Bad Play, Walking Off Mid Round

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

You are incorrect. I said what people think of me is none of my business. Here's how this works - you will either like me or you won't. It's not that I don't care, it's that I cannot control it therefore I don't worry about it.

And yes, that is me with Jack. So...shame on me?!? Why - cuz I have the audacity to believe I don't have to finish a round I paid for?

Make some sense please. And get off your moral throne - "Shame on you" - what, are we in kindergarten now?

The part that I find hard to believe is that, of all people on this site, I am supposed to believe that Shorty cares what people think of him?  Sorry, not buying it.  And the other thing that amazes me is that this thread has generated so much buzz.  You play golf when you like as much as you like and you pay for it yourself, so who gives a damn how many holes you play each time or the reason why??

[Anjew]

I have never quit a round out of frustration, but I would not begrudge anyone that did. If you are not playing well, and want to go hit balls, by all means do that. And especially if you are playing by yourself, what does it matter what you do?

I have quit a round due to slow play. A long weekend day at the local par 3 course, played the first hole, got to the second, and there were 6 groups waiting ahead of this. My dad said to me "want to go hit a bucket of balls instead?" Definitely took him up on that idea. And never again did we go to that course on a long weekend.

[zipazoid]

I'll add something else, since I seem to be the lightning rod around here -

You will note I never gave a reason for why I would cut a round short. I just said it's my prerogative to do so if I wish. And I firmly believe that. I owe nobody an explanation as to why. Just cuz you're in my group does not give you some kind of 'veto power' over my decisions. If you don't like that, fine. I'm good with that. Think of me what you wish. And by the way, I have quit maybe 5 times in my life, out of hundreds if not thousands of rounds, so don't think I'm some kind of mercurial, hit one bad shot & eff it golfer.

But given the posts that have come in where people are saying they would cut it short due to slow play or other reasons, it begs the question -

For those that abhor the thought of quitting mid-round, especially those that consider it 'poor form', is there any justified reason to quit, or are you committed to playing the full round regardless or extenuating circumstances? Is golf an enjoyable way to kill a few hours, or is it some kind of 'contract' that must be executed to completion?

Personally, I play for me. And believe it or not, I have a lot of people that like to play with me. I am light-hearted, don't take myself too seriously & helpful when I can. I'm not an a-hole to be around. I play golf because it is fun. And ya know what? When it stops being fun, I stop playing.

And that's what it's supposed to be - fun. Not a 5-hour sentence that must be completed regardless of the situation.

[elementz]

Some of you guys are ridiculous...I have never quit, or left, during a round...but if I wanted to leave at any point of my round for any reason...I will.

Don't really see a big deal here.

Does this "rule" only apply to a golf course?  I went to a movie theatre once to catch a flick, paid for it, sat down...the film was terrible and didn't feel like spending the next hour doing something that I did not want to do...so I left.  Went to a restaurant once for some breakfast, ironically before a round of golf.  Walked in and sat down and noticed it was pretty steady that morning.  Time was limited (but still plenty of time to order and eat breakfast)....didn't even need to look at a menu as I knew what I wanted..informed the server and ler her knew time was of the essence....45 minutes later, still no breakfast....got up, put on my coat and left.

I'm sure there are dozens of more analogies....so why is this only looked down upon on the golf course?

[Mr3Wiggle]

Kind of goes back to the old argument, do you enjoy playing golf or do you enjoy playing golf well?  If it's the later then you may want to pick a new sport, because you won't enjoy yourself a good amount of the time.

[CDNinATL]

Me, I would never leave early unless it was due to injury or some emergency coming up. But if someone wants to leave because of bad play, who am I say no they can't. They've paid to play just like I have. If they choose to leave and not play the rest of the holes he's entitled to, then that's his business.

[Kieran123]

I never walk off because even if I shoot a 7 or an 8 - I think I can make it up later in the round which never happens, but there's a chance.

[Mr3Wiggle]

For those that do walk off and keep handicaps.  How do you handle the score posting?

[bplewis24]

I can't recall if I've ever left mid-round (meaning before 9 or after 9 but before 18 holes have finished) before when playing with anybody else.  I know for sure I've done it during practice rounds by myself.  I've also paid for 18 holes and left after 9 when things got going really bad for me on several occasions, even recently a few times.

In full disclosure, when things really get going bad for me, it's even somewhat dangerous for me to be on the course.  I hit hosel rockets that go about 75* right off the clubface and it mostly happens around the green when people can be standing anywhere.  Not only does it slow play down considerably when I really get the yips, but I feel like I could injure somebody.  I'd rather end the round and go to the range or something.  If people judge me for that, I would think it says something about them.

In point of fact, I almost always practice on the right-most side of the range when I have gone through these spells in the past.  I don't want to scare folks to the right of me on the range if there are no protective barriers.

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

For those that do walk off and keep handicaps.  How do you handle the score posting?

I will typically try and endure the round through 9 holes, and then just post the 9-hole score.  If I pick up on any holes, I typically won't post.

Brandon

[Goodfella]

I have a membership, and I've left after 8 holes because pace of play for the groups in front of us was horrible, and to top it off my play was way off. So I left the guys I got paired up with, shook their hands and drove off. I'm sure they talked trash after I left but I don't care, that's the nice thing about having the membership. If I'm just not playing well or getting frustrated and not having fun or the round is taking way too long, I can leave and come back another day.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

For those that do walk off and keep handicaps.  How do you handle the score posting?

Same way you'd handle a round that was interrupted for any other reason. If you've played 13 holes or more, you post as an 18-hole score. If you've played 7 to 12 holes, you post a 9-hole score for the front nine. For any holes you did not play, you mark par plus any handicap strokes applicable to the hole.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by zeg

Same way you'd handle a round that was interrupted for any other reason. If you've played 13 holes or more, you post as an 18-hole score. If you've played 7 to 12 holes, you post a 9-hole score for the front nine. For any holes you did not play, you mark par plus any handicap strokes applicable to the hole.

Just trying to see where people draw the line.  Some have major issues with mulligans and not putting out, but some feel fine with ditching the round entirely when their game is not there.

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

Just trying to see where people draw the line.  Some have major issues with mulligans and not putting out, but some feel fine with ditching the round entirely when their game is not there.

Definitely something I want to promise myself to never do. Quitting mentally just does not sound like a good enough reason to walk away, personally.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

Definitely something I want to promise myself to never do. Quitting mentally just does not sound like a good enough reason to walk away, personally.

It can be a slippery slope.  For me part of golf is dealing with the adversity and grinding it out.  Stopping mid-round hurts that mentality for me.  I know some guys that stop keeping score after one double bogey or bladed sand shot.

[walk18]

Just trying to see where people draw the line.  Some have major issues with mulligans and not putting out, but some feel fine with ditching the round entirely when their game is not there.

I think the line is pretty clear: if you're playing to post a score for handicap purposes, there are no mulligans or gimmes.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

Just trying to see where people draw the line.  Some have major issues with mulligans and not putting out, but some feel fine with ditching the round entirely when their game is not there.

There is a flip side to this though.  For me, my game is improving and my handicap is lagging behind it (the revision should be out tomorrow and we'll see what happens).  But one day I shoot in the high 70s and then the shanks came back the next day and I quit after 9.  I could have finished the entire round and posted a score in the 90s or possibly 100+.  But that was a one-day aberration (hasn't been back in the 2-3 weeks since) and isn't really reflective of where my game is.  If I post a score like that people in my club will start suspecting me of sandbagging.  If I were in their shoes, I would too.

Brandon

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

There is a flip side to this though.  For me, my game is improving and my handicap is lagging behind it (the revision should be out tomorrow and we'll see what happens).  But one day I shoot in the high 70s and then the shanks came back the next day and I quit after 9.  I could have finished the entire round and posted a score in the 90s or possibly 100+.  But that was a one-day aberration (hasn't been back in the 2-3 weeks since) and isn't really reflective of where my game is.  If I post a score like that people in my club will start suspecting me of sandbagging.  If I were in their shoes, I would too.

Brandon

Not entering scores if you think they are aberrations, and arbitrarily deciding for yourself if your round is reflective of your game (and choosing not to enter it), is worse than sandbagging.

[darkhunter139]

It can be a slippery slope.  For me part of golf is dealing with the adversity and grinding it out.  Stopping mid-round hurts that mentality for me.  I know some guys that stop keeping score after one double bogey or bladed sand shot.

See now that's kind of stupid. If you get frustrated enough to quit after one bad hole I doubt you are going to be having much fun anyway. When I said I quit before when I was doing bad (this only happened to me once or twice) I meant real bad. My score probably would have been over 130 if I kept playing, I had no idea what I was doing wrong and I felt like I would get nothing but frustration out of finishing my round. And I don't keep an official handicap anywhere either.