How many have tried to play a round in front of fifty or a hundred people?

[TEPaul]

If so you must know how intimidating it might be at first.

Can you imagine playing in front of thousands and realizing there are maybe millions watching you on TV all over the world?

Do you wonder how these tour pros get used to that? Or do they?

In my opinion, if you play enough in front of that many people it probably sort of minimizes the sensation and you probably rather quickly learn how to go into something of a bubble the way those maddeningly followed tour players do.

Nevertheless, they always amaze me how well they seem to handle all that, particularly on tees where so many can be so close.

What do you think? How do you think you'd respond in their positions? If you had to do it fifty times do you think it would become second nature to you?  

[Lloyd_Cole]

Tom

In my job we found that, when starting out, the more people watching, the more excited/nervous we were. Usually that helped us. Then we got to the large theatres - beyond 3,500 people it was hard to feel anything other than 'that's a lot of folk' and at festivals when we played before 40,000 it was almost too many to comprehend so we usually just tried to have fun. I guess we would be most likely to tighten up at a show we perceived to be important - like our first NYC show - where we totally froze...
The most nerve wracking shows, for me, ironically, have been small local affairs where the audience was mainly friends - that terrifies me.

[Andy Troeger]

I've never played an entire round in front of many people (more than maybe 15-20) but did have a few times with 50-100 people watching an initial tee shot or playoff hole.

My first high school event I played as a freshman as #1 for my team and teed off with the defending champ and two other strong older players in front of the whole field and some spectators as we were the first group. I was scared to death, and hit the best drive of my life right down the middle and made birdie. Reality set in a few holes later  

Another time I had a big crowd in a playoff but lost that one.

For someone who generally hates to be the center of attention, I actually found it inspiring to have the pressure of the crowd. It was nothing compared to the pressure I put on myself anyway.

[Jay Flemma]

I came up 18 in front of a gallery at a pro am.  About 200 people.

Awesome.

[Rich Goodale]

I've had a few golfing moments similar to Andy's, and a few other "sport"ing moments with bigger crowds and 7 figure TV audiences, but I was well in my comfort zone in all those situations.

The only place I ever lost it was when I snuck onto the practice range at Pebble Beach during the Crosby and found myself between Jerry Pate and Arnold Palmer.  Pate was hitting beuatiful soft 2-irons at the 200 stake and the King was flailing away with a hundred or so admirers in tow.  All I could do was hit fat irons spraying mud all over the place.  Thank god none of it landed on Arnie......

To add, and get to Tom's question, I think that there is such thing as a "comfort zone" for all individuals in all circumstances.  For the averge-good pro golfer, it is a normal PGA tour event, where they are programmed to grind out a good score.  However, put them in the lead, and 50% fall out of their comfort zone.  Put them in the lead at a major, and 90% of the remaining 50% are out of their comfort zone.  Outliers come to the top from time to time (Curtis, Hamilton, Weir, maybe Johnson, etc.), but the reason Tiger wins so much is that when he is in the lead he is in HIS comfort zone.  No other player has that advantage.

[Doug Siebert]

I don't know anything about playing in front of 100 people (unless you count the pedestrians from the 18th tee to green at TOC I guess) let alone thousands or millions, but I kind of suspect that when I do get self conscious about it, which is typically when I'm swinging like someone that should be wielding an axe instead of a golf club, that what they are thinking is never as bad as what I imagine.

Last month I was playing with some friends and there was a guy I've known for a long time who is a really good player but haven't ever played with playing behind me, playing with a couple other good players.  I'd look back from the green and they'd all be standing around in position A waiting to play their approaches, and I was just having a terrible day, hitting all kinds of crappy shots into those places where you either have no shot, have no idea of your yardage, or both, all day long.  I couldn't help but think that he's watching where I'm hitting and thinking I'm a much worse player than I have said.

I run into him a few days later at a bar and he mentions seeing me at the course.  I'm bracing for some well deserved teasing and his only comment is "holy shit, I can't believe how far you drove it on 15, I've never seen anyone there before!"  My one decent tee shot that I hit solid and straight and must have landed on the turbo boost side of one of the fairway ripples to end up where it did.  I'm sure he saw what happened with the rest of my drives too, but it is interesting what your gallery is really thinking versus what you believe they are thinking in your darkest thoughts.

I'd probably have the same thoughts if I was playing like that and I knew TEPaul and Patrick Mucci were in the group behind me

[paul cowley]

......I seem to be getting more nervous, spastic and jittery in front of increasingly smaller crowds.....even as few as three people can set this in motion.......

[wsmorrison]

I've played golf in front of a couple of thousand people in the golf tournament played every year on Leatherstocking during National Baseball Hall of Fame induction week.  The crowds aren't following the play nor are they on many of the holes, only the ones along the public access roads.  But they congregate there in large numbers to see the Hall of Famers and to try and get autographs (the number of autographs are directly correlated to the score on the previous hole).  There is a longish par 3 that ends right by the road so there are a lot of people around the green.  I was most nervous there that I would hit someone if I pulled the tee shot.  The first couple of times I played in the tournament, I could hardly believe how nerve wracking it is to play in front of so many people.  Gradually, the fear was controllable and I even began to enjoy playing in front of the crowds, especially when I played well (once in a while).  However, in most cases, I was more nervous due to my desire to play well in front of my Hall of Fame partners.

[TEPaul]

Lloyd;

Very good post and you must be the only one on here who has had those experiences or of that magnitude. I really like your last line too---that makes complete sense. How would you like to be playing golf in front of that many people as opposed to playing music?  

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I remember playing like an absolute drain at Painswick during the Buda Cup.  I don't suppose anyone remembers how bad I was, but it made me feel pretty awful knowing that people with whom I correspond on this site witnessed such abysmal play.  I wanted to crawl away into a corner and die.

I never sing to audiences as big as Lloyd's but if you know what you are doing there is no reason to get particularly nervous - keyed up, of course, but not fearful of making a hash of it.  Lots of professional musicians have nerves before a performance and the ones who are still in business are those who can live with those nerves or even thrive on them. Those who can't cope fail and they are soon looking for another job.  It's the same with auditions - there are those who thrive on them and those who are unable to perform at their best.  We know who gets the job.  There are musical equivalents to the yips - principal horns who can no longer maintain a steady stream of air in the slow movement of Tchaikovsky 5th, or string players who can't keep the bow on the string in long, held pianissimo passages, singers whose voice cracks and so on. Then there are the ladies who can sing through a period or the menopause and those who can't.  I'm told that the great Leontine Price couldn't sing through her period.  Each opera house knew her diary and her part of the contract was to make sure her body functioned on time.  Kirsten Flagstad was an even greater singer after the menopause - many others fade away.  In my BBC Producer days I saw many great artists at their most vulnerable, just before they went on to perform.  It never ceased to amaze me that someone could be so terrified that they were physically sick before going on stage and could then overcome those nerves on stage - especially in a piece with a slow, quiet start.  

I have to say that I enjoy the presence of an audience and I get a thrill out of performing to them.  I bet many a professional golfer gets a boost from the well-wishes and support of a knowledgeable gallery.  Some may well play better for the presence of that gallery.

[Jim Johnson]

I've never had the fortune/misfortune to play a "round" in front of that many people, but did once have the "unfortunate pleasure" of topping my tee shot on the old Banff Springs' #1 tee-box, in front of an admiring (!) busload of Japanese tourists directly above and behind me on the clubhouse patio....the tee box was about 30 yards long, the markers were set at the back, and I drove it all of 29 yards.  

JJ

[Garland Bayley]

The most intimidating crowd that ever watched me play golf was at a high school golf match at the neighboring school (56 miles away). I used to live in that town and had a serious crush on a girl there in grade school. When I showed up at the first tee, that girl's younger sister was there as a member of the school's cheerleading squad (don't ask me why cheerleaders showed up for a golf match), and I was forced to tee off while I could hear a group of teenage girls gossip and giggle about me.

I took 3 wood, swung easy and hit it into the center of the fairway. Not long, but safe. I had lots of problems later that day (wet heavy snow coming down for 4 or 5 holes among them), but I managed the spectated shot.
 

[Mike Benham]

Forget tee off or playing with 50 or 100 people that you don't know, how about that number that know you?

The first tee at Pebble Beach is filled with golfers and non-golfers alike while the 14th on MPCC Dunes course is hampered by tourists gawking at the sea otters and seals, videoing and chatting away, not even knowing that the tee box is below them.

But teeing off on the first hole, in an early group in the Dixie Cup or Kings Putter will get the blood flowing.

[Doug Siebert]

Mike,

Don't they have to be golfers to matter?  I don't think I could care less whether a few hundred non golfers were around when I played, first of all they'd be birdwatching or hanging out on the beach or whatever it is they are doing, rather than caring about my golf.  Second, they wouldn't really know what a good or bad shot is unless I either hit one as good as they see on the SportsCenter highlights (so I better graze the hole if it doesn't go in!) or hit a shot so bad that they remember doing better the one time some friend coaxed them into visiting a driving range where they whiffed a lot and decided they didn't like golf.

There's a Nicklaus course called Porto Cima at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri that has a par three with the green on a little peninsula that juts out onto the lake in a cove known as "family party cove" (the real "party cove" where thousands of boats tie together and everyone gets wildly drunk, with lots of nudity, craziness and various debauchery is generally not considered kid friendly, so this area has a few hundred boats tie up for people who want to bring their kids without worrying that they'll see more live three boats over than Cinemax is allowed even late at night)

There are always a bunch of girls floating on inner tubes and rafts in the back of that cove where the green is, so while I'm not worried about them as spectators it is a bit unnerving that a pull or hook could kill someone and if I yell "fore" there isn't much they could to dodge it even if they saw it coming.  At least if I was playing in the US Open the gallery would presumably be watching my shot and someone who saw it on its way and warn the rest to duck and cover!

[RichMacafee]

I've played in front of a few decent sized crowds over the years and find it effects me in 2 different ways:

On the first tee and first green it always makes me very nervous and I am terrified of hitting an absolute shocker or missing a little putt. If I hole a putt on the first green of a big event it's a fluke

However, late in a round or near the end of an event it seems to heighten my senses a bit and make me play better. I still get nervous, but it is a 'good nervous'.

I played in one event where they had a mobile, hand held TV camera following us around and filming from directly behind while you were hitting a shot. The first time that happened I was so aware of it, and it messed with my head a bit. The next time, and from then on, it was fine. It was very easy to get used to for some reason.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Lloyd;

Very good post and you must be the only one on here who has had those experiences or of that magnitude. I really like your last line too---that makes complete sense. How would you like to be playing golf in front of that many people as opposed to playing music?  

Tom

I'd have less trouble golfing with an audience as nobody's expectations would be high. Unfortunately I'm supposed to be able to remember my songs and execute them.
Noting Mark's remark - M you are clearly a better technician than I am. My guitar playing is a constant worry, so I'm never 100% confident going on stage. Occasionally things go very well and I feel that I can play, but mostly it's 'when do I have to play Trigger Happy? should I warm up, or just get it over with'. Rather like the hole that you know has your number, at least I can put it off for a while...

[Darren_Kilfara]

My dad used to buy a sponsorship package for the Atlanta Classic (back when it was held at my then-home course, Atlanta CC) which got him a slot in the Wednesday pro-am. One year he was injured and knew he wasn't going to be able to play, so he gave me his spot - I was 13 at the time, and playing off a 21 handicap. Even the few people who were out on the course for the pro-am were pretty terrifying...but I do very much remember coming to #18, the par 5 around two lakes, and hitting three decent shots to get within 15 feet. With maybe 100 people in the grandstands behind the green, I made the putt for the net eagle and pumped my fist to what my mind tells me was a thunderous ovation but I'm sure was only scattered applause.

Cheers,
Darren

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

As a teenager, I played youth soccer at a rather high level and at one game we were playing an attractive side at thier place in front of 8500 people...it was a hell of a buzz..but that is a team sport and the attention is not the same as that I have experienced in front of crowds playing golf.
It is however surprisingly easy to shut the people out whilst playing...one notable exception.....
The first tee shot at Merion in the Hugh Wilson with all those people eating lunch on the patio watching and knives and forks clattering against the plates.

[Glenn Spencer]

TEP, as you probably know, it's a really cool feeling, and unless you get used to it by doing it week in and week out, it's going to affect you.  Most of the best amateur golfers only have it happen a few times a year, and I don't know how anybody can get "used to it" that few times a year.

It particularly affects teenagers because they're so "other oriented" at that age.  I have no idea how people like Michelle Wie and those Nirathpongporn kids handled it.  I exploded like a suitcase bomb at that age.  Heck, one or two people watching you at that age can get to you.  I remember one time when one of the WGA big-wigs (the guy who doled out the exemptions to the Western Amateur) decided to watch my group for a few holes when I was 14 or whatever and it affected me - and that was just one crummy guy.

I've never had any sort of gallery as an adult.  I'd imagine it's not that hard of an adjustment.  But as a kid (especially as a kid!), the only time you get anything even approaching those galleries is because they're there to see YOU IN PARTICULAR, and that's a lot of heat.  



   

Shiv,

Was it Don Johnson? I agree with you, one guy can be jsut as intimidating, if not more.

 For me, crowds bring out the best of my best and the worst of my worst, typically. Given the choice, I will take the crowd every time. I guess my "record" for following me is pretty small, 20? maybe, but I did participant in a long drive with about 1000. It was a little different, but I still say that I would have been just as nervous with 1. That 1 was Tiger and that only strengthens Shiv's argument for me.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

4-5 times a year in PGA TOUR Pro-Ams, and it is the greatest feeling in the world to make birdie with 6,000+ cheering you on!

I play in The Travelers Pro-Am on Wed at 12N off of the 10th tee with Joe Durant.  Can't wait to see the pure ball striking!

JWK

[Jeff_Brauer]

I played in the inaugural Las Vegas Pro Am in 1983, and managed an all star pairing of Fuzzy Zoellar, Cal Peete (actually a computer glitch had given two partners to Tom Watson and I lost the draw and got Cal) Gary Player, and hometown fave Jim Colbert.

First day, first shot with Fuzzy, tee is lined with thousands. He goes on to shoot a 63, which I was too nervous to even realize until I saw the scoreboard on 18, so he drew quite a crowd.  Player also drew a crowd that day, and Colbert was in contention so we had a fairly big crowd that day too.

The 18th was a reachable par 5 and as a team we had a safe lay up in play (singer Glen Campbell) so I went for it and hit the stone wall in front.  I got to hear the crowd "Oooh" for a shot, and that was enough for me.

BTW, I got less nervous and played better every day, going from about 88 to about 78 (Hard to say exactly with pick ups in team play) so you can get used to it in a hurry.

[mikes1160]

Here's one for ya TEP: as is the case at many Wednesday PGA TOUR pro-ams, the CEO of the sponsoring company usually plays with the defending champion of the tournament. Some CEOs are fine players, some okay, some far from it. The chairman of our company is, at best, a 25 handicap. Not likely to improve much. And he plays maybe four rounds a year. Yet he has teed it up with the likes of Vijay, Sean O'Hair, etc., in front of thousands of folks.......can't imagine

[David Stamm]

Does the first tee at Pebble Beach count?

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played  in a pro-am at Harbor Town GL with Arnold Palmer twenty years ago.  There were many hundreds of people following us.  I was more nervous playing in front of Arnie than the spectators.  

We played the back nine first.  I shot 39 and Arnie shot 38.  Alright I thought.  This could be good.  On the front nine I shot 40 and Arnie shot 31.  So much for that dream.  

I still remember every shot both Arnie and I hit.  I am not sure he does.  Just goes to show that I have a better memory than he does.

[Jordan Wall]

A couple of months ago, I had bombed my first day of districts an therefore was very close to making the cut the last day.  I birdied 18 to post the second best round of the day, which got me into a playoff after a measly opening round that barely made the cut.  The playoff was for two spots and one alternate spot, sufficed to say that it was pretty much a win-win situation.

So, the rest of the groups come in and before I know it the only thing I see around the tee box, besides in front of me, is people.  Probably about 300 folks.  It was as nervous as I had ever been.  I nailed a three-wood, which promptly hit a sprinkler head in the middle of the fairway and rolled under a tree (im not saying anything else, besides it was one of my best three-woods I have ever hit and just got unlucky).  I had 50 yards left (it was a 296 yard hole, into a good 25 mph breeze).  I tried to punch a 9-iron, but the club brushed a limb and I snap hooked the ball in the water.  A bogey would have gotten me to the second hole.  But, the gasp of the crowd after my water ball was so nerve-racking for me that I failed to get up and down and doubled the hole.  Great fun.