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Why Do You Play Golf?


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I play because I can still be better than I was yesterday. My track and field career bests are behind me, and while I can still compete against people within my age group I will never be the same guy who was able to hold his own in flights and heats against world champs and olympians. I just can’t be that fast and jump that far anymore. I still believe the best Golf of my life is ahead of me. 
 

I also play because it is a game that challenges the mind and the body. It’s not physically taxing per se but the body has to be in technically sound positions to deliver the clubhead to the ball as desired repeatedly. I have to think and use my mind to accurately strategize around the course and overcome the bad times and shots. 
 

Lastly- I play for fun. Fun of friendly competition, fun of architecture and its impact on the game, fun of just playing with my Dad or a friend I haven’t seen in awhile. Some many reasons and ways to have fun playing this game. 

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I PLAY golf for a few reasons.

  • Competition- I love to compete it's a big part of who I am. 
  • Challenge- It's fun to have something to work at and try to improve. I get a lot of satisfaction when I play well knowing I put in a lot of work to get here.
  • Exercise- Playing 18 holes walking at my course burns about 2000 calories.
  • Camaraderie- Many of my friends I have made on the golf course.

 

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Danny    In my :ping: Hoofer Tour golf bag on my :clicgear: 8.0 Cart

Driver:   :pxg: 0311 Gen 5  X-Stiff.                        Irons:  :callaway: 4-PW APEX TCB Irons 
3 Wood: :callaway: Mavrik SZ Rogue X-Stiff                            Nippon Pro Modus 130 X-Stiff
3 Hybrid: :callaway: Mavrik Pro KBS Tour Proto X   Wedges: :vokey:  50°, 54°, 60° 
Putter: :odyssey:  2-Ball Ten Arm Lock        Ball: :titleist: ProV 1

 

 

 

 

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On 6/30/2020 at 2:45 PM, RetiredOldMan said:

I have Parkinson's in my right hand that was brought on by Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Diet and exercise will almost completely remove my tremor.  (I also take medications) 

That is mainly why I golf.

I also just enjoy the game. 

Retired Old Man

Thank you for your service. Enjoy the golf and play well. 

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I originally started playing to relax and enjoy the outdoors more. In addition to finding a sport that wasn’t so hard on my body. Little did I know bad golf isn’t so relaxing. I was hooked pretty much from the first round. I kept playing because of the few beautiful shots that everyone has.I could hit 1000 bad shots but will only ever remember the 2 good ones lol.  It’s also nice to truly be able to get everything out of my head and only focus on golf. Kind of like a for of therapy.  Then when my son was born I hoped he would pick up the game and give us something to do when I get older. Turns out he does love it and pretty much better than I am. We play every year around Fathers Day. Never on because that would be frowned upon by the boss. She likes to have us home on Sunday. About 5 years ago I started combining my birthday, which is in May and usually on or around Mother’s Day, and Fathers Day. So I don’t get short changed in May and in June I can really ham it up. Like i told my son a few weeks ago, it’s about me having fun and watching him get better now. 

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It started out as a fun afternoon at chance to smash balls at range...who wouldn't enjoy that? Must have made contact 5 times out of a full bucket and blisters on the hand to show for. But that one good hit changed everything. It was instant addiction. 

15 years later, it has become what can only be best described by the faithful as blind religion.

The camaraderie in misery, the grind with distant sprinkles of pure joy, the competition, the science, the art, the travel, the release, where do I stop.........?

Few things in life offer a feeling of greater accomplishment than a flushed 8 iron. Oh, the parks don't seem to be too bad either.. 

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Vishal S.

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I tried to explain recently why I play golf, and the answer came down to that it would feel stupid to just quit something I'm pretty good at. Maybe not the best answer. 

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In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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  • Moderator
2 hours ago, Mr Puddle said:

It was in reply to another political post for God's sake

I don’t care. No politics. 

Scott

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53 minutes ago, jamo said:

I tried to explain recently why I play golf, and the answer came down to that it would feel stupid to just quit something I'm pretty good at. Maybe not the best answer.

I retired and I didn't feel stupid.   Face it, you're addicted just like the rest of us!☺️

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From the land of perpetual cloudiness.   I'm Denny

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2 hours ago, GolfLug said:

Few things in life offer a feeling of greater accomplishment than a flushed 8 iron.

Just wait until you pure a 4 iron.

2 hours ago, jamo said:

I tried to explain recently why I play golf, and the answer came down to that it would feel stupid to just quit something I'm pretty good at. Maybe not the best answer. 

It's probably not the real answer, either, if you think about it.

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

I retired and I didn't feel stupid.   Face it, you're addicted just like the rest of us!☺️

There are golfers.. and then there are golfers who actively participate on a golf forum :whistle:

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Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

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18 minutes ago, billchao said:

Just wait until you pure a 4 iron.

I'll know I'm dead and in heaven...😇

2 hours ago, jamo said:

 it would feel stupid to just quit something I'm pretty good at.

I would too and I'm not half as good..

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Vishal S.

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  • iacas changed the title to Why Do You Play Golf?
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Because bowling alleys are gross?

That's not why. I like that everything is basically completely up to me, not a teammate or another person.

 

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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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13 minutes ago, iacas said:

Because bowling alleys are gross?

They can get pretty nasty, lol. I was hoping my league would switch bowling alleys last year, but no dice. 

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  • 2 months later...

I play for the challenge. I've played for a long time with little improvement but continued to love the game. Since moving to Minnesota and marrying my wife who plays I've enjoyed golf even more. With her mental game guidance I've become the kind of player I've always wanted to be. 

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BO THE GOLFER

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Driver-Ping G400+ 10.5 degrees regular flex Hybrids-Ping I25 17 & 20 degrees stiff flex Irons-Ping I3 O-size 4 through lob wedge regular flex Putter-Nike Oz 6

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  • 4 months later...
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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Generally speaking, casual amateur golf is an outlet from the real world where most things are gray. In golf, it’s black and white-the scorecard doesn’t lie.  That is extremely appealing in an ever growing more complicated world. 

You get to be outside in a nice setting being moderately physical with a simple overall goal in mind.  You not only use the analytical left side of your brain, you also can use the creative right side of your brain-usually very appealing to the human condition. 
 

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  1. It's what passes for exercise for me. Used to be soccer and surfing. I don't live near the ocean now, and my ankle and knee won't let me play soccer, but golf let's me get out and chase a ball around a field.
  2. It's a great technical challenge, and since it's difficult (for me!) it leaves constant room for improvement.  It's nice to feel like I'm getting better. And even if it's rare for me, it's fantastic to imagine a shot and then pull it off.
  3. It's nice to feel optimistic every time I head to the course.  And when it goes south, it's still a great technical challenge!
  4. If you take it shot-by-shot, you get to achieve perfection 18 times per round. The object is to get the ball in the hole - so each time the ball drops in, that shot was perfect.  Those shots that came before... well, okay. But 18 strokes per round are guaranteed to be perfect!  And that sound, when the ball rattles around the cup - that's the sound of perfection! (And why you should always putt out!)
  5. It helps me work on my personality flaws. I'm impatient. Golf helps me practice patience, especially on slow days. I'm too critical. Golf helps me practice letting go of failures and focusing on what's in front of me.
  6. Competition. I don't play tournaments much, but when I do, the competition has been really enjoyable (even better when I've done well).

I think that's a start for me.

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    • Two things I bring up when it comes to this discussion. One is if you have let's say two towns next to each other, one has a population of 10,000 people and the other has a population of 1,000 people. Let's also say that they never play golf against each other. Only among themselves. In the first town, you have one guy who has won 15 events, then a couple of guys who won 6, a couple who won four and a bunch of people who won three, two and one events. In the second town, you have one guy who won 18 events, then a guy who won 11, a guy who won 9, a guy who won 8, a couple who won 7, a couple who won 3-5 and then a few 2s and a few 1s. Who's the best golfer? It's possible it's the guy who won 18, but it's pretty unlikely. Far more likely to be the guy who won 15 in the much bigger town.  In the same way, I view the fact that there is more parity in the 1990 and onwards world than there was in the pre 1990 world as a plus for Tiger. It's much harder to stand out if the fields are deeper, stronger, better. If there are a handful of players who win all of them, that tends to suggest weakness to me, not strength. The other thing is Ed White. Harvey Penick talked about him in one of his books. Ridiculously good at the game, but no one ever heard of him, because he got a job and didn't play professionally. There was no money in it and he needed security, so he took a job that paid him steadily. No clue how many people there are out there like him, but if he was around today, he'd be playing pro golf for sure. If he had played professionally, Penick sure seemed to think he'd have been one of the best of all time. Fred Haas played him in a college match and got stuffed. 40 years later he walked into Penick's shop and saw Ed White's picture on the wall and, after a full career playing pro golf, he said that Ed White was the best player he ever saw. Those 40 years would presumably have included at least some of Jack. I can see why people might say Jack is the GOAT. I don't agree, but I can at least understand why they say it. IMO there is no argument you can make for anyone other than Tiger to be the BOAT though. At least not yet.
    • A good option is to play the Par 3 courses. after playing an 18 -hole round. The Par 3 courses have 18 holes, we usually played only 9 holes after playing 36 holes on each of the trips we had. You may want to check out Grand National while you're in the middle of Alabama. I enjoyed Oxmoor Valley and Ross Bridge courses which are a short drive north.
    • In August, I am playing the World Am in Myrtle Beach. I do not know which courses yet, but should be a blast. Aside from that, those are the only golf trip plans, unless I play while on vacation in Destin in June.
    • Even on a perfect center hit I was receiving at most 1.48 smash factor. 10 days ago on the warming up for a round my Driver made a weird sound, I checked the bottom and it was cracked. Don't know for how long it was cracked but at least this time the crack was easy visible. Maybe it was already cracked before but with a more subtle crack?.. don't know. I'm waiting for TaylorMade to approve the warranty and send me a new head. I was using the Stealth Plus, I will take the opportunity and upgrade it to the Qi10 LS paying the difference.  On Sunday with my old Titleist 915 and softer balls I was reaching 1.5, even 1.51 on center hits. Test didn't went well. Only gained 2..3 miles, not worth pursuing. Figured out that with a ball and with a target, my path was way to in to out with this new idea, so in order to move the club in the correct path I needed to slow down to redirect the club on the downswing or aim more to the right, close the face a play a big hook.. not possible. I already play a big draw with Driver, more curvature is unplayable. Yesterday at home, with no ball messed around with a more neutral path, even swinging a little out to in. It felt a lot more in sync with the body. With a big in to out path it feels like my hands are working right, away from the body, when the body is working to rotate to the left. With the path to the left is was easier to apply force thru the hitting zone.  As always tested 10 swings with my current swing (A), and 10 with this little out to in path(B).  The difference was huge, like 12 miles faster with swing (B). I knew something wasn't right. The fact was that the PRGR was aligned more in line with the (B) path so it of course was giving higher speeds. I proceeded to align it with the (A) path and tested again 5 more swings each. Again (B) was faster but only by 5 miles. (Made a tiny experiment moving the PRGR to a more extreme in to out path and the swings register 25/30% slower for both swings, so it wasn't reading properly at that angle) Finally I moved the PRGR in the middle of both paths, and this time (B) won by 9 miles. Off course, this was without a ball and a target so.. I will be hitting the range tomorrow to see the real difference.            
    • Wordle 1,032 3/6 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 😲
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