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Ideal Playing Partner In Team Competitions

Smithfaced

Smithfaced

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There are quite a few team competitions going this year for THP and that got me thinking about ideal playing partners. Do you like constant encouragement or complete silence? Do you want to golf with someone who is going to banter the entire round or someone who is focused on winning at all costs? Is there some sort of in between balance?

I've played in a few non THP team competitions. Best partner I ever had in one of those told me before the round that the most negative thing we could say all day was "fiddlesticks" and he kept me accountable. Sounds stupid but I played lights out the entire time. He didn't play very well and he kept apologizing which threw me off a bit. The worst partner I had was just a negative dude and when he would hit a bad shot he would make it known that the pressure was on me to hit a good one. I still played alright but it was very challenging for me to get through that round.

As far as playing in a team competition with THPers I have been insanely lucky. First round I played was with Cookie and he is just a super positive encouraging dude. We talked about every shot and he would always say something along the lines of "I like it" before the shot was played. If the outcome wasn't great it didn't even matter. JB said towards the end of the round that we ham and egged it the entire time and that is how you get points in team competitions. My other round was with Trout and I played absolutely my worst round of 2013. He spent so much energy on not letting me get down and offered tons of encouragement. Trout is probably the most positive dude I have ever played golf with. He even managed to hit a ton of fairways and greens and we won our best ball match despite me only winning two holes.

The last round I played was against a THPer and it was equally fun. I have never played against somebody that offered encouragement the entire time until I played against Niteowl. I 3 putted the first two holes and Aaron was like "dude, what are you doing?" He encouraged me to get back into the match which was an awesome thing to do. It was obvious that he didn't want to win against somebody that wasn't playing good golf and there is a lot to be said about a guy like that.

I'm a storyteller and this has turned into a long winded post but I want to hear from all of you THPers. Who is your ideal teammate?
 
Awesome post Jordan. I am completely enamored with team style golf. My most favorite sporting event to watch is the Ryder Cup. My ideal teammate would be someone who is totally focused on winning, but positive as well. Someone who is willing to work with me and support me and encourage me in the time of need and to keep staying positive when playing well too. I don't think I would want a whole lot of banter, but not silent either. Someone who is going to push you to be positive and achieve your best. Someone who will push you to play your game and not outside of it.
 
My ideal teammate is someone who doesn't need advice on every shot and has some confidence in himself but will listen if I have advice on a club or a strategy.

I like to compliment and encourage so someone that enjoys that and gets motivated off of that also works well.

Ultimately I just want someone who has fun, wants to win but if we don't win knows they had a good day


KG

Just Tapping Away
 
Someone that stays (99.99%) positive and playing for the love of the game. The people that come to mind: my fellow #DreamTeamers. Every single one of those guys fits that bill, as do many others here on THP. I'm not very picky.
 
Someone that can get off the tee box consistently. After that I am golden.
 
Ideal: Fairways and Greens all day. No Pressure, there to Have Fun.

Worst Experience: Played a best ball tourney with 3 buddies last year. 2 of us wanted to have fun. The other 2 wanted to analyze every shot, critique club choices, group read every putt. You could tell when they were frustrated, it reflected in their shotmaking, and especially in their attitudes. It was a fun charity tourney, placing meant nothing, everyone got the same choice of prizes.... taken way too serious.

The best time I ever had golfing was qualifying for our year end tournament. Rode cart with a good friend and we laughed and joked all day. We were competing only against each other. With the qualifying scores not the priority we ended up shooting our best ever qualifying scores. He made championship flight, I was one stroke behind.
 
braddman19 said:
Ideal: Fairways and Greens all day. No Pressure, there to Have Fun.

Worst Experience: Played a best ball tourney with 3 buddies last year. 2 of us wanted to have fun. The other 2 wanted to analyze every shot, critique club choices, group read every putt. You could tell when they were frustrated, it reflected in their shotmaking, and especially in their attitudes. It was a fun charity tourney, placing meant nothing, everyone got the same choice of prizes.... taken way too serious.
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You bring up a very good point about reading putts. I was told by an EXTREMELY wise man that group reading putts is a terrible idea. Every golfer see's putts differently and his advice was just to merely say this putt is either straight, left to right, or right to left. I have had many playing partners that say to aim a putt at a specific spot and it rarely works out.
 
I enjoy rounds where support is given across the board and heads don't get dropped. I enjoy advice at any time, enjoy picking someone else up when down and being picked up when I get on myself. Winning can be viewed in many different ways, but as long as everyone is driving to improve their round on the fly and staying positive about it...it's a win in my book. Voicing your disappointment on a shot never improves on the round, take it, learn from it and ask if not sure. There is an I in Team, but you don't want to be it.
 
To be honest I don't really know as I've never participated in a team event.

I imagine that I would need someone who isn't afraid to chat about strategy, or shots in general. A really good green-reader I think would be an awesome partner. If we are playing the same ball I think it would be imperative to know each other's ideal distances and play to those.
 
Everybody is different, I just want someone to be themselves and have fun. Talking or quiet, serious or silly makes no difference it is all about enjoying the experience.
 
I am lucky to have one of the best on my Team this year as my Asst. Captain. I love a guy who is able to be supportive yet kick you in the pants at the same time. A guy who knows when to say something and when to keep his mouth shut.
 
Puttin4Bird.
 
I prefer to have someone who is going to understand that the best way to win is to keep morale up and have fun. Banter, self-deprecation, and a positive atmosphere. There's the tactics of a shot or a hole, but being able to present it as, "Hit something like this" as opposed to using words like don't, avoid, unless, or terrible. I know it needs to be taken seriously, but it can and should be serious fun.

Also, if possible, someone who drives it much farther and more accurately than I do.
 
Someone I can have a good time with. Even though Taylor and I were on the receiving end of a down right a$$kicking, we had a blast doing it. We were giving pops everytime we turned around, but we maintained the fun side of the match. Golf is going to be golf.
 
Smithfaced said:
You bring up a very good point about reading putts. I was told by an EXTREMELY wise man that group reading putts is a terrible idea. Every golfer see's putts differently and his advice was just to merely say this putt is either straight, left to right, or right to left. I have had many playing partners that say to aim a putt at a specific spot and it rarely works out.
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The real key to group putting is having someone who puts a good roll on the putt. Even if he misses, you can get a good read on the line.

In Sarasota for the Gauntlet, I made a ton of putts while playing with Troy. But, if he didn't show me the line, I probably would have missed 1/3 to 1/2 of them.

Typically, if I don't trust the people I'm playing with, I won't use their putts to gauge the line.
 
flog2424 said:
My ideal teammate is someone who doesn't need advice on every shot and has some confidence in himself but will listen if I have advice on a club or a strategy.
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this, and vice versa.
 
For me, they would have to have a good sense of humor and be easy going. I like to have fun when I play and I can get disinterested if I am not having fun. As far as playing style, I am usually good for fairways off the tee and will put one in play so that a longer hitter can give it a rip. I also like to see a putt before I take a run, so I like playing with someone who can give me an idea, even if they don't make many since putting is a strength. If we are playing better ball, I like playing with someone who can make a lot of birdies even if they make some bogies since I can string together pars.
 
I want someone who talks. Not constantly, but I don't want to play with a mute.
 
It might seem odd, but sometimes guys just want to have a beer and get out of the house, or just go out and have fun, etc. My lesser experiences have been when one of us wanted to just have fun and the other wanted to win; my better experiences have been when my partner and I were on the same page about wanting to win.
 
I think personality is just as important as skill for a playing partner.

I want a partner who is a competitor, but more importantly someone who will relax and have a good time. Golf is difficult enough without stressing incessantly during the round. Talking is good, laughing is better. We should be doing this for fun, after all.

Of course, I'd also like a playing partner that is long off the tee, hits fairways and greens and makes every putt. :Alien.
 
Smallville said:
I want someone who talks. Not constantly, but I don't want to play with a mute.
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You'd hate playing with me. I hear all the time, my on course personality doesn't match my forum/online personality. I'm pretty quiet on the course and just go about my own business.

I really don't care to much what a person is like, as long as our personalities don't clash super hard.
 
JeffReedMO said:
You'd hate playing with me. I hear all the time, my on course personality doesn't match my forum/online personality. I'm pretty quiet on the course and just go about my own business.

I really don't care to much what a person is like, as long as our personalities don't clash super hard.
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This is very true sometimes I feel like I am talking to much to Jeff when we play, but I know we always have a good time. I am not the best golfer in the world, but I try and will drop a putt here or there, and hit some decent shots. I like a partner who is going to have fun and not be to serious. I have a buddy I play with when I get him back home for tournaments and just makes the round super easy. He is a great golfer and makes it look easy a lot of the time, but never seems to let anything bother him.

I
 
Doesn't really matter, I can adapt to any kind of personality. I like to have fun and if I feel comfortable I will trash talk. That is just my Brooklyn nature.
 
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