Anyone Else Play Golf During Work Hours?

[st1800e]

When asked where I was I’d say I was “on a course”.  Working in the environmental land remediation business, I’d say I was “out taking soil samples” ….

[warmhughes]

Freelancer here, I usually only play weekdays. Especially warmer months, the earlier the better. 

[ksteezyy]

I wish 🤣

[Shankapotimous]

10 hours ago, Tummy Phleetwood said:

You have a sim at home and your name is shankapotomous?

 

I am 16 HC... I am full blown shankapotomous...

[Ferguson]

22 hours ago, jholz said:

I can get out to practice on my lunch hour here and there, but that's about it.

 

I've got way too many chuckleheads to account for in my job. Can't leave them alone for long.

 

I've got two extra if you want more.  

[RSinSG]

This is long, but kinda funny.
 

In the mid-80’s I was a homicide detective in Palm Springs, and after several weeks of a hectic caseload my partner and I were at our desks on a holiday when almost everyone else was off. He suggested we go hit a bucket and while at the course he couldn’t believe how well he was striking the ball so he wanted to play “a quick 9.” By then another buddy hooked up with us so off we go. Both of us had our hand held radios with us in case something happened.

 

My buddy was having a career round and wanted to finish the 18. I figured at this point why not as it was an extremely slow day for the entire department. On the second 9 he said my radio was distracting him so he turned the volume down. He in fact shot his best score ever, but because we couldn’t hear the radio we didn’t know dispatch, (and later our sergeant) was trying to contact us (pre-cell phone era.) Turns out a witness in one of his cases came to the station and asked for him. 
 

No one could find us for several hours and they had all of patrol looking for us in case something bad had happened. Our sergeant knew we were golfers and checked all the courses finally spotting our unmarked unit. He called another sergeant over and they used a spare key and took our car back to the station. In addition to being my supervisor he was good friend and a golfer so he thought it would be hilarious when we finished and didn’t have a car.

 

Luckily my other buddy was with us and took us back to the station. No one was there so we went in the back door clicking with metal spikes and made a hasty retreat as it was the end of the shift.

 

Both of us put in time off request slips but that didn’t work. Big internal investigation resulted in me getting 3 days off without pay. Turns out our sergeant was going to just chew us out informally but the other sergeant (not a golfer) pushed the IA.

 

In addition to it being the most expensive round of my life, I was at the time #1 on the sergeant promotion list. After a couple months the chief called me in and reamed me for 30 minutes about how I put him in a bad spot, how dumb I was etc. As it was the only blemish in my file I was promoted, and in the first patrol briefing I conducted several of my “friends” came to the briefing carrying golf clubs. 
 

When I retired 23 years later as a captain my on duty golf adventure was still the source of much merriment to the guys. 

 

 

[Palmydrain]

I have a buddy who works remote for the same company that I work for (I work in office). Seems like he hits balls or plays at least twice during the work week while I'm stuck at the office... there might be a move in my future. 

[abh00]

A lot of y’all are on the forums during work hours talking ab how hard you work and how you wish you had time during the week. Me too

[krikro]

This reminds me of a story. I made an excuse like having to take the kid to a doctor or something and escaped the office to play golf with my buddy. After the round I forgot the golf glove in the rear pants pocket. Fortunately reached into it right before walking into the office. That was a close call - would be some hard explanations to do :))

[jordan2240]

'Working from home', good one.  I'm retired, and I see tons of people 'working from home' at the gym, in the grocery store, mowing their lawns, etc., so I'm sure there are plenty on the golf course as well.

 

Can I prove many of these folks are 'working from home', no, but I'd bet my best friend's mom's sister's husband's brother's friend's uncle's life on it.

[ode]

Lol, must be nice.  I am able to flex hours within reason, but have to make them up during the work week....but no I can't go to the course while I'm supposed to be working!

[capking]

I work shift work so I only golf during the week when the course isn’t packed and maybe play once a season on the weekends.

[puttingmatt]

Can neither confirm nor deny that I was on the clock, and playing golf. Lol.

[BB28403]

On 1/6/2023 at 9:36 AM, RSinSG said:

This is long, but kinda funny.
 

In the mid-80’s I was a homicide detective in Palm Springs, and after several weeks of a hectic caseload my partner and I were at our desks on a holiday when almost everyone else was off. He suggested we go hit a bucket and while at the course he couldn’t believe how well he was striking the ball so he wanted to play “a quick 9.” By then another buddy hooked up with us so off we go. Both of us had our hand held radios with us in case something happened.

 

My buddy was having a career round and wanted to finish the 18. I figured at this point why not as it was an extremely slow day for the entire department. On the second 9 he said my radio was distracting him so he turned the volume down. He in fact shot his best score ever, but because we couldn’t hear the radio we didn’t know dispatch, (and later our sergeant) was trying to contact us (pre-cell phone era.) Turns out a witness in one of his cases came to the station and asked for him. 
 

No one could find us for several hours and they had all of patrol looking for us in case something bad had happened. Our sergeant knew we were golfers and checked all the courses finally spotting our unmarked unit. He called another sergeant over and they used a spare key and took our car back to the station. In addition to being my supervisor he was good friend and a golfer so he thought it would be hilarious when we finished and didn’t have a car.

 

Luckily my other buddy was with us and took us back to the station. No one was there so we went in the back door clicking with metal spikes and made a hasty retreat as it was the end of the shift.

 

Both of us put in time off request slips but that didn’t work. Big internal investigation resulted in me getting 3 days off without pay. Turns out our sergeant was going to just chew us out informally but the other sergeant (not a golfer) pushed the IA.

 

In addition to it being the most expensive round of my life, I was at the time #1 on the sergeant promotion list. After a couple months the chief called me in and reamed me for 30 minutes about how I put him in a bad spot, how dumb I was etc. As it was the only blemish in my file I was promoted, and in the first patrol briefing I conducted several of my “friends” came to the briefing carrying golf clubs. 
 

When I retired 23 years later as a captain my on duty golf adventure was still the source of much merriment to the guys. 

 

 

Palm Springs you say?  Tell me more …

 

I’ve been out there twice and by golly that may be the best place on earth!

 

actually reading a book on the entire history of Palm Springs golf since La Quinta was built out of a dirt patch.  Pretty sweet book tbh

Edited January 9, 2023 by BB28403

[Moonbison]

A 100% yes. This is known as WFGC. My favorite thing when I can swing it. Pull up email and teams app and call it a day. 

[NCLancer]

In a former life I made deliveries for a retail store in the Triangle area of North Carolina.  My travels would often take me into Raleigh and if I happened to be near Golfsmith on Glenwood Ave I would drop in to see what's available in the pre-owned section, and I would hit balls in their bay area.

 

I never truly "played" golf, no, but hitting balls, you bet I did!

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by NCLancer

[ksher84]

yes I go play on my lunch break some days
course is right down the street from my house (work from home)

I live by the sixth green so it's a good stopping point if I get 9 in

[bcflyguy1]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:04 PM, DomJones said:

Anyone else also play or practice during the work week? My job isn’t very demanding and I just go to the course after lunch when working from home and have the Teams app on my phone if needed. I know people who work from the country club and play when they have time so was curious about everyone else. 

I sense a trap...

 

[Shankapotimous]

On 1/6/2023 at 11:17 PM, jordan2240 said:

'Working from home', good one.  I'm retired, and I see tons of people 'working from home' at the gym, in the grocery store, mowing their lawns, etc., so I'm sure there are plenty on the golf course as well.

 

Can I prove many of these folks are 'working from home', no, but I'd bet my best friend's mom's sister's husband's brother's friend's uncle's life on it.

 

See, and that is perception that you already have in your mind, just like I can tell you that some actually get more done working from home than if they had to go to the office. Since you are retired, I am assume you are little older, so you might be set in your ways. 

 

Working from home allows exactly the things you listed. Going to gym, do the grocery shopping, getting a haircut, moving a lawn.. you are 100% right. Isn't that awesome? Would you rather spend couple hours driving to the office every day, losing time, waking up an hour early, spending money for gas, deal with traffic, buy lunches, waste your time off to do stuff like dr. appointments after work because you can't have flexible schedule, if you have kids.... pay thousands for day care, be away from them all day, eat like s*** because you go out to lunch with co-workers, spend more money...

 

or...

 

Save about 2 hours a day, get more sleep and be more rested, save money by not buying gas, also save your car too because you don't have to drive to work anymore...no sitting in traffic wasting time, lunch time, you get your grocery shopping done, or go to the gym... or even mow a lawn so you don't have to do it "after" work...hell, go hit some balls on the driving range. You get to spend time with your kids because you are home.. getting your s*** done....you also have more money because you don't pay for daycare anymore...

 

 

Which one is better? 

 

Now, you might think that no work is getting done, because how it could possibly be if people are not in the same building? it can be done. It goes with the company's culture and good leadership. I have three groups across different states that I manage remotely. Everyone is an adult and know what they need to accomplish. They can work from Mars for all I care. They know the expectations, their roles and responsibilities and they are held accountable. In-fact, since working from home, our productivity sky rocketed and our company (7k employees) are remote first organization. That allows us to bring in quality candidates from all over the country, even world. That brings talent, diversity, different mindset of thinking, experiences, etc. 

 

How is that not better than archaic old methods doing same s*** over and over just for the sake of conserving how "we used to do it". 

 

Damn that was long.. sorry about that. Just get little fired about when I hear things like that. Mostly coming from people who are not in the work force anymore and want to go back to typewriters and riding buggies with horses. 

 

 

[Warrior42111]

Depends how you define while working.

 

We have core hours, but the unwritten rule with our boss is if all your physical work (reports, presentations, etc.) are done you just have to be available on teams for meetings, calls etc. Works well as there's usually a crisis to two (by crisis I mean a douchecanoe sales person who signs a contract and all but admits they see a teams' workload at 117% but don't care) a year where you work into the night / weekend

[jordan2240]

1 hour ago, Shankapotimous said:

 

See, and that is perception that you already have in your mind, just like I can tell you that some actually get more done working from home than if they had to go to the office. Since you are retired, I am assume you are little older, so you might be set in your ways. 

 

Working from home allows exactly the things you listed. Going to gym, do the grocery shopping, getting a haircut, moving a lawn.. you are 100% right. Isn't that awesome? Would you rather spend couple hours driving to the office every day, losing time, waking up an hour early, spending money for gas, deal with traffic, buy lunches, waste your time off to do stuff like dr. appointments after work because you can't have flexible schedule, if you have kids.... pay thousands for day care, be away from them all day, eat like s*** because you go out to lunch with co-workers, spend more money...

 

or...

 

Save about 2 hours a day, get more sleep and be more rested, save money by not buying gas, also save your car too because you don't have to drive to work anymore...no sitting in traffic wasting time, lunch time, you get your grocery shopping done, or go to the gym... or even mow a lawn so you don't have to do it "after" work...hell, go hit some balls on the driving range. You get to spend time with your kids because you are home.. getting your s*** done....you also have more money because you don't pay for daycare anymore...

 

 

Which one is better? 

 

Now, you might think that no work is getting done, because how it could possibly be if people are not in the same building? it can be done. It goes with the company's culture and good leadership. I have three groups across different states that I manage remotely. Everyone is an adult and know what they need to accomplish. They can work from Mars for all I care. They know the expectations, their roles and responsibilities and they are held accountable. In-fact, since working from home, our productivity sky rocketed and our company (7k employees) are remote first organization. That allows us to bring in quality candidates from all over the country, even world. That brings talent, diversity, different mindset of thinking, experiences, etc. 

 

How is that not better than archaic old methods doing same s*** over and over just for the sake of conserving how "we used to do it". 

 

Damn that was long.. sorry about that. Just get little fired about when I hear things like that. Mostly coming from people who are not in the work force anymore and want to go back to typewriters and riding buggies with horses. 

 

 

You make some valid points, and while I am 62, I am not 'set in my ways' and am quite open to changes in any regard when it is beneficial.  I guess it all depends on the structure of the business and office.  I worked for the navy, and in the last few years of my employment, they started to allow people to work from home on a limited basis.  But the nature of the business was that there was often some slack period between projects and being at the office made you available as needed, and because the people who were working from home weren't as accessible, any random assignments went to people who were at the office.  One gal once remarked that she worked from home every Wednesday because she needed a day off in the middle of the week.  I don't know what people who were 'working from home' were doing during slack periods.  And I definitely don't know what managers were doing when they were working from home.  If they weren't doing employee evals, they couldn't have been doing much managing, and they definitely weren't as accessible should a problem arise.   I personally never took the option to work from home because I liked the idea of keeping home and work separate, but perhaps I would have liked it had I tried it.  Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of folks 'working from home' who aren't doing much work.

Edited January 10, 2023 by jordan2240

[Shankapotimous]

Valid points @jordan2240 and my apologies for suggesting you are set in your ways. That came out wrong. 

 

I will still stand by what I said that it is 100% on the leadership and culture of the organization. If culture allows for accountability, clearly set expectations, transparency and treating everyone like adults, then there is no question about if work is getting done. The leadership must convey that message and culture of the company must live it. Otherwise, you have manager micromanaging without any trust and associates hating their managers. That's not leadership.. that's managing. 

[Ri_Redneck]

I work in national sales, so yeah! A lot!!

 

BT

[Warrior42111]

1 hour ago, Shankapotimous said:

Valid points @jordan2240 and my apologies for suggesting you are set in your ways. That came out wrong. 

 

I will still stand by what I said that it is 100% on the leadership and culture of the organization. If culture allows for accountability, clearly set expectations, transparency and treating everyone like adults, then there is no question about if work is getting done. The leadership must convey that message and culture of the company must live it. Otherwise, you have manager micromanaging without any trust and associates hating their managers. That's not leadership.. that's managing. 

I get what you're saying about the companies' leadership and to me it's on both ends the leadership and the workers.

 

When 2020 came we were full work from home and now are on a hybrid schedule. What I saw was micro managers did not fare well as people just left and found better positions. At the same time there are people who for one reason or another just aren't as effective working from home. Of course nowadays if you let one person wfh and not another it's a lawsuit lol. Basically, both sides need to work in good faith and continually show it can be done.

[cgasucks]

Since I've been working from home (years before the pandemic began) I head out for 9 holes at my nearest course when my inbox is empty.

[jordan2240]

1 hour ago, Shankapotimous said:

Valid points @jordan2240 and my apologies for suggesting you are set in your ways. That came out wrong. 

 

I will still stand by what I said that it is 100% on the leadership and culture of the organization. If culture allows for accountability, clearly set expectations, transparency and treating everyone like adults, then there is no question about if work is getting done. The leadership must convey that message and culture of the company must live it. Otherwise, you have manager micromanaging without any trust and associates hating their managers. That's not leadership.. that's managing. 

No argument with you except to say that treating people like adults doesn't always mean they'll act like them.  As with most things, one size doesn't fit all.

[dugue4]

I have taken off work to play, but I can't play while also being "at work."

[whiteout73]

Around 2005, I was doing IT for a law firm that had a big merger.  For a few months, my job was to drive from location to location, installing firewalls, switches, etc.  I would do all that after hours, and play golf during the day.  So, one week I'd load my car up and head to the Florida panhandle- Destin, Panama City, Pensacola.  Stay and play over the weekend, then hit Tampa and Orlando the following week.  Maybe come home for a few days, then off to South Carolina- Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Columbia and Greenville on the way home.  Good time.  Now, I sneak out early maybe once a week or so, and play after work most nights from March to October.

 

[Robert72]

Years ago an engineering manager scheduled a 10:00 AM meeting.  I accepted and made a tee time for 1:00PM.   Later he changed the time to the afternoon, I responded that I had a previous commitment and couldn't attend.

 

I was a bit embarrassed when we met on the course as he has teeing off on one and I was making the turn!  

[Teebs]

Lunch time for driving range

 

Use half day holiday for 18 holes, but we also have core hours (10-4) so can play first thing or late afternoon in the summer.

May try to work from the club in better weather so I can head out as soon as possible..