Dealing with playing partners is part of the challenge

CADDIE'S ROLE:Mature golfers must learn to block out the impact of their playing partners if necessary

SAM SNEAD played golf in an era that tolerated intolerant characters. He always said what he thought and never delayed an interview by pausing for the subconscious censor.

He was paired with a little known southern African, Retief Waltman, in a tournament in the US one Saturday and ended up playing pretty badly. In his interview after the round Snead said: “When you get drawn with crap, you play like crap.”

A rather harsh statement even by his own low diplomatic standards, but he did get his sentiments across quite bluntly.

Like most candid opinions, Snead’s statement echoed many players’ sentiments about who they get drawn to play with each week. The draw is supposed to be random with players of certain categories playing together, but of course there are always exceptions.

Golfers tend to influence their own games according to who they play with. This can be both positive and negative but really should have very little impact on a serious professional golfer. They should be able to block out the impact of their playing partners if they are negative and feed off it if they are positive.

It is easier said than done and frequently plays on the minds of golfers from the time the weekly first two-round draw is made. I have often encountered a bad attitude from a player I was working for concerning the draw from early in the week. Despite the social aspect of the game it is important to be able to get into your own playing bubble no matter who you get drawn with.

Many of us draw blanks about who we were out with when discussing our player’s rounds with colleagues. When we were in Portugal a couple of weeks ago a group of us got together for dinner after the first day’s play.

As some of us were trying to remember who we played with, a story ensued about one player’s outburst with another during their first round. It was animated enough to have visibly shocked some seasoned caddies.

There are naturally many languages spoken on tour and obviously something was said in a native tongue that was directed at a playing partner which was less than complimentary.

The third player was caught between the two feuding players, and, being versed in many languages, he ended up translating the offensive outburst. This led to a verbal retaliation from the offended player and an overall ugly scene.

Golf is a particularly egotistical game in which many of those who play it for a living would prefer to play on their own. First out means you are not doing very well on the weekend. With an uneven number of players making the cut sometimes the first player out has to play on his own. Many would tacitly prefer their own company on the course, it is one distraction less to deal with.

Seeing how many golfers who try to play a practice round on their own is an indication of their desire for solitude.

When caddies split with players there is an uncanny coincidence of the player getting drawn to play shortly after with the player that the ex-caddie is working for. It can cause some tension but is just another little test of a player’s ability to get into their playing zone.

I remember Tiger Woods being quite aware of how quiet my former boss Retief Goosen could be on the golf course. Although Tiger would never admit a weakness or hint at anyone or thing being able to extract him from his playing bubble, I got the feeling Retief actually intimidated the mighty Tiger with his reticence. He mentioned to me he was amazed that a man could go an entire round without uttering a word to his playing partners.

Goosen is a quiet man, it is his way. Unlike other vociferous players who are less intimidating but equally as distracting with their ability to talk throughout their round. Dealing with who you are playing with is part of the mental challenge of the too-often selfish and isolated game of golf.

The feuding players in Portugal, through a mature caddie, got together before the second round and sorted out their differences before they teed off.

Sometimes it takes an eruption to clear the air and find some common ground with fellow competitors in a game that rarely calls for any great compromise.

When the third-round draw for the Portugal Masters was made, Soren Kjelsden and his caddie’s spirits were dampened when they saw who they were to play with on Saturday; the amiable and courteous Peter Lawrie. Peter is a gentleman to play with. The Dane’s problem was one of bad memories and association and not bad company. He had played with Lawrie a number of times throughout the year and hadn’t bettered 74 on each occasion.

I don’t think Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were over-excited at having to play with each other in the Ryder Cup in Detroit when the American captain Hal Sutton thought it would be a good idea to put the two together. The effect, as the results reflected, was negative.

As solitary as the game is, we are not islands and have to deal with company when we play the game. It’s hard to adopt a good attitude when playing with someone you don’t particularly like but the chances are over a long career you are going to have to get your head around it in order to perform.

I suppose the unfortunate Retief Waltman had been excited about getting drawn with the legendary Sam Snead but the reality was a disappointment especially with Snead’s less than complimentary comments about him. Learning how to deal with undesirable playing partners is part of the process of becoming a mature golfer.