Golfing Alone?

[rmgr]

My local course charges $11 to walk as many holes as you want on weekdays after 3:00. I like to go out on Friday b/c I get off work an hour early (4:00). Plenty of time since it's daylight until 8:30.

which course is that?

[SideSwipe]

Most of the time I golf with friends, but on occassion I prefer to play alone. This allows me to work on my game (and its flaws) on my own and not worry about any distractions (beer, banter, club-throwing, etc) .... which I enjoy most of the time except for the club throwing part!! I think this is a good way to raise your game!

[philipy]

which course is that?

Country Oaks in Thomasville (SW GA - about 30 miles from Tallahasse, FL). If I had another choice, I'm sure I'd play somewhere else. It's OK, nothing special. But the only other course in town is private and I'm not that priviledged yet.

[Ben]

I play alone a bit, not as much as I used to. I did today. I'd say once a week now. More often in the Winter. Playing alone is great if you can do it. You don't have to wait for anyone, letting you play at any pace you want. Get in that groove, and play great. If you run into a bit of traffic, you can take a few extra practice putts or bunker shots or chip shots. Sometimes I'll play two balls against each other. "Hogan" vs."Snead" or "Arnie" against "Jack."

[Reefer_Madness]

I play alone quite a bit in the Spring. During the summer, it's a little harder to avoid getting paired up.....

.....I went on Friday and got paired up with a couple people who rolled 4 blunts over 9 holes, no shit. They were like Cheech and Chong on steroids. Had to of been the oddest round of the year. They didn't make the turn, but I did.

[atlien31]

No problems at my home course. I like to play alone every now and then. It is nice to be alone and not have any distractions.

[jgilbert]

I was actually in the same boat as a lot of the replies on this thread, I always wanted to play golf by myself but always seemed scared for some reason because every other time in my life I had played with people so playing alone seemed so weird just to think about.

Finally I just got fed up with not playing so I went out and played by myself - and loved it, of course I had my ipod with me so it was even nicer just me and the course.

On a side note though I play at a country club thats fairly small, ($160/month play as much as you want) its extremely cheap and a very small club seeing as on a maximum day there might be 50-60 people out there and on a weekday thers some times only 20 people on the course. So when I do play by myself I can usually cruise through 75% of the course with out running in to anyone.

If you plan to do it I suggest you dont on the weekend, since most people play on saturday/sunday unless you know your course usually doesnt have a lot of play. Feels kinda akward when a group of 3-4 people are waiting for you on a teebox while you look for your ball in the rough of what/not. Also join up with people if they ask you, or ask them unless you hate the small talk you usually have to do with people to be friendly.

[mjbartow]

Golf isn't a team sport.

Playing alone is the best. Unless there is beer involved.

[Fourputt]

Couple of comments...

First.... those of you who say you play 75% or 90% of the time alone, is golf so unpopular in your area that the courses don't get any play? I can go out on a Wednesday morning at 6:00 AM and I won't be able to play alone, because every tee time will already be booked with a twosome or more. The same is true in the evening. A couple of weeks ago we had more than 70 golfers come out for twilight walk-on times, and you're lucky to even get in a full 9 holes at that time (starts at 6:30 PM in midsummer, and sunset is at 8:30). We have 3 courses and the 18 hole course is split into 2 nines for twilight, but that still means that some players weren't even teeing off until after 7:00. The point being that it is extremely rare for me to even have the opportunity to play alone.

Second.... Those of you who say you play better alone... I ask what difference it makes how well you play if you can't repeat it in competition? I have played some good rounds alone through the years, but I find it to be quite meaningless, because it's when I'm competing that I feel like I'm really playing golf. That doesn't mean a full club tournament, just playing skins with my buddies is still competition. I just prefer playing with company for the added pressure and inspiration that I get from it, as well as the social interaction. IMO, if you only play well when playing alone, then there is a shortcoming in your game that needs attention.

I like golf in all of its aspects... I can enjoy it alone, but I prefer it with company.

[Leek]

I go out alone in the evenings. I try different shots, find out what happens if I go over and under obstacles. Mainly, I practice short game from tough lies you can't get on the range or practice green.

[Reefer_Madness]

Couple of comments...

Well, it's cliche, but golf is truly you against the course......unless you play combat golf (scary stuff, I don't recommend it). Even when you're playing in a group, it's always how you did versus the course compared to how your buddies did versus the course.

[jgilbert]

Couple of comments...

I'd have to disagree with you on the topic of competetion, sure you have to play with other people but do you really have to pay attention to them other then not stepping in their lines or walking in front of them or the small talk to be friendly? No.

I've played about 99% of my golf career with other people so far, just recently did I start playing alone. To me It was extremely rewarding because I felt like I was in my own little world - all I thought about was getting my ball in the whole from start to finish and visualising it with 0 distractions. If you go about it with the right angle and just practice keeping your thought simple and pure, and try to apply the same thinking to when you play with other people it can be very helpful I believe. Look at Tiger when you see him on TV, sure hes always playing with people but when you look on his face from hole #1 to hole #18 hes in his own little world, you never see him react to anything or what people around him are doing so technically he always playimg alone. To sum it up golf is you versus the course, anything else is a distraction if you let it bet - some people are better at blocking out things then others. Examples would be two friends playing with each other who are relatively close in score, one friend plays the course while the other is concentraded on only beating his friend the whole time. In my experience I just started playing with my little brother who took up the game (I only play alone the days hes too tired to play) - I enjoy playing with him and having company but some times It can be extremely frustrating spending 5-10 mins looking for every ball he hits in the rough before even getting to my 2nd shot.

[hkmp5]

I tee off by myself at 5:30 a.m. pay at the turn and I'm done by eight! then I go to work
(self employed) 90 % of the time I have the coarse to myself ,it's the best time of the day!

This morning I pulled my titleist 585h 17 degree hybrid and hit the green on this par 4 It was pure heaven ! standing on the green I just couldnt beleive how far I hit it ! Yes It would have been nice if my golf buddy would have seen it but I know what I did and that's all that really matters !

Ray

[Fourputt]

I'd have to disagree with you on the topic of competetion, sure you have to play with other people but do you really have to pay attention to them other then not stepping in their lines or walking in front of them or the small talk to be friendly? No.

My point (I realize it may have gotten lost in the verbosity

) was that if you only play well when playing alone, then something is missing from your game. If you want to take the game to a competition level (even a club comp), you need to get used to playing with others and learn to deal with the distractions that come with imperfect situations. I've played some great rounds when playing with people that I don't really like to play with, but when I can get my head into the game, that doesn't matter. I don't ignore the guys I'm playing with, and I remain sociable to a point, but I try to keep my focus during the play of each hole, and unbend a bit between holes. Maybe I'm a rare person (and I don't believe it for a minute), but I can separate myself from the foibles of the people I'm paired with. That probably comes from a lifetime of playing golf on public courses, until this year mostly on weekends, and thus playing alone has been very much the exception in my golfing life. I have played with every sort of golfer there is on the planet, first timers and guys who have played for 50+ years... men and women in both categories... and I've played plenty of rounds with very good golfers, both club pro and amateur. I've played with a former LPGA Tour player, and with a woman who is currently in Indiana competing in the US Women's Amateur. I've played with a US Congressman (on the course he was just another club golfer)...I even play with my wife... It wasn't that long ago (mid 1980's) that even the Rules of Golf stated that a "single has no standing" on the course. When I first carried a handicap, you could only submit scores that were attested to by another player in your group, solo rounds were not accepted, and the card HAD to be signed, attested and returned to the handicap committee for inclusion. Now you can enter your own scores on the web... but they are flagged to be easily identifiable as "internet" scores, and thus may be suspect if they are significantly higher than tournament scores. Anyway, IMO playing with other people is an essential part of the game, and I really don't understand why anyone would play most of his golf alone... just isn't the game for me.

[Leek]

While I go out on the course to practice, I don't play a real round on the course. I hit second shots (often after a perfect shot, I want to play from a normal miss), I can't get my competitive juices flowing, so I don't focus as well. If I didn't hit second shots and then kept honest track of my score, I would score higher than average.

I think most people that play alone hit a number of extra shots.

[DocParty]

Well I quit golfing in 1994 when my dad, my golf partner died, and did not pick up a club until 5 months ago when my youngest son, 24, showed an interest in the sport as a hobby. For a couple of months we went and hit balls at the range, finally took him out, under his demand to play the game, to a par 3, 9 hole course and he did pretty good after a half a dozen trips out. Then we hit a short 9 hole regular set up course and it became harder for him as is usual. He finally progressed to the point where he out drives this old 61 year old with 3 herniated discs and a bone to bone right knee. Then his job got him frustrated, been in the hospitality industry for his entire 8 years of work. He's good at it, gets promoted until he seems to threaten some mid-manager and then his shifts loses regularity and his college classes suffer. So I've played 6 times without him or anyone else. The course I play in Texas, when it's 100 plus, doesn't draw many golfers and the heat doesn't bother me. I like to sweat. I've been married twice so I have a grip on how to handle it. I played my best 3 rounds, 3 days in a row, that I have played EVER. 81,81,84. Next day my son joined me, I thought I was going to repeat my previous 3 performances and hit a 92. Now I got depressed. Just joking. I played the rounds by myself in 2 hours and 15 minutes riding in a cart no doubt and enjoyed every stroke of it. I like playing with others even more but it is hard to play with someone you just don't know and your game can suffer. I always allow a single to play with me if they ask, but enjoy the solitude and the opportunity to talk to myself without anyone calling the guys in the 'white suits' to take me away. Don't know why it went so good playing by myself but it did and I continue to go out and play whenever I want in the middle of the hot Texas sun, by myself.

Golf is a private sport. You don't play the other golfers, you play the course and that's the way it has always been for me. So, playing by myself is enjoyable and I'll continue to do so in my retirement. Another reason why it's hard to play with a group consistently, they work during the week and play on the weekends. I play during the week and enjoy my kids and grand kids on the weekends. So it's really not whether or not anyone else thinks you should play by yourself, it's whether or not you want to play golf. If you do, then have at it. You might enjoy some really amazing rounds too.

Cya

Stephen

[NuclearMike]

Originally Posted by DocParty

Well I quit golfing in 1994 when my dad, my golf partner died, and did not pick up a club until 5 months ago when my youngest son, 24, showed an interest in the sport as a hobby. For a couple of months we went and hit balls at the range, finally took him out, under his demand to play the game, to a par 3, 9 hole course and he did pretty good after a half a dozen trips out. Then we hit a short 9 hole regular set up course and it became harder for him as is usual. He finally progressed to the point where he out drives this old 61 year old with 3 herniated discs and a bone to bone right knee. Then his job got him frustrated, been in the hospitality industry for his entire 8 years of work. He's good at it, gets promoted until he seems to threaten some mid-manager and then his shifts loses regularity and his college classes suffer. So I've played 6 times without him or anyone else. The course I play in Texas, when it's 100 plus, doesn't draw many golfers and the heat doesn't bother me. I like to sweat. I've been married twice so I have a grip on how to handle it. I played my best 3 rounds, 3 days in a row, that I have played EVER. 81,81,84. Next day my son joined me, I thought I was going to repeat my previous 3 performances and hit a 92. Now I got depressed. Just joking. I played the rounds by myself in 2 hours and 15 minutes riding in a cart no doubt and enjoyed every stroke of it. I like playing with others even more but it is hard to play with someone you just don't know and your game can suffer. I always allow a single to play with me if they ask, but enjoy the solitude and the opportunity to talk to myself without anyone calling the guys in the 'white suits' to take me away. Don't know why it went so good playing by myself but it did and I continue to go out and play whenever I want in the middle of the hot Texas sun, by myself.

Golf is a private sport. You don't play the other golfers, you play the course and that's the way it has always been for me. So, playing by myself is enjoyable and I'll continue to do so in my retirement. Another reason why it's hard to play with a group consistently, they work during the week and play on the weekends. I play during the week and enjoy my kids and grand kids on the weekends. So it's really not whether or not anyone else thinks you should play by yourself, it's whether or not you want to play golf. If you do, then have at it. You might enjoy some really amazing rounds too.

Cya

Stephen

I'm with you, Stephen.  I quit for 10 years when my wife got Lupus, but two years earlier, in 1998, my dad passed away.  His last job was his favorite ever- golf course marshal.  Minimum wage, 8 hours a week, 5 free rounds a week, and all of the balls he could find and give to his kids.  He was one of my best golfing buddies, having taught me to play when I was 8 years old.  I'm 56 now and, like you, don't mind the Texas heat.  I'm playing by myself tomorrow morning at 7 am and expect that it should take more then 2' 15" unless I hit some extra balls.  There's nothing quite like summer in Texas to make one appreciate air conditioning.

[Aquaguru]

I golf alone alot. I usually play one ball where with one of them I will play my normal game and then with my second ball I might play only irons or play a different set of tees. This gives me different shots and looks at the course. I don't like going to the range so by playing by myself it is like my practice session.