Competition v Casual

Wichita Lineman

You are a club member and you play as often as you can depending on your circumstances. What do you play most - competitions or casual rounds?

DuckSlice

Competition for me, always sharpens the game up when its a comp I think.

pakman

Competition almost exclusively. I lose interest if I'm playing badly in casual round and if I play well I just curse it for not being competitive.

I have pretty much one goal and that's to lower handicap to something respectable. Enjoyment is usually focused around that.

FixdePitchmark

Casual . My work schedule doesn't fit in with competitive golf.

aktelmiele

Mostly play competition.

But if playing casually with mates would play for a euro. Maybe if we are rolling in it, 1 euro front, 1 euro back and 2 euro overall.

And for the putting sharpness, we play "the snake" - Not sure why it is called that.

The premise is that if you have a 3 putt, you hold the snake. Last to hold the snake pays the others the agreed amount.

It puts some pressure on a second putt if you make a bags of the first one.

slave1

Depends, competition if possible but I don't have time for a range or practice so if there's something going on then I need to work it out on the course so entering a comp would be a waste of time.
Last year I got lessons to change my grip, as a result of the lessons I also changed my stance and alignment, then I changed 5 clubs, between all that I was shanking, snap hooking and losing balls for months and my handicap went out as a result as I needed to get my competitions in.

Another factor is your playing partner(s), if they don't want to play in the comp then I'm not going to slow things down by finishing out when they've picked up and moved onto the next tee

OS_Head

Competition, almost exclusively. I do play 6 or 9 if I have a couple of hours to spare. It's handy for trying out something new for me.

kennethrhcp

competitions 95% of the time. usually only get to play once a week (weekend) so just play the weekly comp.

have a played a few other courses with friends but majority of the time it's the weekend comp

95% competition, my goals are all about reducing handicap. Rarely play a casual round unless its golf now with some of lads who aren't members of any course

fred funk }{

Play some cracking casual rounds with buddys for a couple of euro. It's very competitive between us and keeps you sharp.

FixdePitchmark

Surprised not more casual

Practice on course is casual and if your goal is to reduce handicap . Does it not need more casual.

For any serious golf . Does it not need more golf and you can't play a big amount of golf with just competitive golf ?

dan_ep82

Comps mainly.

Main reason is to reduce handicap.
Generally course is in better condiditon during comps.
No one cuts in on a hole.
Chance to join with a group.
Stay more focused and play better golf.

If I can get out in the evenings I'll obviously play casual.If I'm working on something or struggling with something I find the casual rounds help but they can quickly devolve into looking for that second golf ball you hit in the opposite direction.

DuckSlice

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Surprised not more casual

Practice on course is casual and if your goal is to reduce handicap . Does it not need more casual.

For any serious golf . Does it not need more golf and you can't play a big amount of golf with just competitive golf ?

I get this point, when I was playing my best golf I was playing 1/2 casual rounds a week plus the competition on a Sunday. for practice a round of golf is far better than range time too IMO. The last few years its just been comps for me though

mike12

At our course u can play a comp Tuesday Friday Saturday and Sunday plus last year they had the 9 hole comps thru the week so comps for me.

GreeBo

etxp wrote: »

I get this point, when I was playing my best golf I was playing 1/2 casual rounds a week plus the competition on a Sunday. for practice a round of golf is far better than range time too IMO. The last few years its just been comps for me though

I'd say that very much depends on what you are practicing!

Competitions for me mostly, casual golf will be spent on the range/short game area due to more economical use of time.

martinkop

I'd say I'm about 50:50. Casual mid-week, comp at weekend.

Used to do midweek comps, but never did well going after work so stick to casual now mid-week.

DuckSlice

GreeBo wrote: »

I'd say that very much depends on what you are practicing!

very true, range I use for long game. I very rarely practice short game which is my downfall work away during the week and haven't found a range with a good short game faciility near me as of yet.

blue note

Not that I'm playing at all anymore, but I'd always try for competitions more than casual. I find with casual rounds

1. You're often kidding yourself that you'd have taken more time over that tap in if it was a comp and gotten it, or you'd have played safe there and not ended up scratching the hole, etc.

2. You actually do start messing on the course and take driver on 14 holes and take on every carry and play flop shots for no particular reason.

Casual golf is great too, but i just prefer competitions.

Wichita Lineman

Bump - poll closing 23rd for anyone else who wants to comment.

blue note

Pretty sure the answer is fairly definitive already.