OK, I'm trying to figure out if I'm off base here or not. I play in a fun league Saturday morning's during the winter. Its a good mix of Ams and us veteran players. Usually we split pools - one for Pros one for Am to keep it fair and fun for everyone. I end up cashing more times than not, and I am a bit of a stickler for courtesy. Sure lets have fun, but when people are throwing let them throw.
Saturday morning there were 8 of us so we just played random draw dubs. My foursome we had two of us "pro" / serious players paired with am / less serious players. The am on the other team is a bit of a goof ball who tends to drink too much whiskey while he plays. Hole 15 it was a close match, and my 45 foot putt to pull within one stroke cut through chains and fell out other side. It happens, I was a bit agitated but I kept it to myself. When it gets to be my turn on next tee, the goofball guy and my partner start talking quietly as Im trying to get into my zone. Not wanting to cause a scene, I stepped off the tee, went to my bag and wiped off my disc. Instead of taking the hint, they started taking very loudly and more animated. Still not wanting to cause a scene, I just stood there and waited for them to stop talking.
The guy looks at me and says "Oh, does your turn start when you are standing at your bag or what?" I responded that I was just waiting for them to stop talking so I could throw. So instead of apologizing or stopping like I would have expected he starts arguing with me, claiming they weren't talking while I was on the tee. Finally he shuts up and I angry-park my tee shot. As we walk up the fairway he gets back in my face and tells me I need to learn to block that stuff out. Now I was pissed and I got back in his face and told him he needs to learn some basic courtesy. I told the group that I have starting to wear earphones when I play just to block out this sort of nonsense. So he takes that as an invitation to tell me when and how I should wear my ear phones. So after going back and forth a bit, we finally shook hands and made up.
I ended up winning the second solo round, and I had fun in the group because we are all over 50 and and can bust each others chops while still having basic courtesy and respect of the game. I have seen some real bad courtesy this past year, and it has lessened my enjoyment of the game tremendously. Who wants to deal with that when playing? Certainly not me and I'm sure the other people in our group didn't either.
Honestly wearing my earphones helps me stay in my zone, and I can play the music low enough that I can still be part of group conversations when I need or want to be.
