Stupid Golf Problems: I’m on my phone the whole round. Does the rest of the group hate me?

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Let’s just be fair about this now – in the year 2025, we are ALL guilty of being on our phones too much. Young, old, middle-aged, it doesn’t matter. These things have enslaved us to a degree where it is impossible to be alone with your thoughts for more than seven seconds, roughly. Hell, my 14-month-old son grabs the thing and just starts scrolling it like he’s been scrolling it for years. No idea where he learned it. Probably from looking at my wife and I doing it (mostly me). I hate myself for this.

There is one place on earth I at least attempt to make a phone-free zone: the golf course. The problem with that is I dabble in a little content creation here and there, which I enjoy doing. But sometimes I do just want to leave the thing at home. Then you get out there with some buddies, intent on NOT looking at your phone, and one of your friends says “C’mon, can I be in one of your little videos?” You can’t escape it. You can’t just have four hours of freedom. Deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you may not even want it. Depressing, I know.

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Sometimes, the decision is made for you. Like when you’re lucky enough to be invited to an old-school private club where being on your phone might get you removed from the property. I cherish those days. But at public courses, or clubs with more lax rules, everyone in your group is going to take a peak at some point, whether walking or riding. Which brings us to today’s stupid golf problem:

If you’re the No. 1 culprit of being on it too much, be it for work-related calls or texting or doomscrolling, does everybody else in the group hate you?

The short answer is probably yes. There’s a certain type of character who says yes to a round on a week day and turns the course into their personal office. They incessantly take and make phone calls, they performatively wheel and deal. They “hop on a zoom” and put themselves on mute. Their brains are elsewhere, which can be particularly frustrating if the rest of the group is fully engaged. Maybe there’s a few bucks on the line and wannabe Ari Gold can’t be bothered. I often wonder why these folks even come out to play. If your job is that important, you probably shouldn’t be teeing it up during work hours. For those with kids and busy weekend schedules, though, a few hours during a week day may be there only opportunity to get out there.

Then there’s the person who doesn’t take any calls, but is still on it constantly. Typing away emails, texts, Slack chats. Someone who goes shot, phone, shot, phone, phone on the green while everyone’s putting, putt, phone. Another disengaged party who can’t just put it down. Don’t mind us, bud, just playing a little golf here.

Again, though, we’ve all been this person. I try to compromise, or excuse the behavior, by remaining engaged while everyone else is hitting and making a point to only be on it in the cart while riding to the next shot. If I’m walking, I try to keep it in the bag and only check during waits on the group ahead. Once you start messing with keeping it in your pocket at all times, you’ve lost. You’re going to reflexively pull it out every chance you get.

I posed the question on social media, since I’m not the only one with an opinion. And the responses leaned heavily toward “this person is the worst.” It’s rare you get everyone to agree on something these days. This happened to be one of those times.

As Lucas Dolengowski pointed out, if you know the person and this round was something planned in advance, there’s no reason to be on a call (save for emergency, of course):

Others agreed with my sentiment – if you have to be on work calls during a round, you should probably be working, not playing golf:

The BowTiedGolfer, one of the more opinionated voices in the Golf Burnerverse, makes an interesting point about being on your phone in a walking vs. riding situation:

The best take of all came from Neil Parker:

This is unequivocally true. The rounds, nay, the DAYS, you remember most are those days where you take a stroll with three other buddies, maybe you have caddies, and the phones are tucked away. Everyone’s dialed into the match, chatting on the walks to each shot, drinking in the scenery. It’s not always the case, but you always seem to play better in these situations, too. It’s almost like paying attention and caring about the shot ahead of you helps. Afterward, you add ’em all up over a beer, ideally in a grill room where no phones are allowed, and recap the day. Maybe even plan the next one.

Then everyone retreats to their vehicle, checks that they have 154 notifications and gets sucked into the vortex of technological hell. But at least you had those four-to-five hours of mental bliss.

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Do you have a “stupid” golf problem? A question you’re too ashamed to ask your close friends? A conundrum that needs to be talked out in a public forum? We’re here to help. If you have etiquette-related inquiries or just want to know how to handle some of the unique on- or off-course situations we all find ourselves in, please let us know. You can email me ([email protected]) or send me a DM on Twitter/X (@Cpowers14) or on Instagram (@cpthreeve).

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com