Playing Alone

[upndown21]

I really enjoy playing alone especially on weekday afternoons when the course is empty. Best perk ofcontrolling your own schedule is the cheap tee times after 11am

[MacGruber]

I try to play alone at least a few times a month on my days off during the week.  It's the only time i get the opportunity to walk (well I shouldn't say that, I could always walk, but I prefer to ride with my dad for the companionship when we play on the weekends) and I seem to play better when I have time to plan my next shot on the walk to my ball.

[rharrison]

I prefer to play with my buddies but work up north on a rotation. So when I am home I am playing a lot of mid morning games during the week while they are working. I will either go alone or go with whomever I am paired with. Which I have no issue with at all. I have been doing it for so long that I am used to just going along doing my thing even if there is somebody else there. The only time it annoys me is when somebody tries to chat my ear off the whole time! But even that is preferable to a brutally slow weekend round.

[upndown21]

Just got off the course playing by myself. Relatively empty today: passed a twosome on 3 and a foursome on 8. On 14 I am about to tee off from an elevated tee box and as I address the ball two carts come out of the woods and all 4 players take at least 6 strokes each to finish the hole. Meanwhile I am on a streak of 6 straight par or better holes.

They get off the 14th green and I take my approach which goes left of the green by about 10 feet followed by a quick up and down.

I get to the tee box on 15 (par 5) and 1 guy still has to hit. No problem they are going to let me thru right? NOPE. One guy played two balls and shot no better than an 8 with either one. They get off the green and I go for the green in two and come up short; on and two putt for par.

Now 16th tee box is a downhill par 3. Again all but 1 hit their tee shots and one guy waves me thru and a grouch yells HELL NO GO! and he walks to his ball which is near the ladies tees. The grouch books a 7, on in 4 and 3 putt. Not a single player in their group hit the green. I wait till they get off and pull my shot but make quick work of an flop and rim out a putt for a bogey 4.

17th tee box they are still hitting and I debate going around to 18 and come back to play 17 as no one was behind me but I just waited. This goes on until they finish. It took me out of a groove for the last 5 holes. I was pissed. The grouchy old man parked near me and tried to ask how my round was. I just said great and went on my way. He then says (unsolicited) that he played great too. I lost it and went off on him. As I was pulling out one of his foursome waved me down in the parking lot and thanked me as apparently this guy is an ass all the time.

I played the first 13 holes in the same amount of time as the last 5.

[Avalanche]

I play alone about 50% of the time.  I play in a weekly league, so there's at least one night I play with buddies.  But I generally play at least once per week alone as well.

There are advantages and disadvantages for both.  Playing with others sometimes allows you to get a good read on putts.  Plus, I'd hate to be playing alone if I hit a hole-in-one.  OTOH, it's very peaceful when playing alone, and you don't have wait to hit or waste time looking for some other guy's ball.

[upndown21]

I play alone about 50% of the time.  I play in a weekly league, so there's at least one night I play with buddies.  But I generally play at least once per week alone as well.   There are advantages and disadvantages for both.  Playing with others sometimes allows you to get a good read on putts.  Plus, I'd hate to be playing alone if I hit a hole-in-one.  OTOH, it's very peaceful when playing alone, and you don't have wait to hit or waste time looking for some other guy's ball.

there is nothing worse than playing with a random who puts every tee shot in danger

[krupa]

I usually play alone because I don't know other golfers in my area and I'm very introverted and don't make much effort to meet them (working on that though.)  Because of that, I'm usually very nervous playing in front of strangers.  Last night, however, I joined up with another guy who got to the pro shop at the same time as I did.  I ended up playing just as well as I normally do.

So to answer the original OP, usually I play better alone because of the aforementioned nervousness around other golfers.

[Abu3baid]

I'm leaving work early today to get in 18 to get ready for a 2 day tourney this weekend. Hopefully I will play alone so I can hit extra shots. I won't do that with other people playing. I always play for score, so it's always the first ball I hit that counts if I hit extra balls. Hitting extra balls on the course just seems better for my game than range work which can get boring. And it's hot in Florida pounding balls on the range.

Is that OK in terms of scoring? I thought that if someone did that they couldn't submit that round for score?

[flopster]

Have not played alone for quite some time, usually in groups of 16 or more that are organized matches, nice part of this is I don't have to remember to post my rounds usually someone reminds us.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by upndown21

Just got off the course playing by myself. Relatively empty today: passed a twosome on 3 and a foursome on 8. On 14 I am about to tee off from an elevated tee box and as I address the ball two carts come out of the woods and all 4 players take at least 6 strokes each to finish the hole. Meanwhile I am on a streak of 6 straight par or better holes.

They get off the 14th green and I take my approach which goes left of the green by about 10 feet followed by a quick up and down.

I get to the tee box on 15 (par 5) and 1 guy still has to hit. No problem they are going to let me thru right? NOPE. One guy played two balls and shot no better than an 8 with either one. They get off the green and I go for the green in two and come up short; on and two putt for par.

Now 16th tee box is a downhill par 3. Again all but 1 hit their tee shots and one guy waves me thru and a grouch yells HELL NO GO! and he walks to his ball which is near the ladies tees. The grouch books a 7, on in 4 and 3 putt. Not a single player in their group hit the green. I wait till they get off and pull my shot but make quick work of an flop and rim out a putt for a bogey 4.

17th tee box they are still hitting and I debate going around to 18 and come back to play 17 as no one was behind me but I just waited. This goes on until they finish. It took me out of a groove for the last 5 holes. I was pissed. The grouchy old man parked near me and tried to ask how my round was. I just said great and went on my way. He then says (unsolicited) that he played great too. I lost it and went off on him. As I was pulling out one of his foursome waved me down in the parking lot and thanked me as apparently this guy is an ass all the time.

I played the first 13 holes in the same amount of time as the last 5.

This is just one of the potential downsides of playing alone.  Not saying that it's right, but it seems to happen too often.  Then too, I hate playing through a group (especially a group with a grump in the bunch)... usually a guaranteed bad hole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abu3baid

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangator

I'm leaving work early today to get in 18 to get ready for a 2 day tourney this weekend. Hopefully I will play alone so I can hit extra shots. I won't do that with other people playing. I always play for score, so it's always the first ball I hit that counts if I hit extra balls. Hitting extra balls on the course just seems better for my game than range work which can get boring. And it's hot in Florida pounding balls on the range.

Is that OK in terms of scoring? I thought that if someone did that they couldn't submit that round for score?

Yep, right on the mark. From the USGA Handicap Manual:

Quote:

5-1a/5. Status of Scores Made when Two Balls Played Throughout Round

Q: A player frequently plays alone and plays two balls throughout the round. May the player return the score made with each ball for handicap purposes?

A: No. The player may not return the score made with either ball, as such scores are not made in accordance with the Rules of Golf - see Rule 7-2 of "The Rules of Golf."

[grayhen714]

i used to play alone

[vangator]

Is that OK in terms of scoring? I thought that if someone did that they couldn't submit that round for score?

I don't submit practice rounds for handicap purposes. It's practice.

[Abu3baid]

I don't submit practice rounds for handicap purposes. It's practice.

Ah, ok.. It was your sentence that you always play for score that threw me off.. I figured how can you always play for score and then hit extra balls.. Thanks for the clarification.

[vangator]

I play in a league that handles our handicaps automatically. It bothers me that the league is only a 9 hole league. How many times do we play when we have totally different scores from one nine to another. Happens most of the time it seems. Before my league, I rarely warm up other than putting and chipping. Just get to the course from work with little time to spare still thinking about work. I almost always bogey (or worse) the first couple of holes. On the rare occasions that I actually hit balls before the round, I score right around par +/-. My practice rounds (I usually warm up), are more typically in the 70 to 76 range, which is less than a 5. I've started a spreadsheet to calculate handicaps. When I play with anyone else, I play "real" golf and need to start keeping my handicap. Hitting an "extra" ball in a "real" round of golf is a 2 stroke penalty I believe. I have mentioned this to people I play with if I play for money. I don't ask for the penalty to be invoked on the first transgression. That would turn a fun outing into a pissing contest. Don't want that. But we need to honor the integrity of the game, especially when someone wants to stick their hands in my wallet. :-)

[Braivo]

Just got off the course playing by myself. Relatively empty today: passed a twosome on 3 and a foursome on 8. On 14 I am about to tee off from an elevated tee box and as I address the ball two carts come out of the woods and all 4 players take at least 6 strokes each to finish the hole. Meanwhile I am on a streak of 6 straight par or better holes.  They get off the 14th green and I take my approach which goes left of the green by about 10 feet followed by a quick up and down. I get to the tee box on 15 (par 5) and 1 guy still has to hit. No problem they are going to let me thru right? NOPE. One guy played two balls and shot no better than an 8 with either one. They get off the green and I go for the green in two and come up short; on and two putt for par.  Now 16th tee box is a downhill par 3. Again all but 1 hit their tee shots and one guy waves me thru and a grouch yells HELL NO GO! and he walks to his ball which is near the ladies tees. The grouch books a 7, on in 4 and 3 putt. Not a single player in their group hit the green. I wait till they get off and pull my shot but make quick work of an flop and rim out a putt for a bogey 4. 17th tee box they are still hitting and I debate going around to 18 and come back to play 17 as no one was behind me but I just waited. This goes on until they finish. It took me out of a groove for the last 5 holes. I was pissed. The grouchy old man parked near me and tried to ask how my round was. I just said great and went on my way. He then says (unsolicited) that he played great too. I lost it and went off on him. As I was pulling out one of his foursome waved me down in the parking lot and thanked me as apparently this guy is an ass all the time. I played the first 13 holes in the same amount of time as the last 5.

This happens to me often as well. I play alone most of the time, squeezing rounds in after work and weekend afternoons when the course is empty. On Tuesday night I tee off at 6 pm and get 18 holes done in two hours on my local track. Other groups always let me through if there are any. However, on other courses I have had different experiences with one grouch complaining that they shouldn't allow singles out to make the other groups feel rushed. One nice thing is the local course will let me play til dark, they lock the gates and tell me to let myself out when I'm done. Talk about having the place to yourself. A nine hole track that backs up to my girlfriends house, it gets dark, I hop the fence to a warm dinner waiting for me. It's a rough life.

[nowon]

Most times I do not have a playing partner; this is a consequence of most of my rounds being played as a walk-on after work. Play most of my rounds on foot, thus, the cart guy does is not grumbling about me keeping him late. I also play 2-3 rounds a week, and enjoy the opportunity to play with others.

[Duff McGee]

I helped my wife learn to play golf (no, not how to swing the club, professionals helped her with that), so I think I'm pretty receptive to playing with women.  Now that she's played for a couple of decades, she has no problem playing with anyone, man or woman. However, there are definitely men out there who believe the old stereotypes, such as: Women play slow Women play poorly Women don't know the etiquette I've played with enough women to know that those generalizations just aren't true most of the time, and slow play, poor play, and bad etiquette are just as likely to happen with men as with women.  If you're comfortable with your understanding of etiquette, and play at a reasonable pace, you should feel free to go to any course, and to play with anyone there.  You're probably a better playing companion than half the other players.  And if you're a 25 handicap, and you can shoot in the mid-90s on a par-72 course at least some of the time, you'll also beat your fair share of the men.  Good luck!

This totally blew my mind. I just realized I don't remember ever playing golf with a woman. You would think I would have done it a million times by now. I've also never seen a woman golfing by herself. Ever. My mind is blown.

[Barry1955]

I really like to play alone. I can focus on my game without distractions. It's also a good way to get away from the hubbub and relax.