Ever played with some hacker who won't take advice?

[ericstamper]

Played friday with a guy who 3 putted probally 15 greens. i said you wanna tip? because i noticed he stood straight up while putting. ive always been told to have my eyes over the ball. he said "no i don't wanna a tip"......like a real a-hole. so as im draining putts this guy is getting madder and madder as it goes on. The 18th hole comes and he has a 40 footer that he surprisingly putted to about three feet. i asked his buddy "can he have this one" only because they had a little money game going and his buddy said yea he can have it. so i went to knock it to him and he said "ill putt out"..........after he missed the three footer he proceeded to throw his scotty cameron circa 62 into the pond!!!!!!!!!! deep into it. I would have went in after it but im left handed, also didnt have a towel so????????? my main question is was i wrong for trying to help? i know golf is frustrating at times but its not the arrow it's the indian.

[ajschn06]

Where is this pond?

[ericstamper]

Timbergate GC Edinburgh IN

[Kingfisher]

Played friday with a guy who 3 putted probally 15 greens. i said you wanna tip? because i noticed he stood straight up while putting. ive always been told to have my eyes over the ball. he said "no i don't wanna a tip"......like a real a-hole. so as im draining putts this guy is getting madder and madder as it goes on. The 18th hole comes and he has a 40 footer that he surprisingly putted to about three feet. i asked his buddy "can he have this one" only because they had a little money game going and his buddy said yea he can have it. so i went to knock it to him and he said "ill putt out"..........after he missed the three footer he proceeded to throw his scotty cameron circa 62 into the pond!!!!!!!!!! deep into it. I would have went in after it but im left handed, also didnt have a towel so????????? my main question is was i wrong for trying to help? i know golf is frustrating at times but its not the arrow it's the indian.

I know you meant well, but surely you should know better than to offer unsolicted advice on a golf course? It's best just to play your own game rather than try to be a good samaritan.

How would you feel if you you were having a bad day and Joe Public started to offer you swing advice? You'd probably get more and more wound up? There could easily be a bunch of threads with the title "Ever played with some single-figure guy who keeps offering you advice?

[ericstamper]

To three putt every hole???? He needed to melt down that putter head into a bullet!!!!! Im open to all and every piece of advice on or off the course. advice only, whether to listen or in and out the other ear i didnt care. golf is supposed to be enjoyable. at his age throwing clubs was unacceptable. i left without shaking his hand. Ive played alot of golf and by far this guy was the worst putter possibly on the planet.

[sean_miller]

At least he didn't tell you what he was actually thinking - he sounded rather polite.

[Shorty]

he said "no i don't wanna a tip"......like a real a-hole. so as im draining putts this guy is getting madder and madder as it goes on. The 18th hole comes and he has a 40 footer that he surprisingly putted to about three feet. i asked his buddy "can he have this one" only because they had a little money game going and his buddy said yea he can have it. so i went to knock it to him and he said "ill putt out"..........after he missed the three footer he proceeded to throw his scotty cameron circa 62 into the pond!!!!!!!!!! deep into it. I would have went in after it but im left handed, also didnt have a towel so????????? my main question is was i wrong for trying to help? i know golf is frustrating at times but its not the arrow it's the indian.

He didn't throw his putter into the pond because he was blaming it. He had probably been resisting the temptation to punch you in the face for the whole round and this was a way of releasing his tension. The fact that you claim to have been "draining putts" sums it up pretty nicely for me. You should know better than to offer advice during a round, and he's a poor putter.

[chilly]

Doesn't matter how badly he was putting, it's not appropriate to start giving him advice while he's playing. Also, giving putts to someone out of "pity" is likely to piss them off as well as they'll recognize it as charity.

[alf174]

Doesn't matter how badly he was putting, it's not appropriate to start giving him advice while he's playing. Also, giving putts to someone out of "pity" is likely to piss them off as well as they'll recognize it as charity.

exactly. keep your tips to yourself unless asked.

[Gordon McTavish]

Unsolicited advice is more annoying than being out of form! I get tired of being told to chip with a 7-iron rather than a wedge... supposedly because it's easier. What works for one person is likely to have a negative affect on another.

[soon_tourpro]

Never give advice unless asked for it or if you know them well enough.
golf is a dangerous game.

[DaSportsGuy]

I don't see any problem offering advice. It's when people start throwing tips at you when I get upset.

[mtsalmela80]

Ill gladly take advice from better golfers I know personally, but from strangers on the course, its just wasting time.

[Gioguy21]

I only take advice from my grandfather...he's taught me everything i know in terms of hands on lessons/instruction. of course i've read books and whatnot, but he's known my swing since i was 6...knows what i'm doing wrong and what i've done right in the past and can tweak me back to long/straight in a heartbeat at the range. now if i could get my dad to shut up it'd be great lol

[James_Black]

I would go crazy if you tried to give me info.
Don´t give advice unless your asked simple as that.
And does it matter if he´s putting bad? golf´s a recreational game at the end of the day.

[bustaone]

From someone who is not very good and frequently gets tips:

Often when I'm on the course I've finished working on something on the range. When people start throwing tip after tip at me all it does is get me off-track from what I originally had in my mind and generally gets me in a worse spot.

Also, many 'helpful' people have no idea what things they do that causes their swing to work. I've been working on the stack and tilt swing of late, and you would not believe the number of people who try to smugly offer me helpful tips. I had a guy this weekend hassle me for most a round telling me that my grip was causing my slice... Which isn't even possible, but he sure thought so. I knew that I was letting my hands get out a bit and I was trying to get them back in, but he really had no idea what the root cause was of my problem. I can't even count the number of times I've gotten tips in the past year (the time I've been golfing) from people who's swing doesn't even utilize the tip they throw out at me.

My rule is: if I see something obviously causing a swing defect I ask the person if they would like my observation. If they say no, I never mention it again.

If I were with someone who was ridiculing my putting the entire round while draining putts, they would be lucky that my frustration didn't end up in their direction. Everyone plays for different reasons, and everyone has different mindsets. Original poster: have you considered that your 'tips' may have actually been adding to the problem?

[Chief Broom]

A good playing partner understands the value of silence and that sometimes when a guy is struggling with his game the best thing you can do is leave him alone.

[saevel25]

The only thing i might say is, "You hit behind the ball..." Something like that, were the person might not know why he did something, like hit it fat or topped the ball. But i try to stay away from giving specific advice towards a golf swing, unless otherwise asked for. Especially if its someone i do not know.