Who is your golf nemesis?

[Kalnoky]

Is there some vexing soul out there whom you would really, really, enjoy beating on the golf course? It has to be someone you know, that you can realistically beat – not a professional player. It can be someone you’ve already beaten (but needs another beating), or someone you aspire to overcome.

 

Maybe it is the drunken clubhouse jerk who is always trying to hustle people for money.. Or the boss who unabashedly hits on your wife. Or maybe your alma mater lost their annual rivalry game, and you’re tired of hearing about it. Maybe it is your buddy who whipped you at the last bachelor party golf outing, because you didn’t have your best stuff that day.. Or maybe it is your in-laws, who make fun of your Nissan Leaf…

 

Everyone has someone that gets under their skin. Of all the silly tests of manhood, a good golf game is one of the more highly respected. Since I know a lot of us are at minimum, mildly competitive, I thought this might be kind of a fun survey. It can be an entirely friendly rivalry you have with someone – it does not have to be malicious!

[woodzie264]

My best man, @Kamal Chantal. We play for a trophy 3-4/yr and he wins 80% of the time...though we play gross and my HI is lower by a point or so.

It's always a big deal to beat him

[iacas]

Myself.

[Lihu]

13 minutes ago, Kalnoky said:

Everyone has someone that gets under their skin.

My son's league team mates dad who is a real "tiger dad". Just a little background, everyone else also thinks he's a blowhard. A lawyer, of course. . . But I already beat him prior to him becoming really unreasonable last year with a whopping 42 on a par 36 9 hole executive course. He hasn't picked up a club since.

The other weird dad hurt his back and he's about 10 years older than me, so I've lost the chance at that "rivalry". I played so horribly for too many years to be able to take him on in his "prime".

Got. . . to. . . find. . . some. . . rivals. . .

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, I couldn't really care less about beating anyone.

 

[bkuehn1952]

It used to be the Little Irish Bastard (or LIB for short).  Years ago he proposed we play a $1/$1/$1/ Nassau.  That first year he kicked my butt and at one point he was closing in on being up $30.  To make it even more maddening, he kept a spreadsheet.   I would score better but he had a knack of playing well on 5-6 holes each nine with a few blowouts on the other 2-3.  I finally started to get his measure and finished the year with a run to get the total down to under $20. The next year he never won a match and I was up $20+ by the end of the year.  The next year I started out beating him every time until he refused to play for money anymore.

So I am currently looking for a new nemesis. 

[David L Yskes]

My Dad and my brother..... So i got my brother into golf in 2000, and somewhere around 2006 he started beating me...  it wasnt by much, usually 1 stroke...    well one day we are playing and I am up 1 stroke or we are tied going into the 18th hole and i smoke my drive down the fairway.... my brother hits his by a tree... i walk to my ball and turn around and my brother is kicking his ball out ( foot wedge )  and i was like  ARe you kidding mE!!  i knew it!!!!   of course my brother tried claiming it was just that one time... lol    but the messed up part was i think he won that time too or we tied, but i did protest LOL....    But after that he started to really beat me badly by 5 to 10 or more strokes...  but he also started playing on a league and playing a lot!  where as i wasnt playing except a couple times a year..      now that being said, i am playing a lot more golf now , and we havent played together since 2015, when he beat me on two tough courses..    

As for my dad, i either lose big or win big, depending on how i am playing that day,  while he doesnt hit the ball long, he hits the ball straight..  

[CarlSpackler]

51 minutes ago, iacas said:

Myself.

Beat me to it.

But I guess I will go with @missitnoonan.

[mcanadiens]

It's the fellow who put me on a golf course for the first time. 

Chris is a close friend of my brother's going back to childhood. I've come to know him well since moving back into this area several years back. He endured my first very painful rounds with me. It took me three years to finally beat him and that came a short par-3 course here in town called Rollandia. 

Now a funny thing happened at about that time. I started playing by the rules. He never really has. For over a year, I'd outplay him and lose to mulligans, penalty-free drops and forgotten strokes. It worked on my fragile temper something fierce. This year, however, I took a bit more of a relaxed attitude toward our rounds and it has resulted in wins three out of four outings this past year despite his scoring hi-jinx.

He's a good friend and I'm glad that I can enjoy rounds with him once again. 

.  

[colin007]

close friend of mine who is a fellow teacher - he played sparingly as a teenager, and then picked it back up when he came to my school and learned that a few of us play.  initially i was beating him easily, but in a 3 year span he improved drastically.  hes an athlete with great hand-eye coordination. now im lucky to beat him. its also funny that we are physically opposites, im 6-4 and hes maybe 5-3. its hilarious seeing us walk up the fairway together.

[Wally Fairway]

There are 2 - my younger brother and a cousin who is 4 months older.

My cousin and I have been competitive our entire lives - ping pong, darts, basketball, but now mostly golf. He never married, no kids, nothing to tie him down - so he averages between 120 & 140 rounds a year. I can no longer score as well as he does, but when we do get together it is very competitive.

My brother is 8 years younger, he is a teacher so he get to play a bunch in the summer and he "volunteers" to help his daughters HS team so that keeps him on the course through mid-October. I used to own him, even when he could score as well as I did he couldn't close out the deal...then about 4-5 years ago he broke through and has never looked back. We have a standing $1/hole bet and us used to play carryovers with validation - but I got tired of losing around $15 a round, so now it is just $1/hole and I won a few bucks last year.

With both of them, if we are in a tournament, if I'm not beating them then I root for them to win.

[Let it Fly]

Good friend of mine.  Starting 3 years ago, we've finished every season playing the "Paskin Challenge for the Giraffe of Shame Trophy."  36 hole, overall match-play.  The loser takes home this awful looking wooden giraffe to look at all year long, but also gets to "engrave" it with a sharpie and message of their choosing.  Can't wait to see what this thing looks like in 10 years...or even next year since it's currently in his possession .

 

[Kalnoky]

43 minutes ago, Let it Fly said:

The loser takes home this awful looking wooden giraffe to look at all year long

 

This is FANTASTIC

[nevets88]

No one in particular, but there are golf courses I eventually want to kick the snot out of by scoring well. One day, I'll go back to the first course I ever played when I get my game in order.

[Lihu]

2 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

No one in particular, but there are golf courses I eventually want to kick the snot out of by scoring well. One day, I'll go back to the first course I ever played when I get my game in order.

I did this and ended up doubling the easiest hole.

[boogielicious]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

Myself.

Me too. I would rather play great and beat my best. 

[colin007]

7 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

No one in particular, but there are golf courses I eventually want to kick the snot out of by scoring well. One day, I'll go back to the first course I ever played when I get my game in order.

Actually, this is a much better answer, and I'd clarify it to target specific "nemesis" holes. These are holes that are so in my head that I'm thinking of them several holes ahead of actually playing them.

[Patch]

I have a very old friend who's internet moniker is golfjunkieksr. We have known each other more than 50 years. We even share the same nick name. 

We started playing golf together in our early 20s. It was not a problem whipping him back then. He was newer to the game than I was at the time. He was really bad.

He was a trial, error learner of the game. No lessons what so ever. His thought was if he hit enough balls, eventually his swing would correct itself into something useful. It took him 10 years, but he was right. 

I can't beat him these days. I shoot a 77, he shoots a 75. I shoot an 80, he scores a 78. He is 68 years old, and shoots the majority of his rounds in the 70s. He once shot his age at 63. 

[nevets88]

32 minutes ago, colin007 said:

Actually, this is a much better answer, and I'd clarify it to target specific "nemesis" holes. These are holes that are so in my head that I'm thinking of them several holes ahead of actually playing them.

Yes, this +++1.  There are holes I would like sweet revenge on.