How Noise Sensitive Are You?

[Sandy Lie]

Noise, does it impact your game?  What kind of noise?  In other sports noise from fans is a constant thing, I’ve played baseball (pitcher) and basketball.  What noise? I couldn’t hear anything in those sports during the games. It surrounds you in those sports and in football and soccer too.  But golf is different.  We are supposed to exercise a level of etiquette when another person is striking the ball.

For me noises on the course that are beyond anyone’s control such as mowers, blowers, maintenance carts, people on adjacent fairways, cars on nearby roads, horns, trains don’t bother me at all.  Noise within the group is what bothers me.  Hearing a noise just before that moment of impact can make my blood boil.  And some of my playing partners deliberately do it down the stretch when the betting gets tight, it can at times get ugly. Now don’t get me wrong, playing with Mr. Jingles who subconsciously has to play with his tees in his pocket or Mr. Break Release (no explanation needed) or Mr. Whispers who can’t stop talking I can play through that.  It’s something I’ve “HAD” to get used too.

I wish I could wear earplugs but the rules of golf say no.  So what bothers you? Or perhaps nothing does.

[FlyingAce]

Loud people and loud music bothers me. If We are not playing together and I can hear them, they are too loud...

[iacas]

Out of the ordinary stuff can be annoying, but if people are chatting and it's just a constant noise, that doesn't annoy.

[billchao]

Noise doesn’t bother me. I’m one of those guys that will take my swing in the middle of having a conversation. I played a lot of golf on a course next to an interstate; there were three holes right along the highway where you’d hear road noises pop up at random times. Maybe that experience conditioned me to not care about noise.

[David in FL]

Other than a very loud, sharp, noise right as I start a downswing, absolutely nothing bothers me.  I’ll hold a conversation during my swing...

[dennyjones]

19 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Other than a very loud, sharp, noise right as I start a downswing, absolutely nothing bothers me.  I’ll hold a conversation during my swing...

this....

[Buckeyebowman]

I once had a "buddy" crack a can of beer at the very top of my backswing. I jerked the drive left into a pond! On occasion someone putting on a nearby green will give a yell when they sink a putt. I'll blow that shot! It's a sudden, sharp, nearby noise that will cause me to flinch. A noise off the course won't bother me. 

[billchao]

8 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

A noise off the course won't bother me. 

You must not have ever played next to a highway if you’re saying this. If somebody cracking a can of beer can bother you, I’m not sure how you’d handle a tractor trailer going by at 70mph hitting a pothole or slamming on their horn in the middle of your swing.

I probably wouldn’t even hear my buddy cracking a can of beer open during my swing - though I might notice if there was only one crack and not two 😉

[DeadMan]

As long as it’s not a sudden noise, it doesn’t really bother me. 

[uitar9]

The only noise that bothers me is the social conversation of the group ahead of me as they "wait for the green to clear" on a par 4, and they all hit about 200 yards.

[Patch]

Nothing (noise wise) has ever bothered me when on the course playing, and/or practicing. My preshot routine won't allow for any of those types of distractions. 

Distractions for me are usually something visual. Something like a wild animal, or reptile running/crawling across the fairway in front of me. A bug of some sort flying around my face. That type of stuff will take me out of the moment, and have me start my routine again. 

[mcanadiens]

It has to be pretty egregious to really fluster me. 

One place that can be a problem happens on No. 15 of Kittyhawk's Hawk Course. That tee box sits about 15 feet and one fence away from Wagoner Ford Rd. Some of the funny guys speeding down that road will lay on the horn if they see someone teeing off. 

 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

When I play early (dew sweeper times) the greenskeepers know that I prefer them to continue mowing... don't stop for me.  A constant noise is no problem.

Not so for one of my golfing buddies... he needs total quiet... "Shut up you birds!"  But any noise, even the rustle of the wind in the trees, is a handy excuse for a bad shot.

[CarlSpackler]

I'm in my own little world once I step back from the ball and start my preshot routine. When people apologize to talking during my swing, I usually didn't even notice. I suppose an explosion would be distracting. Even the shenanigans by the local hillbillies that @mcanadiens referred to goes unnoticed. Having played that course so often may have trained me to tune things out.

[Yukari]

Other than unexpected loud noise, nothing bothers me.  I tend to tune everything out when I am ready to hit my shot.  Sometime people will apologize for talking during my swing, but I swear I didn't even hear them.

My buddy on the other hand is very sensitive to ANY type of noise.  He can't hit a shot if a playing partner is walking with his push cart as the cart noise bothers him.  He is one of those people that requires "QUIET" sign whenever he gets ready to hit a golfball.

[NM Golf]

Like others have said, it's mostly sudden noises that bother me. That being said, there is a group of ladies at my course that play fairly frequently on weekends in the summer. We do everything we can to avoid being directly in front or behind them. You can hear them talking and cackling 2 fairways over. They've cost me several strokes over the years, not only from well timed yells to each other, but I find it's just hard to concentrate with someone holding loud conversations within earshot. 

[BC-to-MI]

As many have mentioned, for me, it's the sudden noise in the middle of my swing that can throw me off a bit. As far as everything else goes, I'm pretty used to the constant background noise that you get during most rounds of golf. Even talking during my swing at this point is pretty much a non-factor since I've got a buddy who basically talks without stopping from the clubhouse to the parking lot after the round.

[cooke119]

Street noise, lawn mowers, etc. doesn't bother me but someone in the group talking when I'm hitting my drive or putting drives me crazy. If need be I will ask those who are talking to hold it for a minute while I hit or putt.