My dad and I often discuss our rounds and what we did and how we did it. The most frequent topic is what kind of guys rounded out the foursome. We bboth find that we get paired up with people that are not there to play golf. They are on a 5 hour vacation; smoke cigars, drink beer, talk on the cell phone and maybe play some golf.

We both think it is difficult to play with these guys, they are having fun and we are trying to shoot a score. I know that they don't hit any of my shots so it shouldn't matter who is in the group. We both play as singles; he in Texas and me in Washington. He plays to a 4 and I play to scratch. Afetr I hit my T-Ball they usually say "Are you sure you want to play with us"?

What do you do?

does this course have a starter?

i've been in similar situations playing the same course, over and over again at twilight. i've had to ask if i could be paired up with someone who is surely there to play.

I wish I knew. I play 9 a couple of times a week after work and 18 on the weekend if I'm lucky. This is usually during twilight because the deals are just too hard to pass up if the schedule permits. I've learned to just deal with the sh*t show and try to enjoy being around people I've never met. I've only been paired up at random with a good player who was there for the purpose of playing the game once in a span of 4 years of having a real job.

I find that if I am still able to shoot a good score surrounded by people whose attitudes are distracting, that it is a good achievement and certainly good practice because I've had total jerks for playing partners in tournaments on more than 1 occasion (same guy twice in a large field 2 years in a row coincidentally; we absolutely dispise one another).

If you can't accept your fate as a single golfer my advice is to play in some local am events and befriend some like minded people because that is usually the only place to find them.

my father and I discuss this topic everytime we are waiting on the tee for 15 minutes while the 30 4some's of hackers in front of us look for their ball in hazard. Every outing, I am amazed. I play to a 0 and my dad plays to a 7, and not once have we been paired with someone or had anyone in the group in front of or behind us that were even close to decent. It's as if we are the only two golfers there. It almost seems to go against statistics. I wish those people would just donate a dozen balls to me at the beginnning of the round, put down 100 on their scorecard and go take a lesson!

I enjoy playing with other good players as much as anyone. Maybe you need to take a step back and remember that not everyone was born a scratch golfer. If it weren't for those other folks you may not even have a course to play. You need to find yourself a regular foursome that can tolerate your attitude.

Before you go off I play to a 6 and have had my cap down to a 1 and I don't have any trouble keeping my game together. What's your problem?

I have to come up with a different frame of mind. I have gone to play and quit after 9; brutal. I don't have a group for a regular game. No one out here will play for money. Something has to give.

It's all Tiger Woods fault for making golf cool. I was happier when golf was for goons in plaid pants.

You are not serious, are you? You're putting us on.

I've played behind groups that are so slow, we would sit down and have our packed lunch at the teebox while waiting for them to find their balls or hit. Its usually unavoidable because its a weekend and the course is jammed up anyway, so no point getting fussed about it. If its not jammed, we usually get the marshall to poke them to hurry them up a little.

If the problem is from our own group, and if its someone we don't know, I generally wouldn't say much. I play pretty self contained golf and I snap a lot of photographs between shots so its ok if we got a slow golfer, as long as he doesn't hold anyone up behind us. If he does, I usually just tell him to get on with it or we will be kicked out.

Once in a while we get some obnoxious twit who thinks that because he paid for the round, he has every right to be slow and disregards all attempts to move him on. generally, since we can't do much, we make sure we avoid him the next time, and let other people in the clubhouse know what a d*ckhead he is.

I am stating my opinion and my feelings about the situation. I did remark that I might need a new frame of mind. As far as my attitude goes; I don't care if people have a hard time playing golf; just have a hard time faster. Maybe I need some Pamprin..........

perfect, response

take it as it lies, try to engage more if the company is pleasant, and less if you don't care to.
you're to play golf in the same condition as everyone else that day.
better learn how to handle this, for tournament paly or for life.

Thin skin here!

Nothing you can do except find some people that are as good as you are or find someone who is serious. right now I play to a .46 and mostly play with people in the mid 90's and I am always a single. I find it great for my game because it allows me to concentrate more on my own game instead of my playing partners. This is most helpful in tournament play.

Please keep in mind that 99% of the golfers cant come close to playing your game, Its unfair for you to have this attitude towards the people that keep the golf industry in business. We have all had our share of slow play, lost balls, etc. Look around and see that you get to see and smell nice green grass (I hope) and the fact that you are out enjoying the game that you have become so good at. If you cant do that, than find 3 other people you want to play with, or quit the game!

Once thing I've learned as I get older....if I let outside influences get in my head, it ruins my game, and my enjoyment of the round. It's always something. Slow group in front, beer drinking 30 handicappers, "chatty" fellows, bad cart management, etc etc etc etc.. The book Zen Golf helped be quite a bit. It's very hard at times, but I'm getting much better at focusing specifically on why I'm there. The mental game requires practice like anything else.

Apparently you a playing at a course frequented by "average" or worse golfers. Nothing you can do about it. Almost nothing that starters and marshalls can do (in my experience, having a marshall "Warn" a group for slow play just make people want to rub it in). Only solutions.

1) Be the first person on the course - Earlybird specials, baby!
2) Find at least two other decent players to play with
3) Join a club (there are some decent deals)
4) Find a different course

I just don't think there is much you can do about other people's behavior on the course, except model good etiquette.

Best time to play if you can get the tee times. The course I play the most is a municipal, nice track, fairly hard and long from the back tees, and if you tee off mid-morning or after its 5 hours plus. But this year I started playing with a guy who goes and gets the early tee times for Saturday or Sunday, usually one of the first 3 groups off the tee. The proshop does monitor who gets to go off early, and if you don't keep up, they will hound you. But after the first couple of hours its a lost cause.....

But what a joy it is to play as a threesome or foursome with nobody really ahead of you or behind in about 3 1/2 hours walking.

Everyone seems to be equating poor golfers with inattentive and poor etiquette. I've played with SEVERAL players who shoot 90+ but are fast players, know the rules, and most importantly, understand etiquette.

The problem is when you get stuck with people who have no clue. Playing with a buddy at an upscale course last Sunday. We had a twilight time at 2:20 which brings out the casual players (normally $80 to play this track), and there should be plenty of daylight left to finish. We get paired with a husband/wife team. She's playing the same tees (whites) as he is. She busts the ball off the tee, and can hit pretty well in general.

We get to the green, my buddy and I fix our ball marks and mark our golf balls, and this woman, who is probably around 50 years old, proceeds to putt her 30 footer, then putt her 10 footer, then putt her 3 footer, walking all the way around the cup, walking in BOTH of our lines, and picks up her ball.

I ask her politely, "[name], please be careful about walking in our putting lines".

She was clueless. She stops in her tracks, looks around like she's the only player on the course, "Oh, I thought you finished already".

Now, she's either blind or has her head up her a**, as she got to the green before we did, and neither of us ever putted. An honest mistake perhaps, that's fine. But I had an inkling that this might be the type of player, and I decided to say something 2 seconds after it happened.

I told my buddy as we drove to the next tee that I would bet him $100 that neither of them has a ball marker in their pocket. Luckily he refused the bet, because on the 3rd hole the woman asks her husband for a marker, and he didn't have one!

We ended up splitting up with them after 9 holes, and got a couple of holes ahead. Now, while we did catch up to the group in front and waited the last 3 holes, we finished just under the available daylight.

But I've also played with players who are willing to learn, understand they're not the only players on the golf course, and are a joy to play with even though they shoot 110.

This is the summation of what I tried to explain in my original post.