When you're on the course what do you talk about?
First question that comes to mind, obviously, is...who are you with? 3 friends that make up the foursome?, your significant other and another couple you invited?, just you and a buddie?, or did you walk on as a single?
Each one of these scenarios plays to a different level of conversation covering potentially numerous and wide ranging topics. And depending how everyone in the various groups are playing that particular day the decibal level of conversation could vary greatly.
I've been in all of these groups at one time or another and have experienced all the various topics and sound levels there could possibly be. In fact, this is one of the many "dynamics" that I like to experience on occasion when I play. Do take notice that I said "on occasion", as too much of one is not always conducive to a consistent level of play. Personally, for the majority of rounds that I play I prefer to have specific short discussions or very little chatter at all.
The singularity of golf as a sport for me is one of the attractive parts. It's me and the ball. Racquetball was another sport that I excelled at for many years, again a solitary sport, just me and the ball. There is no one to blame when you do poorly but yourself. And when you win you know that you're the one that performed at that level, all by yourself. You can't experience the same levels of defeat or success when you're part of a team sport. Oh sure, you may be on the team that wins the World Series, but you may have been on the bench the whole game and got to "watch" the guy hit the home run that won the game.....for the team. Not to say that you didn't play a part in "getting there" but you didn't really win the game by yourself.
I love golf and I really enjoy the group I'm playing with no matter whether they're close friends or friends that I just met at the first tee. Close friends are always preferable though.
Conversation with close friends is different than with people you just met, obviously. You never really know what to talk about with people you just met so that's when I just play my game, keep up, and make sure that I play better than them. That makes me feel good and my concentration level is higher.
Playing golf with new friends or old friends...it's still about the experience. So whether you're experience is talking during the round or just playing the round, it's up to you. I'll let you know what I prefer one way or another.
Just make sure that if you're talking about something it better be interesting!