Playing a Round of Golf Solo

[CarlSpackler]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah you did!

I swear that I didn't know about that thread. I scanned through it to make sure I didn't comment. I would have been very embarrassed if I had.

[DaveP043]

6 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

I swear that I didn't know about that thread. I scanned through it to make sure I didn't comment. I would have been very embarrassed if I had.

Its a good day, then, you learned something  

[CarlSpackler]

1 minute ago, DaveP043 said:

Its a good day, then, you learned something  

I'm waiting for @iacas to whip out a server log showing that I opened it a while back or something.

[boogielicious]

12 hours ago, CarlSpackler said:

I'm waiting for @iacas to whip out a server log showing that I opened it a while back or something.

It would have been hilarious if yours was the first comment! But we read so many threads, it can be hard to recall all of them. 

[JonMA1]

On 8/30/2016 at 11:06 PM, Fourputt said:

Since the  only real reason for carrying an official handicap is to play in competition, doesn't it make sense to play handicap eligible rounds with other people, just as you would be required to do in a tournament?  Some players play worse when alone, others play better.  That can be in part due to the difference in the speed of the game, or in the uneven flow when a single is playing on a course filled with mostly other groups.  In either case it doesn't do a very good job of simulating the play of a four player group in the typical competition round.

This is probably the one reason I don't have a problem with the rule change. I've played some decent golf while playing with others, but overall, I probably score a little better while playing solo rounds.

Ironically, this was the year when I started to "post" my rounds to an online HC service simply to track improvement. Funny thing is, they put me in a USGA club and even gave me an official HC card. I notified the club chairman that the rounds were solo and as such unofficial, but I don't think he really cares as I never heard back from him. 

[Pworld]

I play solo all the time. And i also count penalty shots and every stroke. I have made it a habit to try to input honest scores just to calculate an almost accurate index. 

 

With that said, im going to start only calculating my full 18hole rounds and count my quick 9hole rounds as practice. Usually my solo play is the quick 9 hole rounds

[Brakkus]

As the OP has said I've been guilty of all those infractions because it's a practice round. I've played on my own an increasing amount the last two years.

I've slipped into practice mode much more recently. Having not played regularly until recently funnily I always counted my strokes fairly as I was in a group or on a society day and therefore was being marked by others.

However now on my own there's no one to uphold rules. I can hit two balls retake shots ignore lost balls and generally not count my score. I've found that situational practice is far better than range practice. 

It's been great to get out of conservative style of play to protect a handicap. I'm trying to break out and become a better player by taking on holes. Golf is a very disciplined game so anything to make it more carefree and fun is good.

[JonMA1]

I've been playing from longer tees on my home course lately, trying to break 100 for the second time.

Today, I'm playing well enough to do that when I got stuck behind the grounds crew mowing tee boxes and greens. No big deal, I patiently wait for them on each hole to finish before teeing off. When I get to the last hole (9 hole course), one guy is mowing the tee box in front of mine while the other is about 200 yds out on fairway messing with a sprinkler. The guy stops mowing, steps to the side (not out of harms way) and gestures for me to tee off. I try to gesture back "no thanks I'll wait" (because he's right in front of me and the second guy is also in my line of fire on the right side of fairway), but he insists. So I tee off and pull my drive to the left. I'm pissed, but tee up another and pull the second one. I thought (and maybe even said out loud) F!^@ this S!$^ and drive the cart to hole 1 to play the second 9 with plans of playing that last hole over again.

The whole time I'm playing the "back" nine, I'm trying to justify not counting those two OOB shots (4 extra shots) towards my final score.

In the end, even though they pushed my score over 100 I added the strokes. Knew all along I would. Why bother keeping score only to justify cheating? Other than two blowup holes, I felt good about the way I played. Besides, 100 is just a number.

There is a silver lining. When I applied this round to my (pretend) HI, the differential matched my lowest of the year due to the high rating of these tees and the ESC. 

And to make the point of playing solo golf within the rules... there is a creek that runs alongside the trees on the left side of the fairway - where my two errant drives went today. Even though it would be advantageous to do so, I don't treat this area as a lateral water hazard. Unless I'm misunderstanding the rules, since it isn't marked I'd have to be certain the shots ended up in the creek in order to take a drop and gain the considerable distance over re-teeing (as I did) on my third/fifth shots.

I'm not posting this to brag about being honest - that would be silly. Only to reinforce what others have posted about playing alone and abiding by the ROG. 

[imsys0042]

So I am back to being a broken record.   I had the chance to get an extra round in yesterday and grabbed a free time at 8:30am.  I didn't see anyone I knew so I got my stuff together and headed to the tee.   There was a twosome in front of me, and a twosome in front of them.  I play the first 3 holes w/o issue.  4th hole for some reason one of the people in front of me walked 40 yards back from being well out of range to somewhere where a good crack could hit them.

Then they just started being so stupid slow.  With someone behind them they both seemed to go to both balls and talk before swinging.   Couple of times one of them would miss a putt and they would pull it back and do it again.   They would take one club from their cart and walk to their ball...and then go back and get a different club (it was cart path only).   Generally nothing over the top but a lot of things that made them slow.   They didn't wait on a shot until 9.   They are a twosome with generally no waiting and I am taking my time and I waited at least 5 minutes per swing.

So at the turn I've just had enough and decided to bag it if there wasn't any other slot.   There really wasn't so I go "Please just refund me for 9 holes.  Anything is better than being behind those morons."   I didn't realize that there were other members on the other side of the pro shop because I heard laughing.   I told them what those two were like and they agreed they just were kind of a-holes or clueless dimwits.

Anyway, my thing is either wave me up to play.  Or through.   Or (regardless of whether I am a single or a foursome) don't do stupid things that cause delays.  It's just rude to not be considerate of the people behind you.   Like I said, it wasn't like they had a slow hole.   They were just doing a number of things that would hold people up.

[Jeremie Boop]

1 hour ago, imsys0042 said:

So I am back to being a broken record.   I had the chance to get an extra round in yesterday and grabbed a free time at 8:30am.  I didn't see anyone I knew so I got my stuff together and headed to the tee.   There was a twosome in front of me, and a twosome in front of them.  I play the first 3 holes w/o issue.  4th hole for some reason one of the people in front of me walked 40 yards back from being well out of range to somewhere where a good crack could hit them.

Then they just started being so stupid slow.  With someone behind them they both seemed to go to both balls and talk before swinging.   Couple of times one of them would miss a putt and they would pull it back and do it again.   They would take one club from their cart and walk to their ball...and then go back and get a different club (it was cart path only).   Generally nothing over the top but a lot of things that made them slow.   They didn't wait on a shot until 9.   They are a twosome with generally no waiting and I am taking my time and I waited at least 5 minutes per swing.

So at the turn I've just had enough and decided to bag it if there wasn't any other slot.   There really wasn't so I go "Please just refund me for 9 holes.  Anything is better than being behind those morons."   I didn't realize that there were other members on the other side of the pro shop because I heard laughing.   I told them what those two were like and they agreed they just were kind of a-holes or clueless dimwits.

Anyway, my thing is either wave me up to play.  Or through.   Or (regardless of whether I am a single or a foursome) don't do stupid things that cause delays.  It's just rude to not be considerate of the people behind you.   Like I said, it wasn't like they had a slow hole.   They were just doing a number of things that would hold people up.

Funny you should say something like this, my friend and I ran into a similar situation except it was a cart that turned around and drove back towards the tee for seemingly no reason. The biggest trouble was my ball was already in the air when the did it. I yelled "FORE" just in time because they swerved and the ball landed and bounced right near where they were driving.... I mean seriously, who turns around and drives straight back down the fairway when they know that people are teeing off? That was stuck in my head the rest of the round and I kept worrying that they were going to do something similar again.

[imsys0042]

12 minutes ago, Jeremie Boop said:

Funny you should say something like this, my friend and I ran into a similar situation except it was a cart that turned around and drove back towards the tee for seemingly no reason. The biggest trouble was my ball was already in the air when the did it. I yelled "FORE" just in time because they swerved and the ball landed and bounced right near where they were driving.... I mean seriously, who turns around and drives straight back down the fairway when they know that people are teeing off? That was stuck in my head the rest of the round and I kept worrying that they were going to do something similar again.

I would say that he was walking back to the cart where his buddy was farting around with his phone, but he was walking directly down the fairway instead of diagonally back towards the cart.   Too far for a divot. I was well to the right of him anyway, but man, pair of stupid dopes.   Their cart was blocked by a couple of trees but I stepped aside to try and see where they both were when I saw the first one walking after I hit.

[Valleygolfer]

16 minutes ago, Jeremie Boop said:

Funny you should say something like this, my friend and I ran into a similar situation except it was a cart that turned around and drove back towards the tee for seemingly no reason. The biggest trouble was my ball was already in the air when the did it. I yelled "FORE" just in time because they swerved and the ball landed and bounced right near where they were driving.... I mean seriously, who turns around and drives straight back down the fairway when they know that people are teeing off? That was stuck in my head the rest of the round and I kept worrying that they were going to do something similar again.

This has got to be one of the most irritating events on a golf course where a group gets well out of range and suddenly starts driving back towards the tee. I have had this happen a few times but never worry about it reoccurring because it is not my fault. Another equal annoyance is when people hit into your hole from a adjacent hole and don't even look to see if anyone is hitting up before wheeling into your fairway.

[CarlSpackler]

On 9/9/2016 at 5:22 PM, JonMA1 said:

And to make the point of playing solo golf within the rules... there is a creek that runs alongside the trees on the left side of the fairway - where my two errant drives went today. Even though it would be advantageous to do so, I don't treat this area as a lateral water hazard. Unless I'm misunderstanding the rules, since it isn't marked I'd have to be certain the shots ended up in the creek in order to take a drop and gain the considerable distance over re-teeing (as I did) on my third/fifth shots.

I'm not posting this to brag about being honest - that would be silly. Only to reinforce what others have posted about playing alone and abiding by the ROG. 

You might want to check this link.

Here is a thread post that might help too.

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by CarlSpackler
Added link to TST thread.

[Hacker James]

i can truthfully say that the only time I play golf is when I am by myself or with someone.

I maintain a handicap but only for my personal records as I no longer compete. I have bent a few rules, but mostly in instances where I did not want to walk back to replay an errant shot.  Anyone who says they haven't, I find hard to believe.  Never is a long time.  My solo rounds are a means to simply enjoy the moment and have time to reflect, but do enjoy the company of strangers if I happen to get paired up.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Hacker James

[NJpatbee]

Now that the 2016 Season in Northern NJ is into the home stretch for handicap purposes, I have mixed feelings regarding not posting solo rounds.  In 2015 I had 19 legitimate handicap scores which included those played solo.  So far in 2016 I have 9 posted rounds and hope to wind up with a dozen. Based on when I am available to play and my time constraints, I do enjoy the 3 hour rounds played solo when the course is uncrowded.  However, more than half of the time I do play these rounds strictly as practice and will go as far as re-playing an entire hole if I did not like my results, and I do not enter any of the solo rounds as the rules state.  This is much better practice than any driving range or practice facility in my area, and I always played a couple of solo practice rounds anyway.  My handicap is within 1/2 point of what it was in 2015 so the theory that it will not matter much may be true, especially since my playing time has been limited.

But I would prefer that I could enter my solo rounds where I stuck to the rules of golf.  There is something unpleasant about not being considered trustworthy by the USGA, but as a 17 HCP that uses his HCP to gauge improvement and for skins and other $$ games, the world has not changed much.

 

[Groucho Valentine]

My handicap hasn't changed much this season, either. I still post 9 hole solo rounds i play after work sometimes. But the lowest scores I've shot this year have been in groups or tournaments, so I'm not sure how much they matter anyway. 

[boogielicious]

4 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

This has got to be one of the most irritating events on a golf course where a group gets well out of range and suddenly starts driving back towards the tee. I have had this happen a few times but never worry about it reoccurring because it is not my fault. Another equal annoyance is when people hit into your hole from a adjacent hole and don't even look to see if anyone is hitting up before wheeling into your fairway.

The only time I ever hit some one was this situation. My fairway was clear. I teed off. I looked down range and a doofus was jogging into my fairway from behind the trees that separated the fairway. It was comical. I knew the ball would hit him. It bounced once and doink! 

I did apologize to the guy, but he totally blamed himself.

[Valleygolfer]

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

The only time I ever hit some one was this situation. My fairway was clear. I teed off. I looked down range and a doofus was jogging into my fairway from behind the trees that separated the fairway. It was comical. I knew the ball would hit him. It bounced once and doink! 

I did apologize to the guy, but he totally blamed himself.

Was he really jogging or just jogging to his ball?