Golf question

Has anyone played golf for "a buck a hole"? I assume a lot of friends have done this. I recently played for $100 a hole and lost the first 17. We tied the last hole, so I didn't lose all 18. What a crappy day. I seem to play worse when I play for money even a buck a hole which doesn't even cover the power cart rental. Is it just me or is betting on your own game stressful?

 

First rule of gambling: If you can't afford to lose don't bet.

Second rule of gambling: If it is a penny or a thousand dollars you must use the same strategy.

Never bothers me to bet at golf I'm always playing against the course doesn't matter what my competitor does, just do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may.

 

Rule 2 may be part of the problem and rule 3 is a concern. I play against the player, if he plays poorly I seem to play poorly and if he's good then I play as well as I can. The problem is the peron I played against is a better golfer than I am but I was playing so well and it was my home course I thought it would be a close game.

P.S. The best photo/caption I've ever seen is a motorcycle rider heading pretty much straight towards a wall while he's laying the bike down with the caption reading "If you plan to beat the odds, make sure you can survive the odds beating you".

 

Golf is all about the nervous system. I grew up in a family of golf pros.

Many of my friends knew if they would play good or bad on a particular day, by the feeling they had first-thing in the morning when they woke up. On any particular day.. you feel very slight differences in your stress vs. relaxed mood.... and pros are very aware of these natural fluctuations.

I knew more touring pros seeing sports psychiatrist, then teaching pros.

I met a few F1 race car drivers, fighter pilots, and very successful Golf Pros... they all had one gift in common....very calm, cool, relaxed physiology. I'll never forget when Greg Norman choked once coming down the 18th hole during a major tournament. It just showed how important dealing with pressure is, even for the best in the game.

 

That was the 86 Masters I believe..Norman choke against Faldo.

 

You mean 1996.

 

He didn't choke "he got painted"

 

I never play for money--I'm either better than someone or not, and a buck or two aren't what rattle around in my head and make me pull a 7-iron or fluff a chip shot. I don't drink when I play, either. It just doesn't make the game any more enjoyable for me. My ideal round is playing alone in the mid-evening with the long shadows across the fairways. Then drinking afterward.

 

Lee Trevino was once asked about the pressure he felt standing over a putt to win the US Open.

His answer: "A $5 bet and only $2 in your pocket - that's pressure."

 

My dad knew Lee Trevion back when Lee didn't own a car.

I asked him how he knew that story.... and he said- "because I picked him up hitch-hiking on the way to a tournament one day".

Unfortunately, my dad played back in the 50's before you saw crazy prize money $$$. He told me that lots of they guys just wanted to make enough money to make it to the next tournament. Winning money for a set of 4 new car tires....was a really good week!

 

nice quote

 

I played my first solo round a couple weeks ago and it was probably the most relaxing couple hours I've had in years. I went early on a cool, misty Sunday morning (where the fairways are wet with dew and the air smells wonderfully of fresh cut grass) and after playing, the rest of my day was just a little better because I was so calmed and settled. It probably helped that I played about the best round of my life (which would have been nice for someone else to see), but either way, I suggest everyone play a qiuet round by themselves sometime...you'll enjoy it.

Mark

 

In the last 20 years, I've played in 20+ state Am stroke play championships, 20+ state match play championships, 10 professional events, won multiple club championships, multiple regional/area tourny champion, been ranked in side the top 50 in 2 states multiple times...yada/yada. Yet I'm never comfortable playing for money....

In a recent tourny, during the friday practice round the group directly behind me were playing a $500 Nasua.... I'd sxxt my pants.

Some people are just comfortable playing for $ and some are not...I'm not.

The juice/rush I get of coming down the strech leading the event with hundreds of people in the gallery is probably similar to rush people get from betting and wagering.

If I blow it on the last hole and lose the tourny, I've only lost the event, not any $. So am I more or less of a competitor than those who actually have something to lose if they fail???

Good question!

 

I am the exact same way. I won't even have a single beer or bloody mary! Golf requires, of me, way too much concentration. In fact, I've only had drinks twice on the golf course and couldn't stand it.

 

I've learned that golf bets with your buddies is not always a good idea (OK, there will be one or two here that will hammer this post with their snide remarks). The problem with betting on the course is that you have more tendancy to make sure your opponents are playing the rules to a tee (NPI) and when you point out the fact that they can not bump their ball, use an illegal club (Like a flat handled face chipper I use) or agrue about things like stroke and distance rules, situations can get uncomfortable. You play golf with your buddies to have fun and sometimes taking the rules to an anal level because you have a bet going takes the fun out of the reason you are our to begin with. It's sometime better to play everyone's own game and payout for fun stuff like sandy pars, longest puts sunk, most lost balls, etc!

 

Man, you and your friends are too serious. We usaully try to clarify "our rules" on the first tee, but we always bend them and make up rules as we go.

 

What's so bad about always playing by the rules? Golf is a gentleman's game after all, betting or not.

 

Funny, I used to get SOOOOO pissed if someone from another fairway would wander over and pick up my ball to check and see if it was theirs. Thankfully I've calmed down since then, lol

 

...or how about when they just pocket it? Seeing the guy and demanding the ball back is always fun!