Worst Partner Playing Experience

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Purely for your amusement, I'll describe my partner experience from the tournament on Saturday. This was a 2-player team competition with six holes as a 2-player scramble, six holes as best ball, and the final six holes alternate shot. Where the wheels fell off was the last six holes of alternate shot.

The 13th hole was a par 4 that started out uneventfully. My partner hit a decent tee shot just off the left side of the fairway. I hit my second shot to a front pin and the ball came within a couple of inches of reaching the green, settling in 12 feet from the flag. My partner bladed his chip leaving me with a 30 foot steep downhill putt. My putt settled in 2 feet right of the hole, my partner missed that putt and it settled in 5 feet past and I holed it for a 6.

The 14th hole is another par 4. I drove it to about 140 yards from the flag in the middle of the fairway. My partner put his shot into the deep rough right of the green. The ball was sitting up though and my chip settled in 3 feet from the cup. Once again, my partner missed and left the ball 5-feet out on the other side. I holed the putt for a 5.

The 15th hole is a big dogleg left. My partner hit a huge push/slice so far right it was by the tee on the 11th hole. We're now over 300 yards away from the green. I got us back in the fairway about 100 yards out. My partner shanked it right with a small tree between the ball and the green. The tree was short enough that I was able to wedge over it to 15 feet from the pin. You guessed it. My partner's putt goes 5 feet past the hole, and I hole out for a 6.

The 16th hole is a par 4 and after my drive we're 140 yards out in the middle of the fairway. My partner pull hooks his shot left of the green almost to the pond, but under a willow tree. I was able to hit a recovery shot under the willow branches but over the greenside bunker leaving my partner a 20-foot putt that he stroked 10 feet beyond the pin. I burned the edge with my putt and my partner holed the 1-footer for a 6.

The 17th was a par 3 that my partner dumped into a deep greenside bunker left of the green. I got it out and 15 feet from the flag. My partner missed it, leaving me a 10 footer that really had a lot of break. The ball stopped just short of the hole on my return putt. We card a 5.

Finally the 18th, a par 5 that with the headwind plays like a 600-yard hole. I got off a good tee shot into the middle of the fairway. My partner tops his fairway metal, it goes a little over 100 yards but stays on the fairway. My shot settles in just short of the green. My partner's chip settles in 20-feet from the cup and we 2-putt for a 6.

The 34 we scored over those six holes was 10 and 12 strokes higher than we scored on the other segments.

What's your worst partner experience?
 
Purely for your amusement, I'll describe my partner experience from the tournament on Saturday. This was a 2-player team competition with six holes as a 2-player scramble, six holes as best ball, and the final six holes alternate shot. Where the wheels fell off was the last six holes of alternate shot.

The 13th hole was a par 4 that started out uneventfully. My partner hit a decent tee shot just off the left side of the fairway. I hit my second shot to a front pin and the ball came within a couple of inches of reaching the green, settling in 12 feet from the flag. My partner bladed his chip leaving me with a 30 foot steep downhill putt. My putt settled in 2 feet right of the hole, my partner missed that putt and it settled in 5 feet past and I holed it for a 6.

The 14th hole is another par 4. I drove it to about 140 yards from the flag in the middle of the fairway. My partner put his shot into the deep rough right of the green. The ball was sitting up though and my chip settled in 3 feet from the cup. Once again, my partner missed and left the ball 5-feet out on the other side. I holed the putt for a 5.

The 15th hole is a big dogleg left. My partner hit a huge push/slice so far right it was by the tee on the 11th hole. We're now over 300 yards away from the green. I got us back in the fairway about 100 yards out. My partner shanked it right with a small tree between the ball and the green. The tree was short enough that I was able to wedge over it to 15 feet from the pin. You guessed it. My partner's putt goes 5 feet past the hole, and I hole out for a 6.

The 16th hole is a par 4 and after my drive we're 140 yards out in the middle of the fairway. My partner pull hooks his shot left of the green almost to the pond, but under a willow tree. I was able to hit a recovery shot under the willow branches but over the greenside bunker leaving my partner a 20-foot putt that he stroked 10 feet beyond the pin. I burned the edge with my putt and my partner holed the 1-footer for a 6.

The 17th was a par 3 that my partner dumped into a deep greenside bunker left of the green. I got it out and 15 feet from the flag. My partner missed it, leaving me a 10 footer that really had a lot of break. The ball stopped just short of the hole on my return putt. We card a 5.

Finally the 18th, a par 5 that with the headwind plays like a 600-yard hole. I got off a good tee shot into the middle of the fairway. My partner tops his fairway metal, it goes a little over 100 yards but stays on the fairway. My shot settles in just short of the green. My partner's chip settles in 20-feet from the cup and we 2-putt for a 6.

The 34 we scored over those six holes was 10 and 12 strokes higher than we scored on the other segments.

What's your worst partner experience?

If your partner is an amateur and, or, above about an 8 handicap, why are you criticizing his lack of playing skills ?
If you wanted a partner who consistently hit great shots how or why did you agree to partner with this guy ?
 
If your partner is an amateur and, or, above about an 8 handicap, why are you criticizing his lack of playing skills ?
If you wanted a partner who consistently hit great shots how or why did you agree to partner with this guy ?
I was sort of expecting this to be about a guy who was an a-hole. Sounds like he just wasn’t very good.
 
Alternate shot is a tough format. I would imagine that hitting it poorly could kind of snowball mentally when your partner has to keep hitting from poor spots and/or you miss a couple easy putts.
 
I don't play in tournaments or anything but when I get paired up with other people, I've definitely played with all types

The angry rager


The infinite Mulligan guy
TgfmTt.gif


The guy who doesn't say 2 words all 18 holes

Etc etc

But it really sounds like your partner was just bad, which is fine, but at least try to manage the missed and leave the better player with opportunities to save scores.. don't blow the putt 5' past, try and leave just a foot, etc. If you miss those comebacks he may not make the tapper etc

But it re
 
But it really sounds like your partner was just bad, which is fine, but at least try to manage the missed and leave the better player with opportunities to save scores.. don't blow the putt 5' past, try and leave just a foot, etc. If you miss those comebacks he may not make the tapper etc

But it re
to be fair...I dont think the guy wanted to miss by 5 feet. If he could control that I think its safe to say he would have.

On another note he's much better off being in the "die it in the hole" camp vs the "putt it past" camp....lol
 
I try to accept alt shot for what it is, a tough game unless both are clicking and on their best games.
 
The first rule of alternate shot is do not apologize. I hope my Grandaddy brothers are reading this in case I become that guy. :giggle:
 
I've got the same format coming up this weekend. My partner is the tournament director for my section. Not much pressure there.

I really hate letting my partner down.

That being said, my worst experience had little to do with play. Had a partner where our personalities just did not mesh in the slightest. Not his or my fault, just two very different people. Long round.
 
The first rule of alternate shot is do not apologize. I hope my Grandaddy brothers are reading this in case I become that guy. :giggle:

exactly what i was thinking reading the first post. i'm thinking man, if this guy gets me as a partner in a thp event, he's probably gonna put me on blast. most of the team competitions i've done with thp, i have been blessed to play with partners who had broad shoulders and carried my ass for pretty much the whole round.

like some others have said, i don't play much if any tournament golf. so i don't really have any experience with a bad partner in that sense. but recently i did have a very unpleasant experience with some strangers with whom i was paired. i scheduled a very early morning tee time so i could be back home at a reasonable time. the 3 guys i was paired with roll up to the first tee a few minutes late, still tying their shoes. i get it, i've been "that guy" too. i tee off and hit an ok shot. their first two guys don't hit the best shots, but they're playable. their third guy, who was the boss of the other two, tops it. again, we've all been there. but his preshot routine was about 45 seconds. he starts over as he takes his breakfast ball. same result. drives up, and does it again. and again. and again. this was a semi-private course, and there were members behind us. the guy hit some ok shots, but most of it was more of this results. now let me be clear: i don't care that the guy wasn't very good. but when you take an 8 or worst on every hole, and your preshot routine is nearly a minute for every one of those shots, that's just unacceptable. it takes talent and hard work to be good at golf, but EVERYONE can be on pace. it absolutely ruined my day, ruined my concentration, and i was less than cordial about it.
 
Got randomly paired with a 65+ year old guy who Longs for the good old days.

My buddy and I were playing as a twosome. On the third hole a guy catches us from behind and joins up as there is a foursome in front of us and them.

He makes mildly racist comments for a few holes about the slow of play of people and says things like “you’re not like other Indian people, you guys play quick”.

On 12? 13? He does a fake Asian accent and says something about “the greatest generation dying over ‘those people’” and I looked at him and said “you mean the chickenshits who would have killed me without a trial for using the same water fountain as you? It’s been 3 hours and you have said nothing but vile and offensive things. I have no problem doing the world a favor and having your jaw wired shut. You wanna be tough? Let’s rock.”

I’m a former high school wrestler who practices BJJ and not really the first guy you wanna pick a fight with. My buddy though looks the part. He has 4 inches and 45lbs on me. He literally picked me up over his shoulder put me in the cart and drove back to the car and we finished our round that way.

Positive side the clubhouse gave us two free rounds.
 
I got paired with a guy that supposedely had a pretty big position with a company that had really good ties to a professional sporting team. He was the type that likes to flaunt everything about him, and was name dropping the entire round about how he was able to go here and play with these guys and do this and that etc. I am a very quiet person in general so no matter who I play with I usually am the listener more than the talker, so that helped me this round because he just wouldn't stop talking about all the things he's done. Not once did he ask anything about me and just came across as a guy that likes to listen to himself talk.
 
The random cart buddy who jumped in with me on number 10 who started taking hits off a little one-hitter pipe (weed) without asking about the other 2 in our group...local Sheriffs...back in Georgia where it is still illegal.
 
The random cart buddy who jumped in with me on number 10 who started taking hits off a little one-hitter pipe (weed) without asking about the other 2 in our group...local Sheriffs...back in Georgia where it is still illegal.
Whoa....a lot going on there. LoL
 
If I hadn't just played 9 holes with them, I would have likely accepted his friendly offer to share. Instead, I elbowed him hard before he offered to the cops. They were actually pretty cool but they gave "Rusty" the eye...lol
 
This is another example of why that format should be played in the EXACT OPPOSITE progression. We've had long 'discussions' about this locally. It should be six alternate, six best, six scramble. Everyone is still friends at the end of THAT because when the round is done those nasty holes were long ago and everyone's all warm and fuzzy from birdie-ing out.
 
Last Sunday I got paired with a random guy. Pounding beers every hole. Slurring drunk by turn. Inappropriate creepy behavior with hot dog girl at the turn. Has words with another golfer before we go to 10. Tops it off by cursing me out on 18 tee for declining to bet with him on the final hole.

I see the economics of a private club get a little better every day....



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last Sunday I got paired with a random guy. Pounding beers every hole. Slurring drunk by turn. Inappropriate creepy behavior with hot dog girl at the turn. Has words with another golfer before we go to 10. Tops it off by cursing me out on 18 tee for declining to bet with him on the final hole.

I see the economics of a private club get a little better every day....



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As a guest at a friend’s private club I once played with a guy who was two bottles of wine in by the 10th tee. He laid down on the 12th tee box because he was too drunk to stand up, then got up, pulled it together, ripped one down the middle, said “I only need about a second and a half sober to hit a good shot,” and fell back down.
 
If your partner is an amateur and, or, above about an 8 handicap, why are you criticizing his lack of playing skills ?
As I said, this was for your amusement. Lighten up. See the humor.
 
This is another example of why that format should be played in the EXACT OPPOSITE progression. We've had long 'discussions' about this locally. It should be six alternate, six best, six scramble. Everyone is still friends at the end of THAT because when the round is done those nasty holes were long ago and everyone's all warm and fuzzy from birdie-ing out.
I assure you, we were actually better friends at the end of the round than at the beginning. If you can't separate the performance from the person, you aren't really friends. There is a backstory on this I didn't share in the OP. Eight weeks ago my partner was in the hospital with a collapsed lung. Of course, he wanted to play better. I was able to remind my partner that just being out on the course was a victory and mattered far more to me than how he was playing. At the end, we were both kidding about how he helped me practice my trouble shots.
 
Cartner is every single one of these in here.. excuses for everything.. feet slipped, wrong club, give comments to everyone etc etc.. going to be a looking morning
 
I try to accept alt shot for what it is, a tough game unless both are clicking and on their best games.
I’m with this.

Alt shot is a b*tch.
 
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