oneputtdavid: Question, to you and all, who play +8 times a month.... when your out on the course with your pals, do you want to chat about life, wives, kids, work etc etc, or would you rather concentrate on your next shot?
I play 3 times a week with mostly the same crowd of guys and yes we like to chat about stuff from...how's life been treating them to who they're pumping now..... the usual guy's stuff bladdy bla....(guys like to gossip more than women at the best of times) whilst walking down the fairway etc. Meet up with your mates and have a bit of leisure time. Sure...I suppose if I just met them all on the tee and ignored them all the way round I might shave a few strokes off my hcp and be a 4 instead of a 7....but I play golf to enjoy some me time with my mates....not to be an ignorant CU Next Tuesday.
What's more....even real tour pro's will chat on and off to one another whilst playing in important tournaments quite a lot of the time but they do know when to stop chattering....they fully understand the etiquette of the game. I think Angel Cabrera and Adam Scott were a fine example of this....and that was during the master's playoff to help them relax a bit. You don't see this too often because of the media coverage concentrating on all players out hitting shots from all around the course, so the social aspect between players gets missed much of the time.....but it does exist in abundance between real pros during tournaments.
Remember all the banter too between both teams during the Ryder Cup matches...that's another fine example.
Skype is a great added benefit to playing here. But there are a ton of folks who won't use skype cause it screws with their meter.