I work at a hotel that is near a golf course.
We often have guests who visit specifically to golf, but I work the graveyard shift so I rarely see them on their way to or returning from the course.
I had a guy call last night to ask for a 5:30am wake-up call, specifically saying that the wake-up call was very important to him because he had scheduled a 6:00am tee time (“tee time” is what it’s called, right?). So, just now, he came down with his clubs got some coffee and stopped to chat. Then he was on his way.
I said to him as he left “Have a good . . . day”.
“Day” seemed safe. It had never occurred to me that I don’t know what to say to someone who is about to play golf, much like I don’t know what to say to someone who is about to read Walden.
Had he announced that he was going to go play basketball, I’d have said “Have a good game”. Going to breakfast, I’d say “Have a nice breakfast”. To perform in a play, “Break a leg”. To go to church, “Tell God he still owes me $5”.
But I didn’t know what to say for golf. “Have a good game” didn’t sound right as I stopped it reaching my lips. Should it have been “have a good game”? Not sure why I didn’t think it sounded right.
If at least one person can give a serious answer, I’ll appreciate it.
Beyond that, the OP places no other restrictions on snark, sarcasm, insults, or condescension.
In normal households, “Have a good game” would be fine. Or “Have a good round”, since 18 holes of golf constitutes a round.
In the Swords household, the standard saying is “Have a Grapo Gator!” That was apparently how I said “Have a great golf game!” when I was 3, and it stuck ever since.
Or use what I always tell members of the school golf teams when they head off for a match: “Uphold the honor of the school. Return with your clubs or on them.”
Fairways and Greens
Keep it in the short stuff
Play well
Have good game
Informational (especially for females): The bathrooms are after the 5th and 14th
Tips (if you know for certain): always take one more club on the 7th
The worst that has ever been said to me:
“The water never really comes into play.”
(of course, a USJGA champion said it to me.)