Golf- The One True, Everlasting Love/Hate Relationship
Most people have a different outlook/definition/classification for golf. Some people think it is boring, others think it is hard, others think it is fun, some people hate it, some love it, some say it is too hard, some think it’s easy (I do not know many of these people… probably because I don’t associate with liars), some use it to relax, and some think it’s frustrating and stressful. Golf is unlike any other sport in this way. Most men would not say basketball and football are boring, they may love or hate these sports, but these sports would rarely stress them out and playing these sports rarely leads to you never wanting to play them ever again (excluding injury). But that’s golf folks, at least for us mid to high handicappers (I am being generous to my game with this classification-somewhere between 13-30 is a mid to high handicapper by my definition).
Golf can be really fun to play and watch, but even as a golf fan, nothing is better to fall asleep to on a Saturday afternoon than a golf tournament. And no game drags on longer when you are playing terribly than golf. Boring is a fair description of golf in my opinion. I personally do not think it is boring; I actually love watching and playing golf. However, for those who do not play or follow golf, I think it would be the most boring sport in America. And that is what people hate about golf, it can be really boring and if you are one of those people, you may want to stop reading to avoid more boredom.
One the other hand, those of us who are lucky and jobless enough to play golf at least once a week find it fun. While my mother and wife highly disagree with me I think golf is somewhat a workout (especially for my dad who kayaks once a month for exercise). Golf is a sport that anyone can play, and play well. Ten-year-old kids can beat me as can 65-year-old men or women and vise versa. You can never really tell how well someone is going to play when you look at him or her. It is a game I can play for the rest of my life and that is something I cannot say about football or basketball. Sooner or later I just won’t be able to hang with the younger guys in those sports as my dad currently cannot hang with me in any sport. But golf, there is a sport I can only get better at the more I play, and that is why many people (including myself) love golf-it is a lifelong sport.
Another handful of fair descriptions of golf is that it is frustrating, stressful, hard, and time-consuming. The more you play, the better you get, and the better you want/expect to do. The only problem with that is, when you play a lot and suck, it’s worse than when you rarely play and suck. Expectations are one of the worst things to have in golf. Golf is a hard game. It is hard to be mediocre and nearly impossible to be “good” by everyone’s standards. It takes so much time, patience, and money to excel at golf. When you watch the pros do it on TV it makes you doubt whether you should even try playing because you will NEVER be that good. If you are competitive (as I am, to a deficit) you want to be as good as you can be, you want to beat people. I want to beat every person I play with, and that rarely happens. I will just lose it on wholes 5, 6, and 7. And in my head, once I lose it for those three holes its like the day is over. I can never look ahead or salvage a good day. I start thinking about breaking/throwing clubs, walking off the course, quitting, and all sorts of other immature acts of poor sportsmanship. It’s either a great day or a horrible day for me and many other mediocre golfers. That puts a lost of stress on a guy that does this for “fun” and this is supposed to be my escape from reading and writing hundreds of pages of boring law topics you would never care to read about. It is so frustrating when you have been practicing and you hit them well on the range, and then you get excited to hit the course. But when you get out there you cannot seem to get the ball to go straight all day. It makes me want to quit forever, but about a day later I get the itch again and the cycle starts over. The frustration, stress, difficulty, and time are why so many people (including myself) hate golf.
The weird thing is, that difficulty, stress, and time are also what we love about golf-when we play well. When you hit that perfect shot (for me about once a round) you are just in love with this game. There is nothing better. It’s an individual sport, it’s all on you, and you just came through (even if it’s just for one shot). I saw a hat in a golf store that said, “I hate golf!” “I hate golf!” “I want to quit!” “Great Shot!!” “I love golf!” and that could not be more perfectly written. When it’s bad it’s bad, but man when it’s good it’s great. Those great shots are what keep you coming back. And if you are lucky enough to string a few good holes or even a great day together and you shoot a low score, you may just be hooked forever. If you have ever hit the ball well on the golf course you know this feeling of love I speak of.
One of the worst things about golf that many people (again, including myself) hate is how expensive it is. A decent set of clubs (which in real golf land just means irons) is about $1,000 (you can get away with a nice set of last year’s model like I did for about $350). Then if you want a good driver it will set you back at least $150 for last years model. But if you want the newest, best thing it will cost you $400 (The New TaylorMade R11-its beautiful). Then you need fairway woods that are anywhere from $125-$200 a piece (most people carry two in their bag). Then you have a wedge set (maybe 2) and they can be anywhere from $100-$125. You obviously need a putter which is $70-$200. And once you buy all these clubs, you need a place to put them and bags run around $100. Then you need a glove-$20, tees-$5 every couple months, and balls-these have a serious price range anywhere from $10-$75 for a pack of 12. Now that you have your tools, you need to go play! You can play golf for just about any amount of money depending on where and when you play, but let’s put it this way-it isn’t cheap! So all this money that goes into a hobby is a bit absurd and this is why so many wives (and dudes that play, including myself) HATE golf.
Probably the best thing (for decent golfers that play for fun) about golf is the time you spend out there with your friends and family. Yeah the sport is fun, but a round of golf can be a great time for other reasons. You have plenty of time to talk, joke around, drink some beer, smoke some cigars, get to know new friends, and talk shop with others. When you mix in a few good shots to keep your spirits up with a few swings and misses and shots off of trees two feet in front of you-you can guarantee a lot of laughs and a really fun time. This is one of the main reasons my bachelor party weekend (which included a round of golf for over 20 guys in our group) so memorable and so much fun. These times with friends and family are why I and so many other people in America LOVE golf.
Love it or Hate it Golf is a unique sport that many of us will play for the rest of our lives, with our Grandfather, fathers, friends, siblings, wives, sons, and grandsons. It is a game that can cross generations and bring us together with those closest to us. Golf is a great game (even though sometimes it sucks) so if you have never tried it, I think you should.
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