Am I in the wrong here?

[mruseless]

I'm in the crowd that thinks you didn't do anything wrong, but I'm wondering why the group behind wouldn't play through... They started out jumping ahead of you, why not stay ahead and play hole #1 after #18?

I can be a bit of an ass myself sometimes (or so my wife tells me). I probably would have used my own stopwatch and puttered around every green until I hit the 15 minute mark, just to piss them off even more. I know, I know, not very cool. But sometimes you have to give a little back too.

[DaleMac]

Anyway, what the guy was doing sounds bad, but he didn't actually come up and tell you what the times were, right? Maybe he was having a bet with his friend or something. Still pretty "jerky" but not off the scale.

Wow...I think what he was doing is way off the scale. Timing them on every hole when the course is a ghost town? Seriously? Given the situation as described in the OP's story, that guy sounds like a serious douche bag. The way I read it captain douche was even ahead them. What's the point in getting so butt-hurt over that?

Though, I do agree that the course is not the best place for lessons with a beginner. However, nobody pushing you? No harm no foul.

[sacm3bill]

...spending six straight months on the range just seems a bit excessive to me, unless of course that's what they want to do.

I wish people would stop focusing on the "6 months" number. I'm just saying that, for me at least, topping the balls down the fairway is not fun, whether you're holding people up or not... and more time on the range first might make being on course much more enjoyable. It was just too stressful for me being on the course and having to choose between either being slow or picking up because I wasn't hitting it consistently enough. It just happened to take me 6 months of going to the range off and on before I reached my comfort level.

[ZTB17]

I had a similar experience my first time out. I was just learning to play and we let 2 older people play through. They subsequently got backed up by a slow group of 6 senior citizens who took there time and wouldn't let anyone play through them. we ended up in the middle of a traffic jam on 7 because of the douches and who should get yelled at but us???? The manager comes down and threatens to kick us off the course and tells us to speed it up or else.(i remind you its these old geezers holding up play) I got heated and told this prick that if he wants to give me back my twenty bucks i'll leave and never set foot on his precious course again if i'm this big of a problem and he got real crappy then. He told me to finish my golf and he doesn't do refunds to kids because they don't know how to play.

[bigphil]

I think sometimes minimum wage employee likes to show off their authority.

Dude....I HATE that!!!!! It happens way more than it should...I just laugh to myself and think "is this guy serious? shut your pie hole!" granted i would not be to happy working for pennies a day and driving a hoopty.

[b-squared]

Maybe, but we weren't slowing other groups down, hitting multiple balls or playing any holes twice.

Regardless, the course is still not the place to teach anything, that's why there's a driving range, teach him there.

A bit off-topic, but something others have hinted at: do your friend a favor and have him get lessons. If you're a 22, you likely have little business watching your friend's swing unless he's having you look at something specifically.

That's what I'd suggest to do as well. Have your friend get lessons. Not to be rude, but it will benefit him more rather than having a 22 handicap teach him something that may not even be correct. Have him get lessons, he'll enjoy the game a lot more if he knows what he's doing more often.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that the person who timed you still did the negative thing. However, I don't support how you " taught " your friend at the course .

[iacas]

Don't get me wrong, I believe that the person who timed you still did the negative thing. However, I don't support how you "

Ditto. The two are separate events. If you want to get out there, go out and play. I wouldn't even want a tip from a pro if I was ever playing in a pro-am unless he wanted to go with me to the range afterwards to share it with me.

[Big_M]

I wish people would stop focusing on the "6 months" number. I'm just saying that, for me at least, topping the balls down the fairway is not fun, whether you're holding people up or not... and more time on the range first might make being on course much more enjoyable. It was just too stressful for me being on the course and having to choose between either being slow or picking up because I wasn't hitting it consistently enough. It just happened to take me 6 months of going to the range off and on before I reached my comfort level.

I wasn't trying to "focus" on the six months thing.... in fact I wasn't even reading your post when I made the comment... I must have picked that number because some other peoiple mentioned it... and as I said to each their own, I just know that I didn't want my wife to have to hit the range for six months before she played as she was excited about the idea of actually playing on a course. I think it's great if someone has enough patientce to practice something for six months before actually doing it... I just think that the vast majority of people would want to play sooner and the method I described was one way of accomplishing such a goal without slowing down play or making that person feel pressure or negativity about how they were playing.

[Doctorfro]

To me, your stopwatch friends need to get a life. That's just stupid. There's no debate here.

[MrKadash]

To me, your stopwatch friends need to get a life. That's just stupid. There's no debate here.

Ditto that, and I would have told them as such...

[TigerCurtis333]

That's what I'd suggest to do as well. Have your friend get lessons. Not to be rude, but it will benefit him more rather than having a 22 handicap teach him something that may not even be correct. Have him get lessons, he'll enjoy the game a lot more if he knows what he's doing more often.

If you were learning to play baseball, would you only learn from a guy who is in the hall of fame? Or would you still learn from a guy who knows the game and has had articles published on it, but may not be talented in the sport himself? I feel you're making a judgment on too little information, hence, just my own personal handicap. I don't know half as much as a tour pro, like techy information or situations, but I can get him started and he knows it. Plus, I can still recall everything that Bill taught me in 8 lessons two years ago, so anything that he would have told him, this friend of mine already knows. So at least in my area, I'm good to go.

What I don't understand is how a guy will play a hole twice all day with no one behind him, and we weren't. I didn't jip them out of money, or even play a second ball after a bad shot. Just stopped the newcomber into between a couple of shots to adjust something. It takes the same amount of time, except I'm not cheating the club out of money and am helping a newbie. But thanks to all for the responses, I appreciate the help. I don't know who the other two were, probably the owner and a coworker, but I don't care to find out. I drive 5 minutes to this golf course, and literally pass two courses on the way while another is just a turn to the left, plus another 10 minutes down the road. Not a smart move with that kind of competition around.

[mruseless]

I drive 5 minutes to this golf course, and literally pass two courses on the way while another is just a turn to the left, plus another 10 minutes down the road. Not a smart move with that kind of competition around.

Amen to that. Give the other courses your business, and make sure to let Mr. Stopwatch know exactly why your business is going elsewhere.

[TigerCurtis333]

I'm going up there tomorrow...One step ahead of ya haha.