know he's playing with us, that's for sure.