Ever play with "that" guy

Got a good friend of mine that I play with occasionally. Bigger dude, not the greatest golfer. Plays the biggest pull you have ever seen. Finally comes out to my home course, its tree lined, like butt loads of trees...everywhere. 2nd hole he is deep in the woods. Pulls out his driver. I say "Bill, just punch out brother". As I was putting up the windshield on the cart he says "I Got this". About 4 shots later I begged him to just punch out. The round continued on like this for a while. On the 16th hole, par 5, ole Bill pounds his driver 240. We are into a 15mph headwind, 305yds out. Bill is waiting for the green to clear. "Uhhhhh you can hit man, its over 300". "Dude when I mash this 3W my carry is over 300" he says.

Now I am a betting man and my buddy Bill likes his steak. I says "We got nobody behind us, I will empty my bag and you can empty yours and you can hit every ball and if you can hit the green from here once I will buy you a years supply of steak". My other buddy tells Bill that I am serious and will buy him truckloads of steak. Billy pulls that 3W monster and pounds the most beautiful ball you have ever seen. "Get your money out" he says. It lands 70 yards short of the green. I walk up to him, look him in the eyes like I did my wife just before I proposed and said "we done here?" Bill just walked back to the cart.

Love that guy

LOL

Great story, yep their are Bill's all over the world.

One of my favorites, I'm hitting driver off the deck? LOL

Unless you have reached PGA Tour status you are not gonna hit driver off the deck with any success. Why do people do this? I'm a 3 handicap and if I hit one out of a thousand balls with a driver off the deck with any success it is saying a lot.

I love when I see the dreaded 25 handicap guy pull driver out in the fairway. Anything can happen and usually does, including totally missing the ball, which I have scene a bunch of times.

No.

I'd have to be well-compensated to play with someone like that. There is a number, though.

Wait a minute, betting man! I'm happy you made your point, but what did you win? If you put up a year's worth of steak for a (really unlikely) loss, the least you should have got when you won was a few drinks.

Always enjoy your stories Rich!

Here's one from my first round of the year last week in Vegas playing with a father and his son, although there's a bit of a twist. The son is maybe in his late 30's and through 13 holes, he's maybe hit 1-2 drives past me and I'm 20+ years his senior. On the 14th hole, we're playing the middle tees and it's a shortish 280 par 4. I hit a nice drive and was 30-40 yards short of the green. He's up and says, I'll wait as I can hit the twosome on the green. His Pop says to him "You haven't hit a ball over 250 all day we need to get going so just hit the damn ball."

Shockingly, he listens and hits the drive of his lifetime. Straight at the green, just missed hitting the twosome as they walked off, with the ball settling in the fringe on the back side of the green. He look at his Pop and just said, "Told you."

It's the once in a lifetime shot that makes you think you can do it every time.

LOL!

he shoulda used the cart path trick

I think me not wanting anything in return was the best part of the bet. I did ask him if that is the case why he does not use it off the tee instead of driver. He said he can only hit it that far off the ground. I said don't use a tee. It was a very fun day, my other buddy was dying laughing the whole day.

This is a different sort of "that guy"

About 10 years ago, my husband and I played with a friend and his buddy in our weekly 9-hole "fun league." The buddy was the slowest golfer I've ever played with. Took a long time to choose his club; multiple practice swings; 10 seconds of waggling (at one point the friend said, "just hit the ******* ball!"); took forever to read his putt, etc. He shot a great round for him; a couple of strokes over par. As we walked off the 9th green he said, in all seriousness, "I hope you enjoyed watching me play."  

In the clubhouse, he told the bartender he'd buy the first round of drinks for our foursome. The bartender started to get my husband's usual drink (can of beer) out of the cooler. The buddy says, "No, no. I'll buy them a glass of tap beer." ($1)

My husband and I still laugh about that. When either of us is having a significantly better than normal round, we will say to the other, "I hope you enjoyed watching me play."

I am going to start using that! Even if I play horribly I’m gonna say it then off to buy a round of the cheapest beer in the clubhouse for my audience.

LOL, I'm not sure "we done here?" is in the Man's Guide To Successful Marriage!

I know I'm in for a long day when off the first tee I see someone try to hit a 3 wood out of a buried lie in 4 inch rough.

yes I have watched a guy like that -- the difference is this guy takes 3-4 practice swings at 120 MPH -- then stands over his ball perfectly still for what seems to be minutes... We wonder sometimes did he go into a Coma -- and then he swings and the ball dribbles 20-30 yards... and then we have to watch that movie all over again.

I used to play a lot with a buddy...decent guy and a pretty good golfer, but he was so slow, and let’s just say he liked to use the pencil wedge more often than he should have. Plus, he could be a bit of a braggadocio. He would take at least 4 practice swings before every shot. He would stalk his putts like Tiger in the 4th round of the US Open (every one of them). And sometimes he would hit a drive 50 yards deep into the woods, yet somehow always found “his” ball just on the edge of the woods with a clear shot to the green and a clean lie. He would pull the “I can’t hit yet because I’ll hit them” thing all the time, BUT, I challenged him on it a couple of times over the years and he actually proved me wrong. He was fine, though...a mostly good dude who was just a little quirky.

I was another version of “that guy” in a round earlier this year. A buddy and I were playing in a tournament with a younger, well built guy and his Dad. My buddy can move it pretty well and he’s very consistent. When I’m on, I can also move it but I’m inconsistent. This young guy was hitting it quite well this day, and I swear to God I’ve never seen anybody make more footage of putts in a round of golf. It was insane. So I’m getting frustrated. I was playing like dog, and this guy was lighting it up and everyone was going on and on about how long he was hitting it. The thing is, I knew I could outdrive him if I was “on”. So I kept trying so hard to finally prove that I could do it (silently to myself but taking some big swipes, which is of course great for your game). Finally on the 14th hole I connected with one and we had a funny exchange where no-one believed that my ball was the one 10 yards ahead of his. So I get annoyed about that, and then I heard his Dad mutter something about I must have gotten some cart path help. So on the next tee, I’m determined to prove it wasn’t a fluke. I take 4 of the hardest practice swings I’ve ever taken, get some laughs from the Dad.......and proceed to hit the biggest block slice I’ve ever hit on a hole that is 100 yards wide. Lol. Omg. I was so stupid that day. Maybe I did get some cart path help after all...

I do a few times a year, and the conditions have to be right (soft ground, sitting up a bit). Choke up a little, and for my swing, expect a left to right shot. Why are you critisizing others for *your* lack of trying?

--kC

I wonder if I would be considered "that guy" by the guy we are referring to as "that guy"? I've been paired with guys like this at public courses and most of the time we are walking. In these situations I have walked past the guy to get closer to my ball to keep our group moving as we all know he is going to top it or ultimately end up no where near the green. On a handful of occasions, they have made comments that I shouldn't have walked ahead as they were then thinking about me and not wanting to hit me, instead of focusing on the shot. I obviously don't stand anywhere near the line they would be taking and I usually try to stay in a blind spot. Left side of the hole for a righty.

Am I being "that guy" by walking ahead of them or do others keep moving towards their ball? How do you guys handle this when riding? Will you leave them there, grab a few clubs and make your way to your ball? It feels like such a time suck to sit there waiting with them when they aren't going to execute.

I hit driver off the deck a few times a year.

Last year I hit a beauty in a two man match the crushed the spirit of our opponents because they thought they had a big advantage until I roasted driver to the front edge of a par 5. When you need a low, burning fade there's nothing like driver off the deck.

Here is a good one. I was playing a few years ago with my dad and two friends at a club I hadn't ever played at before. We get through maybe 6 holes and there is the long straight par 5 with a pretty massive hill you are hitting into... I'm thinking its gotta be at least 250 to the top of the hill. I hit driver... slice but safe. My father, puts one out there nice and straight. My buddy on the other hand says, "That group in front of us should be clear right?" I'm like, "Come on Chris, you have been hitting shitty all day, you will be fine" Well I must of lit a fire under his ass... He hits a freaking BOMB! Sails well over the hill, and we are all fist bumping excited and what not, and all of a sudden we hear what sounded like a thud/knock. I say, probably a sprinkler head or yardage marker (he hit it dead straight) we are about just driving up the hill to get to my dad's ball and I see a cart coming down the hill at us (not the ranger) Some guy starts yelling at us telling us we hit his friend in the head with a ball.

I'm like. Oh my God... That was the sound... sure enough his friend, bald guy gets out of the cart, and it looks like he has a golf ball sized bump on his head. I mean seriously, looked like it hurt. The guy proceeds to tell us he is going to sue us, bloviating about how he is going to take us for everything we are worth...yada yada yada. And, I couldnt help myself... "I go... Well where was your friend when he got hit?" Guy says, we were about 200 out from the green. I literally go... Holy shit... Chris, you carried like 330 yards man! Thats incredible!

The guy goes, wait... That was your drive? We thought it was your second shot! The conversation got a little less tense after that. My father offered to drive the man to the clubhouse buy them a drink etc. Cooler heads prevailed, and it officially goes down as my favorite golf story of all time...

So every once in a while, your Bills out there might clip one good .... haha

I think you're doing exactly the right thing by moving forward to your ball. I do think its up to a player to talk to his playing partners, to ask him to move if its an issue. Its not a bad move on your part to explicitly say "I'm going to walk up to my ball so I'm ready, let me know if I need to move", but I think the real burden is on them to speak up before they get irritated.

I always ask first at the beginning and the turn about going ahead. If it bothers someone I won't do it. Other people change mid-round, either when they are doing poorly or well. I never walk in front of my younger brother. He has hit at me (questionably intentionally) several times before. I know I'd rather just stay behind or on the other side of the fairway.

I certainly understand how they might be hesitant to say something as we just met but I agree that something should be said before it becomes a problem. I can also be fully transparent before we go off to make sure it won't be an issue either. This is usually never a problem with my regular group...or at least no one has said anything lol.

Performance does impact this as well....shocking...I know! In these situations, no one has really come close. I've had some really close calls around the green. Errand bunker shots or the occasional sideways chip that have caused a spike in the heart rate. Oddly enough, these have been friendly fire from family members as well.

When I’m playing with friends and we are having fun at each other’s expense, I’ve been known to say “If you like golf you’re gonna love this shot” before hitting. It’s more fun (for me) when I actually hit a good shot. Better for them when I don’t.

This story was told to me:

A friend was playing as a soloist and was paired with a 2some. One of the 2some didn't replace his divots so my friend mentioned something to him about it. "That guy" said, "That's what the hired help is for."

With my normal group, nobody is shy about speaking their mind, about this or anything else. Its definitely different when you're with strangers.

Got randomly paired with one of those 'that' guys. Probably early to mid 60s . Insisted I play the golds (6900) with him instead of the blues (6500). Was actually a decent player, but every bad bounce was the worst course conditions or maintenance he's seen. Running a ball to an uphill green and the ball stopping short on the incline...poor course conditions, a real course would allow it to run all the way. This went on all round. (tree roots, green speeds being too fast and also too slow??? etc etc. The best part was, and I note we were not playing for anything, short par 4, I take a 6i off the tee. I catch it perfectly thin and it reaches mach one at about 2 ft off the ground max height. Ended up with a wedge in and a two putt par. Now what does that guy say? not nice par, or a haha that's golf. It was I wouldn't that as a par in my mind, your shot was bad and not not a true golf shot.

This was 2 years ago, and it still bring a sour taste out.

Colin used to take 5 minutes to get ready to swing...he would fiddle with his grip over and over and over...couldn't say much as he was a +1 and would shoot low all the time.

He had his little pinky on his right hand removed due to an accident

Love to say to guys “just be awesome”

Rich S2 forever known as the Dream Killer! LOL!

pickin on poor Bill.... prob a head wind