Rando Stories

[JetSpeed]

The pet peeves thread got me thinking about some recent rando pairings. These were more amusing than annoying so I thought they deserved their own thread:


Random Old Guy: 150yd shot from the fairway. He’s hitting some kind of hybrid. Gets it about 2ft off the ground. It‘s got some heat on it and bounces maybe 50 times while running up to the green. As it’s going across the green and off the back he yells “Bite!!” (he was dead serious). I was standing right next to him and it was all I could do to keep a straight face. Nice guy and I enjoyed having him in our group but that made me laugh.


Mickey: Nice older guy. Looked like Santa’s younger brother. Called himself by name every time he made a mistake. “Oh Mickey! Oh Mickey! Mickey Mickey Mickey Mickey!” I think I heard that word 200 times that day. We were like Jeez! I wonder if his wife ever says his name that much?


Cart Girl Creeper: Plays with our threesome semi regularly. Nice enough guy, but on a looks scale of 1 to 10 he is about a -4 (so am I but at least I’m aware of it). Hits on the cart girls relentlessly, like he's at a strip club (he’s also about 60 and they are maybe 18?). “Hey beautifulllllllll… blah blah blah, gross gross gross”. Those girls always maintain their composure so well. You have to respect it. I can almost feel them shiver when they drive away though.


I feel like we have all run across so many of these. Not so much annoying, just quirky and entertaining. The weirder the pairing the better the story! What have you guys got?

 

[MtlJeff]

I was playing a public track once as a threesome, and a guy walked up behind us and asked if he could join us for the front 9, he had gone off as a single and we were on the 2nd hole. He looked and dressed like Jesus, like, ratty clothes, full beard and long hair plus was wearing sandals. He also was carrying 3-4 clubs and did not have a golf bag.

So, this was interesting. He proceeded to shoot like +1 for the remaining 8 holes. And was actually an incredibly nice guy. LOL. But i'll always remember that rando pairing for sure

 

[JetSpeed]

I was playing a public track once as a threesome, and a guy walked up behind us and asked if he could join us for the front 9, he had gone off as a single and we were on the 2nd hole. He looked and dressed like Jesus, like, ratty clothes, full beard and long hair plus was wearing sandals. He also was carrying 3-4 clubs and did not have a golf bag.

So, this was interesting. He proceeded to shoot like +1 for the remaining 8 holes. And was actually an incredibly nice guy. LOL. But i'll always remember that rando pairing for sure

I think you may have played with the dude.

 

[tdinbr]

Every year my whole family rents a house for a week on Pensacola beach on Santa Rosa island. A couple of years ago I went and played the Pensacola Muni course as a solo and I get paired up with an older couple, like in their 70's I'm guessing. No problem for me, as I expected to get paired up and enjoy playing with others.

They seem nice and friendly and all is good. He's swing is OK but a bit erratic, so he's sometimes left, sometimes right of the fairways, about 200 yds off the tee max. Meanwhile, his wife hits it dead straight every time, about 150 yards max.

When we get on the first green, everything changes. They are out for blood against one another. Turns out they like to travel and play a lot, and play each other for who's cooking dinner that evening. He would make a putt to beat her on the hole and say, "Looks like fried chicken for us tonight!" When she would make one it was, "Where should we go out to tonight?"

Oh the language I heard that day when either of them would miss a short one! I learned some new "golf phrases" that day.

It was one of the best times I've ever had playing a vacation round with strangers.

 

[tucsoncacti]

Cart Girl Creeper: Plays with our threesome semi regularly. Nice enough guy, but on a looks scale of 1 to 10 he is about a -4 (so am I but at least I’m aware of it). Hits on the cart girls relentlessly, like he's at a strip club (he’s also about 60 and they are maybe 18?). “Hey beautifulllllllll… blah blah blah, gross gross gross”. Those girls always maintain their composure so well. You have to respect it. I can almost feel them shiver when they drive away though.

This disturbs me. And sometimes the girls play it up to get bigger tips. Which makes it even worse.

 

[Bus]

Mickey: Nice older guy. Looked like Santa’s younger brother. Called himself by name every time he made a mistake. “Oh Mickey! Oh Mickey! Mickey Mickey Mickey Mickey!” I think I heard that word 200 times that day. We were like Jeez! I wonder if his wife ever says his name that much?

I do this too, but only a couple of times a round usually. Something along the lines of, "what in the f**k was that, Justin!"

 

[Sean]

Cart Girl Creeper

I'm a senior and when I see guys my age kinda flirting with the cart girl I just cringe. She's being nice because she has to be, but I know she is thinking, "FO dude" lol.

I was paired with a 3some last year and got to talking to one of the guys, who was in his 50s and just picked up the game. I asked him what prompted him to take up golf and he said he has such a wonderful life he needed something that would aggravate him.

A couple of years ago I was paired with three women. On one hole I left a putt short and asked the ladies what they call a put that's left short (I was curious as I hear guys say "Alice" or some such occasionally). One woman looked at me and said [begins with a "p" and is an alternate name for a cat] lol.

 

[JetSpeed]

A couple of years ago I was paired with three women. On one hole I left a putt short and asked the ladies what they call a put that's left short (I was curious as I hear guys say "Alice" or some such occasionally). One woman looked at me and said [begins with a "p" and is an alternate name for a cat] lol.

Some of my favorite rounds have been as a single in groups like this. I know they’d rather be by themselves so I just try to keep out of their way and not spoil their good time. Maybe a few light jokes or compliments here and there, but mainly just try and lay low. Usually after a few holes they realize you aren’t a tool and include you more and it’s a really fun day. Those ladies can be savage with each other. It’s great.

 

[bkuehn1952]

I have a hundreds of tales as I pair up a lot.

I join Harry on the first tee. As we play the first hole he tells me he is from Lake Charles, Louisiana. He is at the Univ.of Michigan Hospital being treated for aphasia which he suffers from after a recent stroke. He knows what things are, like a ball washer, but no longer remembers the name of the object. So as we played our twilight nine holes, he would point at things and I would tell him the name, or I would ask Harry if he knew what I was pointing at.

 

[Slot708]

Cart Girl Creeper:

My niece worked at a country club last summer as a beverage cart girl. She is in her junior year of college. So the extra funds for big outings and weekend play helped pay for her tuition. It’s a very busy club if you catch it at the right time.

Anyways, one of the weekend end groups basically is made up of the board members. The vice president (who is a well known business man) and his son play in this group. His son is late 20’s early 30’s.So one night after she got out of work at home she got a knock at her parents door. It was the vice presidents son knocking and he brought her roses. He must have followed her home one night and knew where she lived.

Long story, my niece’s dad called the club the very next morning. Saying how inappropriate and scary this situation was. The club basically covered it up.And they reduced her hours and stuck her on the days when play was slow and tips were slim. So moral of the story, some people think that there are no boundaries. And golfers can be some of the biggest weirdos around.

 

[Sean]

Some of my favorite rounds have been as a single in groups like this. I know they’d rather be by themselves so I just try to keep out of their way and not spoil their good time. Maybe a few light jokes or compliments here and there, but mainly just try and lay low. Usually after a few holes they realize you aren’t a tool and include you more and it’s a really fun day. Those ladies can be savage with each other. It’s great.

It's always fun getting paired with the ladies. A couple of other things I've observed, first they play golf and not "ego", and secondly, if they hit a bad shot you rarely see any theatrics.

 

[MtlJeff]

Cart Girl Creeper:

My niece worked at a country club last summer as a beverage cart girl. She is in her junior year of college. So the extra funds for big outings and weekend play helped pay for her tuition. It’s a very busy club if you catch it at the right time.

Anyways, one of the weekend end groups basically is made up of the board members. The vice president (who is a well known business man) and his son play in this group. His son is late 20’s early 30’s.So one night after she got out of work at home she got a knock at her parents door. It was the vice presidents son knocking and he brought her roses. He must have followed her home one night and knew where she lived.

Long story, my niece’s dad called the club the very next morning. Saying how inappropriate and scary this situation was. The club basically covered it up.And they reduced her hours and stuck her on the days when play was slow and tips were slim. So moral of the story, some people think that there are no boundaries. And golfers can be some of the biggest weirdos around.

Much more likely he got her address from the club if her dad is a big wig there. Also probably why they covered it up, because they also knew where the info came from

At our club all of the servers' last names are never mentioned, even in pictures and stuff we do for our instagram page.

The most common reason for members to be suspended at our club is harrassment of staff. And i would say we actually have a pretty good club---this is just how common this is.

 

[MtlJeff]

If you want "good golfer" problems....i have plenty of those stories for which none of you will pity me...but anyway

It's very common when i get paired with random people, for them to quickly start apologizing after every poor shot. Because i'm a +2 and i guess they assume that i hate playing with novice golfers. Nothing could be further from the truth and i play with golfers of all abilities. But it is definitely a common theme

One time i was paired at a local course with a man and his wife (i was playing with a friend who is not a member at my club, so we agreed to play a public course we both liked). The man was probably a 15-17 index and his wife was a beginner. He was mortified as soon as i hit my first tee shot and already was like "look man we're not good, but i promise you we'll play fast". i immediately told him something like "Dude it's a gorgeous day and i'm just happy to be out here, let's just have a good time don't stress" ....So right off the bat, his wife hits kind of a dribbler off the first tee and he hurries her along. For a few holes he's getting almost like visibly upset with her, and she starts apologizing to me after every swing.....Keep in mind EVERY time i am saying "don't worry guys just have fun, i'm having a great time out here, we were all beginners once" etc and stuff like that

Finally after like 7-8 holes i got angry with them for their apologizing, and was like "You're not having fun, start having fun! I get it, i'm good ....look at the guy i'm playing with (my friend was like also a 15) does he look like Phil Mickelson? Do i look like someone who's out here pouting? For gods sake start having fun, no one cares if you miss a shot, we're all nice!"

After that the round got a lot better LOL

 

[MacTourney]

Long ago playing as a single was paired with a father-daughter, he in his 60's maybe, she in her forties. Was expecting a longer afternoon as I was young and extremely naive in those days thinking I was paired with a couple weekend chops. First tee we all looked about the same with no warmup, going from car to tee, not the best results.

But from that point forward it was obvious both could really play. Turns out they were active tournament tested amateurs with good playing resumes, and he taught her the game. I can still sense the competition they had between them- they were going after each other while going after the course. The day was a special kind of daddy-daughter dance for them way above chop level. I recall having so much fun watching and being a part of that special something. Must have been a good memory, and lesson too, as its presence remains.

 

[bkuehn1952]

Story #2

I wandered down to the 1st tee to join a walking twosome. It appeared to be a father and son. We introduced ourselves and it quickly became apparent they were not from the USA. The older gentleman was from France and he was in Ann Arbor to help his 20-something son settle in Ann Arbor to pursue a Ph. D. in Naval Architecture at the U of M. Both spoke English much better than I spoke French. Neither of them were particularly good but we had a good time. At the end of the round we said au revoir.

About 4 years later I wandered down to the 1st tee to join a walking twosome. It appeared to be a father and his 20-something son. We said hello and teed off. The older man had a French accent. The son spoke perfect English. As we walked up the 1st fairway I was sort of checking out the father and thinking, “could this be …” He must have been thinking the same thing. Yep, this was the same duo I had joined 4 years ago. The son now had his Ph. D. and the father was there to help his son move back to France. Also, while the father still was a novice, the son, however, was a very solid player. He clearly had not spent the entire 4 years just studying naval architecture.

 

[MtlJeff]

Oh i have another one, and this guy was very nice so i'm not making fun....it was just kinda funny. So one time i was joined by this guy who was about 80yrs old, and clearly used to be a good golfer. I would later find out he used to play in top am events in the province. He could still get the ball around fairly well

So anyway, he sees that i am a really good golfer so starts asking me if i play in events, which i said i did. So he would start asking me if i knew this person or that person. Occasionally i did.....problem was, he didn't really have any concept of time. I told him i was 40 during the conversation for reference

So one time he's like, "do you know John Smith" and i was like no i don't know him sorry. And he'd respond something like "oh, he was the club champion at Riverside in '63 through '65 " ....i mean i was born in 1981 lol. 90% of his stories and people were from like 20-30yrs before i was born, and he was asking me if i played with them. I think once he asked me if i knew a guy who had died in the 70s.

Anyway, he was super nice so it was just kind of funny. I wasn't annoyed because i'd love to be able to play golf at 80. I just thought at one point he was gonna start telling me stories of the boer war or something

 

[pumbaa]

@Thrillbilly Jim and myself got paired up with a random at tobacco road. This dude named Roger was like 5'5 but wanted to fight the young group of kids in front of us. This dude was legit getting heated and about 5 seconds from throwing hands with a bunch of like 15 year old kids.

 

[Thrillbilly Jim]

@Thrillbilly Jim and myself got paired up with a random at tobacco road. This dude named Roger was like 5'5 but wanted to fight the young group of kids in front of us. This dude was legit getting heated and about 5 seconds from throwing hands with a bunch of like 15 year old kids.

True Story

 

[MtlJeff]

@Thrillbilly Jim and myself got paired up with a random at tobacco road. This dude named Roger was like 5'5 but wanted to fight the young group of kids in front of us. This dude was legit getting heated and about 5 seconds from throwing hands with a bunch of like 15 year old kids.

You would have been linked with him forever to those kids LOL.....they would have thought you were his friends!

 

[JetSpeed]

Oh i have another one, and this guy was very nice so i'm not making fun....it was just kinda funny. So one time i was joined by this guy who was about 80yrs old, and clearly used to be a good golfer. I would later find out he used to play in top am events in the province. He could still get the ball around fairly well

So anyway, he sees that i am a really good golfer so starts asking me if i play in events, which i said i did. So he would start asking me if i knew this person or that person. Occasionally i did.....problem was, he didn't really have any concept of time. I told him i was 40 during the conversation for reference

So one time he's like, "do you know John Smith" and i was like no i don't know him sorry. And he'd respond something like "oh, he was the club champion at Riverside in '63 through '65 " ....i mean i was born in 1981 lol. 90% of his stories and people were from like 20-30yrs before i was born, and he was asking me if i played with them. I think once he asked me if i knew a guy who had died in the 70s.

Anyway, he was super nice so it was just kind of funny. I wasn't annoyed because i'd love to be able to play golf at 80. I just thought at one point he was gonna start telling me stories of the boer war or something

Gotta love it. I hope I’m still able to get out there at that age. The older you get, the more of a pass people give you on the eccentric behavior. I can only imagine what I’ll be like.

I was at REI years ago looking at shoes on a wall. There was an 80 something year old guy about 10ft from me doing the same. No one else around. Out of nowhere he ripped the biggest loudest fart I’ve ever heard. He didn’t react at all, just kept staring straight ahead. I was floored, and frankly a little jealous. I’ve never experienced that level of freedom and inhibition. Something to look forward to.

 

[Danimal]

I’m going to be a rando this Friday when I play at the Lake of the Ozarks. I will try to be an odd as possible to give the twosome a story. Shouldn’t be too difficult.

 

[pumbaa]

You would have been linked with him forever to those kids LOL.....they would have thought you were his friends!

We were like man it's not that serious. He was all riled up they were on their second play through and we were on our first and they were walking and taking pictures. My dude it's not that serious. Chilllllll

 

[JohnSinVA]

@Thrillbilly Jim and myself got paired up with a random at tobacco road. This dude named Roger was like 5'5 but wanted to fight the young group of kids in front of us. This dude was legit getting heated and about 5 seconds from throwing hands with a bunch of like 15 year old kids.

“Don’t be a Roger.”

 

[blugold]

Random Old Guy: 150yd shot from the fairway. He’s hitting some kind of hybrid. Gets it about 2ft off the ground. It‘s got some heat on it and bounces maybe 50 times while running up to the green. As it’s going across the green and off the back he yells “Bite!!” (he was dead serious). I was standing right next to him and it was all I could do to keep a straight face. Nice guy and I enjoyed having him in our group but that made me laugh.

I say that all the time when I play. If it chunk a chip, I yell "RELEASE!". If I catch it thin, "BITE!"

It's a coping mechanism

 

[Sean]

I've known Megan Khang (LPGA Tour) since she was 10 years old. One day we were on the first tee, playing the black tees. It was me, Meg, her father, and a mutual friend. Meg was around 14 years old at the time. We were getting ready to tee off and a 4some pulls up behind us. They see Meg playing from the back tees, start rolling their eyes and mumbling. She hit her tee shot around 240 right down the middle. The look on their faces was priceless.