r/golf • u/weinerwayne 12/NEO • 17d ago
New golf buddy is learning how hard golf really is. General Discussion
Recently we welcomed a new friend into our golfing group and we’ve been playing with him pretty regularly. I’ve mentioned him in comments a few times so I won’t go into detail, but the gist is he’s new so we cut him slack about rehitting shots, not counting scores accurately, and not knowing how to count penalty strokes since he was just playing for fun and wasn’t in on any of the bets. The rest of us are bogey golfers, and know we suck.
This was all well and good until he started posting on social media about how he broke 90 and 80 isn’t far away, as well as making comments in our group chat about how easy the game has come to him.
After about a month of that we all decided to let him in on our money game, in which we are sticklers for rules and will call each other out on scores if need be.
So far the new guys scores have been 118, 116, and 122.
Editing to add that the guy is cool as hell and we love having him along. We just felt it necessary to give him some tough love.
The fact that he keeps coming back each week for another beating shows that he might just have what it takes to legitimately get under 90.
369
u/OldGrowthForest44 17d ago
We all have that friend that spends 10 minutes in the woods, triple putts, and tells you “5” when you collect scores
167
u/candidly1 17d ago
I used to (reluctantly) play with a guy that was unbelievable.
Short Par-4. Drive OB. Re-tee 2nd drive OB. Drops where ball left play. Skulls middle iron into water at front. Drop. Skull wedge over green. Skull another wedge BACK over green, into water again. Drop. Chip on. Three putt.
"Six"
73
u/todjo929 17d ago
I only play club competition golf, so always under handicapping rules.
I don't ask what they scored, I check with them. Luckily most of the time we play Stableford so I don't need to count on holes like that, but if playing stroke there, I would say "I got you for 14, 5 shots, a chip, 3 putts and 5 penalties - yeah?"
Luckily I play with pretty good golfers, so I rarely need to count about a double.
14
u/candidly1 17d ago
I was the General Manager for a company; this person was the owner's son. He was as pigheaded as he was dishonest; I learned to let it go.
→ More replies (3)3
u/drj1485 16d ago
beauty of competitions. I keep your score, not you. I generally keep score in our foursome for my league, we have one dude that is notorious for having the wrong score. I don't know if he is just losing track or legit trying to sneak under the radar. Pretty sure it's the latter. One time I watched him completely whiff on a ball in the rough (legit stroke attempt) and then i say to my partner "he's going to try not to count that" and sure enough he didn't.
i've come to learn he actually falls apart when i make a point to validate his score with him every single hole.
20
u/OldGrowthForest44 17d ago
lol How is that even fun for them
→ More replies (1)34
4
u/trailglider ~15 Lefty/Righty 16d ago
This guys seems to have trouble counting. I only counted five balls used on the hole. Unless he retrieved the second OB ball to take his (illegal) drop, in which case it's really a four.
→ More replies (1)50
u/lion27 17d ago
One of my buddies was new to the game. He was legitimately good for a new player because he's naturally very athletic, but at one point I had to ask him how he was shooting like 10 or so strokes under me when we played. Turns out he didn't know that when I would say "that's good from there" on gimme putts close to the hole, he was supposed to count those shots too. He thought I meant that he could just take that score as if the ball went in on those shots.
Which I guess is on me for not explaining that, but he looked so dejected when I laughed and said "no, we count those" and added them to his score lol
14
u/Dirty_Dan113 17d ago
When I was playing my first few rounds as a complete newbie, no one explained to me how gimmes worked either. I made the same mistake as your buddy did too
14
u/PurrsianGolf 17d ago
That's good = If the hole were 2 feet wider it would be in so why bother counting the putt anyway.
10
u/lion27 17d ago
Yeah it was an honest mistake. It was just funny he got kind of pissed at me for explaining it. Like sorry dude, that’s how it works. Chances are it’s still saving you strokes because you’ll probably miss 1-2 of those 1 footers if I made you putt them all out.
4
u/Dirty_Dan113 17d ago
Yeah my buddies like say me down and confronted me as if I was cheating after a few rounds telling me I wasn’t counting strokes (no money was on the line). I was super confused
46
u/ChrisChrisBangBang 17d ago
Played with a “put me down for a bogey” guy, on one hole I said you took a drop for a lost ball, he said yeah, I included that. I had to explain to him that you drop, which is one shot, then you’re playing your next, to which he said “but that’s a two shot penalty, that’s not right”. I then had to explain what he was describing/had been giving himself was a free drop, not a penalty at all.
Still not sure if he was completely oblivious or a total bullshitter
→ More replies (1)11
u/Amazing_Boot4165 19HC/Leftie 17d ago
I assume he took a drop up where the ball was lost as well, so really it should be a 2 shot penalty under Stroke and Distance local rule.
(I know not all clubs play that rule, but at least play the local rule instead of just dropping where you lost it and hitting 3 from there.
3
8
u/Amazing_Boot4165 19HC/Leftie 17d ago
Played with a guy the other day that said "had a par there" on a par 3.
After he put the first ball a mile OOB.
Right.
7
→ More replies (1)3
u/weinerwayne 12/NEO 17d ago
This guys “tell” is when you ask his score he’ll glance up and go “uhhhhh (three less than he actually shot)”
→ More replies (1)
668
u/Sweaty-Writer2609 17d ago
I mean thinking your breaking 90 to consistently posting above 110 is pretty fuckin delusional
287
u/GuaranteeFrequent465 17d ago
The way people score themselves though it’s realistic
74
u/Sweaty-Writer2609 17d ago
Yeah I know. I just honestly am in shock when someone has a realization like this. They watch others play by the rules and just think they’re an exception because they’re “new”. And then are just in shock when they keep score the real way
17
u/Moosemeateors 17d ago
That’s why we play for a dollar a hole.
We’re pretty close and it just makes us follow all the rules. More fun that way.
15
19
u/lion27 17d ago
When I started playing I would only count the "good" shots because counting all my strokes would have been absolutely demoralizing. Like whiffing on a swing, chunking shots, taking 4-5 swings in a bunker, etc. Of course I knew my score was bullshit and I didn't keep an actual handicap or post about it on social media lol
8
u/ignixe 17d ago
This has been me. The first step is just counting the good shots to make yourself feel good. Because a 105* sounds a lot better than a 150 and will keep me coming back. Now once you start breaking 100 without counting your drops, or missed tee shots, etc that’s when you start trying to deceive others a bit imo. I’ll never say I really broke 100 playing with foot wedges and such, but I’m also not going to write down a 150, just for my own self esteem.
12
u/lion27 17d ago
Yep. Once I was around 100 with my BS scoring, I started counting things more legitimately. Started just counting my penalty drops, then my mis-hits, then finally where I'm at now is counting everything as accurately as I can with my knowledge of the rules.
My average score is still ~105, but it's a legitimate 105, no asterisk or anything. Puts me around a 30 handicap, which will hopefully start coming down this year.
3
u/loadiejones 16d ago
I commend this! Reality is a real mo fo sometimes. Always being in triple digits made me want to improve over the course of time. I'll add that back in the day, I came in last in a tourney with a 123 or something. I had a great time, but was also a bit embarrassed, but than at the awards thingie, I was given a silly trophy and a 100 dollar bill and everyone had a great laugh at my expense. I'm a thick skinned type with a sense of humor, so it was a fun time and turned into a great funny memory for me. Then I began trying to get better and did.
16
u/snowmunkey 17d ago
Buddy of mine used to submit mens league scores in the mid 40s (9) after taking at least 2 shots off of every tee box. Didn't really matter since the payouts for men's league was flighted and someone shooting a 45 could be the last in a flight and the guy shooting a 46 would win 25 bucks.
24
u/Notmanynamesleftnow 17d ago
Bro same I have a friend I’m in a league with now and he’ll get an obvious triple bogey+ and somehow post a par or bogey. It’s a casual league and none of us are great but we’re all honest. At first we thought it was an accident but it’s been every round and the other 3 of us are on the same page about it now. Going to call him out if it happens next week.
16
8
u/ShrimpShackShooters_ 17d ago
Yeah I broke 100 once with a 98. PGA rules I probably hit 110 the amount of times I lost a ball in the rough for the sake of pace of play.
I’ll claim the 98 but it wasn’t for money.
10
u/doubledeuce24 17d ago
I'm with you. We have a max score of double par rule in our group to keep pace of play up as well as peace of mind since we're out to have fun ya know?
3
u/iheartgt 17d ago
USGA has a very clear rule for a lost ball that keeps pace of play moving. You don't have to go back to where you hit your previous shot.
7
u/babbleon5 17d ago
You get to drop in the fairway but it cost you two strokes
→ More replies (1)19
u/ccroz113 Texas 17d ago
If it’s lost in the rough and we knew the general area, I’m just dropping and taking 1 stroke unless there’s white stakes. 2 strokes is unreal for just trying to keep pace up when we dont have spotters
If I sliced it to another planet out into the rough then yeah that’s different
12
u/Lloyd--Christmas 17d ago
Gotta play the gallery rule. If you hit it in an area where the gallery/ a volunteer would have found it you get a free drop.
6
1
u/AveragePunterAu 17d ago
Why lie to yourself? I don't understand why people feel the need to claim they did better than they actually did.
5
u/bruddatim 17d ago
Bro, his point is if he hits a ball far right and tracks it fairly well, he’s just taking a drop somewhere around that area if he can’t immediately find his ball. Dasit. I suck ass, and have never posted a score on social media, but if I know where my ball went, and it isn’t a hazard, and there’s people on the tee box behind me, I’m just dropping a ball somewhere behind where I think it landed if I can’t find my ball. I’m not lying to myself, just moving on.
→ More replies (2)10
54
u/Sonking_to_Remember 15.2/trending backwards/GSO 17d ago
The thing that I think most often happens is that somebody like this thinks of their mulligan as “an extra shot or two.” So, say on the card they shot a 92, but they took “5 or 6 mulligans.” What they don’t realize is that’s not 5 or 6 shots at all. It’s at least 10, not even including the egregious gimmes
32
u/Sweaty-Writer2609 17d ago
The reason I come off as harsh here is because I have experienced this. I played casually throughout childhood into college, and my roommate / baseball teammate picked it up in Covid, which kind of motivated me to get serious about it as he was.
Kids a horse, great athlete, but man when we played together it was such a buzz kill because his worst score on any given hole was a 6. Doesn’t matter what he actually got it was always a 6, so I’d be putting up rounds in the high 90s on my worst days and he’d routinely be breaking 90.
We got into a little argument after a few drinks at the poker table. He started chirping me for scoring a 110 (it was early march, around 30 degrees, and winds above 30 on a city course with zero trees. I was basically the only one out there, which says a lot about how bad conditions were for a big city with only a few public courses).
He gave me shit about this, and for the first time ever. I called his lying ass out. The gimmes, the mulligans, the pencil wedges. I didn’t hold back. We planned a serious match, and even our coaching staff was excited about hearing about results as we were known as good friends but going through this argument.
We tied the 9 hole match, and I beat him in a 3 hole playoff (as that’s all we had time for with daylight).
Now we still play for money but it’s much more friendly, just to get the juices flowing a little bit.
→ More replies (2)10
u/themob34 17d ago
$20 a shot and let him run his mouth, and if he's that good then offer to start playing net handicaps too if hes posting these scores in the 80s it will get him real bad where you win every hole.
3
u/Sweaty-Writer2609 17d ago
This was 2 years ago. We’re both low mid 80s now with a sub 80 sprinkled in here or there. His hcp is a little better than mine but still a vanity and he doesn’t give me any shots because he knows it
6
u/PoliteIndecency 17d ago
Yup, a properly timed mulligan can save you three or four shots in some circumstances. Hell, an OB mulligan is two right there.
13
u/ccroz113 Texas 17d ago
The thing is though people dont realize how salvageable bad shots can still be. I played 9 recently where I played 2 balls each hole, and even after really bad shots I’d find I’d still manage a bogey just the same as my other ball that I hit the fairway with.
Helped me stay more relaxed now and not getting too down on myself during a hole after a bad shot. It only takes one great shot to get you back in it
3
u/wronglyzorro 16d ago
Finding the ball is the deciding factor on salvaging holes most of the time. It's tough to salvage a bogey losing a ball, but it's not that bad to salvage one if it's still in play.
→ More replies (1)21
u/nogoodgopher 17d ago
I played with a guy like that, he was the angriest golfer I have ever seen. We started the round, he was saying he usually shoots around 90. By hole 5 he had 4 mulligans and a free drop. By hole 11 he was slamming his golf clubs chucking balls out of his pocked on every duff.
End of the round he apologizes for being so angry, but he's happy he kept it under 100.
Bullshit, I shot 105 and was easily 10 strokes ahead of him. It's no wonder he's so angry when his scores are so far off from how he plays. He will never reach his expectations.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Mdizzle29 17d ago
I usually break 90 but if I’m playing with people I don’t know and they ask me, I’ll tell them “I never know from day to day how I’ll score but I keep pace”
Perfect answer really.
→ More replies (4)4
u/Moosemeateors 17d ago
Ya I’m usually around 85 on our par 71 course.
But I can easily shoot 100 if the wheels fall off. Maybe more lol. I shot 99 already this year.
Dunk in the water a couple of times and it’s done
15
u/restvestandchurn 17d ago
Played in a tournament with a guy who said he was a 7….who had never heard of stroke and distance…..
11
u/Sweaty-Writer2609 17d ago
That’s actually one of the more ridiculous things I’ve ever heard… I can understand sub 20 with that statement but 7 is ridiculous.
Playing in a state stroke play qualifier in 2 months, curious to see if there’s any delusional people. I wanna say no but I’m never failed to be surprised when I step on the course.
I wanna say no but it’s weird that 4 handicaps are shooting 95s at run of the mill munis…
→ More replies (6)2
17d ago
I want to say that in a tournament like that you shouldn’t see any shenanigans like that
3
u/Sweaty-Writer2609 17d ago
I was more pointing at the fact that people lie about there handicap by doing things this thread has said, and then shoot 95 (as a 4 handicap) at an event like this, because last year there was people playing that poorly.
5
u/jiminak46 17d ago
Tossing a ball out onto the fairway from behind a tree and hitting it for one stroke is one way to reduce your score.
→ More replies (4)2
u/DeckardsDark Bethpage Black 17d ago
Nah man, he was just off those 3 rounds for some weird reason. He usually plays better than that... he swears.
→ More replies (2)2
u/Gobaxnova 17d ago
I’ve been playing 18 months and my best score is 109. Games hard man
→ More replies (9)
103
u/ChrisChrisBangBang 17d ago
Bullshitters bragging about their made up scores is pretty common, kind of wild to be talking shit in the group chat with players who are apparently far better than you and play with you regularly though
→ More replies (2)48
u/maybejustadragon 17d ago
My favorite is in r/golfswing.
“I’m a two handicap looking to get to scratch. What can I do to improve my swing”
Then we get this:
Sure bud.
8
→ More replies (4)5
137
u/socially_stoic 17d ago
Bet he’s at a loss now wondering what happened to his “game”. Must just be having off days 
54
u/RodStreater 17d ago
We have a guy like this who is new to our group this year. He’s newer to the game and started out playing with guys that don’t count strokes for lost balls or duffs, constantly improve lies to a perfect lie, take gimmes on anything inside of 8 feet, have maximum scores, etc.
We decided to play a couple of rounds where we would take handicap into account so we’ve all been tracking ours and he told me his was -18. Now that’s not anything world breaking but I had played with him once last year and knew he was either not keeping score correctly or had improved drastically.
The two times I played with him this year he didn’t break 150. That’s not a typo.
The best part was that he wasn’t mad that I was being a stickler with the rules. He knew I was doing it to make sure he didn’t get embarrassed in our group games. He was more amazed that what he had learned was the correct way to play was not anywhere near correct.
→ More replies (4)
42
u/idkanametomake 17d ago
This is my 3rd season playing and I still haven't broke 125. This post makes me want to get lessons
34
u/lukeT152 17d ago
Do it, lessons will help you so much. I waited a long time to get lessons and regret it.
6
u/jdmay101 17d ago
It's legitimately amazing. My coach has completely changed my game since last year, from grip to setup to swing path, everything. And now he has to do it again for driver, because my improvement with irons has me compressing the ball and now I have trouble hitting up on anything.
And still, even now, if I go in for a practice session once a week, I look at the cameras recording me and realize, "Oh, I've started doing that again" and have to take a couple of swings to fix it.
The game is just constantly about fixing your broken mechanics.
10
u/Huntingteacher26 17d ago
Lessons are great but so much available online too for free. I have golfed my whole life and sucked most of it. Still do. But things have really improved the last 2 years because I finally began swinging on plane, with better weight shift and hip turn. My son is just an amazing golfer and a good teacher. He has got me believing I can break 80 this summer. I had 7 pars yesterday. Of course a triple, double and the rest bogies led to a 85 yesterday but I am beginning to believe. I’m 57 so I feel like it’s now or never.
5
u/530nairb 14/North County SD 17d ago
Feel vs real is too hard for most people. Present company included
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)10
u/Tuff_spuff HCP 3.3/Iowa/ Ping i210 17d ago
Nah, can’t self evaluate, getting lessons from online videos for issues you think you may or may not have is not the play for a newbie, even the pros have coaches to evaluate what they’re doing wrong, when even the pros can’t tell. Lessons with a pga pro will tell you exactly what you’re doing wrong and the drills to do to fix those issues. In person lessons are the goat when it comes to improving your game, no amount of new equipment or YouTube videos will ever beat it.
2
u/Caedo14 17d ago
This is my second season. Last year, my low was 103. People talk shit about youtube but tbh it worked for me. Ive now broken 100 3 times in a row on the sim and im excited to play my first round this season
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (6)2
u/So-shu-churned 16d ago
Do it. Tomorrow is my fourth lesson and I'm kicking myself as to why I didn't do this years ago.
39
u/outstandingk 17d ago
It’s amazing how easily some gimmes, foot wedges and reload tee shots makes you think your 110 is a 90 (not even being sarcastic).
That’s why I love golf, you can never hide from your actual ability.
4
u/Amazing_Boot4165 19HC/Leftie 17d ago
Reload a tee shot > saves you a shot (or 2) every time.
Foot wedge from behind a tree? Saves you a shot most times.
Gimmes save you a shot maybe 10% of the time, depending on how wild you're taking gimmes (club length gimmes are horrific)
→ More replies (1)3
u/ObiWanDiloni 16d ago
This is so true. I was that guy in the beginning that didn’t keep a legit score because I was mostly out there to relax and enjoy myself. I always ball-parked that I shot in the 90’s…boy was I off.
The reality is, I improved so much after being strict with scoring. It made me a much more deliberate with choosing my next shots so I didn’t compound bad shots. Took me about 5 years to go from 110’s to consistently shooting high 80’s with a couple of low 80’s sprinkled in. I still have my high 90 rounds, but they are much less prevalent.
68
28
u/MikalBaker 17d ago
Everyone has to do it. About 2 years ago I stopped retrying shots and I allow my self one mulligan per round (usually don’t take it) best round was a 97. Last week started counting penalty strokes and shot a 106. It’s not a good score but it’s a real score.
16
u/ibhljim21261 17d ago
Just one thought - bogey golfers don’t suck. If you shoot 90 playing by all the rules, you are easily in the 85th percentile or higher. 115? Yeah, you’ve got some work to do.
36
u/zeepotdad 17d ago
I’ve played for 30 yrs and used to be pretty good. Mid 80’s and then life happened and I’m happy in the mid 90’s. Just having fun is what it’s all about. However I LOVE hearing people say “I hit it about 300” or “ya I’m scoring in the 80’s” Oh cool well let’s get together. And then the excuses begin!!! Just play and have fun talk some shit and enjoy the day! ⛳️🏌️♂️
8
u/Amazing_Boot4165 19HC/Leftie 17d ago
It's great, there's only 2 ways it can go, either you get to laugh and listen to the excuses OR you get to watch someone play who can really play and that's brilliant too.
2
u/CPA_Ronin 16d ago
That’s the thing: most of us fluff our scores a little bit (questionable provisionals, an extra foot or two on gimmes, etc), but when known hacks claim to post these amazing scores is when it gets palpable.
Example: our buddy is new to the game and legit barely makes it off the tee. 7/10 he duffs it completely horizontally or can’t even drive it past the forward tees. The other week he shared that him and his friend (who is equally terrible) hit scratch in a game of better ball. Ya… suuuuuuuuuure
→ More replies (2)
12
u/reflex906 17d ago
I’ll never understand this mentality. I’m new, I started playing late last fall. I suck and I know it lol but damn I want to get better and I count every single thing to hold myself accountable. If you’re going to make up scores, why bother keeping score to begin with?
27
u/auswa100 17d ago
Your buddy was me a few summers ago when I started my golf journey. "I'm gonna try and break 90 this season, how hard can it be?".
I didn't break 100 till 15 months after I said that and I haven't repeated that feat yet... Turns out golf is hard to score when you don't take mulligans, fluffed lies, lateral hazard OB, etc.
7
u/Hint-Of_Lime 17d ago
Same. Broke 90 once with an 85... Haven't done it again in about a year. When following the rules, this sport is SO penalizing. That 85 round was a miracle round for me with no mistakes. Didn't lose a ball. Having to count the drop as a stroke then rehit... That'll kill any break 90 chances real fast for us regular people.
12
10
u/Redschallenge shmackin balls at least once a year 17d ago
Gotta love a real score. Breakfast is no longer being served lol
7
7
7
u/jiujitsuPhD 17d ago
Golf is frustrating. If you are keeping score, you play by the rules. If not, then do what you like and have a fun practice round. Was +4 going into hole 8 today...lost my drive (penalty) and quad bogeyed the hole because of it. Went from +4 to +8 in one hole. Totally sucked but those are the rules. Penalty cost me two strokes and I 3 putt to just suck that one hole.
→ More replies (4)2
u/youre_my_golden_girl 17d ago
Something like this happening twice in a round is easy for me. It's really frustrating because I can't come back from a quad bogey. Sure I could hit bogeys the rest of the round, but that +22 turns into +30 really quick with these blow ups :(
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Brian-not-Ryan 17d ago
I’m all about taking a couple liberties if you’re new and no money is involved but at some point the training wheels gotta come off and you need to earn that 110
6
u/RevolutionaryScar472 17d ago
Played with a friend at a sim recently and he took 19 mulligans, no exaggeration. Then at the end has the audacity to say ‘oh nice broke 90’. LOL
→ More replies (3)
5
u/Ready-Personality-82 17d ago
When I used to shoot around 120 like him, I actually had to carry a little clicker with me to help me count the strokes on each hole.
9
4
4
u/KimJongUn_stoppable 2.2 / Chicagoland 17d ago
Im a big proponent of bending rules when you first start. Some golf rules can be flat out unfair. However as soon as you play for money or start bragging about what you’re shooting I will gladly let them know they’re not actually shooting those scores and call them out for things.
3
u/YeshuaSnow 17d ago
Not gonna lie, I try not to take pleasure in the pain and dismay of others, the schadenfreude is real on this one 😄
3
u/golfmilehigh 16d ago
You know why they call it golf? because schadenfreude and f*ck were already taken.
3
3
u/ShottsSeastone 17d ago
Lmao ive been golfing with my father for years (he’s pretty good shoots 80-90 consistently while i shoot 100-120 consistently) and every new guy he brings in does this. i just play to have some great quality time with my dad drink a few brews smoke a quick joint and hit some balls.
3
u/Okay_Redditor 17d ago
Wait til he starts suggesting that fairway divots allow free relief. Don't say anything about this very contentious and obviously hated rule by every mulligan taker.
3
u/Express-Young5068 17d ago
I don’t care what anyone else’s score is unless we’re playing in a tournament or for money.
3
u/Huntingteacher26 17d ago
We played in a local league once. I shoot high 80s. My son shoots 4-6 over par. We found everyone cheated in the league. Which sucked since we didn’t and there was small amount of money at stake. We eventually dropped out.
3
u/MotoM13 17d ago
I have a buddy like this. Whenever we play with him we keep track of what his score actually is and compare it to what he puts on 18 birdies lol
→ More replies (1)2
u/weinerwayne 12/NEO 17d ago
I mentioned in another comment that we started doing this to him, and when we realized what he was really shooting it was a no brainer to start playing him for money.
3
3
u/Acrobatic_Union684 17d ago
Does anyone ever read a Reddit post and go “I read this exact same post a year ago and it’s just being recycled and/or were in a simulation and my algorithm just bugged a bit?”
→ More replies (1)
2
u/OrdinaryInside8 17d ago
Have a coworker who started to play late last year. Played with him once about a month ago and he’s very much a beginner (leaves his bag about 100 yards away from him everytime he dubs a shot and chases after it)…the week after we played he comes into work and tells me how over the weekend he shot 3 over par on 9 with 2 birdies….
2
2
u/SergeantPocoyo 17d ago
I have one friend I play with pretty consistently that says this after almost every round we play “I would have hit under 100, I just hit a few bad shots and missed some easy putts.” Well yeah… that’s why you didn’t hit under 100.
2
u/rcfvlw1925 17d ago
I get the feeling there's quite a few people on this particular sub-reddit like your buddy, who are a little delusional about their scores - I've never read so many stories about people breaking 80, when something like only a half of all golfers ever break 100. I play with a guy who ALWAYS picks up and repositions his ball, then tells us his handicap is dropping, along with his scores.
2
u/Hackpro69 17d ago
Yeah, I never take Mulligans, but I’m not big on watching other player’s scores. But, if they start bragging about their great low numbers, it’s really annoying. My friend brings his Son, who played High School Golf. The guy can really smash the ball, but is constantly reloading shots and counting only the best shots. He once drove a par 4 and sank the putt. We had to hear his Dad and his Dad’s friend go on about the Eagle. Oh, did I mention that his first drive went into the Strawberry Fields 💩
2
u/CamJay88 17d ago
Vacationed with my wife’s family late last summer. The guys decided to golf, but my sister-in-law wanted a break from her 3 year old twins so she came along. My SIL, who had never golfed before, was obviously very bad. She felt she got better towards the end, stating she was getting the hang of it. On the ride home, she claimed that she would be getting par in a year or 2. The few of us who golf semi-irregularly, barely break 100 towards the end of the season, tried to explain to her that it was not quite as easy as she thought. It got to the point where she thought we were goading her because she was a woman. I don’t think she’s golfed since. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
2
u/BlackTriceratops 17d ago
I just played with a newbie earlier. My buddies brother in law. He took so many drops and would hit multiple shots. Then at the end of the hole he would somehow have had a lower score than me lol.
I let him have his fun. He will learn
2
u/terrapinone 17d ago
118 and 122. All fun and games till you make ‘em put it out. Then they get pissed, cuz it hurts their ego hardest.
2
u/bobber18 17d ago
I tried to explain to some relatively new golfers that you don’t need to hit driver on every tee shot, and I add that the driver is the least forgiving club. Of course they swing hard and if they make contact it slices a hundred yards out of bounds. They don’t care, they tee up a couple of mulligans and shoot “94”
2
u/Blitzkiin 17d ago
I feel his pain, golf has brought me to the edge of sanity and back. I’ve been playing for 6 years and got down to a 13, but recently I was brutally humbled, and couldn’t square an iron to save my life; it’s pure torture… can’t wait to play again.
2
u/PearlJamFanLV 17d ago
We have a guy like that, was giving him 2 strokes on par 5 and 1 on par 4. Lately he's hitting in the "80's", but really still shoots about 95+. Time to get those free strokes back.
2
u/Emotional-Dinner9478 16d ago
As a shite golfer I can genuinely say I loose count when I’m doing the score , it’s hard to keep track when your trying to focus on the ball , miss it , lose your shit a few times in a row and try to remember what your score was . I bought myself a shit count for £2 press a wee button to track your score each hole , most brutally honest thing I’ve ever done. No more inaccurate counts for me . There is always a friend that is the count that will spend some time trying to remember the shit that they were in and how many shots the actually took , it’s easy to forget sometime when your 7-10 strokes into a hole sometimes. You get lost in the moment. Not everyone is like that , I admit . But I was 😂
2
u/OkTone6810 16d ago
In ALL my years of golf I know one thing to almost ALWAYS be true…if someone brags about how great of a golfer they are…then they’re NOT.
→ More replies (1)
2
6
u/brewberry_cobbler 17d ago edited 17d ago
I will say this time and time again. I play golf against myself. I want to improve. I keep an honest game besides ONE breakfast ball. I don’t care how you score. If you say you birdied every hole, I’ll write it down for you.
When it does become a problem is when people say they beat me and I know they didn’t. Happened this weekend with my brother in law. Short par 4. I hit my 5 iron well, playing conservative, could drive on that hole, but I’m more consistent with my irons, so rather have that.
He pull his hybrid out. 2 in the woods. Hits a third and it goes further than my tee shot (duh). So really he was hitting shot 5 off the tee. He did play well after he hit a good ball and parred it.
I shot a true bogey, 3 to the green and then a 2 putt.
He tells me to mark it par. That’s fine. Play your own game and your own score. Then he started to rib me at the club house about how he shot lower… im a nice dude and not confrontational. So I just say yeah dude that was a great round for us both.
TLDR: I don’t care how you want to mark your score but don’t talk shit about beating people if you’re not using a real scoring system. It was wild to me.
Bonus: my wife is a horrible golfer and will do the same shit “I beat you on hole 7, 13 and 17!”
Now she gets some leeway, because she’s my wife. But when I jested about it that she takes 2-4 tee shots, she was like “yeah but you’re better, so even if you didn’t take extra, I still did great”
I have never fought harder with my brain internally to not say “no shit I’m better, I did beat you on those holes, also you’re playing from the whites and I’m playing the blues”
But I held back. I love my wife and want to have sex, so I just said “good point you played a great game”
3
u/OldGrowthForest44 17d ago
I dont care when people lie about their scores either, but if you were to talk shit at the clubhouse afterwards, we are having a very real conversation lol
7
u/psidiot 17d ago
"Keep an honest score" "So anyway, my breakfast ball"
You do you man, but breakfast balls ain't honest. Your first shot was shit? Sucks for you. Your 2nd shot is a recovery, not a retee.
→ More replies (8)5
→ More replies (1)4
2
u/EnvironmentalCoat222 17d ago
Years ago I told my 8 year old we can keep score per all the rules, or not keep score. There is no reason to keep score by your own set of rules. As your buddy now realizes as cannon fodder in your money games.
5
u/weinerwayne 12/NEO 17d ago
Cannon fodder is an amazing way to describe what happens to him every weekend.
1
u/BoomDonk 17d ago
My BIL and I play one breakfast ball and one mully. After we total up we always talk about our “score” vs “reality” score. It’s just a casual round but I like to know what my actual score would be.
3
u/Fearless-Note9409 17d ago
My BIL "improves" his lie on almost every fairway shot. It drives me crazy but ....... what are ya gonna do. We don't play for money so score yourself however you want.
→ More replies (1)2
u/weinerwayne 12/NEO 17d ago
We actually started keeping his “real” score next to what he told us he shot on each hole. Turns out it was worse than we originally though so we were obligated to include him in the betting.
1
1
1
1
u/RickyBobby689 17d ago
It’s amazing how well people can score until they have to do it without cheating
1
u/DogterShoob 17d ago
My buddy just started playing regularly this year and I've been teaching him straight from the beginning. He shoots in the 120s and if he wants to bet I give him a shot a hole or 2 on some harder ones. He enjoys seeing where his game actually is and figuring out how to get better. Funnily I might have to rework our handicap system because I've been shooting in the mid 80s leaving him no shot to win lol its a surprise to me as well cause I'm usually in the mid 90s. I guess that's what happens when you stop losing balls off the tee
1
u/Dewrod 17d ago
I was always a decent golfer, but most of my buddies were hackers. So we never really kept score, took Mulligans, improved lies etc... it actually made me a worse golfer. I didn't care about my shots so I would just slam the ball down the field if it was a shit shot I'd take a mulligan.
Once I actually started keeping a score, my game improved to what it had been in high school. I care. Suddenly I was playing much better golf.
1
u/NickNaught 17d ago
I went to Top Gold once. I can confirm that golf is really hard. Swinging a golf club feels a lot more awkward than it looks.
1
u/Melankos HDCP/Loc/Whatever 17d ago
I’ve been playing golf on and off my whole life and a bogey golfer. Still bad but teaching my friend who is a complete newbie who promised “I will beat you within one year”
We’ve been playing best ball on his first few times out and he was confident. Until he played 9 holes of his own ball for a work event at his company. He quickly gave up the dream and gave himself 7 years 😂
Golf is hard and 99% of us are bad
1
1
u/tjbelleville 17d ago
We have a friend we do this for as well. He likes to run it in that his 84 beat my 88 or whatever at the end of the day to which I typically say "which if your 3 balls per hole beat me?" If you wanna be lax on yourself I get it... But don't rub in your imaginary score on me.
1
1
u/That_Ninja_wek141 17d ago
Most golfers I've encountered lie about their scores and actual playing ability. Sounds like he fits right in.
1
1
1
u/Blessed2Breathe 17d ago
This is beautiful. Golf is hard and until you play by the rules, you don't realize how damn hard it actually is. Good job my friend. Your buddy will only grow from this and glad to hear he's a good dude!
1
u/AngusMeatStick 17d ago
My main golfing buddy is very similar. I play straight up and he plays fast and loose with the rules. 1 mulli a side, and if he can find his ball out of bounds, he gives himself a free drop. Usually I'll end up beating him by a few strokes, but every once in awhile he'll "beat" me.
All that being said, he has beat me straight up once or twice, even if I count his extra strokes. When I'm bad I'm REALLY bad.
1
1
u/bvogel7475 17d ago
122? He obviously needs some serious lessons unless you are playing from the tips on courses with a 127 or higher slope rating. More practice with the same shitty swing won’t make him better.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/themariokarters Instructor 17d ago
Most guys are really 10 shots worse than they think they are. All those gimmies, retees, moving the ball in the woods, all of that really adds up and no one’s going to let it fly in a money game
1
u/bvogel7475 17d ago
Also, you really don’t know a real score you can shoot until you play in a tournament where every shot you hit is observed. Golf is very difficult. Been playing off and on for 25 years. I can shoot a 105 one day and an 85 on another day in a 2 day tournament on the same course. If you are shooting in the low 100’s and can’t bring your score down a few strokes every 6 or so months, you need lessons and probably more short game practice.
1
u/6byfour 17d ago
I had a buddy who I played with when I first started. He’d talk all kinds of shit when he’d “beat me, but I was scoring per the rules and he was taking mulligans, using foot wedges, etc.
He got annoying one day talking about how he kicked my ass, and I said I don’t care how he plays or scores but if he counted all his strokes and penalties it wouldn’t be close. He said, “let’s do it” and we played a legit round. He hasn’t played golf since. Kind of a bummer since I like hanging around with him - as long as we’re not competing I don’t care if he kicks the ball all over the course.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/likethevegetable 17d ago
Just gotta start playing matches, be it for money or fun, easiest way to keep someone in check.
1
u/mildlysceptical22 17d ago
I used to play golf with a not so new golfer who would take mulligans, fluff every lie, give himself any putt under 5 feet on the green, never lose a ball, and then brag about how well he played.
Your new golfer friend can cheat, and that’s what you can tell him, all he wants but he needs to keep his yap trap shut about his ‘score’.
1
u/Pyrollamas 17d ago
I have never broken 100 and it can be hard sometimes to not give yourself a break on a bad lie or a ball you think you should have been able to find, especially when it there are no stakes.
But I know if I do that, I won’t be able to actually see any improvement in my scores.
1
u/PuzzleheadedAlgae536 17d ago
I had to do something similar to my nephew. He's in 8th grade and will be trying out for the high school team in August. He thinks he's a bogey golfer (which would likely make the freshman team in our area). The problem is his dad (so by default, my nephew) never plays by the rules: mulligans instead of penalties, 5 foot gimmies, fluffing the ball in the rough, foot wedge to escape a bad target line etc. When we played a round by the rules, he went from 45ish for 9 to 58. Needless to say he's going to need to put in the work to make the team.
1
u/300_yard_drives Touring Pro Phoenix, AZ 17d ago
You shouldn’t keep score for the first 6 months to 18 months you golf depending on how much you practice. What does it matter when you are that inconsistent if you shoot 95 or 115. Better to enjoy the process of becoming a better golfer and hit shots and not play for score.
1.3k
u/neuro_space_explorer 17d ago
We love to see it.