Regular playing partners? Or random slot booker?

ShriekingSheet

I'm curious. This is mostly aimed toward club members who play most weekends. Do you tend to play with the same handful of guys, making up different permiatations of 3 balls every week?
Or even play in the exact same 3 ball every week?
Or do you play with different guys from week to week?

I know a lot of the members in my club from when i was a beginner and playing a lot over the years. So I pretty much end up playing with whoever is down around the time that suits me from week to week. Even if I don't recognise the name, I like to meet new people too and play with guys I haven't played with before.

Also, do you find you play better in any of the above scenarios? Like are you more comfortable with guys you know better, or do you play better with less banter among guys you don't know as well etc?

And do you put much emphasis on the h'caps of players in your group? Like if you want to do well in say, the captain's prize, would you avoid playing with a very high or very low player? Do you find you play better with a certain level of players in your group etc?

Mister Sifter

Play atari jaguar every week

Good question. Been thinking about this lately. I tend to just stick my name down with anyone, but definitely think that playing with better or like players helps your game. I tend to play the time that suits rather than with the players that suit, often to the detriment of my game.

Fourballs are the biggest killer though - at least three or four good scores this season i've let slip because i've just got frustrated with the speed of play or constant looking for balls and hanging about waiting for players to hit from 20 yards or so behind me.

Another frustrating thing is players with no concept of what a good shot is or isnt for a better player. Think that's why the scratch cups are so enjoyable.

By the way... what does atari jaguar mean?!

f22

Play with different people every week

Tend to play with a group of 10 to 15 players from my club, the majority of which are low handicappers. In singles I will always try to play with good players I am comfortable with. It's just better for my game.

Fourballs and team events are more laid back affairs and generally a bit of fun so I don't mind who I play with.

I will play with anyone once they're friendly, play a shot when they're supposed to and shut up when they're supposed to.

PhilipMarlowe

Play with different people every week

Tend to stick within the same smallish group on weekends due to the need to play early on Sunday mornings and get some family time in too... Wednesday evening 9 hole competitions during the summer are much more social as I 'arrive and drive', joining up with whoever is waiting on the tee though sometimes I'll have someone arranged to play with.
For singles I like playing with guys of my own standard and hate playing with slow players - not that I run around but I hate waiting for others to take an age to hit their shot and then the group is on the tee behind and mostly seem to be waiting on my shot because I've hit it out there furthest.

Mister Sifter

Play atari jaguar every week

Do you find as lower handicappers that higher handicappers are sometimes intimidated by playing with you? Strange question perhaps but it's something i've came across the odd time.

Sionnachster

As I'm still looking to join a new club these are only options I can dream of having so I opted for the Atari as it's most accurate to my situation. Sorry to skew your results SS!!

I do remember 10 years back as a young lad with single digit handicap playing in the Sunday Seniors and being given a wide berth by the older folk. We all were. Same in the Bruen etc, very hard to break down the walls. As we got older though, playing with better golfers had the best results and scores always reflected that.

I know a few guys with the same regular fourball who struggle to get motivated for competitions... There is no 'pressure' if you aren't scoring. I much prefer playing with strangers and trying to show your ability if that makes sense?

irishtoffee

Play with different people every week

I got stuck with am 18 handicapper last sunday that took all day over the ball,i could have strangled him.Eventually i had a polite word and he speeded up as we had nearly lost a hole.I hate slow golfers.

trishasaffron

Play with different people every week

Does "guys" include women?

I play on a Sat - stick my name down most weeks and wait and see what'll happen, except for 4balls and 4somes when email the pals to organise partners. Men fill up lines all around on the timesheet until one brave chap puts his name down alongside and then it'll fill no problem. I should perhaps say that I'm a fairly handy women golfer with a speedy approach to the game so no delays - in fact we're usually waiting on every shot behind the lads.

Paulusmaximus

Play with different people every week

I sitck to playing with the same guys the majority of the time. there are 8 of us so there is always a combination of 4 available, handicaps are all quite similar with a 1 handicapper, two 3's, a four, three 7's and and 9. It keeps things competitive and we have had some amazing fourballs. Once myself and the 1 handicapper where 8 under gross only to be beaten by our playing partners who were 6 under gross (47 points).

Last weekend, i put my name down with three high handicap members, one playing off 26. We decided to play a fourball for 2, 2 and 2 and i was in opposition of the 26. In the first 11 holes he had 7 three pointers, we were 5 down and his singles score was still only 24 points for those 11. I couldn't face that every week!!

Mister Sifter

Play atari jaguar every week

trishasaffron wrote: »

in fact we're usually waiting on every shot behind the lads.

Helps when your tees are about 100 yards closer to the green of course!

ShriekingSheet

Play atari jaguar every week

Interesting findings.

What I'm taking out of this, as someone who's competitive but plays with different people all the time, is that if I'm to improve a bit next year, playing with a regular group of similar h'caps would be a help.

Thinking back, I have shot better scores with better golfers in tow and yes, some dreadful rounds have been with poorer golfers. Although by "poorer" I don't strictly mean h'cap-wise. I guess I just gel with certain types of personalities better. The right combination of 'lets enjoy this and have some craic as well as having good focus and shoot as good a score as we can' is a good benefit.

This weekend for example, I booked a slot on my own on Saturday and was joined with two very nice guys in their 50's playing off 13 and 16. Last time I played with them I won the Medal in July and we had good, relaxed banter as we went.
On Sunday in the Presidents Prize I'm down with two guys I don't think I've ever played with. HowDidIDo tells me they're off 13 and 18 (yes, I checked!) so I'll see how it goes.

Given that my dad plays off 22, playing with high guys doesn't really bother me but I guess the stats seem to show playing with better and more familiar guys could help me, in my case anyway.

Obni

Play with different people every week

Play with same 3 guys most Wednesdays.
Play with a group of 12-20 that turn up on Sat morning and play off various handicaps (we book 4/5 slots and then draw for partners on the day).
Play a couple of Sundays a month, random partners.

So apart from the Atari Jaguar, I've all options covered.

OldGoat

Graeme1982 wrote: »

Do you find as lower handicappers that higher handicappers are sometimes intimidated by playing with you? Strange question perhaps but it's something i've came across the odd time.

As a high (the highest) handicapper I tend to play with the same people all the time because I know that they will make allowances for my poor play and don't laugh too loudly at my occasional airshot. Playing with strangers is nerve wracking and naturally that leads to being tense which in turn leads to even higher scores.
Always playing with the same group is a safetynet of sorts for me, it allows me to play to my best and I get encouraged and congragulated if I manage to find the fairway from the teebox.
My game slows down low handicappers and that can irratate them as they have to play to my pace. Not slow, just no superfast. It takes a while longer for me to take my 120 shots in comparrison to their 90. So knowing that I will inevitably upset the game of a group of strangers I tend to avoid playing with anyone else.

Mister Sifter

Play atari jaguar every week

OldGoat wrote: »

As a high (the highest) handicapper I tend to play with the same people all the time because I know that they will make allowances for my poor play and don't laugh too loudly at my occasional airshot. Playing with strangers is nerve wracking and naturally that leads to being tense which in turn leads to even higher scores.
Always playing with the same group is a safetynet of sorts for me, it allows me to play to my best and I get encouraged and congragulated if I manage to find the fairway from the teebox.
My game slows down low handicappers and that can irratate them as they have to play to my pace. Not slow, just no superfast. It takes a while longer for me to take my 120 shots in comparrison to their 90. So knowing that I will inevitably upset the game of a group of strangers I tend to avoid playing with anyone else.

Personally i don't mind who i play with so long as they're not overly slow. It works the other way too... a few times i'll stand on the tee box at a medal with three strangers and when the obligatory "what you playing off?" question goes round, the reaction to saying 3, 4, 5 or whatever can be pretty disconcerting. I've had a good few people say pretty unwelcoming things. Almost as though i've ruined their game by daring to put my name up and being half decent.

ShriekingSheet

Play atari jaguar every week

Graeme1982 wrote: »

Personally i don't mind who i play with so long as they're not overly slow. It works the other way too... a few times i'll stand on the tee box at a medal with three strangers and when the obligatory "what you playing off?" question goes round, the reaction to saying 3, 4, 5 or whatever can be pretty disconcerting. I've had a good few people say pretty unwelcoming things. Almost as though i've ruined their game by daring to put my name up and being half decent.

I find it's more of a positive reaction than negative to be fair. Although it does grate a bit when they say things like "I'm not playing you for money" or "we might as well go home now"... as if all players off single figures shoot good scores more regularly than anyone else! Being hyped up before you strike a ball is not a comfortable feeling. But it is unintentional of course. Every double-digit player will always make some comment when a lower guy tees it up but as I said, while it might be irritating, it's most likely out of admiration they do it.

I remember when I was a 15 year old starting out, shooting 120+, playing with my grandad one day and a couple of middle-aged members joined us. I asked them what they played off. One said "15" and being the lowest h'cap golfer I'd ever met my (absolutely genuine) reply was something like "OH MY GOD!! That's AWWWWESOME!"

Thankfully, the guys copped that I wasn't taking the p*ss but the look on yer man's face was priceless!

GreeBo

Play with different people every week

Graeme1982 wrote: »

Helps when your tees are about 100 yards closer to the green of course!

You probably want to throw in an old smiley face there chief.

ShriekingSheet

Play atari jaguar every week

I've been thinkin about this a bit lately. Hence the poll. Just thinking through rounds over the summer, seeing is there much of a trend between good rounds and a certain type of playing partner. Generally, I'm of the opinion that a player with a good attitude / mental game will not be affected by playing partners, be they low or high. But if there is an advantage to be had... it got me thinking.

Anyway this weekend I played both days at home. Singles S'ford and President's Prize.

Saturday was with two nice older guys who were my partners in the July Medal when I won, shooting my best round of the year. Both in the late teens h'cap - so you can see why I lean towards the "it shouldn't matter" school of thought regarding quality of playing partner. Anyway, the course was playing tough. The rough was very thick and wet and the greens were (surprisingly) firm a quick. The boys were playing a good bit earlier than usual and had very bad days. Young, strong single figure golfers were finding it hard to advance the ball from certain spots of rough so you can imagine the day these guys had. We had the craic, really enjoyed it, but having had 19pts on the front 9, I found it hard to get any kind of rythm going and let it slide on the back, finishing with 33.

On to the Pres Prize on Sunday. Playing with two guys I'd never met before - a 13 and an 18 h'cap, both mid to late 30s.The guy off 13 played average by his standards - a better ball striker than 13. The guy off 18 played very well in parts. Though we'd never met before we got on great and had good banter all day while maintaining the focus you'd expect in a club major. I didn't play as well on the front 9 as the day before, having 17pts and making a bad bogey on 11 to go +5 gross for the day. Still, the pace of play and quality of shots in the group had more of a rythm to it than the day before. Hard to explain but I thought there was a feeling of momentum among the group, even though I wasn't going well personally.
It didn't hurt that (this will give some of you a laugh!) the 18 h'cap had read his fair share of Doc Rotella's books and was chatting to me as we went about different aspects. Come the 15th, something clicked with me and I made a 4 on the index 5 par 5. The lads were impressed and more so when I birdied the next 2, including the index 1 17th. The birdies in a row on three long holes - I was pinching myself - but the lads kept it cool. It was relaxed and I could tell they were making a conscious effort to keep it so and not go over the top on compliments. I knocked it to 6 feet on 18 for 4 birdies in a row and 40 points, only to have the b*stard lip out!



Anyway, I guess I took the weekend as a good learning that it's not necessarily h'caps of partners that can help create the best environment to play well in, but the type of golfers they are, their understanding of keeping an even keel when the going's good etc. But in tough conditions (back tees, tights pins etc) with higher h'caps, I think it has got a human effect on me, watching partners hit 4 or even 5 shots between them before I hit my second. This happend a few times on Saturday. They got a little embarassed. I got a little embarassed cos I didn't want them to think I minded and make them more uncomfortable... it's just an awkward situation for everyone sometimes.

So yeah, for friendly fourballs/charity days etc I'll keep to my "play with whoever" policy because I like meeting new people. But for competitive stuff, I'm thinking of a regular group of guys I'll drop a mail/text/call to before booking bigger comp slots next season. Not that I'll be setting X h'cap limit above which I won't play with, but I'll just be a little bit conscious of it when booking my tee times.

Hope other people found this thread of interest also.