ONESOMES....find your own friends !!!

[Hateto3Putt]

[quote name='TimeToFly' post='1988384' date='Oct 5 2009, 11:38 AM']similar thing happened to me earlier this year. my buddy and i were getting ready to tee off and the starter asked us if a single could join us. we said of course. it ended up being Antonio Tarver who lives nearby. Very nice guy and it was a fun day[/quote]

Although I've not been randomly hooked up with any celebrities. I have had the pleasure of playing golf with many folks who when we started that day were strangers, but by the end of the day were called friends.

I think people who instantly profile and exclude other people from their lives are not only selfish.

They are also quite stupid.

On the first tee at the Ocean Club, I got hooked up with a young couple when I was on vacation in Nassua. I was playing that day as a [s]single[/s] onesome. It turned out the couple had eloped and were getting married that afternoon! My wife and I were officially their witnesses! My Wife (a hopeless romantic) still calls that one of her best days of any trip! Me, I'm in all the photos!

[bscinstnct]

[quote name='jwfgolfpro' post='1988219' date='Oct 5 2009, 10:06 AM'][quote name='jwknow' post='1986288' date='Oct 3 2009, 09:21 PM']Alright....this is starting to bug me because its starting to happen too often. What are your opinions on this?

I play a threesome frequently. Its me and two close friends. We've been playin together for years and we're not looking for a 4th.

Too often, there seems to be a ONESOME that comes up on the first tee or somewhere on the course that has the nuts to say "Hey, mind if I play with you guys"? Me and my buddies are pretty friendly guys but if we wanted to play a foursome we'd have called another friend.

I just can't see me havin the nuts to walk up to 3 strangers and asking if they care if I "horn" in on their game.

Whats with the "onesomes"? What gives them the gall to even ask?

Me and my buddies figure if a single can't find anybody to golf with....especially on the weekend.... there's probably a reason.

Anybody have any opinions on this or should we be forced to play with a stranger even though we didn't "invite" him to be a part of our group?

Keep in mind....this isn't someone from the clubhouse sending these ONESOMES out to pair up with us....its the ONESOMES themselves.

JW[/quote]


As a Golf Professional and Golf Course owner I can tell you that if there is a spot open in a group and I have a single that has paid to play golf at my facility I will try a fill that empty spot. Plain and simple.
If you want to pay for the empty spot I will be more than happy to not pair a single into your group but its a simple business decision for me.

Quick little story about getting paired up.......................My wife and I were playing a very nice private golf course in Pinehurst and the starter said he was going to pair us up with another twosome....of course we said not a problem. We stroll over to the tee and there is Michael Jordan and another gentleman. Most memorable 18 holes I have ever played. The second gentleman that we were paired with turned out to be a self made multi-millionare and sponsored my wife on the Futures Tour and LPGA tour for about 5 years. Glad we didnt tell these guys we didnt want them in our group.

JWF
[/quote]

JWF,

Great story. I often play as a 2 or 3 some and get paired. Probably with dozens of people by now and all but 1 has turned out
to be nice.

btw, what kind or irons are those in your avatar?

[jim2722]

[quote name='j0npeterson' post='1987881' date='Oct 4 2009, 11:49 PM'][quote name='MADISON13' post='1987826' date='Oct 4 2009, 08:06 PM']WHAT IF THAT ONESOME HAPPEN TO BE NATALIE GULBIS???????????SAME ATTITUDE?[/quote]
It's painfully obvious he and his buddies prefer a sausagefest.
[/quote]





I hope this keeps going!!

By the way JW is this how you won?

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvgMNnM3OA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvgMNnM3OA[/url]

[SeekonkHolen1]

Folks Take a second and look through some of these posts.............. Although the topic was started a little (ok a lot) off color, and a whole lot of bashing is going on, check out how many great stories have been posted!!!!!!!! All because one guy posted an opinion (not that I agree with his opinion)


To all those who have posted positive thoughts on this topic... THANK YOU for being a "GOLFER"!


Jorge

[Crazie.eddie]

I, too, will golf with anyone, UNLESS, I want to be by myself so I can practice hitting shots with a few balls on each hole. But if I happen to catch up to a threesome or less, then I will wait. I always wait for them to ask me to join, I never ask, because they may not want me to join them. If I see that it's clear in front of their group, I ask if I can play through. But I can understand the OP and it will also depend on the circumstances.

What if your group are all good ball strikers and the person that joins, isn't? Do you want to wait around for the guy that's all over the place, especially if you're group is in a hurry?

My usually friends that golf, comprise of various races. Though we aren't racists, we make racial remarks about each other when one person hits a bad shot. We would probably have to tone it down if a stranger joins our group.

Of course, there are allot of times my friends and I golf that we welcome any stranger to join our group.

[pjccjp]

[quote name='jwknow' post='1986850' date='Oct 4 2009, 10:39 AM']PILE ON GIRLS !!!!! THE MORE THE MERRIER.

Well, I guess I learned one thing from my post. Never ask a question about "Onesome Etiquette" in a group dominated with Onesomes. Sorry you all can't find friends to golf with. I feel for ya.....well.....not so much.

You girls enjoy your day at the computer. We're hosting a scramble tournament today at 1:00 PM and I've gotta go play some GOLF with my "buds". What a delicate little group this turned out to be.

Like I said.....Enjoy your day sittin behind the computer.....WE'RE GOIN GOLFIN !!! Maybe you all should ask your wife if you can go out.....nahhhhh.....not gonna happen.

BAWAHAHAAAAAAAAAA

Have a lovely day at home.

TYPE AWAY KIDS......TYPE AWAY !!!!![/quote]

Self Awareness isn't one of your strengths, is it ?

[InTheHole]

When I read the original post, my heart sunk. You see, I've only been playing golf for two years. It took me so long in life (I'm currently 46) to get started because I literally hated the game. I hated everything about the game and most of the people involved- I thought they were all snobs. I spent my whole life surrounding myself with people who wanted nothing to do with golf.

Then my son came along. My father-in-law and his current wife are avid golfers (hard to pick your in-laws) and they got my son interested when he was 5. Long story short, my little one completely changed my view of golf. I was wrong all these years, big time.

And that's why my heart sank when I read the OP- for a split second I thought that all the nice people I met in the last two years were a mistake. Maybe my first 44 years was correct and golf was full of snobs?

But then I read the other 5 pages of responses and my newfound faith was restored- golfers are good people and like making friends.

Since I surrounded myself with non-golfers my whole life, I don't have any golf "buddies" yet- I'm a high-handicapper who started the game late in life. Plus, I'm a computer-geek for the last 20+ years- that kind of makes me an introvert. So you can imagine the anxiety I feel when I approach the front counter in the pro shop to say, "Hey, I'm a single and I'ld like a tee time." And you can imagine the nervousness I feel as I approach the first tee to introduce myself to three strangers who, in my mind, are all scratch golfers who play in 90 minutes- and I'm going to drag them down to 3-4 hours.

So far, those feelings have all been unfounded. I've been grouped up with average golfers who really don't play any better than I do, maybe a few strokes, but nothing to write home about. I've even found golfers that truly suck at the game, and I'm being nice. When I did get grouped with a good golfer, they were gracious in complementing my good shots. And I try to return the favor to the poor golfers.

JW should remember that unless he and his two buddies all took up golf at the same time, he was a single at some point. And maybe he didn't have the audacity to approach any threesomes to ask to join (GASP!), he should remember how it felt to be the "outsider" and how much nerve it probably took that person to ask to join your group.

For some of us it doesn't come naturally (being outwardly friendly to strangers)- like public speaking in front of large groups of people. Remember, all of the golf etiquette says we're supposed to make foursomes... so the pressure is on the single- he sees the threesome up ahead and hasn't been invited- yet he knows the foursome behind him is wondering when he's going to join the threesome in front... he's almost obligated to ask to join you.

So thanks to the myriad of posters on here who have renewed my newfound belief that golfers are good and friendly people and not snobs... except for one.

[jwfgolfpro]

[quote name='bscinstnct' post='1988440' date='Oct 5 2009, 11:14 AM'][quote name='jwfgolfpro' post='1988219' date='Oct 5 2009, 10:06 AM'][quote name='jwknow' post='1986288' date='Oct 3 2009, 09:21 PM']Alright....this is starting to bug me because its starting to happen too often. What are your opinions on this?

I play a threesome frequently. Its me and two close friends. We've been playin together for years and we're not looking for a 4th.

Too often, there seems to be a ONESOME that comes up on the first tee or somewhere on the course that has the nuts to say "Hey, mind if I play with you guys"? Me and my buddies are pretty friendly guys but if we wanted to play a foursome we'd have called another friend.

I just can't see me havin the nuts to walk up to 3 strangers and asking if they care if I "horn" in on their game.

Whats with the "onesomes"? What gives them the gall to even ask?

Me and my buddies figure if a single can't find anybody to golf with....especially on the weekend.... there's probably a reason.

Anybody have any opinions on this or should we be forced to play with a stranger even though we didn't "invite" him to be a part of our group?

Keep in mind....this isn't someone from the clubhouse sending these ONESOMES out to pair up with us....its the ONESOMES themselves.

JW[/quote]


As a Golf Professional and Golf Course owner I can tell you that if there is a spot open in a group and I have a single that has paid to play golf at my facility I will try a fill that empty spot. Plain and simple.
If you want to pay for the empty spot I will be more than happy to not pair a single into your group but its a simple business decision for me.

Quick little story about getting paired up.......................My wife and I were playing a very nice private golf course in Pinehurst and the starter said he was going to pair us up with another twosome....of course we said not a problem. We stroll over to the tee and there is Michael Jordan and another gentleman. Most memorable 18 holes I have ever played. The second gentleman that we were paired with turned out to be a self made multi-millionare and sponsored my wife on the Futures Tour and LPGA tour for about 5 years. Glad we didnt tell these guys we didnt want them in our group.

JWF
[/quote]

JWF,

Great story. I often play as a 2 or 3 some and get paired. Probably with dozens of people by now and all but 1 has turned out
to be nice.

btw, what kind or irons are those in your avatar?
[/quote]

Diablos

JWF

[arb44]

[quote]Guys, maybe we judged him too harshly.

I spent the afternoon nailing my girlfriend. I was glad that some "onesome" dude didn't ask to join in, so I'm starting to see his point of view.

Now if a "onesome" female had wanted to join in... rolleyes.gif[/quote]

This is by far and away the best response on this thread. The Ron Jeremy avatar only makes it better.

BTW-The Original Poster is a jackass both for his thread starter and because he's too thick to understand why 98% of visitors to GOLFWRX think he's a douchebag.

[profsmitty]

[quote name='arb44' post='1988748' date='Oct 5 2009, 02:00 PM'][quote]Guys, maybe we judged him too harshly.

I spent the afternoon nailing my girlfriend. I was glad that some "onesome" dude didn't ask to join in, so I'm starting to see his point of view.

Now if a "onesome" female had wanted to join in... rolleyes.gif[/quote]

This is by far and away the best response on this thread. The Ron Jeremy avatar only makes it better.

BTW-The Original Poster is a jackass both for his thread starter and because he's too thick to understand why 98% of visitors to GOLFWRX think he's a douchebag.
[/quote]
I suspect that a more accurate description might be that the OP is a very emotionally and/or socially immature person, trying to find a niche in a very tough neighborhood. Maybe its time to call a halt to the personal attacks and concentrate on the stories about the great experiences we have all had joining or being joined by strangers on the course or something equally productive. If not, we risk being culpable of the same things about which we are so critical.

[fengdefied]

...and here, we have the classic example of a thread that has gone horribly wrong.

I'm just surprised a moderator hasn't shut down this thread yet.

Oh well, I was in a threesome once and had a ONESOME come up behind me. My threesome waited on the tee for him and when he was finished putting out we invited him to join our threesome. He replied "No thanks, I'm going to zigzag the course."

ONESOME PWNAGE!

[finalist]

I prefer to be called a SOLOIST.

[Sawgrass]

[quote name='finalist' post='1989116' date='Oct 5 2009, 06:08 PM']I prefer to be called a SOLOIST.[/quote]


You are a virtuoso, sir.

[bobmarley]

[quote name='fengdefied' post='1989031' date='Oct 5 2009, 11:20 AM']...and here, we have the classic example of a thread that has gone horribly wrong.

I'm just surprised a moderator hasn't shut down this thread yet.[/quote]

It's better to let it burn for a bit.

[FATC1TY]

[quote name='finalist' post='1989116' date='Oct 5 2009, 06:08 PM']I prefer to be called a SOLOIST.[/quote]

The OP probably does alot of things solo......

[bortass]

I'm almost always a onesome. My golf buddies are from work and we might play 9 holes a week. Any other time I'm on my own.

I never ask to join a group. If there's a single or twosome right behind me I'll tell them they can join me if they want and if I slow them down, to feel free to play on w/o me.

So far no one who has joined me has ever gone on after we started the round. I'm either in the same ball park as them game wise or they are patient ;0

The hard part with joining strangers is I'm not that good; I have a hard time remembering names for some reason; I don't know what to say since I've read so many threads here ranting about hackers saying nice shot when they obviously can't tell that I meant to hit a draw 1 yard left of the pin when I hit a fade 3 yards short of the hole.

I haven't met a bad person yet playing.

[Desert Golf]

[quote name='smith5606' post='1988953' date='Oct 5 2009, 01:43 PM'][quote name='arb44' post='1988748' date='Oct 5 2009, 02:00 PM'][quote]Guys, maybe we judged him too harshly.

I spent the afternoon nailing my girlfriend. I was glad that some "onesome" dude didn't ask to join in, so I'm starting to see his point of view.

Now if a "onesome" female had wanted to join in... rolleyes.gif[/quote]

This is by far and away the best response on this thread. The Ron Jeremy avatar only makes it better.

BTW-The Original Poster is a jackass both for his thread starter and because he's too thick to understand why 98% of visitors to GOLFWRX think he's a douchebag.
[/quote]
I suspect that a more accurate description might be that the OP is a very emotionally and/or socially immature person, trying to find a niche in a very tough neighborhood. Maybe its time to call a halt to the personal attacks and concentrate on the stories about the great experiences we have all had joining or being joined by strangers on the course or something equally productive. If not, we risk being culpable of the same things about which we are so critical.
[/quote]

I agree that personal attacks don't make anyone look good so I'll share a short story of my experience playing as a single this afternoon.

I live in Palm Springs and my daughter was sick today so I stayed home from work with her until my wife came home. Played as a single at 230pm and a threesome invited me to join them on the second tee box. The threesome included a local woman in her late 50's/early 60's and a couple from Scotland who were also late 50's/early 60's...I am 43 for what it is worth. All three played well and were a joy to be around. At the end of the round the couple from Scotland gave me two tees from the Old Course at Saint Andrews and a logo ball of their home course in Edinburgh....pretty cool.

[MrParr1Noid]

[quote name='smith5606' post='1988953' date='Oct 5 2009, 03:43 PM'][quote name='arb44' post='1988748' date='Oct 5 2009, 02:00 PM'][quote]Guys, maybe we judged him too harshly.

I spent the afternoon nailing my girlfriend. I was glad that some "onesome" dude didn't ask to join in, so I'm starting to see his point of view.

Now if a "onesome" female had wanted to join in... rolleyes.gif[/quote]

This is by far and away the best response on this thread. The Ron Jeremy avatar only makes it better.

BTW-The Original Poster is a jackass both for his thread starter and because he's too thick to understand why 98% of visitors to GOLFWRX think he's a douchebag.
[/quote]
I suspect that a more accurate description might be that the OP is a very emotionally and/or socially immature person, trying to find a niche in a very tough neighborhood. Maybe its time to call a halt to the personal attacks and concentrate on the stories about the great experiences we have all had joining or being joined by strangers on the course or something equally productive. If not, we risk being culpable of the same things about which we are so critical.
[/quote]

Good call Smith5606, and I wholeheartedly agree with your astute assessment.

Have fun but let us not be insensitive to any of those involved here, ok? There are many well meaning and informative posts so far, let's not ruin it with a few misguided, and not so well thought out statements.

Thank You

[kgk]

[quote name='arb44' post='1988748' date='Oct 5 2009, 02:00 PM']This is by far and away the best response on this thread. The Ron Jeremy avatar only makes it better.[/quote]

Stage1350 looks nothing like that in real life, either. I was shocked and disappointed to find that he has blond hair and no mustache.

[Hateto3Putt]

[quote name='bortass' post='1989464' date='Oct 5 2009, 08:40 PM']The hard part with joining strangers is I'm not that good; I have a hard time remembering names for some reason; I don't know what to say since I've read so many threads here ranting about hackers saying nice shot when they obviously can't tell that I meant to hit a draw 1 yard left of the pin when I hit a fade 3 yards short of the hole.

I haven't met a bad person yet playing.[/quote]

First, don't worry about your game. 99% of the "strangers" you'll meet just don't care, it's more about not being a *****. Just make sure you don't play slow. I think most here will attest that they'd rather play with the 106 shooter who gets it done, than the scratch player who takes 3 minutes per shot because he thinks his 3 footer is for the US open.

As far as names go, whenever I get hooked up with new players, I'll write their names in micro-print in the corner of the scorecard. If there are more than one, I'll put something like (bob, blue...scott, red) using the shirt color as the name reminder.

So if the guy hits a nice shot it goes "Nice shot...." ::[i]pause, look at card, check shirt color, confirm name[/i]:: "...Scott"

[blade_man]

[quote name='jwfgolfpro' post='1988219' date='Oct 5 2009, 10:06 AM'][quote name='jwknow' post='1986288' date='Oct 3 2009, 09:21 PM']Alright....this is starting to bug me because its starting to happen too often. What are your opinions on this?

I play a threesome frequently. Its me and two close friends. We've been playin together for years and we're not looking for a 4th.

Too often, there seems to be a ONESOME that comes up on the first tee or somewhere on the course that has the nuts to say "Hey, mind if I play with you guys"? Me and my buddies are pretty friendly guys but if we wanted to play a foursome we'd have called another friend.

I just can't see me havin the nuts to walk up to 3 strangers and asking if they care if I "horn" in on their game.

Whats with the "onesomes"? What gives them the gall to even ask?

Me and my buddies figure if a single can't find anybody to golf with....especially on the weekend.... there's probably a reason.

Anybody have any opinions on this or should we be forced to play with a stranger even though we didn't "invite" him to be a part of our group?

Keep in mind....this isn't someone from the clubhouse sending these ONESOMES out to pair up with us....its the ONESOMES themselves.

JW[/quote]


As a Golf Professional and Golf Course owner I can tell you that if there is a spot open in a group and I have a single that has paid to play golf at my facility I will try a fill that empty spot. Plain and simple.
If you want to pay for the empty spot I will be more than happy to not pair a single into your group but its a simple business decision for me.

Quick little story about getting paired up.......................My wife and I were playing a [size=4]very nice private golf course in Pinehurst[/size] and the starter said he was going to pair us up with another twosome....of course we said not a problem. We stroll over to the tee and there is Michael Jordan and another gentleman. Most memorable 18 holes I have ever played. The second gentleman that we were paired with turned out to be a self made multi-millionare and sponsored my wife on the Futures Tour and LPGA tour for about 5 years. Glad we didnt tell these guys we didnt want them in our group.

JWF
[/quote]

Forest Creek?

[jwfgolfpro]

[roll - gybe]

What's the big deal? If you can't stand the guy, it's 3 on 1. You can have some fun with the clown.
Maybe you'll end up liking him.

Now, if you are worried that he is a narc and will call the cops on you when you start smoking your wacky tobaccy, that's another story.

[finalist]

A few seasons ago I went out as a soloist as I often do. I caught up to... drum roll please.... Byron Nelson's caddie!! Although he only caddied for Mr. Nelson for a summer when it was pretty awesome. The guy caddied for one tournament and after that Byron invited him on the road for a few more tournaments.

You NEVER know who's walking around a golf course!

[bscinstnct]

I have not had the opportunity to ditch my good for nothing friends and go out as a ONESOME.

I think it would be great and even better if I got set up with people who did not speak with me.

Then I can pretend that I am in an 18 hole play off with them to win the Open.

If this were to happen, and I beat them all, they will be very surprised when I do my impression of Tiger after he holed
the putt on 18 on Sunday to go to the playoff with Rocco.

Maybe next year.

[Hateto3Putt]

[quote name='bscinstnct' post='1990585' date='Oct 6 2009, 01:32 PM']I think it would be great and even better if I got set up with people who did not speak with me.[/quote]

Actually that happened to me quite by accident. I booked as a [s]single[/s] onesome in Las Vegas. I was paired with these 3 guys from Korea, I don't know which was worse, their English or my Korean. (OK, it was my Korean).

Anyway, by the third hole it was a laughfest, these guys were hilarious! I don't know if they were laughing at me because I was laughing at them or vice-versa. Probably both. We had a great time with very few actual conversations. The one guy handed me his card after the round, I still can't read it!

[Hathstauwk]

[quote name='jwknow' post='1986305' date='Oct 3 2009, 09:30 PM'][quote name='QWKDTSN' post='1986302' date='Oct 3 2009, 10:29 PM']Nice attitude... I bet you and your buddies would be tons of fun to join up with

[/quote]

I think you missed the whole point in my post.

JW
[/quote]

I agree with the guy saying you must be great to join up with.

Most of my friends do not play golf. I move around from time to time in the country and hence do not join a 'club' because it is too expensive for the time I am here. As a result of moving around, I do not have a regular group of friends that play and nobody I know here is as nuts about the game as me.

Hence, I go out to courses alone when I can just so I can play. Seldom does it exist at public courses in the US that a single goes out as a single. There are just too many people trying to get on. When I was in Scotland last year for a while, 90% of the time if I showed up as a single, the tee would be open and they send me on my way as a single.

I enjoy pairing up with others because for the most part (seems your group would be an exception based on your attitude from the start), they are really nice and I pretty much always have an enjoyable time. The odd person is a snot but I to not take it to heart.

So there are circumstances beyond the conclusion you jumped to as to why someone shows up as a single. A single is still allowed to join a group without being forced to play as a single and wait on every shot for the entire round. If the course is full and playing through does not help, makes for a long frustrating day. Why not pair up and make everyone relax and have fun?

[rony]

OK......My final post on this topic, which has been un-believeable! I have played a ton of golf in my life. I have been and still am part of a regular foursome, and I have also played as a walk-on single, easily.......over 500 times. I have NEVER......Repeat......NEVER been treated with anything other than complete respect, friendlyness, and good comradrie, in any of these rounds. I'm a pretty good player. I was not so good back in the beginning. It made no difference. This has restored my faith in the everyday man/golfer! Most people in this world are nice/good. I guess this is why there has been such a reaction to the sentiments of the OP. He, and I guess his two buddies, most certainly are in the minority when it comes to the caliber of people you meet on the golf course. I'd like to thank the Moderators for allowing this to play out. I think this has been a NEGATIVE that has turned into a POSITIVE.

[itsadryhot]

i completely agree with the poster above. THANKS to the mods for allowing this to run its course (no pun intended). Through six pages of replies the community has taken this OP's original questionable "request for opinions" and shown its true colors as a caring, supportive group of people.

not to threadjack or anything but golf really is one of the few sports where people will fall so in love with it that regardless of whether their friends play, they will continue to pursue it. I played a lot of different sports growing up even though I wasn't a HS or college "jock". Golf is the only one I regret pausing (since I'm back now). I wonder why golf is so different? Is it the culture of honesty? Is it the self-deprecation? The vast majority of players talk their game "down" on the course. Back on the courts playing pickup basketball I never ran into this, or playing soccer. People always boasted how much better they were than reality. Every time I've played with strangers (not as a single tho, I'm not to that level of confidence yet) they always are humorous about their game. Maybe it's because this is probably the most difficult game in the world to "master" (unless your name is Ben Hogan). Sorry to drone on, these were just some thought kicking around in my head and thought I'd toss em out there.

J

[bigred90gt]

I'm playing as a "onesome" tomorrow morning at 7:36. Hopefully, just as every other time I have joined a group, I can join up with someone who I can learn from, or I can possibly teach something to, be it about golf or life. Some of the best, most genuine people that I have ever met, were met on the golf course. I dont believe I have ever spoken with them again, aside from the random times I get paired up with them again at the course, but for the 4 hours or so we played the round of golf, you would think we would have known each other for years. Conversations were never akward, attitudes never got int he way of a good time. I have no doubt in my mind that tomorrow will be no different.