Where are all my non-caring peeps?

[Frank M]

I’ve been a GCA fan my whole life, but I’ve struggled to find like-minded golfers who see the game the way I do, and it has unfortunately taken away from my drive to play. Golf is in my mind a “rule-less” game. Sure, there are golf competitions, but other than taking a club and hitting the ball, I don’t subscribe to any definition of golf beyond that...it’s for each individuals enjoyment however they see fit...would be my definition.

When it comes to golf courses, I love Top 100’s, Top 1000’s, bottom 100’s and bottom 5’s. That’s not to say I don’t recognize strong GCA, it’s just to say that I like the discovery of playing a new golf course no matter how good or “bad” it is.

The more I’ve played with GCA folks the more I’ve started to not want to play with them. They tend to get lost analyzing trivial parts of a golf course, and not only is it not enjoyable to talk to them, but also to play with them. Add to that how serious they take their games and it’s just a lost cause.

My partial rant over, but where are the golfers like me? That love GCA, don’t care about any rules, enjoy playing any new golf course, and enjoy the company of other good people?

I’m struggling to find any and I dread being thought of as a GCA type/fan and all the connotations that come with it.

P.S.
If you are offended by this post for some reason, don’t be. I don’t know you.

[Jon Wiggett]

Frank,


I do not know where you are based but in the UK most of the GCAers I have met are as you describe yourself. 99% of us do not play the game anywhere near well enough to take it seriously and the 1% have mainly lost the fun element but don't realise it.

[John Kavanaugh]

If you are going to gamble you got to have rules. Besides that all my friends are in your camp.

[Frank M]

Good to know they are out there.

[John Kavanaugh]

Golfing friends are easy to make. Most guys are sick of the people they have been playing with and are easily won over. Buy a few drinks, give a few shots...run the long con.

[Kalen Braley]

Frank,


You can put me in this group.  I'm not rigid with the rules and I love exploring new courses....

[Frank M]

Frank,


You can put me in this group.  I'm not rigid with the rules and I love exploring new courses....

A round is in order then!

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Everyone plays golf for different things. I for example love hitting good shots, even if they don't end up as well as a bad shot that got a lucky break may have landed. I don't care too much how I score (though if I hit more good shots, the score generally follows). I love GCA, but don't have to talk about it with everyone I play with… and almost never do, but I'm almost always processing the architecture of the course while I'm playing, silently. And if we're not playing against each other I don't care what rules you follow or don't follow.

I think you may have just gotten stale with some people (and they with you), and you can find a new set of buddies. Or just play more as a single and see with whom you get grouped.

However you enjoy the game, keep enjoying it how you like.

[John Kavanaugh]

You know the old saying: Show me a happy foursome and I'll show you three guys looking for a new partner.


Please don't play as a single. They are the dregs of golfing society. You paid for a range. Use it!!!

[John Kavanaugh]

However you enjoy the game, keep enjoying it how you like.

The above attitude is both modern in thinking and a huge problem facing the future of the game.


To function as a great club conformity is crucial. It starts with how you dress and ends with how you play. If everyone else plays by the rules, walks or rides, plays in twosomes or foursomes, do as they do. You can enjoy yourself without getting everything you want.

[Jay Mickle]

I rarely keep score, play more difficult ground shots than easier aerial ones, sometimes play a second ball, whatever moves me. I enjoy my round no matter how I play because I've had a good walk. In competition I follow the rules.
I feel bad for the golfers who seemingly tie their self esteem to their score as they are statistically likely to shoot their handicap only 20% of the time. Likely the cause of many dour faces at the end of a round.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

The above attitude is both modern in thinking and a huge problem facing the future of the game.

Yeah, no. When the alternative is telling people "that's not golf, go away" then I don't care if people roll the ball in the fairway, don't putt out, or just like to visit the range and hit drivers. They're still "golfers" in my book, and if they aren't playing against me in a competitive situation, they can play by whatever stupid rules they want.

[James Brown]

Please don't play as a single. They are the dregs of golfing society. You paid for a range. Use it!!!

I love playing as single!

[John Kavanaugh]

Please don't play as a single. They are the dregs of golfing society. You paid for a range. Use it!!!

I love playing as single!

I am sincerely interested in why you love playing as a single. Is it your first choice when given the option of either playing alone or with friends? What goes through your mind as you play through slower groups of golfers? What is the appeal of playing alone?

[John Kavanaugh]

The above attitude is both modern in thinking and a huge problem facing the future of the game.

Yeah, no. When the alternative is telling people "that's not golf, go away" then I don't care if people roll the ball in the fairway, don't putt out, or just like to visit the range and hit drivers. They're still "golfers" in my book, and if they aren't playing against me in a competitive situation, they can play by whatever stupid rules they want.

Erik,


As one of the finest young teaching pros working today, do you ever instruct your students how to dress and conduct themselves on the course during competition? Do you believe that structure in appearance can lead to better scores?


Should any golfer care about how another golfer on an adjacent fairway is dressed?

[Jay Mickle]

I play most of my golf as a single after work. I play as many holes as I like, make up my own routing and enjoy the walk as sun filters through the majestic long leaf pines. It is only partly about the golf.

[John Kavanaugh]

Nothing wrong with playing dress up.

[Kyle Harris]

Follow the money.

[John Kavanaugh]

It wasn't until last night that I realized how many people are playing dress up in place of playing golf. I've been guilty myself with my Mackenzie bag and hickory clubs. It must be why those guys who are walking alone on adjacent fairways click their irons together hoping to catch a glance.

[Kalen Braley]

JK,

You should know full well by now the world is full of different strokes for different folks.

Some please like purely social rounds, others prefer single solitary rounds...and still others like both, like me.

Still curious why you think singles are killing the future of the game?

[Erik J. Barzeski]

As one of the finest young teaching pros working today, do you ever instruct your students how to dress and conduct themselves on the course during competition? Do you believe that structure in appearance can lead to better scores?

I extoll the virtues of pants (keep your legs in the shade, less need to apply sunscreen to your legs, modern fabrics are still breathable), and occasionally mention dress codes and things to junior golfers. But otherwise… no, not really.

Should any golfer care about how another golfer on an adjacent fairway is dressed?

I question (in my own head) the use of jeans, simply because they're far and away NOT a great fabric for athletic endeavors, but otherwise… I don't really care. And I can't remember the last time I saw someone dressed in something completely inappropriately for that particular course.

I don't really care what other people are doing, so long as it doesn't actually affect me, my rights, my enjoyment. Why should I? Why do you (if you do)?

[Peter Sayegh]

 "What is the appeal of playing alone?"
ummm...the playing.

[John Kavanaugh]

JK,

You should know full well by now the world is full of different strokes for different folks.

Some please like purely social rounds, others prefer single solitary rounds...and still others like both, like me.

Still curious why you think singles are killing the future of the game?

Because a great club brings people together. This modern notion of doing whatever you want however you want to do it is driving people apart.

[John Kavanaugh]

As one of the finest young teaching pros working today, do you ever instruct your students how to dress and conduct themselves on the course during competition? Do you believe that structure in appearance can lead to better scores?

I extoll the virtues of pants (keep your legs in the shade, less need to apply sunscreen to your legs, modern fabrics are still breathable), and occasionally mention dress codes and things to junior golfers. But otherwise… no, not really.

Should any golfer care about how another golfer on an adjacent fairway is dressed?

I question (in my own head) the use of jeans, simply because they're far and away NOT a great fabric for athletic endeavors, but otherwise… I don't really care. And I can't remember the last time I saw someone dressed in something completely inappropriately for that particular course.

I don't really care what other people are doing, so long as it doesn't actually affect me, my rights, my enjoyment. Why should I? Why do you (if you do)?

As a fat man myself I can not for the life of me understand why I am so offended by other fat men playing golf with their shirts untucked. It must be jealousy. The rules of most if not all clubs require that golfers keep their shirts tucked in so I feel obligated stay tucked despite knowing that a cool breeze is just a shirt pull away. The best I can figure is that I enjoy doing nice things and those things always seem more nice when the other people participating near you respect common decorum.


I doubt that I played a single round this year without seeing some tub-o untucked. I know when I went back and asked the playing partners of a particularly large man dressed in a bright orange untucked shirt if he was a human traffic barrier I was met with resistance. He defiantly remained untucked for the remainder of the day. It's the futility of it all that becomes offensive.

[John Kavanaugh]

I will admit one thing. People who are disrespecting the rules of a club always look like they are having a great time.