We’ve all been there. Sitting on your couch, pacing around the house, or even already parked in the golf course lot. Waiting… just waiting for one buddy, sibling, anybody to respond back. Endlessly glancing at your smartphone; staring at the clock in the top corner, knowing that the tee-time you made for a foursome could very well be a one-some. Holding on to that last shred of hope that Gary, some guy you met at softball league (you are now second guessing if his name is actually Gary), would send out a rogue text saying “Just got ur text brah! Lol I’ll meet you on the tee box!!”

But we all know that Gary isn’t coming. Nobody is coming. For whatever reason, the galactic forces-that-be decided that you are going to have a crucial choice to make. To golf, or not to golf?

If you are an avid golfer, this hypothetical situation has happened, or will happen to you. To some, this creates actual anxiety, and understandably so! It’s not easy having to confront the fact that you couldn’t scrum up one measly friend to come and join you. It’s also not easy trying to lie to the teenagers running the cash register in the clubhouse that you made a clerical error on the course’s website, which will inevitably be met with a pitiful stare that says Okay friendless guy, we get it.

I’m here to tell you that everything will be okay. I’m here to change your mind about playing with Gary in the first place.

The top 5 things to do when no one shows up to your tee time:

1. Make new friends on your home course: This is an absolute MUST. Overcoming social anxiety is nothing to be treated lightly, but getting paired up with someone enjoyable can change your life. It’s worth the risk. Also, it is highly convenient when you are looking for someone to fill in a void on your reservation. Gary was never even an option, he was just a hopeful-maybe. This should have been done ahead of your tee-time. Time travel paradoxes lead to double bogeys.
2. Call the course/talk to the starter: Listen carefully all you hacks: If you are short one person in a foursome, no big deal, but if you are short everybody then you have to tell someone employed at the golf course. This opens up opportunities for other people without a tee-time to walk on and play the course. You’ll probably be paired up with some rando’s but that can lead to solution number one, and you could make a lifelong friend. For those of you who reserve 4 people in one time slot just to play solo, you will burn in golf hell. Imagine walking into Sports Clips (or wherever you go to get a cheap haircut in your town) and someone reserved the whole hour for a half inch buzz and a little off the sides and they don’t even own Sports Clips? You don’t own the golf course do you? It’s okay to share.
3. Learn to play alone CORRECTLY. There are two main unwritten rules when playing alone. 1) Do not assume that you can always play through. Actually, most courses have a rule that solos do NOT get to play through, unless allowed by the ranger/starter. 2) People are allowed to play “in” with you on the last hole (9,18). Honestly, if you play like you have a “just happy to be out here” vibe, then you should be all set.
4. If you are upset that no one showed up, then you don’t love golf enough to be allowed on the course by yourself. If you feel like you are going to take your anger of being lonely out on the course, DON’T PLAY. Don’t ruin someone else’s day. There will be another time, it’s definitely okay to not play when you’re in a bad mood. Easy buddy. It’ll all be okay. Not to sound lame, but I use golf as a form of meditation and exercise, and I try to convince myself of that every time I play.
5. Remember the times when people called the golf course and made a reservation? I do. Remember when you had to use a landline to tell all your friends to meet at that specific location and time, and people took it seriously? I sort of remember that, too. Well we don’t live in those times anymore. In fact, I have probably sent more texts to my girlfriend than my Dad has said words to my Mom (it’s a joke, take it easy Mom). What I’m getting at is, people are more connected now than ever before, whether we like it or not. So when you text your buddies and tell them you’re 6 minutes away but you’re actually like, ten, you are doing nobody any favors. A great insurance to this scenario is a good ol’ fashioned lie. Tell your friends the tee-time is one half hour ahead of the actual time. Trust me, you’re doing them, and yourself a favor.