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What makes someone a "player"?

Wedge play and solid putting. I have seen "players" get into trouble, take doubles, but still shoot under par with their short games.


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This crew qualifies.
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Ddec..
 
Think I made that putt too because of my awesome partner.
 
DNevs math
JRod handicap system
 
For me a player is a guy that has a quiet confidence from anywhere, with any club. Their shots hiss through the air different than other players', and they display a level of flight control that average hackers can only dream of.

I love getting paired with these guys.
 
I think it is a person who can always finish. I regularly play with a 3 cap, I was having a really good day and shot 39 on the front to his 43. He came back and shot par on the back and I fell apart. A "player" never gets frustrated, just moves on to the next hole and finishes with a good round. They have more mental toughness and don't let little mistakes effect them.
 
fupresti said:
This crew qualifies.
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I believe the total handicap of that group is 11. That would be a team of players.


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For me, it is someone who knows their game and executes it. Playing to a yardage, executing the approach and having birdie chances, and making par.
 
An example of a player...we were playing in a league match against the best player at our club. It is about 5 minutes before we are about to tee off. I see the guy run into the clubhouse in street clothes to change. Dude does not take 1 practice swing and proceeds to hit it his first drive over 300 yards right down the middle and ends up shooting 1 over for the round. He was so smooth and almost never took a practice swing. Just walk up to his ball took a look and hit.


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We have one true stick-ex rail tour pro player in our area. He is a 7 time city champ and has a course record on 2/3 of our courses. The man can just play his ball like no other (except for a PGA tour pro) . Works the ball in just perfectly on every shot from tee to putt. Long/ accuracte and a deadly short game. Just a joy to watch and play a round of golf with .. No weakness to his game at all. For me a player is one that can show his craft in tourney formats/. This guy wins and wins where ever he plays . That is the sign of a player
 
Some interesting thoughts in here, and I will give up my .02 as well.

What makes someone a player? Someone that plays within themselves and their game. They know what they do well, and they play to that strength. Execute what they do well with precision thinking and seemless effort. They "play" the game smooth and with ease, regardless of skill, they get their way around the course and do what they need to do to score to the best of their ability.
 
c.a.eleric said:
I think it's kinda like pornography: I know it when I see it.

I've played with a guy who hits 200y weak fades with his driver, hits his 7i around 140, but is a lights out putter. he's not a player.

I've played with a guy with an ok swing but can miss huge with driver and shank shots with every club in his bag. he's an ok putter, but get him around the greens and he's good to chip in a couple times a round. he's not a player.

I've played with a guy who is LONG with driver and irons and has an index in the low single digits because of it. he is an average putter, but putts everything inside 50y because he can't pitch or chip at all. even though his cap is low, I don't consider him a player.

but then I've walked courses at events, I've played with mini tour players, I've played with plus handicaps, and I've played with former college d1 players. these guys have "it." they're long, but not smh long. they never have big misses, can shape and flight at will, have crazy tidy short games, and have incredible touch/reading/line putting. they just have it all. they're players.


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This is my view as well, I have a few friends who are single digit handicaps but all they do is hit the ball. A player IMO is someone who can control their shot . They may have 110 yards into a green and knockdown a wedge to about 15 feet, that's a player.
 
One thing kind of jumps out to me is the fact that they "see the shot" they need, they process what needs to be done to achieve that result, and have full conficendce in doing what they saw. And you don't see them back off a shot very often.
 
A certain capacity to make the game look effortless, or easy, anything that belies the "Grinder" mentality.

So far, Freddie Couples, Rickie Fowler, and Trout Bum make the list of players. I remember beating Mark on a couple of holes at Tot Hill Farm, but I remember feeling like it was much more effort than he put forth ordering a drink from the cart girl, which seems to require more effort than he needs to play golf.
 
Karma got me after my post below from two days ago. I was wrong about him not being a player yet - he threw up a very smooth -2, 70 yesterday from 6850 yards on a very windy day and beat me by 10 shots. He was 5 under after 12 but got too conservative coming in and made 2 bogies on the last 3 holes. It was his first sub par round and I'm so glad I was there with his dad to see it. He held up very well mentally for a 16 year old who's never been lower than 2 under at any point on a golf course. We have two more rounds this week and I all of us can't wait to get back out there! This kid has a bright future.:act-up:


tahoebum said:
Having a complete game that holds up under pressure. IMO, often times what separates a player from someone who is not quite there yet is metal toughness and course management. I played yesterday with my son, a buddy and his 16 year old son who is a 3 index but not quite a "player" because he makes a few poor decisions usually off the tee or on second shots on par 5's. Yesterday he made a triple on a very easy short par 4 (we were playing Panther Run in Florida 6690 yards. 73.2 rating, 130 slope). I hit 4 iron off the tee and he of course tried to drive the green and hit it in the water. He also threw away strokes on other holes because of club selection, twice not taking enough club and once having too much. He hit perfect shots be didn't make the mental adjustment as the wind increased during the round. In the end I shot 73 and he shot 78. He has one of the best swings I've ever seen and hits the ball better than I do but really just needs to get his mental game in order. His long and mid irons are truly a thing of beauty. I love playing with him because each time I think he learns a little. I always encourage him and complement him on his game and remind him that it takes time to learn how to manage your own game/swing and that it's different each day. I also tell him that he's way ahead of where I was at age 16, which is the honest truth. He'll be a player in another year or two and will have the added fun of being scary long when he puts some weight on his 6'3" 148 pound frame. It would not surprise me if he drops to a plus 3 or 4 in the next 3 years.
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I don't think you have to be the best player. As long as you can play at your level anywhere at anytime, you can be a player. If your cap doesn't travel or you fold under pressure than you still have room for improvement to become one.
 
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