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Root For or Against?

JB said:
Down by 1, heading to 9th. Your opponent on the tee, you are hoping for a good drive?
Asking genuinely
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yes, I still want them to hit a good shot. I want to win because I stepped up and won, not because they messed up and lost.
 
PKorf said:
While playing in the Morgan Cup I had my opponent audibly rooting for my ball to "get in" bunkers or water hazards.

He's no longer around and lonnnng gone. But, it really showed me and helped me understand how NOT to root in a match. If you beat me, you earned it and I couldn't be happier for ya. I'll root you on the whole way even if I'm playing lousy. Cause that's not on you, it's on me.

Big ROOTER FOR. We are all there for the same reason. The trophy or reward is cool. The experience of it all together is way way way more important and the THP way.
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oh man I hope to play against someone like that lol
 
Generally I want my opponent to play well so I feel good about beating them if I can. That said, if I'm down 3 with 5 holes to go or something like that, I'm certainly going to be a little excited if my opponent splashes one into a pond and opens the door a crack.
 
JB said:
Down by 1, heading to 9th. Your opponent on the tee, you are hoping for a good drive?
Asking genuinely
Click to expand...
I had this with @Moore_Golf . I was rooting for him to hit a good shot and not go in the water on 18. I never thought about rooting against him our whole match.
 
Bad shots happen to everyone. It happens in golf, no matter what.

Now to root for or against, I'll only root against @JohnSinVA to hit it into the water or bunker.
 
I hope my opponent plays well. SOMEBODY in the group should be playing well . . .

I am hypercompetitive in some things, but golf is not one of them. Winning or losing a THP match would not be life-changing, but having a good time or not could be..
 
I can't control what someone else does. I don't actively root against someone. In THP experiences my jabs are meant to lighten the mood not to play mind games. I do meter them based on how well I have interacted with someone.
 
I don't wish bad upon my opponent. I want my opponent to play to the best of their ability and I want to match it and beat them in the end.
 
PKorf said:
While playing in the Morgan Cup I had my opponent audibly rooting for my ball to "get in" bunkers or water hazards.
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Wow, that's pretty darn bold.
 
I can't see how wanting your opponent to play badly during an event is the right thing to do. It's an experience, always at an amazing course with amazing people, you want fun and to see good shots from everyone (& hopefully that means you also hit good shots).
 
Root for, 100%. I always want people to do well, even if it is friendly banter or back and forth or taking pot shots - and hopefully that comes across.

The reality is, that if I lose because someone had a better day than me I'm fine with it, I don't tie my self worth to my golf by any stretch, so the outcome is what it is. Obviously we still want to win, but someone has to win and someone has to lose.

I want them to hit good shots, and I want nothing but hero shots from me and draining putts from all over.
 
I don't root against my playing partners. I want them to perform well and I want the reason I win a match or my team wins is because we played good golf. Plus at the end of the day I hope to be friends with all my fellow participants and actively rooting against them doesn't feel right.
 
As others have said, I’m not rooting against someone’s tee shot to dive into a hazard or OB. That could be your buddy, why would you with that on a friend of yours?

Also, that’s not really being a good sport, and more relying on bad ill to beat someone and not your physical talent.
 
Ideally, I want to root for someone, and beat them when they are playing well.

Worst case? I will root for someone to hit one OB, or find trouble..... yeah I said it.

Their finding problems doesn't necessarily mean a winning outcome for me though lol.
 
I don't root for my opponents to hit bad shots. I feel like that's a bad vibe. There's definitely moments in a match where its easy to recognize that a miss of a putt can be a huge deal, but I don't root for that. I like to see good golf being played.
 
Never root against anyone while golfing. Though... if it comes down to sinking a putt on 18 to win or lose, we're all only human.
 
I want my opponent to play well but I wouldn't say that I'm rooting for him anymore than I expect him to root for me. If he hits a bad shot, its not that I'm hoping for it its just golf. Its more about enjoying the competition and if competition makes a great shot acknowledging the rise to the challenge... and hope I can match it back :oops:
 
PhillyV said:
oh man I hope to play against someone like that lol
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His partner who is a very active THPer wasn't thrilled and literally apologized. He and I are good buddies now. It all works out!

I lost the match and gained some knowledge and a good friend out of it all.
 
Jman said:
I never root for someone to hit bad shots, the golf gods will SMITE people like that imo.

I just hope I hit BETTER shots than them.
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This is the correct answer

The golf gods smiteth those who root for others to fail.

I've watched opponents line up for 10 footers to halve a match with me and in my head i'm telling myself over and over "you don't want him to miss"

Gotta keep yourself in check in those situations
 
kiwichris said:
I can't see how wanting your opponent to play badly during an event is the right thing to do. It's an experience, always at an amazing course with amazing people, you want fun and to see good shots from everyone (& hopefully that means you also hit good shots).
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Yeah in a THP experience, god i can't even imagine rooting for someone to fail.

I play in am events against people i don't even know and i don't want them to trip over themselves. Who wants to win like that anyway?

I won a match last summer in a quebec am event where i was one up going to 18 which was a par 5, my opponent crushed his drive, hit into a greenside bunker in 2, got out to 7 feet and lipped out his putt. I had layed up off the tee, then again to 120yds, and had a shaky 2-putt from 25 feet to win.

That feels much better than if someone hits it OB and you win that way. You had to make the shots and did.

Who wants to win the other way? Especially in a THP experience
 
I'm sorry. I guess I'm in the minority here and hope it doesn't hurt my chances of getting into a THP Experience but if we are even in a match and on the last hole and my opponent has a putt to win the match I am certainly not rooting, internally at least, for him to make it.
 
smgoldstein said:
I'm sorry. I guess I'm in the minority here and hope it doesn't hurt my chances of getting into a THP Experience but if we are even in a match and on the last hole and my opponent has a putt to win the match I am certainly not rooting, internally at least, for him to make it.
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But I think thats more of you rooting for yourself to win and less for that person to lose, no?
 
smgoldstein said:
I'm sorry. I guess I'm in the minority here and hope it doesn't hurt my chances of getting into a THP Experience but if we are even in a match and on the last hole and my opponent has a putt to win the match I am certainly not rooting, internally at least, for him to make it.
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We stated no right or wrong answer.
Everybody is different.

FWIW, we dont pick people to go to THP Experiences outside of shoulder taps here and there for those that follow along. Its done random.
 
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