playing paranoid

[jermzkill]

I just started playing and the courses are usually busy when my friends and I go (also beginners). We are all paranoid when people are behind us because we mishit all the time and we always feel like we're going slow. We often let groups pass us, I was wondering when is it proper to let someone pass? We usually let single players or doubles pass us if they are right on our tail. It seems like the older golfers are disgusted by us when they are right behind us, probably cause we're younger than everyone else playing (20 yr/old, not that young but we all look very young, like 16)... what do you guys think?

but i just can't play well when i feel paranoid. I played 2 days ago with no one behind us and it was the best round I've shot. What should I do to relieve the feelings?

[scottevans77]

Just play your game and don't look behind you. As long as you and your friends are playing at a decent pace and allow faster players to play through, don't worry about what anyone else on the course thinks of your game. Everybody on the course was a beginner at one time.

[rangerat]

Keep playing, be curtious to others use common sense (it sounds like you are now anyhow) and you'll be fine. Don't worry too much about the guys who think they own the place.

[jermzkill]

True, I'm usually good at the things I do I guess that's why I get self concious about this stuff. Also, I think my friends and I play pretty slow. Sometimes it takes up to 3 hours to finish 9 holes lol.

[telrod11]

True, I'm usually good at the things I do I guess that's why I get self concious about this stuff. Also, I think my friends and I play pretty slow. Sometimes it takes up to 3 hours to finish 9 holes lol.

OK, going to have to jump in here on this; I'm all for folks starting out, and learning the game, but you guys are going to have to do something to pick up your pace. If you are taking 3 hrs for 9, then 6 for 18, you guys are going to get KILLED by EVERYONE behind you. We all had to start somewhere, so here are a couple of suggestions for you:

Play when the course isn't busy. Practice at the range. (You can actually play the course at the range in your mind...) Limit yourselves to triple bogey, and then pick it up, if it's busy. Hope this isn't coming across as too harsh, but you have to be considerate of others when you play also..... Best of luck to you! Stay at it; You will get better!

[jermzkill]

No not at all harsh. There are 3 or 4 of us and when it took us 3 hours 2 different times. Both times there was basically no one behind us, once there was and we let him pass. Both of those times my friends hit multiple balls to practice multiple shots, I guess it's smart since we're beginners and no one else is on the course anyways. I'm not sure if that is right to do? When it is busy it'll usually take 3 of us 2 hours or less. We usually limit ourselves to 10 strokes on each hole and that maybe happens on one hole, and it's always a par 5 with a tight fairway and many water hazards.

[zeg]

You should aim to at least keep up with the group ahead of you. If you've got clear holes ahead and you're taking 3 hours for 9, that's way too slow if there is more than one group lined behind you. I figure if you let one or two groups through, that's fine. If you're letting another group through practically every other hole, you're creating a major bottleneck and need to pick up the pace.

If you're able to finish in 2 hours as a threesome, that's fine. Just don't play multiple balls/take lots of extra practice shots when the course is full, and I think that solves your problem.

[microcrayfish]

And don't worry about the old men who seem like they look down on you. Whenever there's a log jam at a course if you look a few holes ahead I'll guarantee you'll find four old men with 4 holes in front of them soon enough. They're just pissed off because they're senile and can't hit it past their shoelaces most of the time, so they don't let anybody play through. I've been held up by that sort a lot more than beginners. I'm talking about those 70+ lot for any of our more seasoned members that may take offense at that (If you're over 70 you shouldn't be online anyway, it's bad for you).

[zeg]

Yeah I meant to agree with microcf -- if you look young, there's a certain contingent of people who will treat you like shit on the course regardless of whether you deserve it or not. Unfortunately this ungentlemanly attitude is not restricted to the golf course... I got it (and still get it) worse than some because I have long hair...

Only thing you can do about it is shrug it off. The worst thing you can do is start acting like a jerk because they treat you like one. Obviously, stand up for yourself, but be polite to the *******s even if they're too rude not to return the act. And, most of all, in 40 years, try to remember that there actually were plenty of 18-30 year olds who were gentlemen in every sense of the word and don't turn into one of those jerks.

[Fourputt]

Just a point to emphasize... I've played with some really bad golfers over the years, and most of them were really no slower than anyone else on the course. I played with two women beginners a couple of months ago, and they were terrible, but they still played fast and we had no trouble finishing 9 holes in 2 hours.

The key is to play ready golf. Whoever is ready should be hitting. Don't worry about honor on the tee box, don't worry about who is away. If you are first to be ready on the tee box, tee your ball and hit. If you are the first to get to your ball in in the fairway (or rough or wherever), hit away.

As far as being paranoid, that just goes away with experience. If you are really serious about wanting to get better, take a lesson, get in some quality practice on the range and chipping green. As your game improves, the jitters about playing in front of strangers will decrease naturally.

[PiKapp23]

As a couple of people have said, play 'ready golf', meaning whoever gets to their ball first hits and be ready to hit your ball when it's your turn, rather than waiting until other players hit then going to your ball and going through normal pre-shot routine. Another thing that can help novice golfers it to hit your ball before helping others look for their ball - this just wastes a lot less time. If riding in cart, get out of cart, grab your clubs and walk to your ball rather than waiting for other players to go to their ball first, then drive you over. When you do this, be sure to take a couple clubs if you aren't sure of what awaits you, shot-wise. If you're walking, go straight to your ball (or the furthest point toward your ball you can go without being in someone else's way).

Another good rule of thumb - limit yourself to double or triple bogey, then pick up. The course is not the place to practice (especially when it's busy). When my Dad (a PGA Teaching Pro) was teaching me as a kid to play, he would often pick my ball up after a few errant shots and either drop it on green or just off green so I had to chip on. If you lose a couple drives into water or out of bounds or something of the sort, just take your ball to the green and chip or putt. While learning to play, you should still be aware of the rules, but don't be afraid to pickyour ball out of bad lies (behind trees, in divots, etc.) and move to a good spot for next shot. This not only speeds up play, but can also help you improve. You can work on those hard shots after you get better at the easy shots. You'll have more fun and become more confident, which will lead to better play. Golf should never 'not' be fun.

Other things to think about for affecting others less - play weekdays (especially late morning/early afternoon); play late afternoon/twilight (even if only for 9 holes); visit executive courses or par 3 courses (they are great for practice and are often not very busy); don't go off tee (except on par 3's) - drop balls in fairway at predetermined distance and play from there (this is a great thing to do to help new players iimprove) or play from women's or senior's tees (you might have to suck up about of your ego to do this, but for new players that's almost always a better distance than normal 'men's tees').

Probably the most important thing, though, is to practice. Go to the driving range and/or practice green and play games with your buddies. Games like putting and chipping contests on greens or hitting particular targets at range. Make it fun - if it's fun you'll improve faster and that's the goal anyway. Also, a lesson or 2 would be a good idea.

Follow some of these rules and before long you and your friends will be the one's constantly behind the players that previously were complaining about you guys playing slow.

[Pat007]

[QUOTE=Fourputt;234035]Just a point to emphasize... I've played with some really bad golfers over the years, and most of them were really no slower than anyone else on the course.


The opposite is also true. I had a friend that was a pro on the Canadian Tour, and he played so slow. I've never seen someone shoot 62 and make it look so slow and painful before. It took us 5.5 hours and we were a twosome. He would read putts from every angle, walk up and down every putt, 3-4 practice swings in the fairway, etc, etc. Its just like watching golf on tv, with the only difference being we paid to play, not get paid to play.

From what I've seen, better players are just as slow as high handicap players, if not worse.

[jermzkill]

As a couple of people have said, play 'ready golf', meaning whoever gets to their ball first hits and be ready to hit your ball when it's your turn, rather than waiting until other players hit then going to your ball and going through normal pre-shot routine. Another thing that can help novice golfers it to hit your ball before helping others look for their ball - this just wastes a lot less time. If riding in cart, get out of cart, grab your clubs and walk to your ball rather than waiting for other players to go to their ball first, then drive you over. When you do this, be sure to take a couple clubs if you aren't sure of what awaits you, shot-wise. If you're walking, go straight to your ball (or the furthest point toward your ball you can go without being in someone else's way).

thanks for the advice. How should my friends and I go about playing mulligans or shots behind trees? I read a post on here about mulligans and everyone was saying just play the mulligan, because if you don't you'll be complacent with hitting constant mulligans and not improve. Probably because your mind is set that you have a couple extra try's at hitting a good shot. So, how should I go about scoring mulligans or shots that I choose to drop? I don't even no where to "drop" my ball if it goes in the water or is somewhere in the woods or if I can't find it. Also, I don't know how to score that. Usually we take a stroke off for these things, not sure if that is proper. I just really want to score myself correctly so I know what my real handicap is and not some padded score with free mulligans.

[Chief Broom]

The best advice I've got for beginners and slow play is to let anyone who is behind you play through if there is an opening in front of you. If you are having to wait to hit because of the group in front of you letting someone play through doesn't speed up play, but if you aren't waiting let any group that is being held up by your group play through at the next tee. Always do this no matter what. What'll happen when you do this is that your game won't be pressured by groups staying right behind you waiting on your every shot. You might spend more time waiting around to hit, but other groups will be much more apprecitive that you let them play through and you won't catch so much attitude because of your beginner golf skills.

The number one complaint regular golfers have against newbs is that they play slow and don't go out of their way to let faster players through.

[Fourputt]

thanks for the advice. How should my friends and I go about playing mulligans or shots behind trees? I read a post on here about mulligans and everyone was saying just play the mulligan, because if you don't you'll be complacent with hitting constant mulligans and not improve. Probably because your mind is set that you have a couple extra try's at hitting a good shot. So, how should I go about scoring mulligans or shots that I choose to drop? I don't even no where to "drop" my ball if it goes in the water or is somewhere in the woods or if I can't find it. Also, I don't know how to score that. Usually we take a stroke off for these things, not sure if that is proper. I just really want to score myself correctly so I know what my real handicap is and not some padded score with free mulligans.

Just forget Mulligans, period. If you're behind a tree, toss the ball out and add a penalty stroke. Or pitch it out to a playable location, which is what anyone else would do anyway. Beginners aren't the only one's who get into those situations, and you either suck it up and take your medicine with a chip out to the fairway, or you declare the ball unplayable and drop away from the tree with a penalty stroke.

Any time you take a drop away from a natural object like a tree, bush, or deep weeds, add a penalty stroke. That isn't exactly by the rules, but it gets you into the ball park. If you have interference from a man made object (sprinkler head, bench, restroom, etc.) drop away from it with no penalty. Again that isn't the exact procedure as defined in the Rules of Golf, but it gets you close and keeps you moving. You can take the time to learn the proper procedures as you gain experience.

[PiKapp23]

For the rules of the game I highly recommend this easy to read and use guide:

http://www.golfregeln.ch/

It's usually found in book stores, golf stores or it can be bought online. It's only around $10 and it's helpful in figuring out what to do in most cicrumstances. It's small, so obviously doesn't have all the rules for all situations, but does contain the vast majority and it's done in such a way that you can very easily figure out a ruling. It's also small enough to carry with you on course. It's the easiest to use rules book I've ever seen.

As a beginner who wants to get better, the score is not the important thing at this point, anyway - the important thing is improving. When you take those free drops from behind trees or bad lies, just make sure that you score it the same for everyone playing. I am a big believer in playing by the rules (I carry 2 rules books, including the one listed above), but when learning to play, it's more important to learn to hit good shots and if you're not good from easy lies, then you're not as likely to get better because those type of swings are different. Have fun. Learn the rules as you play and start playing by the rules as you improve. At the level you are now playing by the rules will probably only make your rounds slower and more frustrating for you and other players. That's not to say take complete disregard for the rules - I simply mean to do things that will help you improve and have more fun.

Once you (and your friends) get to a level where you are hitting good shots (by this I mean that you can consistenly be able to break 100), you'll probably want to play by the rules anyway, partly because of the challenge and partly because it's the way the game is played. Until then keep the pace and have fun.

[telrod11]

[QUOTE=Pat007;234064]

Just a point to emphasize... I've played with some really bad golfers over the years, and most of them were really no slower than anyone else on the course.

I have caddied for a Monday qualifier, and what I saw with these really good players is they were way faster than normal on all their shots,

until they got to the green. Then it was actually painful to watch how slow they were. Now granted, these guys were at work; We are only doing this as a hobby; I'm sure there would be a big change for us too....

[grandaddy510]

i'm still pretty new, only been playing for about 5 months, and i catch myself looking back a lot too see if anyone is on our tails. i guess i just want to be considerate, but i think i put added pressure on myself to play faster that i probably shouldn't be worried about because i even do it when there's no where to go in front of us. we usually keep good pace with the groups in front, and usually finish between 4-4.5hrs. our usual foursome includes a 10, a 20, and two 30's so it's not like our whole group is hackin it up. i think i just need to block it out mentally that there is no one behind us because this has prevented me from getting a consistent pre-shot routine. i think it would help with those handful of mis-hits every round which would of course drop a few strokes