Do you get mad at the golf course?

[PS90]

Dang! You guys are well-controlled!

Everybody I play with (especially me) throws a club at least once a month or so. Other than that, I yell and cuss, because it makes me feel better - but I try to hold it in check if people I don't know (especially kids) are within earshot.

Having said that, I have noticed that the more pissed I get, the more tense I get, and therefore the worse I play. Maybe I need a mid-round massage or something.

[B-Con]

I definitely get frustrated, but I tend to internalize most of it. Usually I just mutter something harshly and then move on. Once, and only once, have I tossed a club. I teed off using a 3-wood and sliced it terribly again. It was the 8th hole and probably my 6th sliced tee shot of the day. As I held my follow-through and watched the ball careen off into the trees, I just looped my wrists, extended my arm, and let of the club. I picked it up about 20 feet later as I went trudging off to find my ball.

That was with a no-name club, though. I wouldn't do that now, a) because I wouldn't do something like that, and b) I actually have a personally assembled bag of clubs now.

[Zeph]

Rarely mad, more annoyed and disappointed by bad play. I think it helps me focus on the next shot if I didn't like the previous one. I have a habit of playing better the further I get into a round. First 3-4 holes are often not my best.

[shades9323]

Dang! You guys are well-controlled!

You should just quit then. You and your buddies should all be thrown off the course for throwing your clubs.

[BonoVox]

I get pissed when I lose a ball. ESPECIALLY when I see where it landed, but I'm a cheapo.

Pretty much my approach too. Though it's not the cost of the ball that pisses me off on the lost ball.

[binga7]

For the guys that posted after my OP, when i say drink it off i mean had 3 light beers over 2 hours, so yes i was able to drive home legally. Of course i forget about my anger as soon as i walk off the course. The only reason i whacked a few clubs was cos i was playing with mates and they were having a ball at my expense. When im playing with others at the club im much more controlled.

[golfro]

I have my share of anger issues. Especially when I used to play competitively, nothing would piss me off more than a bad slice or something like missing a 1ft putt.

I now play golf to enjoy it and usually if I'm playing with friends, we get some good laughs from a mishit here and there. I know what kind of golf I'm capable of playing, one bad round doesn't mean much to me anymore.

[DaSportsGuy]

I used to get pretty animated on the golf course. Now I realized how stupid it was and it only makes me play worse.

I did have one "blow-up" last week after a terrible round. I was on the 18th fairway after a terrible tee shot that was rolled barely into the fairway. I pulled out my 4 iron, shanked it and just snapped it on my knee. My playing partner had no clue I even did that until a week later. Much better than cussing and throwing clubs, IMO.

[jamo]

I used to get pretty animated on the golf course. Now I realized how stupid it was and it only makes me play worse.

Snapping your 4 iron is better than throwing it? I don't know about that....

I get more frustrated than mad. If I make a bad shot it is usually my fault, so I get frustrated with my lack of execution. But then it ends. I may hit my club on the ground, but not enough to make a mark on the ground, dent my club, or injure another person. I never throw my club or my ball either. There is just no point, I take my anger out on the golf ball on the next shot instead. But competition is a whole different game. Missing an easy shot is terrible, but you just have to move on. It's hard though, I must admit. I have had times where I have been to the brink of giving up.

[RobS]

Everyone gets mad, the question is, do you stay mad?

[leftygolfer1]

I usually have a great temper. This past round though, I just switched back to a heavier bag and I hadn't eaten in a while. I wasn't playing very well, I was tired, and I was hungry. That's not a good combination.

[Uncle Peter]

This post might be better too in a section other than the equipment section.

I hate slow players, that that's only when I would get mad; when there are slow players who won't let you pass. However I hate playing with people who rush. So normal play would just be best for me; not to fast, not to slow.

[Goowa]

I have tried very hard this year to just let everything slide. I've found that if I'm playing alone, I don't tend to get as angry at myself as when I'm shanking balls all over the course in front of other people. Its probably more embrassment than anger.

I also quickly realized that if I continue to get mad/frustrated, its only going to make my game worse. If I'm playing with others now, I try to laugh off my horrible shots, and if I'm playing alone and its just getting worse and worse, I usually just quit the round and start fresh the next day. Just not worth it in the long run. Ruins the purpose of golf, which is supposed to be fun, and makes me play worse at the same time.

In college I did pretend I was going to throw my whole bag in the lake after the third ball went in, ended up accidently sending one of my clubs in, and had to wade in to 40 degree muddy water and get it. Last time I ever did that!

[Shankapotomus]

Do I get mad at the golf course? No. I'm a newbie, the problem isn't the golf course.. the problem is me.

[popeyegolfer]

I get upset over bad shots but I don't get mad. I don't slam things or curse.

[Ash1974]

When I started golf I used to lose my temper and sling the odd club, I even hit my bag with a wedge once and bent my 6 iron shaft on my old G10's, have not done it for a long time, my main problem was that I thought I was better than I am LOL

I do drop a club onto the floor near my bag now and again after a poor shot but that is only if I am tired after the kids keeping me up through the night.
Mostly if I am having a bad round I just moan about it verbally, hence my nickname being Monty

Hell loads of tour pro's throw their clubs or smash them into the ground, would you suggest they should quit the game too?

[HoosierGolfer]

For the guys that posted after my OP, when i say drink it off i mean had 3 light beers over 2 hours, so yes i was able to drive home legally. Of course i forget about my anger as soon as i walk off the course. The only reason i whacked a few clubs was cos i was playing with mates and they were having a ball at my expense. When im playing with others at the club im much more controlled.

If you are angry playing golf, you can't be all smiles at other times in life. Controlling emotions is a huge part of golf, maybe even more so than how well you control the clubs. One of the keys to good golf, is getting your emotions under control.

When I started golf I used to lose my temper and sling the odd club, I even hit my bag with a wedge once and bent my 6 iron shaft on my old G10's, have not done it for a long time, my main problem was that I thought I was better than I am LOL

Pretty hard to defend the notion that throwing clubs is ok because of the actions of a few pro's. What you may not know is that the PGA Tour normally issues warnings, often in the form of a letter when those things happen on tour. That is not something they will allow to happen over and over, nor should they. They have many times over the years suggested that if you can't get this problem under control, then yes, you should just stay home. Do you know anything about the history of Bobby Jones?

There is no place in the game of golf for club throwing. My home course has issued more than one warning to members for this and our league has send more than one guy home for their on course club throwing.

[CarlSpackler]

This post might be better too in a section other than the equipment section.

+1 I will add that people who do not take care of the course are the terminal fungus of golf. We caught a pair of idiots yesterday that were first off, slower than a snail. I saw one of them play a shot out of a fairway bunker, clean his club quite thouroghly, not rake the bunker, then proceed to walk through the bunker on his way to the hole. I had to pick my jaw off the teebox.