Who to play Golf with?

Mark Crossfield is asked on Twitter by Matt, "How much of the enjoyment of golf is based on who you're playing with? Mark is in the lucky position where he only plays for fun, he doesn't have any official or serious competitions.

This enables him to be able to choose who he plays with, where and when. Not everyone can do this as most golfers will play in formal club competitions where they sign up with random or drawn partners and if playing in professional golf this would happen in every event. What do you do? Can you choose who you play with when you play golf or do you have to play with the partners given.