How to concentrate with an irritating playing partner?

[MikeB]

If you realise on the 1st that you have an annoying playing partner do you try to ignore them, ask them to be quiet when you or anyone else is taking a shot (& risk upsetting them/creating a bad atmosphere) or is there any other way of keeping your game together?
It happened to me last weekend & ruined my scoring on the out 9 after which I had the best back 9 for ages, very frustrating.

 

[bladeplayer]

What Changed Mike ? if you blame the partner for the worst front 9 to what do you attribute the best back 9 in ages ?

 

[MikeB]

What Changed Mike ? if you blame the partner for the worst front 9 to what do you attribute the best back 9 in ages ?

Nothing changed consciously, I just somehow blanked him out and relaxed into my game. On the out 9 I heard every noise etc he made, on the way back it didn't seem to matter, just wish I could have done it from the off :-(

 

[duncan mackie]

Nothing changed consciously, I just somehow blanked him out and relaxed into my game. On the out 9 I heard every noise etc he made, on the way back it didn't seem to matter, just wish I could have done it from the off :-(

sound's like you should be telling us how to blank them out - I end up with 18 holes of issues!

 

[patricks148]

If you realise on the 1st that you have an annoying playing partner do you try to ignore them, ask them to be quiet when you or anyone else is taking a shot (& risk upsetting them/creating a bad atmosphere) or is there any other way of keeping your game together?
It happened to me last weekend & ruined my scoring on the out 9 after which I had the best back 9 for ages, very frustrating.

I don't mind a noisy partner, most of the time talking does not bother me.

Its when other groups start making a lot of noise i notice.

Give me someone who is interesting and talks over one that does not say a word all the way round.

we got drawn with a guy a few weeks ago who did not say a word to either of us for 4 hours except "i'm NR ing"

 

[bladeplayer]

I think it just experience that can teach you how to deal with it , its a hard one to call , if you tell him to shut d hell up on the 1st it makes for an interesting round , but on the flip side you cant let some idiot ruin your round on you ..

On a personal note i find other stuff going on on the course only effects me when im playing badly .. people talking on other holes people searching for balls etc , when im playing well i just brush them off & get on with it ..

 

[Andy808]

All I do is to concentrate on my swing routine. I have built a solid routine that from the time I pick my target behind the ball to finishing my swing nothing puts me off now. I practiced it alot to make it second nature and I spent alot of time doing it on the range when the range was busy so people talking or rustling around changing clubs etc didn't get into my head.
I played in a threeball recently with both players whispering, getting stuff out of bags and generally moving about didn't put me off at all. There are several players I play with who get put off by the slightest noise and they let it get to them every time, even a car going past one of our tees has them off the ball and resetting.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

If you realise on the 1st that you have an annoying playing partner do you try to ignore them, ask them to be quiet when you or anyone else is taking a shot (& risk upsetting them/creating a bad atmosphere) or is there any other way of keeping your game together?
It happened to me last weekend & ruined my scoring on the out 9 after which I had the best back 9 for ages, very frustrating.

Quiet happy to chat between shots but if someone starts talking &/or moving etc during a shot I have no hesitation in letting them know about it, its your game to enjoy as well.

 

[sydney greenstreet]

I can happily say every person i have played in a medal or other Comp round have been great, always silence when about to hit the shot and chatty all the way round no problems up to this date with anyone.

 

[dufferman]

If I could ask - other than the obvious annoyances (whispering on tee boxes, moving in eye sight of putts), what constitutes annoying? Some people don't like 'banter' in between shots, but does that count as annoying / game upsetting?

 

[Philm]

id rather have someone babbling away the whole way round. nothing too loud like but i couldnt care less if people are chit chatign at the far side of the green waiting for me to chip on or not.

sound like im the opposite to most on here, but i detest folk who need absolute silence and no movement whatsoever before they will play a shot. people who step away from a putt if there is a cow that moos or a bird singing. like what on earth. they have no certainity that the same bird wont sing the next time they are finally ready to play or worse that it will sing as they actually strike the ball. in other words you cant contrtol much of the noise therefore if it currently affects your game then practice until it doesnt.

a lot of very good players aren't affected by noise very much, most juniors are improving quicker than older golfers and they talk to each other constantly, they practice while talking etc, and it makes them no worse.

i guess you can argue against what i think obviously, but without being to extreme my real problem is that some folk get on a) like the small noises make any massive difference and b) like they are playing in the final round of the open.

there is two or three very nice guys at my club who i can no longer play with, they are youngish 30s but they drag themselves round the course, practice swings galore, all these wee routines when they are putting. stepping away from the ball if any noise occurs its embarrassing but they cant see themselves.

i need to play with people who enjoy their golf, who like to shoot good scores but are mentally alert enough to block out all the background crap and just play each shot they walk up as best they can.

take someone middle of the fairway par 4, 8iron in hand nice cool day no breeze worth talking about, and they take 3 practice swipes>? each with a length routine and pause between. just get lost.

when i see someone do the above i am never surprised when they hit it fat or slice it into the cabbage, all the routine stuff and absolutely silence and pausing over the ball just stinks of no confidence no concentration adding up to no clue.

there is alot of folk out "playing golf" who cant play any other sport, and i often wonder what makes them think that golf is any different.

.

Phil

This post was brought to you by SOUR GRAPES, friggin 4 put last night when i was two holes from shoot under gross for the first time through 9holes at my local links. obviously its me who cant play golf. please read my post in light of this.

 

[CMAC]

its simple, effective and non confrontational.

You stop your routine and look at the talkers/janglers/whisperers till they stop, a slight clearing of the throat if they are engrossed.

This wont happen more than twice for it to sink in, no awkward words of shut up/quiet please etc etc



Personally I can play if theres a jet plane flying over, you only have to concentrate for 1.5 secs, not that hard really.

 

[User 105]

With the amount of noise we get on our range anything you get on the course is nothing in comparison .

I don't mind a good chat and a laugh when I'm playing. I think it's bad form if someone in your group is still talking close by. We have a pretty friendly place so if I can hear them when I'm setting up for my shot I'll polity ask them keep it down for a sec.

We used to have a guy at our place call Al. Great bloke, real good laugh but you could hear him no matter where you or he was on the course. Not that he spoke that loud, but his voice just seemed to carry miles.

 

[HickoryShaft]

I don't mind most sorts - usually the chattier the better for me.

BUT ... I really, really hate it when people 'coach' me during a round or critique my game while I am playing it half decently. Especially if they are not playing well themselves. You know the type, I have just hit the centre of the green and they say something like well you should have aimed towards the left due to the slope and let it roll out then duff their own into the bunker or they have just sliced it OOB and when you dont quite make the green they suggest you should have considered that you were on the upslope and that this affects the distance you can get. Yes I do know that and I had thought about it but still got it slightly wrong - now go and find your f'ing ball and leave me alone.!!!!

Errm.... I was out with someone the other day and as you can possibly tell he was a bit of a 'pain'. Counting to 10 again right now.

 

[Neil20]

Sadly I'm aware that I'm overly chatty and when I play with someone for the first time I give them a prepared "Hi, I'm Neil and you'll find I talk a lot. Feel free to tell me to shut up, I don't mind.... I MEAN THAT"

For those who struggle with chatty partners, the thing I find shuts me up best is when someone says something slightly unusual like "Hey Neil, I do like a good chat, but I like to gather my thoughts between putting out and my next tee shot."
That gives me plenty of notice that he actually probably doesn't like a good chat and also makes me think more about my verbal diarrhea, without sounding rude or anything like that. (I don't care if they're rude either, I feel that if my chatting is making them uncomfortable, then I'm the rude one - just throwing it out there as a tip for those who would rather be polite!)

 

[dufferman]

I play with my dad, and he has been known to, at times, WHILST I'M HOVERING OVER MY PUTT, say 'just relax' or something like that.

That is off putting.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

its simple, effective and non confrontational. You stop your routine and look at the talkers/janglers/whisperers till they stop, a slight clearing of the throat if they are engrossed.

Yup - precisely what I do. Maybe the first time I just step away from the ball and possibly smile sweetly at the source of the commotion. Second or subsequent times I will look at the talkers/janglers/whisperers and say something like 'thanks guys' - not in a sarcastic 'you've put me off my shot' sort of way - but in a way that makes it obvious that I'm thanking them in advance for desisting.

 

[Minhoca]

I cant stand 'coachers' either. Its a tactic used alot by competitive golfers.

Or 'cant counters' that cant count their shots properly and come in the best scramblers in the world considering they,ve been hacking around the course and manage to shoot a better score than you.

Or the people that play with a constant crap shot because they hit the ball with no routine, then try to mock you because you have a routine. HMMM.... Play the course shaping shots or slice my way around. I know which I prefer.

Try concentrating on this one... I got irritated last week as I'm long off the tee and normally my partners play their second shots first. As I was going to play my second on numerous occasions two of our fourball just casually walked up the fairway in front of me chatting their heads off...??? They apologised a couple of times but just kept doing it. So then I proceeded to drill a low 5 iron over their heads, but topped it GMAC style directly over their heads and they didn't do it again! Both were members at the top 100 course we were playing so they should know course etiquette better than most.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

My best golfing buddy mate (love him dearly) is forever losing track of his score - or where we are if playing foursomes or fourball. This never really bothers me other than when he is about to putt. And stops. Then starts working out what he/we have done since the tee. When playing foursomes or fourball I'd rather he focussed on holing the putt rather than worrying about whether he has to hole it or not (I will tell him that).

Also got a buddy who spends for ever ensuring that his ball is perfectly lined up as he wants every putt. Again - this doesn't bother me as I'm used to it - but I can see that others get twitchy (quick thought - I best check he doesn't do any tweaking of the ball's alignment after he has picked up his marker. I don't think he does - but have played with others that do).

 

[Foxholer]

its simple, effective and non confrontational.

You stop your routine and look at the talkers/janglers/whisperers till they stop, a slight clearing of the throat if they are engrossed.

This wont happen more than twice for it to sink in, no awkward words of shut up/quiet please etc etc

My 'solution' exactly.

I've been on both sides of the 'problem' - being a bit chatty and not entirely aware of what else is going on. I'd prefer to be quietly asked, or notice inactivity so I can apologise, than be barked at after a poor shot.

Wildfowl seems to be my nemesis these days! A moor-hen nearly got my pulled drive straight down its throat 10 days ago af ter squawking at the top of my back-swing and it was a Canadian Goose on Saturday. And that is after 'practice' at Formby a while back, where the pheasants squawking during my swing were so frequent it was more disconcerting when there wasn't one!