I’ve been playing a lot of golf lately and I’ve started to dissect and analyze why I play so well some days and so poorly on others. I’ve decided to attribute it to 2 things – playing partners and the difficulty of the course. I played Torrey Pines South Course and TPC Scottsdale Stadium course with random playing partners and my father. I shot a 93,95 respectively. I started out playing horribly and could never find a way to connect with my playing partners; either they were absolutely horrible and had to finish each hole outright which equaled super slow play or where just not very social people. When I played Morgan & Run and TPC Champions I shot 81,82 respectively. At Morgan & Run I had 2 hilarious playing partners who were great players and had great sense of humors. At TPC Champions it was just me and my dad. These two courses were a lot easier than the previous 2 but I’m not certain that they are 12 strokes more difficult.
So, the question now is how do you find the right group of people to go play golf with. Honestly I believe it comes down to a little bit of luck and trial and error. In this post however my goal isn’t to help you find your group but to help you know what to look for in people.
My perfect foursome would include someone who knows a lot about golf and the golf course (this way if I need a quick swing fix or a tip on where to hit the ball he or she will be there when I need them.) It would also include someone who is very laid back with a great sense of humor, always throwing the dirty golf jokes out at us. The third person in my group would be a great listener or a therapist type, so if I do go into a rut they can help dig me out. And then of course the last person would be me who would bring a little bit of reason and a calming effect for the group. These dynamics I believe go very well together and are what are needed for a great 4 hour round on the golf course.
So this is my perfect foursome, but I bet some of you out there might have other opinions. I’d love to hear your thoughts – so go ahead and post them below so we can get a discussion going!