That one guy you HATE playing with...

[MountainGoat]

Golf is a Scottish game and existed for 4 centuries before Americans got their hands on it. It is an emotional metaphor for the English occupation. The point is to determine how much humiliation you can endure while still maintaining your dignity and honor.

[MofoJones]

Similar problems to with my group of friends, we have one guy everyone dreads to play with. Throws tantrums on the course and doesn't realize that it drains the fun out of every round for everybody!

 

[flip flappy]

I’m not going say I hate playing with this person all the time but I play with an older lady occasionally that Is super competitive and cannot let stuff go. A few years ago she felt like she was being done wrong in the club championship. We played a “fun” round together and she talked about it for 27 holes. I have never wanted to tell someone to shut up so bad in my life. Another time we were playing in a scramble and she disliked the fact that guys could buy red bombs but all that was offered for ladies was an extra mulligan. A buddy of mine, who lives to stir the pot, was riding with her and egged her on the whole day. She was still whining about it after the tournament and almost cost her a friendship with one of the guys putting it on.

[PappyVanWinkle53]

why/how did you last 27 holes? I would have bailed....

[vbb]

I agree with the obvious here...I don't like playing with the rage monsters, the slow players, the sloppy drunks or the advice givers who are actually not even good themselves, but I have another, less obvious answer:

I don't enjoy playing with people that are significantly better than me (and as someone that fluctuates between 11-13, that's a lot of people). A high single digit is perfect. They push me to be better. Anyone that has a higher handicap than I do, I don't mind that at all. But the low singles, scratch and plus cappers...I feel like I'm just in their way. As a result, I know I rush to play faster, I get very self conscious about my bad shots and I feel way more tense during the round. I love watching them play though.

[HatsForBats]

I was never in IT but know enough to get done what I need to. For me it started with using Lotus 1-2-3 for my own business. Eventually I stumbled onto Dbase which was a vast improvement and I have never looked back. Spreadsheets are OK for a few applications but Databases are far superior IMO.

[DavePelz4]

It's a very logical approach but honestly, I'm not sure that this old dog has enough patience to learn a new trick. Part of it to be truthful, is I'm beyond anal in making sure everything is perfect and so much of the time is spent reviewing everything pre-round to insure everyone's custom scorecard is right. The master input sheet feeds everything and there are macros that allocate handicap strokes and build out the skins worksheets. The biggest post round time suck is reviewing cards for handicap purposes because as mentioned, some people have a challenge with math. We've talked about using an app and everyone putting their score in hole by hole but I fear that would slow down the pace of play.

 

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Soooo, guessing you’re not fond of the English? I suppose after 400 years of imperialism, it’s well deserved. LOL

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Everyone has been there, and a 12 is not a bad player at all.

Don’t feel like you’re in anybody’s way, because you’re definitely not.

[vbb]

I appreciate that, and I know you're right. Nobody has been rude or anything. It's entirely personal on my part. I enjoy watching the "sticks" play, but playing alongside them is not my cup of tea. I start thinking too much about my swing and my game and it usually doesn't work out for the better. No chance I'd pony up the cash to play in a pro am.

[4x4GGG]

I felt this way for a while. My work group consists of about 12 golfers, and 4 of them are are PGA instructors plus 2 guys who are really low singles. From there we have 2 or 3 high singles, then rest of us round the top. It's not uncommon for me and a equal partner (I'm a 14) to get paired with 2 of the scratch guys for outings.

You know what these guys care about? Focus on your game, keep your group moving, and stay in your lane. These guys see bad swings for a living. They're used to it and 99.9999% of the time they're not looking to give advice or judging your swing. I think only once one of them said something with out me asking... "Why are you aiming right?" - I am?

They're my coworkers and we drink and laugh and joke and make fun of eachother, but we go dead silent at address, we play mostly ready golf (Birdies always have honors) and know when to pick up and walk away. Play as fast as your game allows.

[smoky25]

I'm a low single digit player and play with a group that is mostly double digit guys. I hope they don't feel self conscious about their games while playing with me. I play with them because they're great friends and greatly enhance my golf outings just being with them. Play your game and enjoy the camaraderie.

[braincramp52]

We have a guy that has a hard time breaking 50 for 9 holes in our league that HAS to read every putt over 3 feet from every angle possible. Drives me out of my mind.

[Hawkeye77]

And don't get me wrong - I truly have enjoyed 99% of the people I've played with! So I do agree with @dpb5031 and likely you as well.
And thanks!

[Hawkeye77]

Man that's funny and needed a good laugh this evening!

[golfwave]

I remember playing with a guy who constantly made that noise you make when you're preparing a lugy. He did it the entire round, and several times he did it during my swing. That was the worst experience I've had. It was seriously constant.

[Murphy76]

I agree completely. I would much rather play with people near my ability versus some hotshot. I don't hate the better player, I just have more fun playing with someone who I have a closer handicap with.

[llewol007]

I hate playing with players who come to the course with no preparation. Didnt think to hit up a driving range or anything of that sort. I just hate watching them struggling to hit the ball decently enough to even enjoy it. Im not saying you have to be an expert but like anything else in life, a little preparation goes a long way.

[bubbagump]

Sometimes playing golf reminds me of pickup bball, where you are likely to run into a few of the same "guys" no matter where you are: For example, "the hacker", who assaults anybody while on defense meanwhile is incredulous a foul is called, the "Curry" a guy who takes nothing but ridiculous deep 3s and that 1/20 he makes gives him the confidence to keep lobbing them up, the "Easter Resurrection" a guy who is mortally wounded every game and rolls around in pain screaming and is carried off the court only to return 3 plays later, and a classic the "Charmin" who calls 1340 fouls in a game to 7.

For golf, like its been mentioned you have the hot heads, the dude looking for his big break as he camillo's his putt for a 14, the drunk, the slow player etc. I think the for me the hardest to roll with is the guy who for 5 hours after every shot is telling you how off he is, and how today just isn't his day and at his "home track" hes usually in the 70s, meanwhile their swing looks like a car accident and the only decent contact they had all day was with the 3 hot dogs they've scarfed down.

[dpb5031]

Love the hoops analogy, so true and had me laughing out loud!

[Rapatt95]

I’m watching the Dell Match Play from last year and Sergio is the one who I’d like to avoid being partnered with. Fortunately, I’m bad at golf and won’t be playing with any tour pros any time soon!

[halliedog]

Guess I'm the oddball, I enjoy playing alongside the hot-head/tantrum guy in our group. He provides great amusement and post-round discussion material. Now granted, we've all been playing together for near 20 years and are constantly ball-busting each other, so when he starts having a meltdown we don't have the uncomfortable position of having to act like we don't notice or ignore it like if a complete stranger was exhibiting this behavior. Quite the contrary, we let him get good and boiling, then throw a little zinger at him ("HTF did that not go in?" after he leaves a 9' putt 3' short, or something along those lines). Then one of two things is going to happen. He's either going to go to another level and snap a shaft over his knee, which will bring even more zingers, or more often than not he'll realize what an ass he's being and crack a smile and lighten up for the rest of the round.

Either way, none of us let it bother us, if fact we all just laugh to each other and wait for who is going to throw the first barb. If this was a complete stranger we just got paired up with for whatever reason I'm sure it would be a little more uncomfortable, but someone would definitely say something to him before it got too out of control.

[Yuck]

The person I cannot stand playing with always is filled will negativity. Every bounce will be bad. He causes me to miss short pressure putts and cons me into taking stupid risks. If I could be free of this idiotic game ruiner, life would indeed be good. Unfortunately “Evil Yuck” Shows up in my head about half the time I play. I have not figured out how to get rid of him.

[skaileh]

Yeah think the worst two for me are those who are aloof to etiquette/pace of play, and those who get super angry. While I don't care how pissed you get at yourself, if you're not at most a low single-digit handicap playing uncharacteristically badly by your standards, you're probably playing pretty close to your cap even with a few errant shots except now you're not fun to be around. A day out on the course for me is a day away from stress, I don't want anyone bringing that to my round.

At one point, I had to tell one of my life long best friends, in no gentle way, that he was not fun to be around when he's losing his mind and that he's not good (knowing that I am also not good) so I don't know what he's getting mad about and that he needs to chill out and just have fun. Luckily none of my friend group is soft and we can take this type of criticism and maybe jaw at each other briefly and are over it 5 minutes later. His attitude on the course since this talk has completely transformed, you can tell he's having a much better time, mentally recovers from his errors more quickly, and generally plays better because of it.

I have another close friend who I really enjoy being around but also have to remind to hurry up. He'll take super long to do everything: look for balls that he's not going to find on every other shot, stop on the tee-box to tell you some unnecessary story holding us up, not playing ready golf, etc. He's just aloof in general, but he's well meaning and pleasant to hang out with. I'm still not shy about reminding him to hurry up, even when he snaps back (for example, telling me there's nowhere to go because the next tee-box is held up, but not considering the group behind us still should be able to hit their approach shot), I think he gets the point and it generally makes the rest of the round go more smoothly. He's new and I'm sure he'll understand the reasoning behind all the etiquette at some point.

I actually do my best to avoid the gamble of playing with strangers because of the risk of having to play with these type of people. Luckily I've made friends with a bunch of the staff at the club's I frequent and they're great about pairing me with cool members or otherwise giving me fair warning and letting me make an informed decision. (This has been crucial to my enjoyment of these courses.)

[Luvpings]

To the OP..you need to talk with your two friends and tell them why you are leaving their group, and that hopefully you can play golf with them again in the future without that dude! And if you cannot man up and do that...well, you get what you get.

As for me, I can pretty much play with anybody for 18 holes. If they are rude, obnoxious, horrible golfers, etc..I take that as an opportunity to work on my mental game.

[Shizeman]

The golfer who still takes 2 practice strokes on every shot when you have 4 holes left and 30 minutes till sunset. MOVE IT!!!!

[Roody]

I'm a 7 handicap, and I'll make two comments. First, I've played in 13 LPGA pro-ams and they are a great experience. You shouldn't let your handicap prevent you from considering playing in one (the cost however, I could understand). The pros know you're an amateur, they've done a hundred of these things before. They don't care.

And just about every amateur gets nervous on that first tee in front of a crowd. I've done it 13 times, and I was nervous ALL 13 times.

Second, as for lower handicappers being bothered by playing with higher handicappers, it's mostly not true. Especially if you're a good friend. At a 7 I consider myself "mid-low", and I don't care what your handicap is as long as you are pleasant, and play ready golf.

On the opposite side of that coin, I had a friend a few years ago who was just getting into golf. He was easily a 36 handicap, and I was thrilled that he was picking up the game. After a few rounds with us, I noticed he wasn't coming out as much anymore. When I asked him why, he said "I love you guys, but you're all good golfers. I feel like I'm just dragging you down, getting in the way". I tried very hard to explain to him that none of us cared, as long as he played ready golf (which he did) we did not care how good or bad you were shooting.

He never played with us again. In fact I think he quit the game. But it was very frustrating for me because I was being 100% honest, and he still had too many hesitations about it. IMO, he made it more about him than about us.

[Twism86]

The person who is constantly taking phone calls on the course! Please just shut up and play!

[ccampbell57]

The worst is the guy who thinks he is a PRO and is the furthest thing from it. Golf is supposed to be fun and relaxing. 99% of us pay to play instead of being paid to play. Enjoy the round, the company, and get some exercise.

[4x4GGG]

99% of the time I play group golf (I try really hard to solo walk) I'm playing with coworkers. We're all in the same work circle, so if 1 is getting a call most likely the other 3 of us are going to be involved, too. Not that this isn't a terrible thing, but if "Matt" is getting a call while we're playing most likely it involves all of us.