DO YOU PLAY GOLF COMPETITIVELY ???

Both. Bounce games are for fun, medal and Saturday swindle are competitive, but also fun.

If you mean do I compete in 'opens', no. Although I do mean to do one this year as a trial to see if I like it.
 
No, just for fun at the moment. My local municipal runs membership pretty cheap of about £100 a year and that gets me into comps (minus entry fee's) and a three division league + my official handicap, just got to sort it out now.
 
Most of my golf is in one competition or another mainly in home club competitions but also with some opens thrown in. Whilst its competition I still hope to have fun whilst putting together a score - the two don't always go hand in hand though.
 
Both.

Try to play in loads of medals, stablefords and club knock outs. Also play for fun with mates, though most of the time there's more at stake than pride and with plenty of 'niggle'.
 
Both usually try to play around 10 Open's at various courses throughout the year but bounce games with the mates are without doubt the most competative.
 
Both and enjoy them equally.

Love playing Open competitions. A chance to play other courses at a fraction of the green fee and usually presented at there best.
 
That word bounce makes me giggle, it relly does, sounds like yet another americanism.
I cant go out onto the course thinking "fun" unless Im out alone which has only happened twice in two years. When im out with at least one other, even if there is no spoils up for grabs, I still keep an eye on my scores and how they compare to other recent rounds.
 
I only really play for fun, although have played in two competitions and came 3rd in each so I was fairly happy. They were quite friendly competitions though, no fierce rivalrys. I think over competitiveness would take the fun out of the game though.
 
Competition adds to the fun, but I guess that depends on your individual makeup. My aim is to get my handicap down, and club comps are the way to do that. But the side bets on the friendly games are a good incentive too, and that adds to the banter.
That said, I wouldn't play in the comps if it wasn't fun too!
 
All the sports that I play are for fun. If I didn't enjoy them I would stop playing.

That doesn't mean however that I am not competitive. If I'm not trying to beat my fellow player(s) then I am trying to beat the course. The only time that I am not playing competitively is maybe when I go out for a practice and even then I am trying to do my best.

Wot? Me competitive? Nah
 
I think we all need to be competitive, no matter what we're doing work/play.

I think there is a big difference between playing in a competition and just a normal 4ball. Bragging rights just dont have the same excitiment as getting your handicap cut.
I'm playing 9 holes today and I won't try as hard for it as I would if I was in a competition.
 
Always played competitive sport. But the competition is more against "myself" than anything. I put my name down for a comp' (stableford) at a course I play now and again, it was a spring "open" thing. Scored 41 points (6 over, gross) and came about 15th. I felt like I'd won the lottery, 'cause I'd proved something to myself. Same with m/play - I'd rather lose and play well than play to my h'cap and win by a hole or two.

Back in the days of national club "team" matches, I was one of the more steady players for the club, rarely over my h'cap but rarely played a miracle game. I find that competition increases my focus and makes me desperate to make the best of bad situations where I'd often just blob at club games.

Dave
 
As a youngster I was an assistant pro and often played in pro-ams and local pro events. It became very apparent very quickly that despite being a competent player I would not earn a living.

I was hitting the ball regularly to within 10 foot but more often than not the guys I'd play with would stick it to 8. At that time I use to spend a lot of time with the assistants at Sandown Park. When I asked why they were there and not at a bigger more glamarous course they all said it was because of the turnover of lessons which was the only way they could make any money.

Nowadays my golf swing is a mere shadow of what it was and in fact was so bad I had it rebuilt last year. My aiam everytime I tee it up in a medal, stableford or club match is to be as competitive as I can and try at least to play as close to my handicap as possible.

I set myself certain goals which I change as the round progresses. I start by looking to shoot 36 points (par). If its going well after 6 holes I might try and go for 38. I'll reassess after 9. If I'm going well after 12 I'll really try and attack to go as close to winning as I can.

If I'm playing badly I might set a target of say 15 points going out. I find this just stops me thinking I'm out of it and lsing focus and just hitting and walking. If I hit 15 points I might set myself a target of 16 for the back nine.

If I'm playing a medal I keep a track of how far over I am every few holes and then set myself miny targets. If for example I only have three shots left before I am over par for my handicap I'll tell myself to see if I can make it to say the 15th before all my shots are gone. I'll then see if I can limit the damage to playing one over etc.

It might sound a bit anal but because I know in my mind what I use to be capable of (even though both body and mind are not capable of reproducing the form of a lithe 16 year old) I do tend to get frustrated in competitive play. This is my trick of keeping "in the present" so to speak.

I imagine many will mock or critiscise but it works for me
 
I play in club medals, visit some other clubs to play in their opens and play in bounce games.

The bounce games are always for a few quid, sometimes they can be more tense than the medals!!
 
Im aiming to playing in more comps and medals this year. last year i played 1 medal and three comps i played crap on each occasion normally follwed by a round of my life and ed up wondering why i cant do that in a comp. but this year im at a new club a new challenge. I got nothing to lose!!
 
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