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played w/ a buddy of mine today who's a scratch golfer and really long off the tee.......and i have to admit, it got in my head......par'd the first two holes and then found myself trying to kill all my shots.......the end result, a horrible slice........at one point i sliced a 7 iron, not only missing the green but landing in a completely different fairway.......it took a 46 on the front nine and getting run over by a golf cart at the turn ( a whole different story....lol) for me to calm down and play my game.......turned it around and shot one over on the back...........

afterwards, i was thinking about how i've played with him in the past and realized that this is pretty typical of our rounds together for me........horrible front side, calming down, and a good back nine........i was wondering if any of you guys have certain people that do this to you? people that chip and putt real well, or throw darts w/ their irons, or like my friend hit it a long ways, and you let it affect the way YOU play.

man i feel ya. I dont like getting hit past either. Also good putters unnerve me. For me, staring down 8-12 foot putts i know i have a good shot because i practice these putts. But when someone else is standing over them i expect them to at least 2 putt from there. When they are draining them all day from all over i start getting antsy. I start trying to force shots which turn into snap hooks for me. Getting hit past bothers me but not as much as good putters. I almost cheered the other day when someone missed a putt who had been sinking them all day!!!! that would of have been bad.

I have recently been able to catch on quickly when i start letting someone else game get to me. Usually lasts about one hole anymore.

I play better when it's me and my dad than when it's me and a bunch of friends fooling around

i seem to get this when i play in compititions??for the last few years i have played steady all winter but as soon as the season starts(and playing of the back tees) i seem to speed my swing up and my scores rocket.am trying to work on this part of my game so i can get my handicap down this year

The only people that affect me are random people who are always in a hurry for some reason. They give you four footers because they would rather wait an extra 30 seconds behind the next group which is still teeing off. Or they walk ahead to the green after they've hit their shot and then thoughts of accidentally hitting them start entering my head.

I play better when I play with better players. I think part of it is, I know I have the ability to at least par every hole without swinging for the fences. What makes me play better is the concentration aspect of it. I'm really competitive but for me, it's not about hitting it the farthest. It's about how many shots it takes to get the ball in the cup.

It used to ... but playing in so many tourney's you learn to just play your game. Matter of fact , I hardly pay attention to what others are doing in either tourney or casual play. Sure , I say the ' good shot thing ' but reality is Im into my game.
I used to play alot of golf with a scratch golfer , to much actually. Not many others would play with him ... now I know why. He grates on you after awhile and becomes real annoying when there are others in the group he is trying to impress. So I avoid that for the most part.

On this subject line , one of my favorite golf lines is by Hale Irwin, you know Mr. Personality. Anyway , Mark O'Meara is just beginning on tour. He is paired with Irwin and is playing ******. MOM says as they are walking up 18 " sorry about my play today Mr. Irwin " ... Hale Irwin looks at him with a annoyed look on his face and says " the sooner you learn noone really gives a **** about how you play up here , the better off your going to be " ..... end of story.

Not exactly how I feel about others I play with but close

Not so much now, but in the earlier more inexperienced days they would have an effect.

One time I played with a couple of guys that could have been right from the movie "Grumpy Old Men', and one of them had the foulest mouth I've ever heard. Almost everytime he would hit a tee shot a string of obscenities would flow out of his mouth after he hit the ball. Yelling it too. I can still hear that **** you you mother **** ' ringing in my ears that that was a couple years ago now.

Definitely. How to fix it is still in the works

It does have an effect. I play better with good players, but only if they have a good time. I really don't care what anyone shoots, as long as they keep up the pace and enjoy themselves. Some of my favorite rounds are with guys shooting 100+. If people get mad or take themselves WAY too seriously, I just tune them out. I'm with McGuire about tournament play; I barely notice what the other players are doing. Except in match play that is, you have to be aware of what your opponent is doing (and thinking).

Darling Hubby makes me nervous. He would never critique one of the guys but the kids and I get "Are you sure you want to use that club?", "Great Shot!", "Can I just tell you one little thing that might help?". He means well but the cumulative effect of feeling like I'm playing under a microscope gets me irritable by the tenth hole and I start hacking. I can't imagine how the pros manage to keep it cool with thousands watching and commenting on them.

lol I have affected strangers play many times. I have seen people I get paired up with start off great then after watching me come apart and start hacking they do also. By the end of the round they are off to get a lesson to get fixed again.

I prefer to play with people that are better than me. It makes me try to step up and play right along side of them. And in return I usually post a better score. I have no problem playing with people that are higher handicaps than me but when I do I notice that my score is a little higher. I feel that is from alot of standing around. Getting out of a rythem.

Are you sure there lousy swing doesn't get in your head? I swear I have done that to people.

It's not their game that gets to me but how they go about their game on the course. For instance, the one guy I play golf with when I golf other than solo used to take 3 practice swings every time before he hit a ball and the stroke at the ball was nothing like two of the three previous swings. I got him to knock out two and just go with one and he started hitting better shots and was way more consistant. He sometimes has to laser shots from 20-30 yds out which drives me nuts. He never allows a ball wash to go unused. He uses old shag balls that he finds but then has to wash them every hole.