Playing Partners

[Mike_j_golf]

Hi,
Played with 2 guys yesterday 1 that I play with 4/5 times a year and I always seem to play well when we play together and the other guy played great golf have only played with him once before. Anyhow I shot my best round ever 74 and have got cut to 8 even (very happy about that) so I was wondering do people find that they play better golf with certain people not necessarily there regular 4ball or the guys you like to play with can other players playing well bring out the best in you.
Mike

 

[JT77]

Good round mate, great time to start playing well.
I find that I play better when I play with better players. I had a regular 4 ball last year, with friends and we'd play sundays, played steady and usually won a few quid from them but never pushed myself to hard as were all friends. We had a lot of drawn comp last year, and I found that playing with relative strangers work 2 fold, 1 when the players were lower H'caps, and playing well, I played well, 2 if the players were playing poorly or off a higher h'cap I tended to not play as well. I think it was more a mental thing for me.
I also played a number of times with friends who are not the regular 4 ball and were all around 8-12, this is when I played most of my best stuff.

JT

 

[haplesshacker]

It's a strange one.

I normally play with the same 2 guys. But last week I was on my tod, and joined in with a three ball at the first tee. I'm always nervous playing with new people, the why's and where-for's? It's all in the head really.

They weren't necassarily better than me, just different. But I went on to shot a 34 stableford. Including a gross birdie par 5. On the green for two and 2 putted! No biggy for some on here, but for me, it was.

The good news is that for the next few weeks I'm going out again on my own, as a roll up, as my usual guys aren't around. After last week, I feel a bit more confident about playing with strangers.

It's all in the head.

 

[Fyldewhite]

Our normal comps aren't drawn but all the board finals are based on when you qualified. It throws a low/mid/high handicap qualifier together in a 3 ball and most finals are 36 holes on the day. The first thing anyone looks at is who's in a 'nice' 3-ball and who's got 8 hours of misery ahead !!

It is all in the head but I think it can make a big difference but depends how you approach it. For me, I'm guilty of getting too much into the comfort zone when playing with my mates. If I get into any finals I actually have a good record purely because my concentration on my own game is better when playing with unfamiliar partners.

 

[slugger]

I play better when i play with better players, or anyone apart from the usual. That said, i've only played one round at the new club and am looking forward to playing some golf with different people.

When i do play with people i don't know, I find that if i'm playing with better players, i'll up my game to try and match what they're doing. Play with someone not quite as good and i'll still do all i can to make sure they at least think i have the potential to be a good player.

Then back to playing with the regular playing partner(s) and it all becomes a bit more of a relaxed bounce game and the scores slip.

 

[19th]

I was lucky enough to be accepted for a short time, into the reserves in Carnoustie Caley Winter league, the total handicap of the other five reserves being 3 and I was off 11.
My introduction to their playing abilities was my first game with them when the other two of my threeball shot 61 and 62 GROSS for 17 holes, one par three green having been flooded by the Barry Burn.
The reserves played at the end of the field once it was ascertained who was standing in for the missing league players on the day.
This normally left me in a 3 or 4 ball at the back and had me scoring really well. Not because I was hitting the ball any better in this great golfing company but I could not afford to hold them up, searching for my ball and have them losing concentration.
If there was trouble near the green I would therefore play short, pitch on and putt - if there was water to carry off the tee and I was in doubt, I would play short, accept my medicine and guess what....I won the side bet as often as I lost.
Maybe there is a lesson in there somewhere for us all, plan and play within our abilities!

 

[madandra]

My biggest drop in handicap came when I was playing regularly with guys off 3-7 and I was loosing 3 quid a week but it was money well spent. My problems came when I was out with guys off 20+ because I chopped round the course.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

All our stablefords and medals are drawn for the morning times and then you can roll up after. I always go either for a booked time in the morning slots or go out as part of the big roll up greedy who also randomly draw for partners. I find if its someone I know but don't tend to play with regularly we tend to catch up and have a sociable chat about work, golf etc and I'm normally nice and relax and posting a half decent score.

The problem seems to come on the back nine when everyone becomes that bit tighter and there always seems to be less banter and more concentration which is where I think my wandering swing thoughts start to come in. Usually I find if we're all having bad rounds none of us will really care too mcuh and we stay much looser on the back nine and inevitably improve anyway

 

[kid2]

I seem to play better with players that iv only met for the first time on the 1st tee...
I seem to concentrate better than i do when im playing with my usual 4 ball....I think that if your too relaxed with who you play with it can be equally as bad as being too tense......

 

[JustOne]

Hi,
Played with 2 guys yesterday 1 that I play with 4/5 times a year and I always seem to play well when we play together and the other guy played great golf have only played with him once before. Anyhow I shot my best round ever 74 and have got cut to 8 even (very happy about that) so I was wondering do people find that they play better golf with certain people not necessarily there regular 4ball or the guys you like to play with can other players playing well bring out the best in you.

I can play badly in any company

Many congrats on making it to single figures.. if you're chopped to 8 that's pretty darn good!

 

[Mike_j_golf]

Hi,
Played with 2 guys yesterday 1 that I play with 4/5 times a year and I always seem to play well when we play together and the other guy played great golf have only played with him once before. Anyhow I shot my best round ever 74 and have got cut to 8 even (very happy about that) so I was wondering do people find that they play better golf with certain people not necessarily there regular 4ball or the guys you like to play with can other players playing well bring out the best in you.

I can play badly in any company

Many congrats on making it to single figures.. if you're chopped to 8 that's pretty darn good!

Thanks thats the handicap i set at the start of the year as i though i might drift up a few .1's before i got the new swing going will now revise that to 7 by the end of the year.
Mike

 

[need_my_wedge]

If I play with my regular mates, I can make a right pigs ear of the round. Whenever I play with one particular friend, I always play badly, I've never had a good round playing against him.

However, I seem to play much better when I tag up with people I don't know. I guess it's down to concentrating a bit more and maybe not knowing what I'm in for.