Under what scenario do you play your best?

[ghostface]

i play best when i am concentrating on things other than golf. i tend to overthink things if i play too seriously. my best rounds are with friends when we are just shootin the [censored] and not worrying about the score.

ive recently played my first few rounds with alcohol involved and i rule as long as i dont drink too much.

my best 9 hole score (30) was shot when i was a single that got paired up with a random 3some where i work. i was just chattin it up with the guys and making birdies.

[RickA]

With friends, for money and drunk.

[RickAstleyFan]

With co-workers and people I need to impress.

I screw around with friends too much, and get cocky.

[Annulus]

i play in a leauge with coworkers. actually former coworkers as im now unemployed. anyways we tee off at 7am. this is insanely early for me as all i do now a days is play poker till 4-5am on a daily basis. anyhow the one night before golf i do try to go to bed early which is next to impossible. i usually get 3 hours or less of sleep as my sleep cycle is hard to break. i just play awful. i have no balance at all. i end up shooting awful. im sick of telling everyone how tired i am and thats the reason im playing so bad. im seriously averaging about 10 strokes worse than if i played on a solid 8 hours of sleep. but i still love and of course i will play it under any circumstance especially when we payed for the season upfront!

[Gary Stevenson]

usually when i play by myself. i usually never have any really bad rounds during competitions, those usually come when i'm playing "for fun" with ppl i dont know

[RacersEdge]

I don't really notice a difference. I tend to be intense when I play that the surrounding "pressure" or lack of it will not be very relevant. I guess the only environemnt I don't like is playing with a bunch of people who are just screwing around drinking beer. (I'm not a stiff - just like to play with people who are "in" to the actual golf.)

[AzDesertRat]

When the game becomes "boring"

it usually means I am hitting fairways and greens though, which makes sense

[fatshaft]

In the rain, wetter the better with a card in my hand. I don't score better v. my "dry" game, but do play better v. the field, 80% of whom are just looking to get off the course. Meanwhile I club up and swing easier to avoid slipping/the grip slipping, and I'm looking at a top 10% finish. Easy.

[dcasper70]

I don't enjoy it as much, but I've consistently scored well when hungover. Probably due to low expectations, easier swing, better tempo, and not muddling my brain with any actual thoughts...

[black knight]

[ QUOTE ]
What I mean is, in short, do you play your best when you are playing competitively, competitively for cash w/ friends, with friends, or by yourself?

I've found that I actually score lower when I play by myself, and yes, I count every stroke, and take no mulligans. I don't know why, maybe it's because when I play by myself it is usually evening, the course is wide open, and I just stand up and hit the ball. Over thinking the swing has always been an issue of mine.

Second, I play quite well competitively, e.g., golf team. I usually qualified as the 4th or 5th member, but always scored 2nd or 3rd on the team.

I probably equally well when I'm playing with a group, for money or not. Waiting kills my game (which makes it weird that I played well competitively), and the money we play for doesn't warrant a real "stepping up" if you will, although it does manage to slow the game down.

You?

[/ QUOTE ]

I do best when playing with competent players, when there's at least SOMETHING on the line that matters to them...and under conditions that most people find difficult (wind, rain, both...). I don't shoot the lowest of my life, but I tend to do a lot better at adjusting than others for some reason...