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Playing Up To Your Partner's Level

Diane

Diane

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Do you play better when you play with better players? Or do you get frustrated that you can't play to their level? The women I play with on weekend mornings are single digit handicappers and I love to play with them even though it can take me 2 shots to even reach their tee shots. They are very encouraging and I'm relaxed so I tend to play better.
 
The first time I was invited to play with the usual threesome at my office, I was a little intimidated. They're all 6-10 handicappers and play a lot. I did not play well at all (105) and got frustrated the whole round trying to match them.

Afterwords I went home and thought on it, and realized that I let my competitive streak come out. Looking at it realistically, there is no WAY I should be playing at their level as a 25-30 handicap. Since then I haven't had any issues playing with them. I've been much more relaxed and as a result have played much better as a result, shooting 90's.
 
I love playing with folks who are way better than me. It inspires me to rise to the occasion, and I love the challenge. I know I'm not going to beat them, but I feel great after putting together several par holes, and maybe a birdie here and there when playing with them; I don't sweat the bogeys and double bogeys.
 
I find it much easier to play with guys or gals around the same level or better then me.When they are better,I really get to see where I need to improve. When I'm out for a leisure round or testing then it doesn't matter.
 
Not surprisingly - this thread got 3 posts and Dyna's thread about playing down got 21. What a positive group. :rolleyes:
 
I actually prefer to play with people who are better than me. It inspires me to elevate my game and I study what they do and try to find ways to improve my own game.
 
I've always preferred to play with others who are either as good or better than I am because I learn more and I try harder and both are good things. The trouble is that the better one gets, the harder it is to find people who fit that criteria.


-JP
 
JPsuff said:
I've always preferred to play with others who are either as good or better than I am because I learn more and I try harder and both are good things. The trouble is that the better one gets, the harder it is to find people who fit that criteria.


-JP
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I'm not sure about that - you just need to join a group or club. My brother says there are quite a few guys at his club with HI's 6 and below. I have a friend that plays at his local muni who says the men's group there has a large group of single digit handicappers as well. I play with a woman who has a 7 HI and she plays in a competitive league that has a number of very good women golfers.
 
Same here. Theres plenty of single-digit handicappers around here who play in leagues, the only problem is they dont want to play with hacks so you have to kind of prove yourself to them.
Its like that at some of the courses around here that I play on. At first the better players kind turned their noses up at me but now that Ive proven that Ive got a little game, that I understand golf ettiquite and respect the traditions of the game and Im dedicated to getting better Im one of the guys.
 
A lot of other factors come into play before this, such as temperament, sense of humor, etc. But all else being equal, I prefer to play with better players for all the reasons posted above.
 
I usually enjoy playing with people better than me if they are of the right temperament.
 
Unfortunately it seems like a lot of times the so called better golfers act like jerks & I don't need nor have time for that foolishness.
 
dynarider said:
Unfortunately it seems like a lot of times the so called better golfers act like jerks & I don't need nor have time for that foolishness.
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Really - I haven't found that. I think golfers can be a bit eccentric, a bit quirky and definitely emotional, but for the most part, I don't find them to be jerks.
 
Diane said:
Really - I haven't found that. I think golfers can be a bit eccentric, a bit quirky and definitely emotional, but for the most part, I don't find them to be jerks.
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That's pretty much how I see it as well.

To me, as long as everyone is mindful of the Prime Directive (keeping up with the group ahead), I honestly don't care what they do. The only behavior that I consider "Jerk-ish" is when someone hits a bad shot and then has to drop another ball to show everyone around that they actually know how to hit the shot and yadda. yadda, yadda.

No one cares and no one's taking notes. We all hit bad shots even when we're not supposed to, so just stop holding everyone up and move on.

Besides that, I can't really think of anything that stands out as particularly annoying.


-JP
 
As I posted on the other thread, I prefer to play with folks who are better than I am. I like to watch good golf being played. Simple as that. Do I play better when playing with better players? Sure I do, because there is a bit of competition involved which makes me play more focused. Heck, sometimes I even score better than those better players.:clapp:
 
I much prefer to play with better players now that I have lost my ability to be embarrassed over my ineptitude. I intentionally joined a group of around 20 players at my old home club who were all in the 4 or less range. They played early every Saturday and Sunday. Just step up, pay your $5 into the skins pot and tee it up.

At first I was a nervous wreck, but I overcame that and began to get better as a result of playing with them. They were good, but they were also encouraging and helpful. The only real rule that you didn't break was to be so slow that you let your group fall behind. That would bring out their ire pretty quickly. I learned a lot.
 
I usually play with guys who are single digit handicaps and its amazing how close I am to them in skill. The part of my game that keeps me from being single digit handicap is every 5 good holes leads me to a bad one. Playing 10 holes at par and bogey golf on the other 8 is the difference in a consistent scorer and a streaky one such as myself.
 
Do you play better with better partners?

Do you play better with better partners?

Yesterday I played with our club pro and a 15yr old who carries a +1 index. The club pro could drive the ball 310+ yards and almost twice drove a green that was 350yds, ended up being just short both times. The kid didn't drive the ball as far, however, he still carried it about 270yds and hit some phenomenal iron shots that I didn't even think were possible. We were playing 2 man best ball and the club pro was playing with us as a spotter as we were the lone twosome. The kid gets stuck behind a tree about 190yds out and the only option I would have had was to chip out to the fairway. He takes out a long iron, looks at his options and ends up drawing the ball around this tree and landing it about 4ft short of the green and it rolls right up to the pin about 3ft away. Both the pro and I were astounded he could do that shot off the rock hard dirt and being that close to the tree.

He is definitely someone who will be heard from in the future as will his little brother who is 12yrs old and carries a 4 index. It must be in the genes as their dad is a scratch golfer also and has been their only coach.

After playing the round yesterday, I felt more pressure to play better, but I think in the end I played worse. I didn't take advantage of any of the holes I was getting shots and ended up doing worse on those holes and the holes he didn't fair well I also didn't so it affected us doubly worse.
 
I play better when playing with better players. Today I will be playing with two of my nephews, who will not break 100. I may not break 90 since it is very fun round, plus playing a course I have never seen before. (Lost Creek).Tomorrow, I am playing with better golfers, with more to prove, so I am sure I will play better. Plus it is on a course I have played quite a few times before. Hopefully this early morning Texas fog won't be around that I am looking at right now.

As for youngsters playing well, there is a 13 year old young lady who regularly shoots in the mid-high 70s at Desert Rose from the white tees. These youngsters are just amazing with what appears to be natural ability. Her dad and I play well together, but she can, and does humble us many times during a round. :clapp:
 
I played with our club champion last weekend and needless to say I sucked it up hardcore. I get so frustrated some days I question why I play this game. It's frustrating when no matter what you do nothing goes right. I mean there are days literally that I'm convinced there is someone watching us play from up above. You can hit a perfect drive and get up to your ball and it is behind the lone tree in the middle of the fairway with a few patches of rough and your ball ends up buried in the rough. Then you hit the ball and it catches the tree and richochets out of bounds. Then you play another one and hit it to 6 feet and lip out the putt that turns the ball 15 feet down the slope. Oh wait that did happen to me last week. Sometimes playing with good players makes me try too hard and sometimes I play great. It's just the golf god's decision I guess.
 
Depends on the better players. I walk on as a single a lot and get to play with all types. The best playing partners play well, at a reasonable brisk but not fast pace, and are mindfull of the usual golf ettiquite.

I play badly when I'm with:
1) very bad slow hackers who are all over the course and are doing it slowly. bad hackers who play ready golf are welcome anytime
2) players who don't treat the game with respect and talk, move around during shots and who stand in the wrong places- like in line of sight during swing.
3) very good players who are arrogent jerks about it
4) any player who is consistently loosing his temper
 
I think I would have played better, if it weren't a team tournament and just me playing for my own score. My coach wants me to play in the local PGA pro-am sectional tournaments here with him, but I don't know if I want to. I enjoy the tournaments as I am playing against me and only have myself to answer to, whereas, on a team then I think the pressure would be too much to do well. I think I like golf so much as it is just me and the course and only have to answer to myself for the way I play.
 
I didn't comment on the other thread as it was 3 months old already and don't like bringing up older threads. But will do in the future.
 
I enjoy playing with anyone who keeps to the course 18-hole play time. I do believe that I play slightly better when I am playing with folks who are better than I am. I find, however, that my most enjoyable rounds are often with my buddies that are not all that great but are out there to have a great time, regardless of the scorecard or whether they are losing a few bucks that round.
 
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