Rude Playing partners.

[Bflynn23]

Wow I would have lost it. I never let people I just met on the course use my clubs usually unless we've been talking for a while and he's cool. the only people I even let touch my clubs unless they are family or friends. Rude maybe, but oh well.

[MrKadash]

and he also asked to use my brand new driver on the first hole, saying he broke the last one over his knee.

I would have laughed at him and said no. He must have lost some brain cells to actually think you would let him use your driver after he had busted his last off his knee... but then again, you did anyway...

[JessN16]

Yeah, definitely take this as a lesson learned about loaning out clubs.

I showed up one day at a public course, me and a friend. We start to head out to the course and the starter says, "We're putting you with another group."

The course wasn't particularly crowded, so we asked to be allowed to play as a twosome but were told we could not. This was after we had already paid, conveniently enough.

So we get lined up with these guys and immediately, they wanted to play for money. Well, we didn't want to do that, so that was strike one. Strike two stemmed from the fact I was 25 and the time and my friend 27, and these guys were both in their 40s/50s, and I could tell they didn't want to be out there with "kids."

We get to the first tee and all of a sudden, it smells like someone died. I turn around and look and they've both got cheap cigars lit. They talked during our shots, didn't observe the 90-degree rule with carts and were generally pains in the butt. Forget green courtesy; they did everything but perform "Riverdance" right there in our putting lines.

When we finished up, I went to the clubhouse and informed them we'd never be back. That was 10 years ago, haven't been back. I'll play with strangers when it's necessary or when I get to pick which ones I go off with, but this was ridiculous.

Jess

[joshtpa]

Yeah, definitely take this as a lesson learned about loaning out clubs.

In FL, being paired at public courses happens every weekend. You never would get to choose your "strangers". The smell of cigars is not really something to get too upset about. I mean after all, cigars and golf go hand and hand together. As for everything else, that is tough. Talking and walking in lines is not acceptable.

[Garnet Haze]

I have to admit that I've had very few golfers added to my group that I thought were jerks. Most golfers I've met have been great to talk to during the round and were generally fun playing partners. Some were better than others, but I haven't played with too many that were rude enough to borrow clubs and then slam them on the ground.

However...several years ago, before I started to play golf seriously, I took my girlfriend's father out for a round of golf. He was an avid golfer and I was going to do the traditional gesture of asking for his permission to marry his daughter. I figured a round of golf would give us a chance to talk. We get to the course and get paired up with a single. This guy was in his late 20's - early 30's and looked pretty serious about his golf. Their was a foursome in front of us, and this single kept hitting into them all day. Finally, we get to the green on one of the holes on the back 9, and one guy in the foursome in front of us stomps back towards us with an iron in hand. He starts yelling at the single in our group about how he hits into them. The single then yells back at him (shut your mouth, go back to your tee box, etc.). Then the angry guy yells back to his friends for support, since this has now apparently escalated into a rumble. Angry guy then starts to attack the single with his iron, just swinging it at him by not hitting him. My future father-in-law and I go over to break it up and angry guy's friends come over to help restrain their partner. Eventually cooler heads prevail, but the whole time I kept thinking 'all I wanted to do was spend some time with my girlfriend's dad and we end up getting into a brawl on the freakin' golf course'. Anyway, my FIL and I laugh about it now.

[DGart09]

That does genuinely suck. I've been pretty lucky, as well, with playing partners that were strangers. Normally this will happen if I catch up to a single or two-some, I normally play alone. They will usually absorb me and we have a good time. I've never let a stranger touch my clubs, let alone swing them. No offense, but I think I'd have to be inebriated or high to let that happen, but then again, I am very untrusting when it comes to sharing my investment.

Is this practice normal in most clubs where a starter will pair up strangers? I've never seen this happen, but then again, the clubs I go to are normally not busy.

[JessN16]

In FL, being paired at public courses happens every weekend. You never would get to choose your "strangers". The smell of cigars is not really something to get too upset about. I mean after all, cigars and golf go hand and hand together. As for everything else, that is tough. Talking and walking in lines is not acceptable.

I usually don't care about being paired up. If the course is busy, it's a foregone conclusion.

However, 99 percent of the time, the issue of pairing up comes up before you pay. The guy will ask, "you are aware that you'll probably be paired up," and you accept it. No one asked us at this course, they just took our money and that was it. The worst part, though, was that it was unnecessary. We had a four-hole cushion in front of us. We would never have gotten close to the group in front of us before the turn, and if we had, we could have gone around them then. If the course is crowded, sure, introduce me to new people -- I'll probably like them. But if there's no reason to do it, why do it? Jess

[Dub]

Wow, that fact you put up with that guy, is nuts, to be honest. I would've said, sorry, but I'm going to find a different spot on the course, or, you can go ahead of me. No way in hell I'd play with someone like that.

Exactly.....same here. Free time to golf is a scarce commodity. I can't see letting a jerk like that ruin the experience for me.

No thanks.

[joshtpa]

I usually don't care about being paired up. If the course is busy, it's a foregone conclusion.

Most courses around here just prefer to have foursomes out there. It is much easier to monitor time and pace of play that way.

[tjy355]

... He starts yelling at the single in our group about how he hits into them. The single then yells back at him (shut your mouth, go back to your tee box, etc.). Then the angry guy yells back to his friends for support, since this has now apparently escalated into a rumble. Angry guy then starts to attack the single with his iron, just swinging it at him by not hitting him. My future father-in-law and I go over to break it up and angry guy's friends come over to help restrain their partner. ...

Yikes! I think I would have let them have at it while I snuck on up to the next hole, teed off and kept going. LOL!