I hate practice!

I rarely go to the range or the putting green aside from pre-round warm ups, and drilling is completely out of the question... I love playing golf, but I really don't find much enjoyment in practice.

Does anyone else feel the same way?  I feel like this is a pretty poisonous attitude.

No practice will make it difficult at best to improve much unless you can play A LOT! I personally like to practice but I don't beat balls by any means. I practice pretty much every day but I practice with a plan, and I try when I can to make a game out of it. I would not be where I am if I didn't practice as much as I do.

The better I've gotten the less interest I have in practicing... Wow, I am truly the worst...

The only practice I do is chipping and putting an hour or so 2-3 times a week

....I will go to the range 3 or 4 times a year and hit a couple of buckets but only if my swing is having an issue or at the beginning of our season just to get muscle memory etc.

I think if you play rounds that are "practice" rounds and you work on some specific area of your game, you would be accomplishing the same thing as beating balls on the range.  Beating balls on the range is not for everyone, I only go to the range 2 or 3 times early in the season and then play after that.  I'm pretty sure no matter how many balls I beat I will never hit a 300 yard drive so there is no reason to try to develop that skill.  I'm better off sticking with what I've got and try to get around the course in fewer strokes!

I enjoy it. I practice daily. Go out behind the house and hit wedge shots and short irons. Put up the net and hit driver and long irons. If I am hitting golf balls, I am generally happy.

I love to practice.

Tiger still spends a good amount of time on the range so I'd say it's pretty important if you want to continue to improve.  If you focus on practicing on the course and not worry about your score that's probably a good alternative.  Maybe you need to approach the range with a different attitude or specific challenges so you don't find it so boring.

It is hugely important to go to the range if you are a high handicapper. 15+ maybe? You need repetition. You need to be able to instantly hit the same shot again whether you hit it good and want to reinforce or hit it bad and want to make the correction. How many times on the course have you hit a shot OB, dropped and hit again and striped it? You feel what you did and can instantly correct it. You also need to be able to experiment. Strengthen the grip, weaken the grip,  swing more inside or whatever. See and feel what works and what the effects are.

Once you get into the low teens, I think you can start substituting range sessions with practice 9 hole outings. This is because the one thing you CAN'T practice at the range is "playing golf". If you can stripe it down the range every time but can't navigate a hole or put 4-5 shots together for a par or bogey then the range becomes less valuable. Also my home course does not have any type of Short Game area and working on spinning wedge shots with range balls onto a rock hard range is useless. These shots can only be dialed in by hitting a real golf ball to a real green surface.

As an 8 right now, I go about twice a week to the course, spend 10-20 minutes on the range getting loose and working on what I consider benchmark shots such as an 80ish yard wedge, full wedge, an 8 or 9, a 4,5 or 6, 3W or 5W and then Driver. Then I walk over and play 9 holes. Here I play my first ball all the way through so I can at least have a score to think about and evaluate my progress. If I am unhappy with a particular shot and want to hit it again or want to drop a ball at a certain distance I will do that but then pick it up and continue to play my first. Not exactly a legal round but I am not posting them and its just practice.

Finally if I ever feel that something is off, something that I don't want to work out on the course (I don't want to chase down 20 golf balls) I will make a special trip to the range and work it out. In the end, just make sure your expectations are correct. If you don't practice but like to play then don't get mad when you don't play well. Just enjoy being out there. Grab a beer, flirt with the cart girl and laugh when you hit a tree and it almost hits you in the head. After all, if you are on the golf course, life is pretty good.

True dat! Explains why I don't improve...... I also seldom practice.

I also love going to the range..however  I need to create a plan and practice with more purpose.  Usually I hit a bucket with no purpose.

Even some tour pros dont much like practice.  Bubba Watson is an example of this.  However, for most of us you have to spend time on the range and the practice green if you want to get better.  I actually kind of hate hitting off of mats but I enjoy driving ranges with grass tees.

In the end, I guess its all a matter of desire.  How good do you want to get and how hard are you willing to work in order to get there?  I enjoy practice because just hitting balls and making shots is fun and its even more fun when it all comes together on the course.

Same here. The more consistent my shots become over the season, the more I want to take advantage of it out on the course, not wasting good shots hitting to range targets. To each their own.

for years i was anti-practice.  my "practice" came from playing an average of 72 holes a week.  over the past year, i've become far less anti-practice, but i still don't find myself on the range very often.  however, i went to the st jude classic last week and was amazed by the pros abilities from around the green.  i turned to my dad and said "i think i need to start spending a lot of time around a practice green somewhere."

I'm like you and hate to practice. I never EVER practice!!   In fact, I haven't hit a bucket of balls since 1995.  I think beginners definitely need "range time".

I am exactly like this.  Once I stopped mis-hitting the ball I began to play more and practice less.  Due to the % of shots from close to the green all my practice is on the chipping and putting green.  Hell, at this time of year in FL you can play for the price of 2 buckets so play is what I do.  I am still improving.

I am the complete opposite. The better I get the more interest I have in practicing haha. Just because it makes me want to just keep getting better and not take steps backwards and start miss hitting alot. I spend an hour or so every other day chipping and practicing with my other wedges in my front yard.
Luckily live back in a open area and able to practice my driving in my front yard as well and don't have to worry about hitting houses since the closest house is probably about 500 yards from mine.