Another stupid poll

[ejvogie]

Situation arose at random dubs last night.

Longtime area golfer gets paired with a partier, who quickly gets hammered* along with the other team on the card. He's pissed the entire round, and even though he's tied for last cash, leaves his partner, who is forced to play off without him.

*Hammered - The other card were both 950+ rated local pros. Tied for first. Both missed a 20' putt on the first hole of the playoff. Badly.

The question:

Is the old guy overreacting, or should the young buck have cut back some since they were playing for money?

Caveat:

Had they finished 2 strokes better, they would have taken 1st place outright.

 

[AndyJB]

This is a tough question to answer without knowing ALL the facts....like: is drinking normally a thing that happens during your doubles? Is the drunkard a regular? Do the drunkard and the old salt know each other and, more importantly, get along normally? Were words exchanged before the blow-up?

But as a general rule, if you're playing for money, you need to take it pretty seriously...especially with a partner. I drink a lot when I play disc golf, but only during casual rounds. I never imbibe during any sort of competition...skins, bragging right, tourney, whatever. And I'm pretty outspoken about the other stuff during playing as well.

All in all, there are lots of ways to play the game. But if you are playing for that moolah, it's kind of outspoken that this is not the time to fart around and get schmamerred. Just my two cents.

 

[DiscinFiend]

I think that drinking during casual rounds is completely fine but when it comes time to get the mula you should cut back a little on the consumption.

 

[notroman]

I used to play a local weekly league around here. I wasn't a regular, but I've been making an appearance on/off for the past 6 years. I know everyone there. Last time I attended my partner and I were shooting really well, but not as hot as the other two guys on our card who literally birdied every hole you could get. We were only down by one stroke though, so game wasn't over. On the 16th hole my partner decides to take a smoke/drink break. They all proceed to pass around a joint while cracking open their beers. Next thing I know some kids pass by offering to sell shrooms. They all jump on the opportunity and get that too.

My partner and I are chasing one stroke with 3 holes left to go, and everyone is literally getting drunk and high for 15 minutes. I don't do either, and honestly don't care when others do it, but this just made no sense to me. Why not just hold off for 3 holes? I really wanted to chase that stroke down and win the thing. Anyway, we continue with birdies on 16 and 17. Hole 18 my drive goes OB and my partner just misses the fairway and goes into tall grass. We search for over 20 minutes for his disc as he gets belligerent and angry while the other guys are staring at the sky and laughing because the shrooms are starting to kick in. Eventually my partner gives up and doesn't even want to finish out the hole. I wasted my time and money. I haven't been back to that league since.

There have been many other instances where I drew partners with people that had getting drunk on their priority list right above winning leagues. Many times these are friends. Again, to each his own, but if you're going to drink I would appreciate it if you knew your limits. I'm counting on at least some help. I remember being really excited to draw a local pro for doubles when I was first starting out. He was so drunk he couldn't even stand behind the mini without stumbling over. It was a terrible experience.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Assuming it's not against park or league rules, it's a drunkard's right to get hammered, but that doesn't make it right. It's a dubs league for cash. That means you have a teammate depending on you at least being in condition to pull whatever portion of your weight your skill level allows you to pull.

IMO - no different than showing up plastered for a beer league softball game and letting your team down cause you couldn't even come close to hitting slow pitch.

You wanna get wasted during a casual solo round or with friends that are OK with it (even if money's on the line): no problem.

Doing so in a random draw dubs league is just disrespectful to your partner. Dude has every right to be pissed.

I'd rather have a n00b (who at least tried) for a partner than a "skilled" player who got sh**faced.

$0.02

 

[nolangherity]

i would keep the disc. finders keepers yanno. dont care about ink.

 

[DiscinFiend]

i would keep the disc. finders keepers yanno. dont care about ink.

I hope your joking.

 

[pmatt1969]

Common sense says when playing for cash you hold down the boozing.

 

[btothej89]

i play in a monthly am tournament series here in germany. No doubles, no money on the line, just pride and bragging rights.
First beer gets opened when ALL the scores are in.
If someone would over shrooms or anything like this he would get a lifetime ban for that series.

Drinking beer on a casual round...why not..but when it matters, stay the f... clean and sober.

 

[MrFixIt]

Playing for cash in a league/tourney = stay sober and professional, but have some fun.

Playing a casual round w/ some friends = have fun.

 

[tomdizzlefizzle]

League dub rds are cheap and meant to be fun. Get hammered drunk if you like I wont mind.

 

[Old Dog]

If my hard earned cash is on the line you better believe I would be ticked if my partner got tanked or stoned.

You know you guys are really beginning to scare me. I thought this would be a good family activity for me to participate in with my wife and 14 year old daughter but if public intoxication, drug use and fist fights (posted about in another thread) are the norm I'm beginning to have reservations. This is not the kind of crap I want my family around.

I used to think disc golfers were laid back, friendly, easy going folks just out to enjoy nature, some exercise and a good time. Now I'm actually having serious reservations about getting involved in this sport at all.

I may just stick to shooting guns. Gun owners seem to be a lot more responsible.

 

[DiscHurler]

@Old Dog: You're overlooking the ~99.9% of all rounds that nobody feels like posting about because they played about average and nothing noteworthy happened.
Just like McDonald's doesn't get a million reviews per day reading "Was as expected".

 

[gdub58]

I share the opinion that if you have a partner and money is on the line you should treat it seriously, but where do you draw the line? At our random dubs we have one guy who regularly brings his little kid with him, and my partner this week had his dog with him that just wandered around without any guidance from the owner - walking in front of the other team when they are trying to putt, sniffing around the teepad when people are trying to tee off, etc.

I treat weekly dubs as seriously as a sanctioned tournament because I love the competition, but I am not going to be "that guy" and tell the dude that his goofy dog needs to stay home. If it gets to the point of botherhing me that much I will be the one that stays home...

 

[bnbanbury]

I don't like playing with people who are pissed drunk or stoned out of their mind regardless of whether money is on the line. I routinely skip out on groups of local guys playing doubles in favor of playing a solo round just because i find it irritating to be in the company of guys who are getting hammered.

 

[Smigles]

No easy answer, the two have to decide for themselfs.

If one is in it to compete for the money and the other is just a party head who just wants to chill and get drunk, then we have a conflict of interests and the two should probably organise their own partners.

If it was a random partner draw, then you can always expect something like this to happen and should not get angry. If you really want to be competitive you shouldnt play random tournaments anyway.

Anyway, to me it is a bad sign if you "play for cash". I wouldnt agree to that. But I probably also would not agree on a totally wasted partner anyway.

 

[bradharris]

Is the old guy overreacting, or should the young buck have cut back some since they were playing for money?

There are two questions here.

To answer the first, no I don't think the old guy is overreacting. He clearly was not having a good time, he played the round to conclusion but had no interest in continuing into a last cash playoff. So he gave up any prize money he could have won, leaving his partner to play for it himself. I don't begrudge him for leaving. It may have been different if it was a playoff for first, but last cash is a bit different.

For the second: It really depends on the league. I've played plenty of events (doubles and singles) that were more focused on socializing and partying than disc golf. In that type of atmosphere, it's not unreasonable to get a little carried away.

 

[tomdizzlefizzle]

Most people I know drink a couple beers and are responsible about it. The Ball golfers I know are worse . Sorry you have bad opinions on drinking. I feel its my privilege(which I dont abuse) and its allowed on my courses. I dont always drink but league rds where I tend to socialize more I will. A lot of disc golfers are of the age where they like to drink

 

[NOStheBOSS]

@Old Dog: You're overlooking the ~99.9% of all rounds that nobody feels like posting about because they played about average and nothing noteworthy happened.
Just like McDonald's doesn't get a million reviews per day reading "Was as expected".

yep. "silent majority"

 

[bnbanbury]

Most people I know drink a couple beers and are responsible about it. The Ball golfers I know are worse . Sorry you have bad opinions on drinking. I feel its my privilege(which I dont abuse) and its allowed on my courses. I dont always drink but league rds where I tend to socialize more I will. A lot of disc golfers are of the age where they like to drink

I don't think anyone has been discussing having a couple of beers responsibly or having a negative opinion on drinking in general. Getting hammered at the bar is one thing. Having a few beers at the course is one thing. Getting sloppy drunk while playing a round where something is on the line is something else.