Reacting to a single figure golfer

[kid2]

Iv been reading with great interest all the posts that have appeared over the past few months....Seems that the Forum is alive with heaps of new and old members and it seems that alot of topics that were pretty stale have been invigurated with the injection of new members.......

Anyhooooo....
Whats peoples thoughts on how they react to playing with low handicappers....
How do you generally find them to be...

For me....Iv got a fairly likable outgoing personality and would chat about anything with anyone. I dont get uncomfortable playing with players that are clearly more skilled than i am...I find playing with lower handicappers a massive learning experience and one that no matter how many times i have the pleasure of playing with them i always find something new to see.....


Most of them are very approachable and are quick to give a hint or a tip here and there....Also.....And i have brought this up before in a few posts but i think that there is a huge link between confidence and playing well.....
The confidence that i see in lower players seems to be in abundance....For the most part iv never seen anyone of the ones if played with worry about the outcome of a shot... Whereas if i miss a green from 150,160,170 mtrs im livid with myself.....They just seem to take it all in their stride and plug on...

I prefer playing with them to someone that is off the same handicap or higher than me(No disrespect intended to anyone). I find that their demeanour on the course seems to rub off on me and i seem to relax and play better....

Looking back on my rounds last year the ones that i got cuts in were the ones that i played in with better players.....

So if you are someone that gets a little edgy in a sunday morning medal when you have found out that you have been drawn with a couple of low single figures....Take a moment and relax and just knock your ball around alongside them and see what you can learn.....You might even surprise yourself and rip the course up.

 

[bigfoot1985]

i find that playing with lower handicap players can help my game but also there is the odd one that makes the higher handicap player feel as though they aint good enough to be playing with them.

I have had it before where i was playing with someone off 7, i was having a shocker and i felt that it was my fault that he wasn't playing well. The look on his face when i was hitting bad shots, his body language.

I would say most single figure handicappers i have played with have been great and have also given me a few pointers which i have taken on board and it has helped my game

 

[Achilles]

I love playing with low handicappers and haven't yet had a bad experience. I seem to play a lot better than normal and I think it's down to concentrating that little bit better. I think the fear and worry of putting them off their game sharpens the mind a bit. It's a great way of learning, especially to highlight the difference in confidence like you say, and especially in how a poor shot is recovered from. I also find it a massive motivator to improve - the biggest difference I notice is the number of mistakes / duffs etc (or lack of). I've got a Winter League match tomorrow morning and one of our opponents has a h/c of 4. I honestly cannot wait to get out there and see how it should be done!

 

[Slime]

Many years ago I played several rounds with a tour pro.
He was an American who had qualified for the European Tour & used my late father's house as a base. (Our father's had met by chance in USA the year before).
Anyway, the games were all for fun....and that's exactly what we had. He was a tour pro, but, was just a normal bloke who happened to play golf for a living.
The two things that I was blatantly aware of were :
1. His ability to recover from a bad shot, I mean it was unbelievable, and
2. How much I learned just by watching. Everything from shot making to his mental approach to shots & situations.
Let me play against a single figure/scratch player any day, please. (Besides, I get oodles of shots)!

Slime.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I love playing with guys lower than me, I love it even more playing against them. I like the test and the challenge and I seem to play better for it.

 

[Junior]

I enjoy it, and admit I do get a warm fuzzy feeling when they compliment my good shots.

Most at our club are really friendly and will play with any handicapper, however, there are a few who will only play with other cat 1 golfers in medals.

 

[Golfmmad]

It surprises me to read that some low handicappers get the knock when playing with someone higher who is not having a good round. Providing he isn't blatantly being a moron, I would of thought that a single figure golfer would be able to block it out and have the experience to just get on with his own game.

I was on holiday in Cornwall with a mate and after we putted out on the first a couple were soon behind us. So we invited them to join us, husband and wife. It turned out he played off scratch and just made the game look easy. Couldn't have been a nicer guy and was very encouraging especially on our good shots. She was learning the game but really nice and chatty.

What was really pleasing though, on the last hole, a par 3 of about 190yds we all decided to have a nearest the pin. My mate was just on the edge of the green, he went through the back and I struck a beauty of a 5 wood to about 12 foot! He was genuinely pleased that I got it closer than him.

We can learn a lot from them and even just reading all the replies to my recent thread about single figure golfers and pressure, was certainly enlightening to say the least.

Thanks guys. :cheers:

 

[DappaDonDave]

I recently played with a guy who plays off about 5. Was great to see a properly worked drive, consistent, long and always on the fairway.

Played the game of my life as we had split our fourball and played stable ford. We got to within 1 point and the only reason we lost was my brother in law birdied a par 3 out of pure luck and we all pared it. It was the only contribution he made to the other teams points lol

Was just a great game, but him saying I had a good swing was followed by a duff 25 yards towards a par 3

 

[Val]

I enjoy playing with them, it can help you have a good round sometimes

 

[NWJocko]

For the most part iv never seen anyone of the ones if played with worry about the outcome of a shot... Whereas if i miss a green from 150,160,170 mtrs im livid with myself.....They just seem to take it all in their stride and plug on...

.

This is a very good point and one I've noticed. One of my regular playing partners is off 15. A pretty good golfer but expects too much of himself. When the inevitable bad shot happens he really beats himself up about it and is usually still talking about it on the next tee.

My view (and I'm not a very low handicapper) is that, as soon as you've played the shot there's nothing you can do about it then, good bad or indifferent.

If you've played a poor shot the most important thing is not to follow up with another bad one and compound the mistake (and everyone, regardless of handicap, will make mistakes at some point). Forget about it and move on to the next one.

We're all crap at this game, just different levels of crap, that's what handicaps are for

 

[Val]

This is a very good point and one I've noticed. One of my regular playing partners is off 15. A pretty good golfer but expects too much of himself. When the inevitable bad shot happens he really beats himself up about it and is usually still talking about it on the next tee.

My view (and I'm not a very low handicapper) is that, as soon as you've played the shot there's nothing you can do about it then, good bad or indifferent.

If you've played a poor shot the most important thing is not to follow up with another bad one and compound the mistake (and everyone, regardless of handicap, will make mistakes at some point). Forget about it and move on to the next one.

We're all crap at this game, just different levels of crap, that's what handicaps are for

Very well put buddy

 

[richart]

Played with 2,6 and another 6 handicapper today in the roll up. 2 handicap is our current club champ and had the dubious pleasure of partnering me. Not often I am the highest handicap by some margin. Managed 35 points but we lost 5 and 4 !! Opposition had 6 birdies in those 14 holes Hit the ball really well, but short game was rubbish compared to the other three. Didn't feel out of place though, really enjoyed the game, and think they must have inspired my ball striking if not my scoring.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I love playing with guys lower than me, I love it even more playing against them. I like the test and the challenge and I seem to play better for it.

Me too especially when he's my partner. Where were you today? I'm playing with a guy off 5 in the stableford tomorrow (who Hawkeye and I - well Hawkeye) beat in the 1st round of the pairs winter knockout. His swing is agricultural to put it politely and he never seems to have what you'd call a finesse short game but he gets it round. As my swing is also unorthodox I'll be watching him closely to see what he does. The only difference being I haven't got any kind of short game yet.

 

[Karl102]

Our place is pretty good and a lot of the better players don't mind! I do think it makes you focus more and once trace on making good swings! I admire and try (emphasis on try) to emulate their short game and putting. This is where quality shines through....

 

[MizunoGreyhound]

Having played today against a 7 handicapper and successfully negotiated a bush 40 yards in front of me (just) and had to chop my second just 20 yards further due to where the ball ended up (more shame), I managed to hit 2 lovely 4 woods in a row to leave myself a par putt. The look of pleasure on the 7 handicappers face (genuinely) was a wonderful surprise and, to me typifies the better players attitude to golf.

Great game we play

 

[Imurg]

I love playing with guys lower than me,

I don't get the chance very often....

 

[Tommo21]

As a lowish HC golfer myself I even like playing with guys much lower than me. There is a big difference from a 5HC golfer to a genuine scratch golfers.

I’m quite lucky really, being at two clubs, I play with the club champion and former club champions at both clubs.

In saying that, tomorrow I will be playing with high HC players. These guys made me welcome when I first moved club and every now and then I go along and play in they’re 8am sweep.

I do know some low HC guys who don’t like playing with high HC golfers and I see that as being disrespectful. I also think most high HC players would like to play with the low guys but they tend to shy away from that.

I will be honest though, I played a medal last year with a 21 HC guy and he had absolutely no clue about any of the rules of golf right from his pulled shot into the trees at the first. After a while my patience was wearing thin, my own game went, as I spent more time trying to teach this guy the rules rather than play my own game. It does get frustrating and if anyone takes up golf they should learn some basic rules.

I count myself lucky...I play regular golf with some class players from 19 year old to 59.

 

[GB72]

I have a mixed experiences with single figure handicappers. There are 2 that I regularly play with who are great. Loads of banter,Both encouragement and just a good laugh. Both are capable of having bad days, same as anyone else and there are days when they both have shot higher gross scores than me.

Alot of the single figure golfers, the scratch team especially, however, tend to keep themselves to themselves. They have their own little roll up, they play in comps together etc and really do not invite others to join them. If a new low handicapper joins the club, they are soon invited into the group

 

[stevek1969]

I have a mixed experiences with single figure handicappers. There are 2 that I regularly play with who are great. Loads of banter,Both encouragement and just a good laugh. Both are capable of having bad days, same as anyone else and there are days when they both have shot higher gross scores than me.

Alot of the single figure golfers, the scratch team especially, however, tend to keep themselves to themselves. They have their own little roll up, they play in comps together etc and really do not invite others to join them. If a new low handicapper joins the club, they are soon invited into the group

I'm lucky the squad of guys i play with there are 7 single figure guys and are all great guys to play with. We have a scratch team at our club who play in there own bounce games and medals, my mates won't play for the team even tho most have lower handicaps than the guys in the team,as they think there better than everyone else.

One of my mates was used to teach kids thru a organisation in St Andrews and is a great guy to play with giving you tips and thing to think about .

At the end of the day there no different from me and you.

 

[millisle1]

First thing I did when I took up the game was to get a regular Saturday 4 ball with 3 low handicappers.

Turned out to be the best thing I did. First few rounds were a bit daunting but after that it was like getting free lessons every weekend.

Never put them off there game and my opinion would be if they huffed about a high handicapper not being of there standard then they need to remember they were in that position thereself at one point.