Are You Mates with Your Golfing Partners

[GB72]

With all the discussion about using the club house, socialising etc it got me thinking as to whether I am different in that I do not really count my current golfing partners as mates. Don't get me wrong, they are all good blokes and I would have no issue going out for a beer with any of them but our connection is through golf and that is really the only time I see them, on the golf course. Yes we do have a drink after the round and very occasionally I will bump into one of them in the pub and have a chat but, in the main, we do not socialise away from the club, I have never been round to any of their houses for a drink, met their families etc.

At my old club it was different as my playing partners were all from my old rugby club and so we did socialise all the time but I joined this club on my own so it is a different situation.

So, am I a bit odd in that the people that I play golf with most weeks are simply that, golfing partners who are, in general, not part of my wider life. Do many of you socialise with the people you golf with outside of the club? Is the club your social life where you spend much of your time or are many of you like me.

 

[full_throttle]

Difficult to decide one way or another.

I have a drink with them in the bar after a game, meet up for a knock when avaliable and go on weekend trips once/twice a year.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I am mates with my golfing partners, but I'm considerably younger than all of them. I enjoy a beer with them after a round, but outside of a Saturday afternoon I barely see them.

Of my peers, my mates that I went to school/uni/work with, there are three that play golf and only one seriously.

 

[mcbroon]

I only have one regular golfing partner, really, and he has had to take the season off due to a dislocated knee. We are mates away from golf, and my wife and his are really good friends too.

My 'friends who also play golf' all live miles away, so I don't count them as golfing partners. They're guys I play with if I get the chance, which is not often.

Mostly, I just rock up to the club and ask the pro to sort me out with a game, so I usually play with folk I've only just met. I see most of them around the club from time to time, and have played with a few more than once, but I'm not mates with any of them.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I would agree with the OP. Plenty of guys in my club I would happily share a beer with at any time but if the chips were down I wouldn't call any of them a "real" mate, the type of guy who would help you out of any crisis. Maybe its the solo nature of golf that makes it that way or the fact we aren't usually part of a team (remember those pub sessions after footbal training we called team bonding).

 

[User20205]

Yep, I'd say so. The regular ones. They are a little different to me personality wise, but it takes all sorts

I have been out with them socially a few times

 

[One Planer]

I'm friends, work collegue and even family (... With one of) with our regular playing partners.

See them most days of the week an have a good craic about the previous rounds 'antics'.

We don't use the clubhouse much after our rounds, mine for family reasons, but wil still enjoy each others company and the banter that acompanies it.

 

[Slab]

Anyone who's fought in the same dirt filled bunker as I have is always going to be a mate

 

[KJT123]

My golfing partners are my best friends

 

[mikee247]

Yes very much so. I belong to a group of guys that amounts to over 25 of us that have been together for nearly 20 years now. I'm the new boy and been with them for only about 2 years! Ages range from 39 - 70. You have to be "selected and chosen" in way and everyone has to agree to your inclusion. You are invited to play and socialise with the group for a few times then it goes to the vote!!! Because you have to be invited we all get on brilliantly and rarely fall out. Initially I hated this idea but now I'm in .. Its the best thing I've ever done from a social golf point of view. We have a full Grand Prix, Order of Merit and lots of comps and trophies over the year and we play together on weekends that dont have club comps on. It takes a lot of organising so we take turns to be Secretary each year and there is also a President. Our AGM is just hysterical and normally alcohol influenced :cheers: We go on two tours a year, one overseas and many social parties and get together's at each others houses and drinking sessions. We have a full structure, bank account, inventory, subs etc. Twice a year we all go out for dinner and ensure we spend any surplus cash!!! This year is the 20th Anniversary and we are planning a black tie Gentlemens dinner at the club....... Its a riot!! Well not quite as some are getting on a bit!! There is also some v good golfers as well as drinkers in the group. One of the guys is also my business partner and we get on superbly.

 

[Mav281]

The group I play with on a Saturday morning at my local club are a great bunch and on the odd occasion we have gone out for beers in town etc. it's not something we do on a weekly basis but we do get out probably every two or three months for a good beer session.

 

[Deleted member 1418]

My regular golfing partner is one of my best mates. Both wives are good friends, and our children are in the same classes at school, so we actually spend more time socialising away from the golf course than what we do playing on one. Would also classify a fair few guys who I have met on here now as a mate rather than just a golf partner, ie. would happily meet them for a beer and a bit of banter away from the golf course.

 

[upsidedown]

Yup pretty good mates with my regular partner and same in NZ

 

[bigslice]

no chance only a few close friends no wot freaky stuff im into

i see them as friends not just golfing buddies (which goes for any on here that im in regular contact with). its all about mingling and meeting new folk etc.
also have you tried explaining to your golfing buddies and family that you talk to strangers online on here!!!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I'm like you, you're not alone

 

[Mungoscorner]

I play midweek and sometimes at weekends with a group of mates, (people that i have become mates with through golf) but i can't think of anything worse than playing with the same people every time i play, and i never play with mates in comps if i can help it.

 

[richart]

We have a regular fourball, and go on golf trips together. Two are good mates that I met through golf and I socialise with. The other I have known for twenty five years and is just a miserable old git.

 

[Wayman]

Yes go out for food/drinks with my golf partners and sometimes go over each others house to watch the football

 

[BoadieBroadus]

since golf is pretty much the only social time i get, yes I would call them my mates...

 

[Big D 88]

I also work with the people i play golf with

so i class them as 'colleagues' rather than mates