On Course Persona

[Slab]

Does yours change depending on who you're playing with or what golf you're playing (i.e comp, social etc)

I've noticed that I'm far more likely to let my disappointment show after a bad shot when I'm just out for a social game with my wife than I would when playing with unknowns/folks I regularly play with/comps etc

Not sure if this makes me two (or three) faced (I'm not seeking opinions on this!)

Are you the same person regardless or does your personality/behaviour have different 'faces' when things are going badly/well given who else you're playing with

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm pretty mellow whatever the situation. If I am having a stinker I will go a bit quieter as I try to concentrate and get out of it. Otherwise, I'm the same no matter what. That would make me bad tv I guess

 

[peld]

I am always definitely more focused (and play a lot better) when im playing with better players and in a competition. Nearly all my best rounds have been in competitions

Like you, I probably am more prone to a club throw or moan when playing with pals in a casual round too.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I'm very happy and chatty in matchplay. I find that keeping people talking a lot puts them off their stride and means they don't concentrate as well. Where as my on course concentration is always poor.

 

[Old Colner]

It was quiet a few years ago I realised that throwing clubs and kicking your bag does little to appease the frustration when playing badly, at the end of the day it's only down to yourself when things start to go wrong, I am a lot calmer now and a better golfer for it.

 

[evemccc]

I'm very happy and chatty in matchplay. I find that keeping people talking a lot puts them off their stride and means they don't concentrate as well. Where as my on course concentration is always poor.

Which would you class that as, is it: gamesmanship, being a ‘professional’, cheating, true to the spirit of the game?

 

[Neilds]

I'm always quite calm - a little swear word here and there but never understood the club throwing and smashing the club in the ground. That said, I am quite a mellow person anyway and don't really get wound up much. I suspect that the club chuckers have issues in normal life with stress and anger management.

 

[Deleted member 25575]

I can’t remember the last time I threw a club, used to do so frequently in my youth!
I can get quite down on myself if I’m playing badly and doing stupid things, but generally speaking that’s the same regardless of who I’m playing with

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Will act the same on the course irrelevant of who I’m playing with - respectful of them and the course , I’ll have the odd swear but don’t throw a club or have tantrum. Don’t see the point , it’s not that serious. When playing matches I’ll chat to the others as much as the want.

Have played some matches , mainly scratch where the oppo doesn’t want to interact because they want to concentrate on their own game and be in their “zone” - that always makes me laugh

 

[Crow]

My clubs are too precious to throw.

I'm generally easy going whatever the company or format, but I'm probably a little more focused in a competition and mind my Ps and Qs a little more when playing with strangers.

 

[Orikoru]

I wouldn't say I'm a big ranter and raver anyway, unless it's going truly awful. More of a long stream of swearwords under my breath, talking to myself. So that'll be the same whoever I'm playing with. In matchplay, just as @JamesR said, I play better when I'm relaxed and having a laugh with the opponents anyway so I try to do that, and maybe it curbs their killer instinct into the bargain if they had any. Perhaps my swearing is a little more audible when I'm with friends, that's all.

I think I have a self-deprecating demeanour that's fairly common with most club golfers so I normally fit in well with most groups.

 

[Slab]

Well I wasn't even thinking of club throwing etc Just that I don't mask how I felt about xyx shot when its just me and my wife (almost like I feel more disappointment in messing up a shot in front of her than there would be doing the same in the final of a matchplay)

Maybe multiple personas come come easily to me since I've always worked in service sector, so for decades I've been able to adopt a 'telephone voice' for want of a better description

 

[Hobbit]

I’m an awkward, bad tempered mean argumentative SOB on the course and off it. You want help looking for your ball? You better hope I don’t find it first. Jingling change in my pocket on your backswing? You better believe it! Not replacing divots, repairing pitch marks and raking bunkers are my trademarks. As to where I stand when you’re teeing off… pah, get over it.

My alter ego likes a bit of chat, a beer or 2 afterwards and maybe a game of snooker. But I’m just a boring old phart.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I'm very happy and chatty in matchplay. I find that keeping people talking a lot puts them off their stride and means they don't concentrate as well. Where as my on course concentration is always poor.

Am I the same or the opposite? I’m happy and chatty if and until we reach the point where the match is still tight with only a few holes to play. I then tend to shut up as I wouldn’t want my opponent to think I was trying to distract him. Also helps me focus better.

Unfortunately I can at times be a bit of a miserable g*t if a shot goes badly wrong…but I’m pretty good at shrugging it off…until the next one. So see last Sunday…all going well until on the 12th after an excellent tee shot, and out of the blue, a shank out of bounds. And then immediately with a new ball another. Walked off with an 8, round blown, and a miserable and worried grump. But OK (just about) by next tee.

 

[Springveldt]

If I'm playing badly I can get very negative and berate myself, I'm trying to get more positive in my thoughts as I know I must be miserable company when I'm like that. As soon as I realise my round is gone though I come out of it and go back to normal. There is a running joke in our group that if I bogey the first one of them will say "your rounds over, you may as well go home", that's how negative I could get.

If I'm playing with people I don't know I'd be on my best behaviour.

 

[HeftyHacker]

I'll always chat as much as the person i'm playing with wants to but i'm equally happy playing in silence as i play by myself a lot anyway.

In general i'm a pretty laid back guy anyway but there have been instances (quite recently in fact) where i've been going through some stuff off the course and golf is my release - if the golf turns to rats at these times i become incredibly frustrated and i have been prone to a club throw or two, but i'd never do this with strangers.

In response to the OP getting frustrated when playing with the missus - i completely understand this. I think the majority of it comes from wanting to impress her given how much time i spend playing the bloody game! I should be good! Plus she knows how to jokingly needle me as well after a bad shot "wow, beginning to wonder what you're really up to when you say you're playing golf if this is how you play".

 

[Orikoru]

In response to the OP getting frustrated when playing with the missus - i completely understand this. I think the majority of it comes from wanting to impress her given how much time i spend playing the bloody game! I should be good! Plus she knows how to jokingly needle me as well after a bad shot "wow, beginning to wonder what you're really up to when you say you're playing golf if this is how you play".

Opposite for me I think. I love playing golf with her, but it's kind of annoying when I fat a wedge short of the green and she says great shot because it went straight and on the fairway. Or leave a chip 15 feet short and she says great shot because it's on the green.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Which would you class that as, is it: gamesmanship, being a ‘professional’, cheating, true to the spirit of the game?

If it’s anything it’s probably gamesmanship.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Which would you class that as, is it: gamesmanship, being a ‘professional’, cheating, true to the spirit of the game?

It’s not about you talking all the time. It’s about getting them talking a lot, which can put them out of their own normal rhythm.

 

[Newtonuti]

When I first started playing a couple of years ago, I used to get extremely frustrated with bad shots, and can recall throwing a club one single time. However after that time, I had a word with myself and if I hit a bad shot, just try to get a swear word or two out, then forget about it. the father in law massively helped me sorting that side out.

Other then that, I like to have a chat as I'm going round, I'm a naturally social person. I like to have a laugh, but not like some tits take it too far and disrupt other golfers.