Most Interesting Playing Partner You've Been Paired With

[Shakester]

There are some characters out there, but there are also celebrities and others that you can get paired with. Is there someone that you were paired with that memorable or became a story to tell your friends?

 

Once, an Italian guy joined us for a round and he was like a character straight out of the Sopranos. He even introduced himself as Louie D and was wearing a big gold Rolex and had a cigar in his mouth the entire round. He provided us with a day of just pure entertainment. Somewhere in the middle of the round, we became pretty comfortable with each and I joked about him being in the mafia and he just laughed, but didn't deny it. Very cool guy. After the round, while changing shoes, we ran into in the parking lot and he got into a purple Lamborghini.

[LansingMI]

 

A Medical Marijuana Caregiver* that had just moved to town that week and bought a house and property DIRECTLY ADJACENT to where I lived at the time !!

 

..... I repeat ....

 

 

DIRECTLY ADJACENT TO WHERE I LIVED AT THE TIME !!

 

 

 

 

 

*In Michigan, it's a person that grows pot for up to 5 patients. Its "kind of" legal here.

[VNutz]

2 guys, Steve and his brother in law, also Steve. One insisted on our cart never being to the left of him whenever he hit the ball, only to the right, and he was a slicer...

[augustgolf]

Was much younger, and working at Breakers West GC in WPB, FL, many years ago.

 

Now, Breakers West, at that point in time, was really way west of the turnpike, and didn't get all that much play, altho, the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, who owned it, would take hotel guests out there on a shuttle to play, if they didn't have a rental car.

 

One hotel guest, an older gentleman (I would hazard a guess of around 70 or so) was out playing for a couple of days, and came into the pro shop while he waited for the shuttle after his round, and we spoke for a bit.

 

He asked me about trying to join up to play with someone, but since there weren't a lot of golfers out there at the time (around this time of year)....I told him is wasn't easy, but that I was off tomorrow, and I would be more than happy to play 18 with him. He was delighted, and we had a great round. Found out his name was Mr. Kramer, and that he was an "art appraiser" from Switzerland.

 

During our round I found out that he was staying without his family with him, and I invited him to experience a 4th of July with my ex and I...you know, hamburgers and hot dogs grilled, home made potato salad, baked beans, watermelon....the great American 4th of July tradition....and, fireworks at dark.

 

He kindly thanked my, but asked instead if my (ex)wife and I would join him for dinner at the Breakers Hotel.

 

Now, I don't know if anyone here has ever been there, but it is a truly magnificent, Old World-type of hotel, with 5-star ratings, or 4 diamond rating from Mobil....pretty heady stuff however you rate it.

 

And, I needed "permission" from top management, since I was an employee of the Breakers, which, once they found out that a hotel guest had invited me, they happily agreed to.

 

Well...once my ex got over her "WOW" impression of arriving, and we sat down to a great 7 course dinner, with 19 different attendants, from the sommelier and his assistant, to the main servers, and various helpers, right to the 3 different dessert servers. What a great meal!!!!

 

I found out later that Mr. Kramer was THE LEADING authority on antique sculptures and art - regarded as the best in the world at the time - and, that the dinner, drinks, etc for dinner that night totaled over $900 for the 3 of us.

 

But, he was the most down to earth person, willling to listen as well as talk, and had a delightful time with us...but, unfortunately, wasn't able to ever attend our 4th of July celebration.

 

I wouldn't call him the "most interesting man"...but, he definitely would be in the top 5 in my book.

[Shifty76]

Big island boy that I used to work with back in NZ.

Tats everywhere, massive afro. Showed up to play in a tank top and beach shorts. Don't recall if he had flipflops or running shoes, but definitely wasn't wearing golf shoes.

Oh, and his bag was ancient, complete with persimmon woods and old irons. Also one of those old school bronze looking putters.

 

I think he shot one over par. Turns out he was the Cook Islands golf champion a few years before he moved to NZ.

Just goes to show that appearances can be deceiving.

[Thrillhouse]

Didn't play with him but I met Lynn Swann a couple of weeks ago warming up at pebble, nice guy, he was watching me bash 7 irons and struck up a conversation, unfortunately I guess I didn't do enough in our 5 minute conversation to secure an Augusta invite lol! I took this covert pic as I was leaving the range, I guess I could have asked him for one while I was talking to him but I always think that's sort of rude in a "you should treat everyone like they're normal people kind of way".

 

Also he had a really cool "player consultant" bag from the last Ryder cup with his name on it.

 

 

[2putttom]

Two years ago I was in Nashville playin Forrest Crossing. I was with another single when we got to # 10 there was a back up. The pair waiting to tee off asked if we would join, I was obliged to do so. " Hi I'm Nathan and this is my brother Caleb we shook hands and off we went ( they were good players) Afterward we sat in the club house and enjoyed sweet tea and conversation were they invited us to their show the following week. 9 holes with the Kings of Leon !

[ThinkingPlus]

I have 3 interesting folks I got paired with.

 

Long time ago I was at a short course in Tucson. Brought my sticks and played the local municipal one early afternoon. Got paired with a nice looking guy that played fairly well, but not outstanding. Asked him if he played much during the week middle of the day and he said his job allowed him to do that. Was watching the local news that night and my golf partner that day was the sportscaster!

 

Hubby was under the weather on Thanksgiving one year when we were living in Palmdale. I stuffed him with medicine and snuck out to the golf course on the Friday after. Got paired with a threesome of guys. It was two brothers and BIL. Everyone was in town for Thanksgiving with family. One of the brothers wasn't too good. One played fairly well. BIL was stupid good. Played all Titleist equipment. Irons were blades and he hit these boring shots that looked like that had not been struck all that solidly, but just kept going and going and going. Shot the smoothest 68 from the tips (not long at 6600 yards - I have shot 72 from those tees) I have ever seen. He had a couple of eagle putts, drove a 310 par 4, and made only one bogey. Never in any serious trouble. A couple of months later I get my SCGA magazine and was checking out the results of the SCGA Mid-Am when lo and behold there is that 68 staring at me from the pages. He got 3rd that year.

 

Finally my hubby and I were playing Muroc Lakes GC at EAFB. We get paired with a young captain. In chatting with him we found out he was a B2 pilot. We were contractors working on "interesting things". We spent 18 holes talking about the weather. LOL!

[Shakester]

Didn't play with him but I met Lynn Swann a couple of weeks ago warming up at pebble, nice guy, he was watching me bash 7 irons and struck up a conversation, unfortunately I guess I didn't do enough in our 5 minute conversation to secure an Augusta invite lol! I took this covert pic as I was leaving the range, I guess I could have asked him for one while I was talking to him but I always think that's sort of rude in a "you should treat everyone like they're normal people kind of way".

 

Also he had a really cool "player consultant" bag from the last Ryder cup with his name on it.

 

 

 

Nice. I'm a huge Swann fan. Over the weekend, I just played with a guy that was here from Houston. I asked if he was a Texans fan and he said that he was "coming around" to them. Asked if he missed the Oilers and he said yes since he use to play for them. Didn't want to pry and ask for his last name, but his first name was Eric and he said he was a wide receiver and that his QB was Warren Moon. I didn't doubt it, since he looked the part, even at 54 years old. He just looked like an athlete. Did some research out of boredom at home to find an Eric that played with Warren Moon that was a receiver. Practice squad guy maybe. Not sure.

[sethdavidsdad]

This happened to my dad but I love to tell the story:

My Dad was around 70 at the time. He went out to play nine holes one day. He quickly caught up to the guys in front of him. They were playing as a five some and offered to let him play thru or join. He decided to join them. He said "I knew they must have been someone important because the guy from the proshop keep coming out and bringing them stuff and asking if they needed anything...". My wife asked "do you know who it was" My dad replied "Rio something" My wife said "REO SPEEDWAGON" My dad says "yeah, I think that's it". REO speedwagon was in town to play a concert that night and my 70 year old dad played golf with them and had no clue who they were.

[LeoLeo99]

I've never played with anyone famous. I'm sure with guys associated with the Mafia but in my neck of the woods they were not hard to come by 30 years ago.

 

One of my very first times playing as a single, my first year in college, I got paired up with another student. Guy introduces him as Gary, Gary Dimitri or whatever his name was. Up until that time, I'd only exchanged first names with the strangers on the first tee. Figured, maybe that's how it works in the big city and not my little town and local munis. So, I did the same. Leo, Leo whatever. Then the guy goes, Did you watch the school football game on Saturday?

 

No, I didn't. Why?

 

Oh, I'm the kicker on the football team and I kicked the field goal to win the game!

 

I said, That's great. What tees are we playing?

 

The guy wasn't as chatty after that.

[596]

My first round after moving back to Florida I was paired with a very nice gentleman that had retired the previous day. He was a local Circuit Court Judge. As a retired policeman we had a great time. I see him a few times a week still.

 

Play a money game a few days a week with a guy that was a fighter jet pilot in WWII. He's over 90 and still playing.

[Sean2]

I played an inner city golf course and was paired with three "gangstas". I was glad I had sunglasses on because the bling was blinding. They walked the walk, and talked the talk. They couldn't play golf worth a lick, but they had a blast, and were a lot of fun to play a round of golf with.

 

I have played with every kind of person imaginable. The beauty of this game is that not only is it a great equalizer, but it brings people from all walks of life together to share something we all love.

 

One thing golf has taught me is that as a species we have much more in common than not. All this "diversity" stuff simply divides people, not bring them together.

[Springsteennut]

I played with a guy that drank Dos Equis the whole round so he must of been the most interesting man in the world. Or the most drunk.

[MasonHAsher]

I have played with a few professionals...Patrick Rodgers being the most notable. Darius Rucker and his drummer, Mike Woodson and some players off of IU's natty team.

[cardoustie]

Moe Norman beside me on the range was fun

 

Brett Hull ... legs like Oaks

 

Two billionaires in Barbados .... their cheap old clubs had me laughing

 

Tom Cochrane was awesome

 

Had Jeter right behind me in Turks

[oso96]

The most famous would have to be Rex Tillerson

[b.helts]

Played 9 holes with Drew Barrymore and Tom Green.

 

Drew asked if she could get Tom anything and he said he needed some balls because he only had one. This was shortly after his recovery from testicular cancer. lol!

 

They were awesome. So kind and funny.

[qwetz]

played a junior tournament with Tom Kite's kid and Tom made an appearance. Pretty cool

[Shakester]

The most famous would have to be Rex Tillerson

 

Were there Secret Service people hiding in the bushes and just following him around the course?

[Bob Cat]

This happened to my dad but I love to tell the story:

My Dad was around 70 at the time. He went out to play nine holes one day. He quickly caught up to the guys in front of him. They were playing as a five some and offered to let him play thru or join. He decided to join them. He said "I knew they must have been someone important because the guy from the proshop keep coming out and bringing them stuff and asking if they needed anything...". My wife asked "do you know who it was" My dad replied "Rio something" My wife said "REO SPEEDWAGON" My dad says "yeah, I think that's it". REO speedwagon was in town to play a concert that night and my 70 year old dad played golf with them and had no clue who they were.

 

The Music Man was Ridin The Storm Out at Golden Country golf club, 157 Riverside Avenue.

 

Sorry, Time For Me To Fly... :victory:

[Bad9]

3 of us did a trip to MB in 2009 or so. At the River Course got paired up with an older guy named Ed(last name withheld in case he's still alive). He was also straight out of the Sopranos even to the point of smoking 3 near foot long cigars during the round. Said he was a retired greeting cards salesman from Philly. Yeah right. He enjoyed played with us so much he joined us for our round the next day at Willbrook. His observations on the type of "activities" southern women liked to partake in were particularly graphic and x-rated. Don't think it's possible to forget him.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Played a round with a fellow golfwrxer from out of state and we got randomly paired up with Anna Nordqvist back when she was on the Cactus/Symetra Tours a month or so before she won her first LPGA Major. She fired a smooth 68 without much effort. Did get a couple rounds of applause from her and her caddie on a great flop shot on the first and a kick in birdie later in the round. They were prepping for a tournament the next day and were more interested in scouting possible pin positions than her score that day.

 

Her stats 14/14 fairways 15 greens chipped in for birdie twice. I was a 1 at the time and kinda collapsed mid round stumbled in for 78. Made a couple birdies. We played from 7000 she played back with us except of a few of the longer par 4's and long par 3.

[Bad9]

Play a money game a few days a week with a guy that was a fighter jet pilot in WWII. He's over 90 and still playing.

 

He was German or British?

[DJShakes]

Played 9 holes about a month ago with a guy who was a "transformation coach". He worked with high-level athletes and corporate executives to transform their mental game.

 

Had worked with Shaq, Pat Riley, Paul Kariya, Doug Weight, and many others.

 

That dude was super interesting, and he was a 3 Hcp to boot.

[Hankshank]

I would say a guy who was a good friend with a good friend of mine. Him and me wasn't the greatest of buddies but we played quite a lot of rounds because of the middle guy. The guy was well shorter than 6 feet, but built like a rock. Did martial arts and whas pretty successful at that. HCP 2 and a wonderful golfer. At times. But he had a temper like a volcano, and it didn't take much to get him going. As long as you yourself wasn't in the receiving ends (like if you put your feet inside of a yard from his putting line) it was quite a show to see him in action. And no matter who made whatever got to his nerves, he galloped like a Rhino towards the villain.

 

Back in the days playing in a club close to Stockholm, I sometimes got paired with guys that was in Stockholm on conferences or conventions. Bags filled to the brim with Elephant beer. One every third hole. That got kind of interesting after a while. Our drinking habits aren't the most civilized, traditionally.

[Mcgeeno]

Carey Price from the Canadiens in a couple junior tourneys before he became who he is today. Awesome kid you could tell he was a down to earth good kid even when everyone knew he was gonna play in the NHL.

 

I played 18 with a coworker once who had one of those wal Mart half sets 1-3-5-7-9 and a putter type thing. He was actually really good. Broke 80 with ease lol and I had to birdie the last two to beat him lol.

 

He stood out because he never talked about his game or clubs just asked to join us one day if we had room. A total surprise player. Short, fat, older and pured most of his shots all day.

 

I try not to judge players by their clubs as much now lol!

[jphelpsy94]

I played a number of years back with a guy who only had one arm. He set up as a right-hander, but only had his left arm. He got around the course well considering his situation.

[oso96]

The most famous would have to be Rex Tillerson

 

Were there Secret Service people hiding in the bushes and just following him around the course?

 

They hide in the bushes or somewhere. They are very discrete. He has traveled with that kind of security since his days at XOM.

[DavePelz4]

Over the years there's been some interesting partners...

 

Zeke Bratkowski - Bart Starr's back up QB

 

Paul Mokeski - Milwaukee Bucks Center - he's 6'10" but a decent stick.

 

Dan Jansen - Olympic speed skater - drank 24 Miller Lite's in 18 holes and was straight up sober - was in training then and tried to consume 20,000 calories a day - sponsored by Miller, too.

 

Jan Stephenson - have shared that story too many times

 

Billy Casper - best hand/eye coordination I've ever seen

 

Nick Watney - incredibly nice and genuine guy

 

Several members of the Edmonton Oilers...

 

A couple of Web.com Tour players...