Forget tuxes and red carpets, Tom Brady was more into tee boxes and fairways on Monday ... eschewing a spot at the Met Gala -- an event he used to attend regularly with Gisele Bundchen -- for a round of golf.
The newly retired quarterback was spotted roughly 3,000 miles away from his ex-wife and the bright lights of the famed New York fashion event ... getting in hacks at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
Brady didn't seem to care much about missing the show that he's gone to multiple times over the last decade .