Was I Wrong?

[BigRedAl99]

I play most Thursdays in a Veterans competition at my club in Sydney. Today I was booked in at the tail of the field (of about 45 starters) at 11:10am with one other member I did not know. 
I booked in with the pro, as usual, about 10:15, paid the competition fee and went off to practice some chipping and putting.
About 10:45 I went across to the first tee where another group of three members were teeing off, anticipating to follow them with my partner.
When I arrived, one of the group rounded on me and verbally abused me for holding them up. They had apparently been watching me chipping and had been becoming angry that I had not joined them. By the time I got there, still 20 minutes before my appointed tee time, this fellow was livid, and shouting at me. I explained to him that I was expecting to play with another member and was still not due off for another 20 minutes. 
It transpired that my intended playing partner had cancelled, and they had assumed I would be joining them to make a foursome. Unfortunately nobody, including the starter, had communicated any of this to me, even as they watched me practice chipping.
It's created a lot of ill feeling, and I'm not sure what else I could have done.
How do you think I could deal with the situation going forward in relation to the other players, particularly the angry one?

[phillyk]

24 minutes ago, BigRedAl99 said:

I play most Thursdays in a Veterans competition at my club in Sydney. Today I was booked in at the tail of the field (of about 45 starters) at 11:10am with one other member I did not know. 
I booked in with the pro, as usual, about 10:15, paid the competition fee and went off to practice some chipping and putting.
About 10:45 I went across to the first tee where another group of three members were teeing off, anticipating to follow them with my partner.
When I arrived, one of the group rounded on me and verbally abused me for holding them up. They had apparently been watching me chipping and had been becoming angry that I had not joined them. By the time I got there, still 20 minutes before my appointed tee time, this fellow was livid, and shouting at me. I explained to him that I was expecting to play with another member and was still not due off for another 20 minutes. 
It transpired that my intended playing partner had cancelled, and they had assumed I would be joining them to make a foursome. Unfortunately nobody, including the starter, had communicated any of this to me, even as they watched me practice chipping.
It's created a lot of ill feeling, and I'm not sure what else I could have done.
How do you think I could deal with the situation going forward in relation to the other players, particularly the angry one?

Welcome to TST! Thank you for sharing your experience.  That’s a tough situation.  If the starter and/or shop intended for you to join the foursome, then it’s on them for not communicating that.   But, if it was the foursome, you would think they would have introduced themselves when you were chipping.

Not sure there is a right answer for you.  Certainly, there is no simple answer for dealing with angry people other than simply ignoring them.  I guess always confirm with the starter, when available, for your grouping.

[Zippo]

I don't think there was much you could have done other than turning your back on shouter, head back to the starter, explain the issue to him and ask if there was a group of adults coming up in the rotation that you could join.

[saevel25]

58 minutes ago, BigRedAl99 said:

How do you think I could deal with the situation going forward in relation to the other players, particularly the angry one?

Unless that guy has any self awareness regarding his emotions, there is nothing you can do to stop him from being angry. If that is the case, let him carry that anger to the course and watch him self implode. 

In this situation, there is nothing you could have done. You were not informed. You showed up an adequate time before the tee time. The best thing you can do is make sure that you don't let that angry guy to influence you and your golf game. 

[BigRedAl99]

57 minutes ago, phillyk said:

Welcome to TST! Thank you for sharing your experience.  That’s a tough situation.  If the starter and/or shop intended for you to join the foursome, then it’s on them for not communicating that.   But, if it was the foursome, you would think they would have introduced themselves when you were chipping.

Not sure there is a right answer for you.  Certainly, there is no simple answer for dealing with angry people other than simply ignoring them.  I guess always confirm with the starter, when available, for your grouping.

Thanks Phil.

After one guy had yelled for a while, another guy in the group said to me "Well, you gonna play with us or what?" 
Based on the graciousness of the invitation and the level of aggro, I felt I had no option but to decline, .
I went back to tell the pro (also the starter) what had happened and he took no responsibility, so I played a practice round of 9 holes by myself, fuming a lot of the time.
As compensation, play was extremely slow and the wind was about 50mph, so while waiting on various shots I found about 20 golf balls. Karma.