Bad Play, Walking Off Mid Round

Anyone have thoughts on such an issue?  Do you find it to be terribly poor form?  You have played 5, 8, maybe 12 holes and realize your time is better spent at the range instead, so just calling it a day before finishing the 9 you are on?

Do you think it makes a difference between calling it quits after 9 compared to 4/9 or 15/18?

I've never walked off the course I might quit and just go through the motions but, never walked off.  I have two buddies that everytime I play with them especially one I'm amazed if he actually finishes the round.  I've seen him walk off many times

I suppose I would like to clarify that I feel showing any sort of disdain on the course is poor form.  That said, if I have shanked the last 4 shots resulting in posting an 8 for a par 4, I feel terribly defeated.

I can get over that enough mentally to move on to the next hole, but if I end up putting up a 7 or 8 on the next hole, then I would rather just go to the club house, watch some TV, and then get to the range to figure out where things went sour.

Gotta learn to enjoy the time you have out there. It took me a while to realize this but no matter how crappy my round I haven't even reached the parking lot before I dreaming and planning for my next round. Just love the time your out there.

A crappy day on the course is light years better than a great day at work!

The local club is beautiful, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.  Would also agree that it tops work most of the time.

That said, I recently seem to be having more and more rounds where it seems to be nothing more than a good walk spoiled.

Can't say anything about it from a golfing perspective, but the old adage says that winners never quit.

And I haven't come across anything in life where quitting is beneficial - except when the activity itself is inherently destructive.

I've done it in three types of situations: injury, terrible play following lesson, and group pressure.

One time my back started really hurting on a cold day when I didn't warm up properly...  or I hit a drain pipe blasting out of a bunker and hurt my wrist... or I broke a 3-iron shaft hitting a tree root in the rough, and jammed my left elbow. A week later the elbow was still hurt, and I dropped out of a local tournament amid round 2 because I started flinching every time I hit down on an iron shot.

Lessons: If I am trying to apply something new following a lesson, and my swing falls apart, I've quit after nine a couple of times... especially if the course is crowded, I don't want to become a speedbump. Also, I didn't want to reinforce bad habits when I'm changing things. If I went to the range the next day, I could usually figure out the problem in about 5 minutes.

Group Pressure: Haven't seen this in the St. Louis area, but in another state the local golfers had a lot of rude, in-your-face players. One day the starter put me in with some low-HDCP hard cases, and I shot a 45 on the front with a couple of double bogies. At the turn, one guy said, "Why don't you just bag it for today? You're really slowin' us down... " (I wasn't...)  I told him it was pretty sad that golf was the only thing he did well in life, and then I walked away. He followed me for a couple of steps until his friend restrained him. I waited at No. 10 tee and joined up with two guys I knew when they made the turn. (This course had about two dozen hard-case guys that played there regularly)

One of the things I love about golf is that it is such a great social game. All kinds of players, all kinds of skill levels can play the game together and have a great time. We're all playing our game and hopefully having fun doing it. Sorry to hear you got put into a group with such a f'ing douche bag(s).

Unbelievable.

What a POS.

Hey look. I paid my greens fees. If I want to play all 18 or 9 or 12 or freekin one ...what's it to you? It's none of your business.

I'm sure you will have an opinion of me if I do leave early, but that's none of my business.

The only exception is if we're playing for something. In that instance, I concede all remaining bets, pay up & go. If it's skins or something, we'll negotiate something I'm sure.

But if I want to leave I'm leaving.

I tried to play 18 at a new course on Friday. I got stuck behind 4 guys who would rather chat it up and run their game on the college girl driving the beverage cart than golf. It took them 25 minutes to play each hole. They also would not let me play through. I had to leave after 13 to pick up the boys from school. Completely frustrating.

I don't see any "moral" reason for a solo golfer (alone or grouped up by the starter) not to quit in the middle of a casual round. If, for whatever reason, you're not enjoying yourself out there, call it a day.

If you're playing with a group or if you're part of a competition, then I think you have something of a duty to play it out for the sake of the rest of the group or for the competition.

Golf is unique in that it is frequently played as "solitaire." In other sports, you've always got an opponent and/or a team. In those situations, you owe it to your opponent to have the sportsmanship to let him finish beating you if he's got the better game that day, and you owe it to your teammates to stand by them for the entire game. But if it's just you, I don't see the issue.

That said, I don't advocate quitting due to frustration. In some cases, I think it's a good experience. I don't think I've ever skipped more than a hole or two out of frustration (I think I may have skipped the 9th hole of a 9 hole round once). I tried to quit during a round with a friend once. It went on to be my worst round ever, by a good couple dozen strokes, but my friend made me sit in the cart while he flagged the cart girl down. (That is also, I believe, the only time I've had a beer on the course. It helped my attitude, if not my game.)

And the person whose card you're marking then has to get someone else to swap it all over and....Oh  hang on. I'll bet noone's ever marked your card in your golfing career.

And yoiu can be damned sure that if you walk off mid round the guys you leave, in addition to being relieved of your compant will have an opinion. Luckily for you, you won;t be around to hear it.

In my experience, anyone who lwaves for reasons other than it pouring with rain or injury is perceived as a complete dickhead.

If I'm playing by myself and don't feel like finishing, I won't. If I'm playing with other people then I'll suck it up.

What I really do dislike is being stuck out on the course with someone having a bad day who mopes and sulks all the way round. If you're going to be like that, please feel free to give everyone else a break and walk off.

though I've never done it I could see where it is possible....I mean if I'm or someone else I'm playing with is having a horrible day on the course why put the other players in the group through what could be HELL with a bad/poor attitude with yelling hollering and my favorite cursing everything under the sun.....as someone stated above.."You piad for the round..it's your $$$$$"   who am I to tell you want to do?

So in that situation, what's the worse that could happen if you just played through anyway?

First off, what the f are you talking about? I'm talking about a casual round with my buds or I get paired with someone on the tee or whatever.

If by 'marking cards' you mean someone keeping my score, only in competition have I had that. And I've never quit a competitive (i.e. tournament) round. So I have avoided this apparently critical/vital 'marking cards' you speak of.

And yes. I am sure if I leave mid-round those I leave will have an opinion of me. Ask me if I care - 'Oh no, I can't leave...they might think I'm a dickhead'

Again. I paid my greens fees. I can stay or leave. It's none of your business.