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Golfing alone


stikillller

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  • 2 weeks later...

I almost always play alone except a tournament. I play seven to ten events a year. Mostly local district stuff or some state Am stuff. I am a chronic practicer and basically walk nine holes three to four nights a week. I tee off at six and walk nine.

I'm a loner really. I hate idol chatter and basically have very little patience for people anymore in life. I get together about twice a year with a few close childhood friends who play but other than that I'm alone.

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Boring besides you can't count your HDCP......

Tried is a few times end up leaving the course.

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9MSRGAAB04UV.jpegJoined a club for the first time in my life. They have these. I can literally get in 18 in about an hour

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I tend to play my best golf alone which makes me realize that either:

I stress too much when other folks are aroundI have focus momentum issues meaning it takes a while to get focused / unfocused rather than being a switch I can flipI suppose it could be a "staying warm" issue as well, but it feels like it's more of the "2nd Shot All American" stress / focus related issues.

In any case, going out and playing alone is a great way to get my confidence back after a bad round (especially since there are essentially no practice facilities at Harding Park anymore :( ).

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I prefer playing alone most of the time. I just don’t have the energy to yell ‘nice shot’ for 105 times when we both know it was sh*t, because we have to go look for it on the fairway of the next hole.

Walking on the course alone for 3 hours helps me to clear my mind a bit. Especially when I book the last tee time on a summer night.

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I used to play alone quite a bit. I don't so much anymore. I find that spending excessive time alone can be kind of isolating so I prefer to have company whenever possible.

 

I will play 9 holes late in the evening after work when the weather permits. Even then, I'm really doing it to practice and prep for the more important weekend rounds with friends though.

 

 

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Probably just focused on his playing maybe? The wild cart driving is a no no for me to though lol. I play alone when friends or my dad and or brother cant and i love it. Very peacful and focusing. Grab a beer as a friend lol also when i get paired i usually dont mind too much but sometimes you get some wierdos or really bad players which i dont care if your bad but its hard to play well when someone duffs it 15 times to the hole. Also i like to talk a little bit with randoms but not all round every shot lol

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Seems to be an unpopular opinion on this particular discussion, but I rarely enjoy playing alone (especially since on most busy courses that mostly equates to waiting for your next shot). I have no problem practicing alone, but I view playing a round as something to do with others. The game is already me against the course (and myself), no need to make it more solitary.

As a note, when I play a round I completely put the phone away and try to focus on the round/company. That all being said, the occasional solo round is nice and relaxing.

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I couldn't agree more.

 

I actually think preferring to have a group has something to do with wanting to shoot your best even though that seems counter-intuitive. The more serious I take golf, the more I understand the need to unwind in between shots. Thus playing by myself (and taking it seriously) often feels rather suffocating. So if/when I play by myself I tend to view it in a more casual way, as if it's sort of a practice round.

 

I started playing the red tees late last year after work as an alternative to beating irons on the driving range. I can hit 2-3 balls out into the fairway with a mid-iron and then hit all of them onto the green with a short iron or wedge, all the while establishing a better pace compared with the range and getting some exercise in, too. It made way more sense to hit 50 shots that way as opposed to going to the range. That's not even including the fact you get a bunch of birdie putts and end up shooting something close to level par which is really inspiring!

 

Putting 6-7 clubs in a Sunday bag and playing the reds was an amazing revolution for me and my practice, one I'll continue to embrace as I head into next season!

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When I was a kid I played alone all of the time as there were no other kids around that played golf. It wasn't until high school golf that I played with a group. I played in college but I only keep up with a couple of teammates and I haven't seen them since '71. In college and after I use to play every weekend with a big group. The guys were all much older or a little older than me. It was fun and the most you could win or lose was $15 dollars. But all of those guys have passed on now. After college I played quite a few "serious" amateur tournaments. There wasn't much conversation with your playing partners. You tried not to pay attention to them so it was very much like playing alone. It doesn't bother me to be paired up with someone but I'm not going to bet or stop to eat at the turn and not too much socializing. I like being out on the course and the surroundings by myself. I think it has a lot to do with playing alone when I was a kid and being encouraged by club pros that I was around to concentrate on becoming a tournament golfer.

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I play about 30-40% of my rounds solo, and about 10% of the other rounds with my brother who just walks the course with me but is generally quiet so it's kind of like playing solo, and the rest with my dad and or brother. The golf bug has gotten ahold of me completely so I love either way, getting onto the course, practicing my game, trying to improve, it's all good fun. I have some friends who are interested in taking up golf so hopefully we could get some rounds in this upcoming year.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I enjoy playing with friends at my home club, but I'm starting to prefer playing alone when I'm on vacation. I generally play public courses when I'm out of town. Unfortunately, they usually try to put you with groups when you're a single. I've had some good experiences and have met some really nice people, but those are out weighed by bad experiences. Yesterday here in Florida I was asked to join two guys from Canada. Both were very nice. However, neither of them came close to breaking 100. I'm not a golf snob, but my handicap is 12 and I usually score in the low 80s. They insisted on playing the same tees as me and it was all I could do to stay patient and focus on my game. The round stretched out to just under five hours. I'm playing another public course today and I'm really hoping I can play by myself.

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I find it has to do with how I'm swinging it. If I stand over the ball with confidence, that I have at least a 60% chance of hitting something close to what I wanted to hit, where it is apparent "what I was going for", I REALLY enjoy playing with others. Bonus points if it's with someone of relatively similar skill, and/or better (unless we're talking like pro-level). Discussing and/or witnessing varying Strategy, having friendly competition, and generally having someone else witness the ups and downs of this game, the near misses, the great recoveries, the perfect putts - that miss by a dimple - SO wonderful and connecting to share. It's like two travelers running into each other at an intersection or town on the road of life. We may be heading to different locations, but for that moment in time, we have camaraderie, as two souls sharing in that "draw" , that illusive "pull" that this great game has. Almost like sitting down and having a drink and telling stories of "the one that got away", that story of love and poetry, lost long ago, that pull of feelings and attraction never felt before, and always striving after again...that tinge of sadness at what might have been, coupled with thankfulness and the maturity to realize that what one has now is better than that faint dream, yet we all share that tinge of sorrow...

When I stand over the ball and go "oh dear lord, please don't shank it", it is, in a word, just the F&%&$*G worst....

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I most frequently play alone in that I book a tee time at random courses and meet up and play with whomever paired with.

If possible due to less traffic on course and/or first or last tee time, I do prefer to golf alone. I love the silence of the game. The sounds around me, and not offending any one when swearing at myself for a missed shot or cursing the greenskeeper for his pin placement of the day?

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I probably play by myself close to 50% of the time in a given year. Once daylight savings time hits, I can get to one of the local courses at 5 and if the course is relatively empty (which it typically is), I can finish the round in about 2 hours.

I work as a data scientist and find that the disconnect I get on the course, with nothing around but the shot I just hit, the shot in front of me (and maybe the sounds of nearby birds) is beneficial to my job. And my sanity. As others have noted, I find it almost therapeutic.

And (again, as others have noted) I like both sides of this debate. Sometimes I just want to play alone in silence. And I get some of the best practice in these situations, with no one around, no rush to get to the next hole, and no idle chatter.

But I've also found where I get paired with someone I'd never play with otherwise, like 2 weeks ago when an old retired couple joined me on the tee per the starter's instructions. They were a joy to play with. They understood golf etiquette, played quickly and efficiently, and I truly enjoyed the conversation.

Gotta love this game. :)

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I play most rounds alone because it’s hard to get away, I’ve got three young kids and most of my friends are in the same situation and only play sporadically.

That said, I much prefer playing with others and my game always improves when I do.

One caveat. Several times I’ve gotten paired up with total Delta Bravos, or offered to have a group join up with me and gotten blown off. It’s quite irritating and enough to ruin a round and makes me think twice before asking the starter to pair me up with a group. Most people are cool though.

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I'm retired 13 years now and golf alone a few times a month -- not because no one else is available.. A couple times a month I like to go out and just work on various shots or test Drivers and/or new shafts. At one of the courses I play often it is not busy during the week , so I will stay at the T Box of one of the straight Par 5 or Par 4 and just hit several drivers with the ball I like to play. Launch monitors and driving ranges dont do it for me.

Or then I like to go hit 6 or 8 iron shots and then use one of the more difficult greens to practice my short game. Generally I don't play 18 holes of golf if alone, Plus I can't record my score if I do. Cheers

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