Gamesmanship- Artform or Annoying

[bladehunter]

Gamesmanship. Hmmmm. I often laugh to myself when I see it coming from an opponent. Especially when it's someone I'm familiar with . Their tells are obvious. I never start the game playing but I will engage if someone else does. I'm usually dry , pretty quiet and going about my own business on the course. But I can apply the needle with the best of them if need be. Case in point.

 

3rd round of last years county am. Our flight was out of it before it started. I had played a terrible 1st round to get back there. Anyway. I'm in a 3 some with two guys who really don't hit it very long. But one of them is quite straight and hits driver near every hole. He also instigates a side match with me. I accepted and away we went. As I said he hits driver every hole he can. I'm playing 2 iron and 3 wood for position and to keep it out of the trees. lol. So he is longest off the tee by 10 yard or so and by the 5 th hole he's crowing about it. As if that's going to someohow get In my head. I ignore him until the 12th. Long par 5 wide open. No OB. Match was all square and he had the box having won the last hole. He gets up and stripes one. Then turns to me and says " man it gets old hitting driver that good " and laughs. 2nd guy hits now my turn. I pull driver for the 1st time , take a few practice swings with a big smile on my face. Aim up the left and unload on one . I'll never forget the look on his face when I turned around. It was pure disgust. We walk to our balls and we get to the 1st ball which was our playing partners. We wait and he just a layup down the fairway. We walk again to the next ball he stops short as if to assume it's my ball. I walk to that ball and look ( knowing it's his ) and I said " your up hoss ". To which he again looks disgusted. He walks up. Shoots the yardage and pulls 3 wood. Hits it as hard as he can and ends up just in front of the green. We walk again. Lol. I had airmailed him by 30 yards and then caught the downslope. And it rolled forever. I had a 7 iron into the green. Which I put to 12 feet. I made eagle and he par. I knew I had him then. I'm 1up going into 13. He never hit another fairway and I never pulled driver out again. When the round was over he wouldn't even talk to us. Just hurried to his car .

 

The funny part was I was struggling with driver control at the time. And had he not made a big deal out of being " long" I woul likely have played 3 wood off that tee and layed up. You have to be careful when playing " gamesmanship". You better have the ability to backup whatever game your playing.

 

 

[Shilgy]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ?

 

Nice one blade!

[bladehunter]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ?

 

Nice one blade!

 

True. True. But keep in mind I pulled it out once because it finds the trees more often than not some days. So not quite the full tale of mythic greatness that it may seem.

[smeech8000]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :)

 

Nice one blade!

 

Nah, it's disqualified on account that it doesn't meet the "passive" requirement. :good:

[bladehunter]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ��

 

Nice one blade!

 

Nah, it's disqualified on account that it doesn't meet the "passive" requirement. :good:

 

Bingo !

[b.helts]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ��

 

Nice one blade!

 

Nah, it's disqualified on account that it doesn't meet the "passive" requirement. :good:

 

Bingo !

 

Your post didn't entirely make sense though. You said you hit driver 7 iron but if you hadn't hit driver you'd have hit 3 wood to lay up. That's fine, I know you said you hit a down slope. What doesn't make sense is why you'd ever lay up there at all if there isn't OB in play. Surely only in the worst case you couldn't give yourself a decent third shot in if you missed the fairway. And having 7 iron in would be worth the risk/reward equation.

 

I'm not buying what you're selling. *

 

* and I'm just busting your chops a bit. Not a super serious post. But seriously. No ob and your laying up on a 5 par unless some bozo is smirking at you all day? Wtf (;

[deadsolid...shank]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ��

 

Nice one blade!

 

Nah, it's disqualified on account that it doesn't meet the "passive" requirement. :good:

 

Bingo !

 

Your post didn't entirely make sense though. You said you hit driver 7 iron but if you hadn't hit driver you'd have hit 3 wood to lay up. That's fine, I know you said you hit a down slope. What doesn't make sense is why you'd ever lay up there at all if there isn't OB in play. Surely only in the worst case you couldn't give yourself a decent third shot in if you missed the fairway. And having 7 iron in would be worth the risk/reward equation.

 

I'm not buying what you're selling. *

 

* and I'm just busting your chops a bit. Not a super serious post. But seriously. No ob and your laying up on a 5 par unless some bozo is smirking at you all day? Wtf (;

 

I think Blade had just been setting him up all along, waiting for this moment. The guy thought he was gaming him and he had been getting it all along. Blade knew he could string him along and keep'it close playing 3 wood, until the time was right!. Then boom! Drop the hammer.

[huskydawg]

That's half the fun in our group. All the "extras".

 

But playing with someone I don't know, I'm not going to do anything out of the ordinary. Things like conceding putts, I'll follow their lead, if they're generous I will be too. If I'm putting everything out, same for them. Fine by me either way.

 

While I steadfastly keep this to myself, I shudder at the absurdity of a stranger (with whom I'm not competing) "giving" me a putt. And then I shudder seeing their disappointment when I don't remember to return the "courtesy." Whole lotta shuddering!

 

It is kinda funny to me as well when you are grouped with strangers and they say "that's good" for a short putt. I guess it is just being nice. However, to me if you are not competing then just play your own ball and how you want to play it and I play my ball how I want to as well. I don't care how you play your ball unless we are competing.

 

Late to reading this post but I explained to one stranger that I'm going for a personal record every time I go out so no "gimmes" unless I'm really out of it. So what does he do on the 4th hole? Swats a downhill/sidehill 2 footer back to me. -_-'

[2bGood]

I recall my first Match play event. I was over matched and losing (and very nervous). At one stage my competitor had 2' or less side hill putt. I didn't give it to him so he says:

 

"I know you are new to this, but if you don't give me this putt, I have to finish the hole."

 

I just said:

 

"I know"

 

Then he missed, and I won the hole.

 

I went on to win as he was very rattled by this exchange, but truth be told I was so clueless I really didn't know what was going and "I know" seemed like the right thing to say. :taunt:

[deadsolid...shank]

That's half the fun in our group. All the "extras".

 

But playing with someone I don't know, I'm not going to do anything out of the ordinary. Things like conceding putts, I'll follow their lead, if they're generous I will be too. If I'm putting everything out, same for them. Fine by me either way.

 

While I steadfastly keep this to myself, I shudder at the absurdity of a stranger (with whom I'm not competing) "giving" me a putt. And then I shudder seeing their disappointment when I don't remember to return the "courtesy." Whole lotta shuddering!

 

It is kinda funny to me as well when you are grouped with strangers and they say "that's good" for a short putt. I guess it is just being nice. However, to me if you are not competing then just play your own ball and how you want to play it and I play my ball how I want to as well. I don't care how you play your ball unless we are competing.

 

Late to reading this post but I explained to one stranger that I'm going for a personal record every time I go out so no "gimmes" unless I'm really out of it. So what does he do on the 4th hole? Swats a downhill/sidehill 2 footer back to me. -_-'

 

If I'm playing with someone new and they roll one up close and I'm standing there. I'll ask them, "do you want it back or are you finishing it?"

[bladehunter]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ��

 

Nice one blade!

 

Nah, it's disqualified on account that it doesn't meet the "passive" requirement. :good:

 

Bingo !

 

Your post didn't entirely make sense though. You said you hit driver 7 iron but if you hadn't hit driver you'd have hit 3 wood to lay up. That's fine, I know you said you hit a down slope. What doesn't make sense is why you'd ever lay up there at all if there isn't OB in play. Surely only in the worst case you couldn't give yourself a decent third shot in if you missed the fairway. And having 7 iron in would be worth the risk/reward equation.

 

I'm not buying what you're selling. *

 

* and I'm just busting your chops a bit. Not a super serious post. But seriously. No ob and your laying up on a 5 par unless some bozo is smirking at you all day? Wtf (;

 

 

You haven't seen my miss. Think Phil mickelson. Center of the face. Off the planet. True I'm also crafty with gettin oit of trouble. But driver just isn't a club I can thread through small holes. If I miss it it's usually a hold on lack of release. And it's gone right. Like you won't find it 99 % of the time. I have weeks were I hit it straight everytime. But at times it creeps back in and during that tournament I had hit so many balls off the planet in the first round I had damn near the full yips. The morning before the 3rd round I had cured the yippy feelin on the range. But I still didn't trust where it was going. That hole I just practiced a hook release practice swing and let it go. Knowing it would be s double cross left if I got to quick. But also knowing my swing my lower half will fly open and out run my hands everytime I try to unload on one so the calculated risk was thy my hands wouldn't get ahead and it would fade back. It did. But easily could have gone left. Or right. Lol

[bladehunter]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ��

 

Nice one blade!

 

Nah, it's disqualified on account that it doesn't meet the "passive" requirement. :good:

 

Bingo !

 

Your post didn't entirely make sense though. You said you hit driver 7 iron but if you hadn't hit driver you'd have hit 3 wood to lay up. That's fine, I know you said you hit a down slope. What doesn't make sense is why you'd ever lay up there at all if there isn't OB in play. Surely only in the worst case you couldn't give yourself a decent third shot in if you missed the fairway. And having 7 iron in would be worth the risk/reward equation.

 

I'm not buying what you're selling. *

 

* and I'm just busting your chops a bit. Not a super serious post. But seriously. No ob and your laying up on a 5 par unless some bozo is smirking at you all day? Wtf (;

 

I think Blade had just been setting him up all along, waiting for this moment. The guy thought he was gaming him and he had been getting it all along. Blade knew he could string him along and keep'it close playing 3 wood, until the time was right!����. Then boom! Drop the hammer.

 

Yea. That was the secondary reason. The true reason was my lack of confidence with driver. Although it is a good application of the needle to hit 2 iron ( driving iron ) and 3 wood even with another guys driver. Lol. I'm working hard on controlling driver and it's better than it was last summer. Better than its been my whole life. But I still don't hit it that often in a round. I almost never hit it if there's close oB right. And as for layup on a par 5 with 3 wood . Why not. ? A layup off the tee is smarter than bunting a drive then hitting 7 iron to spot to then hit sand wedge. Brings in risk with driver. If your hitting it as a 3 shot hole why not hot 3 easy shots.? 3 wood or 2 iron. Then 6-7 iron to a sw or gw. Virtually no risk that way.

[Sean2]

I laugh when people pull that stuff in a match. I ignore it and just think they are being petty.

 

The only "gamesmanship" there should be on the golf course is your skills matching your opponents skills.

 

In one match I hit a chip shot about 3 feet from the pin. My opponent said I played out of turn and needed to take the shot again. I said, "Sure." I holed out. [i wasn't happy with my first chip]. After the hole out, I didn't cheer, fist pump, or any of that, I just picked my golf ball out of the hole grabbed the pin, and waited for him to finish. He didn't say anything to me after that.

[mark m]

I laugh when people pull that stuff in a match. I ignore it and just think they are being petty.

 

The only "gamesmanship" there should be on the golf course is your skills matching your opponents skills.

 

In one match I hit a chip shot about 3 feet from the pin. My opponent said I played out of turn and needed to take the shot again. I said, "Sure." I holed out. [i wasn't happy with my first chip]. After the hole out, I didn't cheer, fist pump, or any of that, I just picked my golf ball out of the hole grabbed the pin, and waited for him to finish. He didn't say anything to me after that.

 

Well played Sean. I love the Stoic demeanor. It's a dying art form.

[bladehunter]

I laugh when people pull that stuff in a match. I ignore it and just think they are being petty.

 

The only "gamesmanship" there should be on the golf course is your skills matching your opponents skills.

 

In one match I hit a chip shot about 3 feet from the pin. My opponent said I played out of turn and needed to take the shot again. I said, "Sure." I holed out. [i wasn't happy with my first chip]. After the hole out, I didn't cheer, fist pump, or any of that, I just picked my golf ball out of the hole grabbed the pin, and waited for him to finish. He didn't say anything to me after that.

 

Well played ! But you see. Stone faced is in itself gamesmanship. Maybe not on purpose. But often times the chatty Kathy of the group is trying to get the focused straight faced guy to drop his gaurd. By not getting rattled and then holing out on the next go you actually layed down a much better form of gamesmanship. The type that will shut down the guy trying to play mind games. That deserves me to say well played ! Again.

[Sean2]

I laugh when people pull that stuff in a match. I ignore it and just think they are being petty.

 

The only "gamesmanship" there should be on the golf course is your skills matching your opponents skills.

 

In one match I hit a chip shot about 3 feet from the pin. My opponent said I played out of turn and needed to take the shot again. I said, "Sure." I holed out. [i wasn't happy with my first chip]. After the hole out, I didn't cheer, fist pump, or any of that, I just picked my golf ball out of the hole grabbed the pin, and waited for him to finish. He didn't say anything to me after that.

 

Well played Sean. I love the Stoic demeanor. It's a dying art form.

 

Thanks Mark! I am partial to players like that on Tour.

[Sean2]

I laugh when people pull that stuff in a match. I ignore it and just think they are being petty.

 

The only "gamesmanship" there should be on the golf course is your skills matching your opponents skills.

 

In one match I hit a chip shot about 3 feet from the pin. My opponent said I played out of turn and needed to take the shot again. I said, "Sure." I holed out. [i wasn't happy with my first chip]. After the hole out, I didn't cheer, fist pump, or any of that, I just picked my golf ball out of the hole grabbed the pin, and waited for him to finish. He didn't say anything to me after that.

 

Well played ! But you see. Stone faced is in itself gamesmanship. Maybe not on purpose. But often times the chatty Kathy of the group is trying to get the focused straight faced guy to drop his gaurd. By not getting rattled and then holing out on the next go you actually layed down a much better form of gamesmanship. The type that will shut down the guy trying to play mind games. That deserves me to say well played ! Again.

 

Thanks Blade! I am always stone faced on the course. It's just how I am. It's not something I work on. :-)

 

As an example (and not a brag): The last hole-in-one I had my playing partners were more excited than I was. I just made a wry smile. I don't get very excited on the course, no matter which way a shot goes. It's golf. Sh!t happens.

[Sawgrass]

That's half the fun in our group. All the "extras".

 

But playing with someone I don't know, I'm not going to do anything out of the ordinary. Things like conceding putts, I'll follow their lead, if they're generous I will be too. If I'm putting everything out, same for them. Fine by me either way.

 

While I steadfastly keep this to myself, I shudder at the absurdity of a stranger (with whom I'm not competing) "giving" me a putt. And then I shudder seeing their disappointment when I don't remember to return the "courtesy." Whole lotta shuddering!

 

It is kinda funny to me as well when you are grouped with strangers and they say "that's good" for a short putt. I guess it is just being nice. However, to me if you are not competing then just play your own ball and how you want to play it and I play my ball how I want to as well. I don't care how you play your ball unless we are competing.

 

Late to reading this post but I explained to one stranger that I'm going for a personal record every time I go out so no "gimmes" unless I'm really out of it. So what does he do on the 4th hole? Swats a downhill/sidehill 2 footer back to me. -_-'

 

Yes, I've encountered such compulsive behavior from strangers too. My solution is to very, very deliberately replace the ball (even if it's on the lip) and putt out. They soon realize that there's nothing in it for them to push like that. (And I have not given up the pristine nature of my quest for a personal record, because the Rules direct you to do this when an outside agency moves your ball.)

[BillyZ2]

Pat yourself on the back OP, "you the man"! I actually think you are quite an instigator and enjoy it and that is your comfort zone. You talk about your opponent bragging, but that's exactly what you have done in your post.

[dan360]

I'll say smart a** stuff like "get open!" when their ball is headed towards open water, or thick forest, etc. More as a rib than anything, but if they're being a pee rick, well, then it's meant with all the abrasion they take it with.

 

The most arse holey thing I've done in a match was give a notoriously bad putter a ton of concedes, pretty much anything inside of 5 feet I was giving him. For the first 9 holes. After that I made him putt out everything. Kind of a dick move, but whatever, we're still friends. :)

[Sean2]

Gamesmanship. Hmmmm. I often laugh to myself when I see it coming from an opponent. Especially when it's someone I'm familiar with . Their tells are obvious. I never start the game playing but I will engage if someone else does. I'm usually dry , pretty quiet and going about my own business on the course. But I can apply the needle with the best of them if need be. Case in point.

 

3rd round of last years county am. Our flight was out of it before it started. I had played a terrible 1st round to get back there. Anyway. I'm in a 3 some with two guys who really don't hit it very long. But one of them is quite straight and hits driver near every hole. He also instigates a side match with me. I accepted and away we went. As I said he hits driver every hole he can. I'm playing 2 iron and 3 wood for position and to keep it out of the trees. lol. So he is longest off the tee by 10 yard or so and by the 5 th hole he's crowing about it. As if that's going to someohow get In my head. I ignore him until the 12th. Long par 5 wide open. No OB. Match was all square and he had the box having won the last hole. He gets up and stripes one. Then turns to me and says " man it gets old hitting driver that good " and laughs. 2nd guy hits now my turn. I pull driver for the 1st time , take a few practice swings with a big smile on my face. Aim up the left and unload on one . I'll never forget the look on his face when I turned around. It was pure disgust. We walk to our balls and we get to the 1st ball which was our playing partners. We wait and he just a layup down the fairway. We walk again to the next ball he stops short as if to assume it's my ball. I walk to that ball and look ( knowing it's his ) and I said " your up hoss ". To which he again looks disgusted. He walks up. Shoots the yardage and pulls 3 wood. Hits it as hard as he can and ends up just in front of the green. We walk again. Lol. I had airmailed him by 30 yards and then caught the downslope. And it rolled forever. I had a 7 iron into the green. Which I put to 12 feet. I made eagle and he par. I knew I had him then. I'm 1up going into 13. He never hit another fairway and I never pulled driver out again. When the round was over he wouldn't even talk to us. Just hurried to his car .

 

The funny part was I was struggling with driver control at the time. And had he not made a big deal out of being " long" I woul likely have played 3 wood off that tee and layed up. You have to be careful when playing " gamesmanship". You better have the ability to backup whatever game your playing.

 

He said "it gets old hitting the driver that good"? That is as good as a death sentence in golf, which is one sport where if you get cocky the golf gods will crush you.

 

He played gamesmanship alright, only he did it to himself.

[Llortamaisey]

These stories remind me of a group I played in one time. During the middle of the round, one of the players in the group compared hitting a hook to getting P. He said "No matter how bad or ugly it is, it always feels so good." Now to this day I don't know if this was gamesmanship or not but the best tee ball player in the our group proceeded to hit five driver duck hooks in a row. He couldn't get the analogy out of his head.

[Forged4ever]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :) ?

 

Nice one blade!

 

True. True. But keep in mind I pulled it out once because it finds the trees more often than not some days. So not quite the full tale of mythic greatness that it may seem.

No such thing as a "passive brag" Bro :)

 

You either do it or ya don't-

 

If ya don't, you're a dick

 

If ya do, you're just stating fact?️

 

I hope that you and your family are well!!

 

Have a great week??

 

Always,

Richard

[bladehunter]

I do believe we have the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 PB (passive brag) award! :)

 

Nice one blade!

 

True. True. But keep in mind I pulled it out once because it finds the trees more often than not some days. So not quite the full tale of mythic greatness that it may seem.

No such thing as a "passive brag" Bro :)

 

You either do it or ya don't-

 

If ya don't, you're a dick

 

If ya do, you're just stating fact️

 

I hope that you and your family are well!!

 

Have a great week

 

Always,

Richard

 

 

yep... 100% agree..... nothing passive about me..lol and it gets worse as i get older and more aware of how the world works.... we are doing well ...I hope you and yours are doing good on your end !

[madchens]

I will employ trash talk without question but I have been close friends with my group for almost 15 years. We all play together A LOT and have seen it all from each other.

 

For example, Hole 8 at a course we play, my friend has put two tee shots OB the last two rounds. He has taken 6 tee shots in the last 2 rounds on the same hole. We get to hole 7 and I will say something like "Hey, Hole 8 just wanted you to know it's waiting for you". Something along those lines.

 

Another good one, a friend struggles with his wedges and knows it. He will pull a wedge and I will just say "wedge game strong" and walk away. Doesn't really push his buttons but puts the thought in his head.

 

They do the exact same thing to me if I have a trouble hole. It is my job to make sure they don't have any fodder to throw at me =D.

 

It provides a level of fun and comfort. We can get serious at times when a round is close so its fun to cut through the tension.

[spiffdogxl]

I have a natural talent for getting under people's skin, so some gamesmanship comes easy to me. I wouldn't consider it an artform. It's also a good way to lose friends and ensure that you spend your Saturday mornings at home. I've used tricks to combat those worst types of players in competitive settings and seen mixed results. Thing is, the guys who are good at gamesmanship rarely suffer it. It's disappointing to see scoundrels thriving in a gentleman's game.

[Swisstrader98]

So your deep sage advice was for the underdogs to have a beer/cigar?? If that's classified as gamesmanship, you wouldn't survive 2 holes in the group I play in

[Caddykev]

So your deep sage advice was for the underdogs to have a beer/cigar?? If that's classified as gamesmanship, you wouldn't survive 2 holes in the group I play in

I guarantee your boys are teddy bears compared to the guys I grew up playing with at crappy riverside golf club in ca. They didn't employ gamesmanship, they employed total war for a few bucks. Made me a stronger player though. You can do anything while I'm playing and it won't distract me.

[ev780]

This has been a fun read! Gamesmanship is an art form of the highest order. It is like poker meets psychology meets Jackass meets Punk'd! And you stoic "my game will do the talking" types are my favorite. Anyone can get rattled and how you control that during the ebbs and flows of match play is why i love match play so much more.

 

Now, don't get me wrong. Interference (stepping in a line, jingling change, talking during stroke, etc) is a total d**k move and should be met with social sanctions.

 

I played with a PhD psychologist once who had a lot of commentary through the round. But specifically he would say, "That one was a bit loose" when I hit a bad shot. Or "Loose again but you will get away with it." "Loosey goosey chip there bud." Key word being "loose." Repeated many times during the round. 16 tee all square and he says, "Wow, those houses up the right are close. Don't wanna get loose here do we?" Yeah i was no where near those houses but their cars in the driveway were definitely in play. I lost 2 down! He confessed a couple years later that he was working me. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

 

In any event, everyone has a triggger or a tell and if you find it you will tilt the scale.

[deadsolid...shank]

This has been a fun read! Gamesmanship is an art form of the highest order. It is like poker meets psychology meets Jackass meets Punk'd! And you stoic "my game will do the talking" types are my favorite. Anyone can get rattled and how you control that during the ebbs and flows of match play is why i love match play so much more.

 

Now, don't get me wrong. Interference (stepping in a line, jingling change, talking during stroke, etc) is a total d**k move and should be met with social sanctions.

 

I played with a PhD psychologist once who had a lot of commentary through the round. But specifically he would say, "That one was a bit loose" when I hit a bad shot. Or "Loose again but you will get away with it." "Loosey goosey chip there bud." Key word being "loose." Repeated many times during the round. 16 tee all square and he says, "Wow, those houses up the right are close. Don't wanna get loose here do we?" Yeah i was no where near those houses but their cars in the driveway were definitely in play. I lost 2 down! He confessed a couple years later that he was working me. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

 

In any event, everyone has a triggger or a tell and if you find it you will tilt the scale.

 

I love that. Subtle. We have so much fun within our group with that kind of stuff. But there are also certain guys at the club I wouldn't think of doing that with.

 

I really think a big determining factor is who your playing with. I wouldn't do it to someone I just met, but I know many would.